Editor

On November 21, 2010, MarketYoYo (formerly named Crowdmarket) was awarded "Most Likely to Change a Million Lives" and "2nd Prize Overall" at Women 2.0 Startup Weekend. Two days later, Alexis Ringwald (pictured, left) and Xuwen Zhang expanded their team to five (Rajat Mahajan, Ran Tao and myself) to further build on the idea of an SMS service to enable BOP (Base of the Pyramid) female entrepreneurs to connect directly with buyers. I was really excited to be a part of the team and loved the way all five of us were able to rally around a cause just after our first meeting at a coffee shop. With very little time but a lot of talent, inspiration, and passion, we decided to pursue the mWomen BOP App Challenge.

A week after initial market research, brainstorming and coding, the idea turned more real after we had conversations with Grameen Phone CEO Kazi Islam, Obopay CEO Carol Realini and VP of Product Marketing David Schwartz. The end goal was to build an easy-to-use SMS-based mobile service that enables female entrepreneurs in rural India to connect directly with buyers in an online marketplace, which we named "MarketYoYo".

Two weeks ago, I sat in a crowded auditorium and listened to others give their pitches at Women 2.0 Startup Weekend. I knew no one, had no technical background, and debated with myself whether or not I should give a pitch too. I sat in my chair and listened; and when I finished listening, I stood up and gave my pitch for Women's Health and Mobile (WHAM). Today I sat in a crowded room again, this time listening to TEDxBayArea TEDWomen visionaries share their stories of change. When I stood, this time I was able to join them in sharing my story.

In the two weeks between Women 2.0 Startup Weekend and TEDxBayArea TEDWomen, a world changed.

As a producer of events that are partly intended to bring more women technologists to the stage, I was glad to hear that TED conference curators planned to get 70 women speaking in December for a new iteration of their series. The "Technology Entertainment Design" presentations have focused less on tech in recent years to accommodate more diverse topics (think philanthropy and medicine among other topics).

LaunchBit classroom is a 10-week online class starting January 24, 2011 for non-programmers new to launching a web business. LaunchBit is ideal for busy people as it works around your schedule. After completing the online tutorials and homework, you will validate and complete your first website launch! In addition to the 10 classes, there is free online mentorship and guidance provided by instructors Elizabeth Yin and Jennifer Hsieh.