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Why Aren’t There More Female Entrepreneurs

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By Mark Suster (General Partner, GRP Partners) I’m often asked the question about why there aren’t more women who are entrepreneurs. On my blog I’ve been hesitant to take the topic head on. Somehow it seems kind of strange for a man to answer this question that obviously comes from a man’s point of view.

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts?” [it's short, you should read it]. In it she observes that only 3% of the comments on this blog are from women. I would love to see Tara follow up with blog posts on: why she believes this is the case & what we can do about it.

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An Interview with Angie Chang of Women 2.0 (Audio Podcast)

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By Meg Campbell (Founder, GirlHack) Editor's note: Angie Chang will be moderating a panel of successful women entrepreneurs at the WITI Summit on Tuesday, October 4 in San Jose, CA. Check out the schedule here.

Welcome to GirlHack Origins, a podcast celebrating women being geeky, girly or whoever they want to be.

This podcast is in collaboration with Women in Technology International. I'm your host, Meg Campbell for an interview with one of the co-founders of Women 2.0, Angie Chang.

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Ladies Embrace Hacking Health Challenge at UC Berkeley, and Win

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By Ipsheeta Furtado (Co-Founder & Consultant, FTW Group) The butterflies in my stomach finally quietened and I felt at ease -- our team completed a demo and a presentation that didn’t run over time. As Chung-Hay Luk and I sat down, I passed off my cue cards, not nervously fiddling with them anymore.

We participated at Hacking Health at UC Berkeley last Saturday. We were inspired with talks by industry leaders, motivated by mentors and volunteers, and energized by innovative ideas from designers, developers, and jack-of-all-trades that attended.

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New Face of Tech: A Young Female Immigrant Entrepreneur in LA

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By Araks Khachatryan (Co-Founder & COO, CornerBlue) Editor's note: Araks Khachatryan is hosting the Founder Friday Los Angeles on October 7, 2011 in Santa Monica -- Join Women 2.0 and Araks by registering for free here.

As the proud co-founder and COO of CornerBlue, a technology-driven mobile marketing company in Santa Monica, I regularly find myself surrounded by hot-shot entrepreneurs.

One thing I've learned is that they come in many different forms, and I'm proof that the head of a successful technology business

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24 Year Old Designer, Teacher, Entrepreneur Hosts Founder Friday

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By Jennifer Lopez (Co-Founder & CEO, Culture Kitchen) Editor's note: Jennifer Lopez is a host of Founder Friday Palo Alto on October 7, 2011 - Join Women 2.0 and Culture Kitchen at Color's office for Founder Friday Palo Alto. RSVP for free here.

I am a 24 year old designer/teacher/entrepreneur that lacks of understanding that maybe I won’t do great things in the world. I should sleep more, eat less and dream smaller, but I don’t. That isn’t who I am and isn’t how I live my life.

I grew up in New York City, a daughter of two incredibly

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Succeeding as a Single Mother and Tech Startup Founder & CEO

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By Bridget Thornton (Co-Founder & CEO, TrackIgnite) There has been a lot of buzz about women, particularly mothers, having a disadvantage as tech entrepreneurs. Women in tech find themselves alone in a sea of men at conferences or get passed over for funding by venture capitalists.

I hear the same argument all the time -- mothers can't dedicate 20 hours per day to their startup. Moms are the first line of response when the kids get sick and take on the majority of the household responsibilities. Therefore, there is no time

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4 Female Founders of Tech Startups at 2011 Health 2.0 Conference

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By Sonali Nigam (Graduate Student, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health) Health Innovation Week was September 17-27, 2011 in San Francisco. Whether you are a health technologist or a tech geek you would have loved the great conversations about "user generated health" at the Health 2.0 Conference, a well-known forum for knowledge sharing about web and mobile solutions in healthcare. For the aspiring entrepreneurs at Women 2.0, it may be heartening to note that many of the product demos and booths at Health 2.0 were hosted by companies with female founders.

