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Quantifying The Self Includes Sex, Dating And Disease

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By Leslie Zeigler (Creative Director, Rock Health) Go ahead. Giggle at the article Sexual Activity Tracked by FitBit Shows Up in Google Search Results (discovered by Rock Health mentor Lee Byron). Then reflect for a moment on the huge potential of that data, even just in the world of online dating.

Could sites cross-match their profiles with FitBit’s, allowing users to find those with compatible sexual styles and levels of vigor? How about determining if two people’s devotion to physical activity (other than in the bedroom) aligns -- not just through self selected answers, but through the use of real data?

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Why We Don’t Have More Women Running Startups

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By Heidi Isern (Contributing Writer, Women 2.0) Why aren’t more women-run startups funded? Because there aren’t more women-run startups!

According to Women 2.0, women found only 11% of technology companies. The question remains: Whose job is it to change that?

I recently went to Los Angeles to help conduct a panel with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs on the state of the economy. Topics to be discussed included the startup bubble, new accelerators, and financing options for 2012. The men outnumbered

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Tech Industry Needs A Makeover To Attract More Women, Girls

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By Leah Eichler (Contributing Writer, Femme-O-Nomics) Women in technology love to talk about the lack of women in technology, especially those who reside at the top. So on January 1, 2012, when Virginia Rometty takes the helm of IBM Corporation as its first female chief executive officer, joining Meg Whitman as the CEO of HP as one of the few women in charge of a high-profile tech company, we should interpret this as success, right?

Probably not. As many in the tech industry argue, the dearth of women in the industry overall contributes to that lack of representation at the C-suite level. And the lack of

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Joanne Wilson: An Angel Who Bets On Women-Led Companies

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By Suzanne Axtell (Technology Evangelist, O'Reilly)  

Blogger, mother, foodie, and hardcore New Yorker Joanne Wilson (@TheGothamGal) is one of a few female angel investors.

Her approach to investing is unabashedly women-centric.

As she explains in the following interview, she's a believer in the power of the startup ecosystem to influence the economies of New York and beyond.

Suzanne Axtell: What inspired you to move into the venture capital (VC) space?

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Working On Startups, Working Like A Man

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By Morra Aarons-Mele (CEO, Women Online) There is constant discussion about whether women, tech startups, and ovaries mix. Despite the fact that women start small businesses at a faster rate than men, the hand-wringing only seems to reach a wide audience when the startup in question is in the tech or social media space, and it might require venture capital to grow.

The argument goes that men have the money and they make the decisions about which startups to fund. And men might hesitate to fund a woman of childbearing age because she might have kids (or she does have little kids) and might lose interest in

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Opportunity For Young Women: Thiel “20 Under 20” Fellowship

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By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0) The "20 Under 20" Fellowship provides individuals under 20 years old $100,000 to leave traditional educational systems for 2 years -- no finals, no student loan debt, just the freedom and support to focus on creative ideas that can help change the world.

While much has been said about the need to encourage more women in scientific and technological pursuits, the Thiel Fellowship is an innovative and prestigious place for young women to follow their passions in a highly creative, collaborative and supportive environment. The relationships that Fellows build

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Grandma Wins “Apps Against Abuse” Tech Challenge

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By Dr. Val Jones (Contributing Writer, Better Health) There aren’t too many grandmothers developing mobile health apps these days, but I met a charming one (Jill Campbell) at the mHealth Summit. Jill is a 60 year-old woman from Texas who has been actively concerned for the safety of herself and her daughter over the years.

“My daughter took a self-defense class,” Jill explained, “And she was taught the ‘fight or flight’ response to escape harm. I’m 60 years old. I’m not good at fighting and not very fast at fleeing. So what’s my third option?” Jill created the WatchMe 911 app

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STFU About What Women Want

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By Laura Klein (Principal, Users Know) In a recent post on TechCrunch, Penelope Trunk tells us (again) that most women don’t want to do startups.

First, I’d like to extend that to Asians, African Americans, Gays, and Latinos. Oh, and white men. Most of them don’t want to do startups either, because most people don’t want to do startups for a whole host of reasons.

Penelope tells us that women are different though, because women don’t want to join startups because women want to have babies. As evidence, she points out that most women downshift

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A Different Look At Startups (Vs. Penelope Trunk)

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By Joanne Wilson (Blogger & Angel Investor, Gotham Gal) Penelope Trunk's post titled "Stop Telling Women to do Startups" made the rounds this weekend. This is not the first time that we have heard from Penelope and I am sure it will not be the last. As I sat down to write my thoughts on her post and others comments, I chuckled to myself as I read the Editors note: Her opinions are her own. Well…they sure as hell are.

She does get one thing right from the very beginning of her post; Clearly, women have a choice.

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The Ins And Outs Of Women 2.0 With Founder Friday Host Julia Hu

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By Audrey Ghozael Ragonnaud (Founder, Women Tomorrow) WoTo brings you to Silicon Valley to meet the people behind the dynamic Women 2.0. As you know, one of WoTo’s goals is to provide you with the best tips and ideas so that you feel better prepared to face challenges related to the gender gap in the workplace.

If you are an entrepreneur, or interested in becoming one, you probably already know that there will be lots of ups and downs on your path. In fact, you can read our previous post on this topic. But let’s stay positive!

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Penelope Trunk’s Skewed Perceptions Of The World, Part 2

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By Anna Billstrom (Developer, Momentus Media) Editor's note: Founder and CEO of Lark, Julia Hu's editorial on pitching for venture capital as a woman is an excellent read on women starting companies and raising VC.

As usual, Penelope Trunk is fanning the flames and creating controversy (Part 1 is here). Her latest is in TechCrunch, "Stop Telling Women to Start Startups" (ironically linked to by a female startup CEO friend of mine).

If you don’t know Penelope Trunk, she had a blog 10 years ago about job-hunting (based on

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Misrepresented, Misunderstood, Miraculous Women Entrepreneurs

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By Sarah Granger (Contributor, San Francisco Chronicle)  

It’s no secret that San Francisco and Silicon Valley’s tech demographics skew heavily on the side of men. Rather than continue quietly observing this cultural inequity, over the past few years, more voices have brought attention to the issue.

Through increased publicity, thanks to speeches by leaders like Sheryl Sandberg and articles like this month’s feature in San Francisco magazine, the conversation around women entrepreneurs is beginning to change. Still, some of the discussion is going in the wrong direction – focusing only at those at the very top

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How A Class Assignment Turned Into My Startup

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By Jessica Lachs (Founder, GiftSimple) I never thought I would be an entrepreneur. In business school, I was the only person in my entrepreneurship class who didn’t raise her hand when the professor asked “How many of you hope to start a business within the next five years?” I didn’t think I was the type.

Entrepreneurs were mercurial, brash, took absurd risks and were men. Or so I thought. GiftSimple started as a class assignment my second year at The Wharton School. After positive market testing and some encouragement from VCs

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Prosperity Candle Holiday Gifts That Give Back (Made By Women For Women)

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Siiri Morley (Founding Partner, Prosperity Candle)  

For many of us, the holidays begin to feel devoid of meaning and more like an endless to do list. Are the holidays really about finding the best deal or buying unwanted gifts that don’t inspire? The holiday season, at its best, should be about sharing, giving back and creating a deeper connection with loved ones. And for women like the ones reading this blog, it would be ideal to also be able to support and promote women as business leaders and change-makers.

With the new gift collection from Prosperity Candle, you can avoid the typical frenzy of holiday gift shopping and find

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