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Dispelling 4 Myths Of User Experience Research At Startups

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Research doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Here are ways to do it cheaply and efficiently. By Beth Lingard (User Experience Research Manager, ModCloth)

About 7 years ago, the CEO of a small startup I was working for dropped Steve Krug’s book “Don’t Make Me Think” on my desk and said, “Beth, you’re going to start doing usability testing for us.”

“Sure... What’s usability testing?” I cautiously responded.

“Read the book,” he said. And thus, started my career in user experience research.

In the 5+ years at this startup, I held many positions

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Antisocial Social Media Stocks – Are Women In The Boardroom?

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Women board members of social media companies: LinkedIn, Yelp, Groupon. By Alyce Lomax (Writer, The Motley Fool)

Social media brings to mind our uber-connected world, breaking down communication barriers of all kinds and helping spread information and share our lives. However, there's one way this sector may be antisocial, and that's from a tendency to neglect an entire gender from boards of directors. Forget Web 2.0; welcome to Boys Club 2.0.

Women Shouldn't "Like" This

Facebook is expected to go public in May, following many other social media stocks that have already hit the public markets. Although there's quite a bit to ponder before buying shares of Facebook

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Greylock-Backed Citrus Lane Helps Parents Discover “Best Of” Products For Little Ones

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This article has been syndicated from TechCrunch. By Leena Rao (Writer, TechCrunch)

The dawn of subscription commerce has spawned a number of startups in technology including Birchbox, Kiwi Crate, Babbaco and many others.

Citrus Lane is one of the latest startups to tackle the model, which sends a box of kiddie goodies to members each month. The startup is focused on parents as the client, and aims to help moms and dads discover interesting and ‘Best Of’ products for those expecting babies, as well as for newborns to three-year-olds.

Each month, Citrus Lane will send parents a box

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Interviews With Women Teaching Women Coding

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Talking with Girl Develop It, Ladies Learning Code, Web Start Women and Startlucks. By Jennifer Lindner (Organizer, RailsBridge & Freelance Open Source Developer)

There’s a rapidly growing movement of women teaching women technology skills: all over the Americas, self-starting organizations are running hands-on classes to huge success. Girl Develop It, Ladies Learning Code and Web Start Women are all great examples of startup-savvy applied to gender in technology.

Here are some excerpts from a series of interviews with each of these organizations. Although in very different locations, all report similar experiences with breaking down fears about technology, building confidence, support from their local technology community, and the success of hands-on teaching techniques.

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Are More VCs Betting On Women To Make A Buck?

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Capital will always move toward the greatest rate of return. By Leah Eichler (Contributing Writer, Femme-O-Nomics)

I felt no “Dragon’s Den” vibe when I met Vincent Gasparro for coffee at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto recently.

The very approachable managing director of The Green Tomorrow Fund, an independent private equity fund that invests in sustainable business, clean energy projects, and businesses that support the green economy graciously gave his time to offer me advice on raising capital for my new venture. Yet, the conversation quickly turned to the issue of gender and investing.

In his current role, roughly 60% of businesses

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The Women Of Y Combinator – And They Are Awesome

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This article has been syndicated from TechCrunch. By Kim-Mai Cutler (Writer, TechCrunch)

I would normally rather have a root canal instead of write about the issue of women in technology. I just find most essays on this really tedious and obvious. (Sorry Alexia.)

But I do want to point one thing out. When I went to my first Y Combinator Demo Day three years ago, there was one woman. At this week’s Demo Day, there were six companies with one or all female founders among the 66 startups in the class.

I’m going to keep this post simple. No complaining.

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A First Date With The Valley – Women 2.0 PITCH Conference

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The first thing PITCH reminded me was how lucky I am to live near the Silicon Valley. By Miki Johnson (Co-Founder, PassionSync)

I had been on the Women 2.0 mailing list only a few weeks when a message about the fast-approaching PITCH Conference hit my inbox. Sometimes the universe delivers just what you need, just when you need it.

Jackson had started a company before. He’d incorporated and “done a friends and family round” and “pitched to angels” and created the all-important “decks.” I’m a fast learner, but I knew I didn’t even know what I didn’t know yet about the whole Silicon Valley startup world. The Valley and I, we’d seen each other at a few parties, but we didn’t have each other’s number yet.

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But… What If My Inner Critic Is Part Of What Motivates Me?

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If you are aware that the critic is motivating you, take a good hard look... By Tara Sophia Mohr (Founder & Principal, Wise Living)

So, you’ve been getting to know your inner critic. You realize that the anxious, mean, voice in your head is actually in charge of many of the choices you make each day.

You see how its chatter about what you deserve prevents you from honoring your real dreams for your life. How it keeps you from sharing the bold, unique ideas that will get you moving in your career. How its pontifications about your belly and arms and thighs make a day at the beach a lot less fun.

You start to contemplate

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Berkeley Pitch Mixer Makes Networking With Entrepreneurs Fun

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Celebrating women's history month with a women's entrepreneur forum. By Ayori Z. Selassie (Co-Founder & Director, Pitch Mixer)

How many times have you attended an entrepreneur focused event and felt drained afterwards? If you live in the East Bay you’re even more used to feeling drained, not only for the effort required to impress and introduce yourself to so many strangers, but afterward you probably had to drive across the Bay just to get back home before you had to get back to work in the morning! Doesn’t that sound exhausting? It is!

The great news is Pitch Mixer is not like that! Last night we raised the roof for Women’s History Month with an Entrepreneur Forum featuring all women tech entrepreneur pitches, an all-women

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Technovation Challenge A Course In Entrepreneurship For High School Girls – And Their Mentors

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Words of wisdom from Technovation Challenge speakers, and invitation to Pitch Events. By Jeri Countryman (Director of Curriculum & Assessment, Iridescent)

The Technovation Challenge is a program to promote women in technology by giving girls the skills and confidence they need to be successful in computer science and entrepreneurship by developing a mobile phone app prototype, writing a business plan and pitching their idea to a panel of venture capital and technology startup judges.

During the ten-week program girls are supported by high school teachers and female mentors in the technology industry. This spring over 500 girls are participating

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Female Founders To Watch From UC Berkeley

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UC Berkeley breeds high-tech, high-growth entrepreneurs, investors and innovators. By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)

While Stanford University sits squarely in the heart of the Silicon Valley with venture capital firms lining Sand Hill Road nearby, UC Berkeley has been quietly delivering promising women leaders in new tech and startups as well.

Here are female founders from UC Berkeley to watch:

Jen O'Neal (Co-Founder & CEO, Tripping) Jen co-founded Tripping, a travel site offering people to meet and places to stay. Follow her on Twitter at @JenONeal.

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Increasing Women Entrepreneurship: StartOut’s Lesbian Entrepreneur Mentorship Program

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Apply by April 12, 2012 to be a mentee in the pilot entrepreneurship program! By Leanne Pittsford (Founder & CEO, StartSomewhere & Board Member, StartOut)

There’s been an increased focus recently on the gender inequality in startups, in Silicon Valley and especially among VC firms. If you’re like me, these stats probably drive you a little crazy. Though there’s the big rallying cry to get women more involved, it seems at times like an insurmountable challenge. Broken down into smaller pieces, though, we can make a measurable impact.

If conventional wisdom dictates that success with your startup success yields experience, money and connections; and it follows logically that experience, money and connections

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