Here are four female founded digital health companies

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Survey Says: Startups Offer Better Environment for Women

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By Freada Kapor Klein (Partner, Kapor Capital & Founder, Level Playing Field Institute) & Allison Scott (Director of Research, Level Playing Field Institute) Women are vastly underrepresented in technical roles -– we only account for 20% of all computer software engineer and computer programmer positions nationwide. And as the Level Playing Field Institute just revealed in a new report, these women encounter negative experiences such as bullying at rates significantly higher than their male colleagues, are less satisfied with their jobs, and are more likely to want to leave their jobs in the coming year.

Our report, The Tilted Playing Field, found intriguing data showing a vast difference between women at large companies and those at startups with a critical mass of women in

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Five Equity Tips for a Successful Startup

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By Claire Kalia (Founding Managing Partner, Kalia Law Group) Equity issues are critical to most startups because equity determines central questions such as ownership, control and compensation.

At the early stages of a company, it’s especially important to make sure that equity is issued in a way that meets the company’s current needs and future plans.

Here are some tips for smart things to do (and things to avoid doing) with your company’s equity.

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Negotiation for Women: Learning To Ask For What You Want

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By Jamie Lee (Operations Manager, Tipping Point Partners) Initiating the conversation about salary negotiation with the successful women in our network is the first step to acquiring a negotiation muscle.

I saw how tapping one's network can positively impact a woman's career after making an introduction to two female friends.

One was an executive with great deal of professional experience, and the other was just about to start her professional career and seeking career advice. Let's call the first friend

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Support Women Running Growth Businesses

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By Karen E. Klein (Contributing Writer, Businessweek) Women represent only 35 percent of startup owners in the U.S., even though 50 percent of college students and 46 percent of the U.S. workforce is female.

Women’s startup businesses also “tend to experience less growth and prosperity than do firms started by men,” according to a paper released this week by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers” notes that increasing numbers of highly qualified women work in science and technology, industries that frequently

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Doing It for Themselves: The Self-Made Woman

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By Colleen Leahey (Reporter, CNN) Chelsea Handler, comedian and television personality, is a known quantity. But allow us to introduce you to Chelsea Handler, businesswoman.

In 2009, Handler co-founded Borderline Amazing Productions with Tom Brunelle, the head writer of Handler's late-night show. The company has produced four shows.

Celebrities with production companies are as common as starlets with fluffy, teacup-sized dogs.

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If I Had More Time… (Part 2)

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By Raissa Nebie (Co-Founder & CEO, Spoondate) A few months ago, I wrote a post enumerating a few things I would do if I had more time. Back then, I was 100% focused on work and launching a startup.

Six months later, I’ve learned that maintaining balance is critical to happiness. Work and success are great, but a life without fun, family, friends, etc. sucks.

I started to make room for simple pleasures, starting with taking a full day off per week, and it made a huge difference.

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A Field Guide To: Version 2.0

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By Sara Holoubek (Founder & CEO, Luminary Labs) In the fall of 2010, A Field Guide to Female Founders, Influencers and Dealmakers went live. It was a rapid affair to create a resource we could point in response to the refrain "where are the women?"

To put it bluntly, we hit a nerve.

Over the past year, a number of people have dedicated time to solving the "let's get more women in here" problem. This is a good nut to crack, as it is about quantity, or achieiving scale, if you will. The more women in the room, the more normal it will seem,

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Y Combinator’s Paul Graham & Great Startup Quotes (Good Reads)

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By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0) A few weeks ago, Sue Khim (Founder & CEO of Alltuition) quipped in an interview with Women 2.0:

My recommendation if you are to read any startup literature, Paul Graham influenced me the most and I liked to read what he had to say about startups. Action first. And if you have to read anyone, read Paul Graham.

Today, co-founder & CEO Raissa Nebie of Spoondate blogs this gem from StartupQuote:

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The Women 2.0 Editorial Staff.