article placeholder

My Life As An Accidental Entrepreneur

Editor

By Sumaya Kazi (Founder & CEO, Sumazi) Editor's note: Sumaya Kazi is co-hosting Founder Friday San Francisco on November 4, 2011. RSVP for Founder Friday here.

It was never my dream to become an entrepreneur. And yet at age 22, while working full-time at Sun Microsystems, I accidentally became one.

By age 24, BusinessWeek recognized me as one of America’s Top Young Entrepreneurs as the only solo woman featured, and by CNN as a Young Person Who Rocks, for starting

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Women-Founded Businesses That Make Technology Simple

Editor

By Cheryl Isaac (Contributor, Forbes) Some have addressed the “lack of women in tech startups,” or mentioned that women should stop blaming men for the lack of women startups.

Recently, I read a post from three-time-start-upper Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazeen Careerist, about why she stepped down from her startup. Interestingly enough, Penelope also thinks that women don’t want to do startups because they are under pressure to have children.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Create Social Impact With Your Business (SaveUp, World of Good)

Editor

By Priya Haji (Co-Founder & CEO, SaveUp) Editor's note: Priya Haji is co-hosting Founder Friday San Francisco on November 4, 2011. RSVP for Founder Friday here.

My entrepreneurial imagination gets inspired by seeing how I can help people through an innovative use of business or technology. My dad and my grandmother are my role models. My grandmother was part of Gandhi’s movement in India, and she showed me the importance of a commitment to improving the world.

The first social venture I started was in high school with my dad. We created a free health clinic in my hometown of Bryan, Texas, and it is still there serving thousands of people.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Crucial Skills Female Entrepreneurs Can Learn from How Men Date

Editor

By Christina A. Brodbeck (Co-Founder & CEO, TheIceBreak) Startup life is a lot like dating. You and your investors meet over coffee, over dinner, get to know each other better, all with the goal of seeing if there is a spark and a good fit for partnership.

All entrepreneurs need to learn how and who to approach, how to sell themselves, and how to handle rejection and keep going.

Men usually pick up these crucial social skills as they navigate the singles scene, but women, more commonly the pursued, may need to put some extra effort into learning how to promote themselves and their companies.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

My Business Mentor Is Pulitzer Prize Winner Katharine Graham (The Washington Post)

Editor

By Shannon McClenaghan (Co-Founder & VP Corporate Development, Vectiv) Mentors are important at all career stages, especially if you are an entrepreneur.

My mentor was Katharine Graham, the owner and publisher of the Washington Post, and was one of the best mentors I’ve ever had.

I was introduced to Katharine Graham just after selling Vectiv, the software company I co-founded in 1998. After $23MM, we needed another round of capital and our investors had stepped up with a term sheet. We were thrilled. Then, as

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

4 Reasons Why You Should Apply To PITCH With Women 2.0

Editor

By Rebecca Lipon (Application & Judges Coordinator, PITCH Competition 2012) Pitching your early-stage startup is hard work -- and investigating funding sources is a serious task for those who want to go big.

There is no secret sauce for startup success, but early exposure to VCs is a key component in getting investment and iterating on your product. With the mission of increasing the number of female founders starting startups, Women 2.0 created a path for women to gain feedback, coaching, and exposure to the best venture capital firms and startup executives.

This is the Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Calling All SF Entrepreneurs: Big Companies Need Your Help

Editor

By Arielle Patrice Scott (Founder, GenJuice) You have the capacity to think outside of the box, the guts to go where no one else will dare to go, and the ability to recruit teams who will believe in your ideas passionately enough to work for their promise. Now, your talents can be useful beyond your own business.

These skills are highly sought after by the largest companies in the world. They struggle to innovate and think of new business opportunities. In fact, most of the truly innovative ideas get marked with red tape within the bureaucracy. Once assigned this fate, the idea has no chance to grow further.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Starting Up Rentalia and Toprural, Top Travel Startups in Spain

Editor

By Marta Esteve (Co-Founder, Rentalia) Editor's note: Marta Esteve is co-hosting Founder Friday Madrid on November 4, 2011. FREE RSVP for Founder Friday here.

When I was 15, they asked me at school to write down how we imagined we would be in the year 2000 and I remember that I said I saw myself as a businesswoman. Quite interesting now I look back.

Perhaps I was influenced by the fact that my father had ventured out into the business world and came back home at night talking about his projects with a sparkle in his eyes.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Number of Female Fortune 500 CEOs At Record High

Editor

By Laura Petrecca (Contributor, USA TODAY) A record has been set for female leadership: More women are slated to take the reins of Fortune 500 companies than ever before.

Wednesday, pharmaceutical firm Mylan said Heather Bresch will succeed Robert Coury as CEO. Tuesday, IBM tapped Virginia "Ginni" Rometty to succeed Sam Palmisano, making her the first female CEO in the company's 100-year history. Both appointments are effective Jan. 1.

If no women step down before

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Zombies Invade 500 Accelerator, Hungry For BRAAAAAAAAINS

Editor

By Christine Tsai (Partner, 500 Startups) In recent weeks, residents of this quiet suburb have reported strange activity concentrated in the downtown area of Castro Street. There have been numerous sightings of zombies lumbering up and down Castro, mouths agape, in search of three things.

Noted by many Castro St business owners, they hear only these words over and over: “BRAAAAAAAINS. CUUUUUUUUUSTOMERS. MOOOOOOOOONEY.”

Extreme caution should be heeded. The 12th

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Four Ways to Market Your Mobile App (Creating The Virtuous Loop)

Editor

By Aurelie Guerrieri (Corporate Development, SendMe) Apps are either hits or misses -- or are they?

What if you have a great idea for a safety app, a fitness app, a personalization app, or a privacy app? You build it with sweat equity in your garage, and after weeks or months of agonizing over every feature,  it finally gets uploaded to the app store, and… nothing. Lots of really good, useful apps get buried amongst the mazes of the app stores.

The thinking used to be that if you build a good app, users will come. These dreams were fueled by stories of games

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

Easy as Pie? Teaching Code Literacy (Giving Tech Talks)

Editor

By Sarah Allen (Founder, Blazing Cloud) I’ve been doing technical talks for over 20 years, starting with guest lectures as a TA in college.

One of the main reasons I started giving tech talks professionally was because I didn’t see women doing it and felt that it was important for there to be a diversity of voices.

I spoke often to very small groups and women’s groups before I started speaking at conferences, and have found that speaking experience has elevated my status as an expert

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read
article placeholder

How to Avoid “Pink Ghetto” Software Development for Women

Editor

By Gloria W. Jacobs (Senior Freelance Software Developer, NYC) The expression "pink ghetto" when used in context of software development, refers to jobs (which are often offered to women and people new to the field) that will not help you grow your skill set or experience in productive ways.

During an economic crunch, these types of "pink ghetto" jobs become more prevalent and cleverly disguised. Students, minorities and women tend to be caught up in these types of offers -- not knowing how to see through a bad deal, or how to look for better alternatives. After reading this article, you will learn to recognize "pink ghetto" work. I also suggest ways to find better options.

... Read More...
Uncategorized0 min read