At GigaOM RoadMap 2011, you'll meet the innovators and business leaders who are driving consumer connectedness. In one-on-one chats on stage with GigaOM editors, they will reveal business opportunities and trends unfolding over the next 12 to 18 months. All speakers have been selected and invited by GigaOM editors for their success in shaping the connected consumer marketplace. You'll hear from:
... Read More... By Phang Chun Kai (Co-Organiser, Rainmaker Live) On November 11, 2011 in AOL's HQ in Palo Alto, join Rainmakers and our community of entrepreneurs and startups for a discussion on "To Product/Market Fit and Beyond". The discussion panel will explore the benefits and risks of entrepreneurs going through programs like Y Combinator, AngelPad, etc in the exciting, ever-changing funding landscape of Silicon Valley. Our speakers will be Frank Chen (Andreessen Horowtiz), Josh Elman (Greylock Partners), Sharon Vosmek (Astia), Manu
... Read More... By Melissa Fudor (Program Manager, Women in Wireless) I have babies on the brain. As a woman in my mid-twenties, starting a family has always been something that will eventually happen in the far and distant future. I have the timeline figured out: finish college, travel, start a great flexible career, meet someone, fall in love, get married by 30, and get pregnant (the latest) by 32. But recently I’ve been dreaming up some pretty hefty career goals which includes becoming an entrepreneur and starting my own business, which has left me wondering two things:
By Grace Ng (Lead Interaction Designer, Snapette) There is a giant push for more female entrepreneurs right now led up by empowering initiatives and resources like Change the Ratio, Women 2.0, WITI, and The Daily Muse. With so much support and encouragement from the growing women in tech community, now is definitely a great time to take your step and run after your dreams. But as a female entrepreneur myself, I would like to take this time to share some of my experiences and missteps
... Read More... By J. Maureen Henderson (Contributor, Forbes) Australian entrepreneur Pemo Theodore spent five years in London trying to drum up venture capital funding for her digital matchmaking start-up. She came away empty-handed, but with a desire to explore the well-documented gender gap in funding for female-led startups.
Theodore interviewed dozens of venture capitalists, female founders and tech industry experts (both female and male), quizzing them on the challenges facing female founders and soliciting their perspectives on what was driving the female funding shortfall. In the end, she packaged a cross-section of these interviews
... Read More... By Myra Landsburg (Brand Champion, Grow VC)
When we started building what is now the Grow VCM platform, we had a vision for the future of entrepreneurship and investments, where anyone could participate in startup funding and be part of new innovations. We saw that entrepreneurs could gain the backing of larger global communities to create tomorrow’s innovations and participate in the journey from early on. Today, looking back, we’re delighted to see how far we have come as not just an organization but as a larger community in shaping the future of innovation. We’ve seen the global community
... Read More... By Kelly Hoey (CEO, Foundation for Social Change) Beauty Creams. Exercise Videos. Diets. We’re all skeptical -- “will it really work“ -- until we see actual results... It’s the same with networking. Until you hear that a friend was offered a job or scored a sought-after interview or received a career-enhancing assignment, you wonder if all the time and effort is really (I mean, really) worth it. It is worth it. Really.
... Read More... By Nellie Akalp (CEO, CorpNet) In 2010, women became the majority of the U.S. workforce for the first time in the country’s history. Also, 57% of college students are now women. While men continue to dominate the executive ranks and corporate board rooms, women now hold a number of lucrative careers: they make up 54% of accountants, 45% of law associates and approximately 50% of all banking and insurance jobs. These statistics, which appeared in Hanna Rosin’s Atlantic article “The End of Men”, have prompted considerable attention and debate.
Women are advancing in entrepreneurship as well.
... Read More... By Leslie Bradshaw (Co-Founder & President, JESS3) When you think about the need for more women occupying more power seats, what comes to mind? How about things like the boardroom, the C-suite, the Fortune 500 and the Forbes 400? What about places like Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Capitol Hill and The White House?
Well folks, add to your list: Wikipedia.
As the world’s #1 resource site in the world, we should all take pause in thinking about what it means that less than 10 percent
... Read More... By Alicia Liu (Co-Founder, Benbria) An Inc. article was posted a few weeks ago provocatively titled “The Case Against the All-Male Start-up”, and the same story appeared in Business Insider under “TRUTH: Women-Led Startups Have Fewer Failures”. The article cites a recent study conducted by Illuminate Ventures (registration required to download), which itself references and summarizes a wide body of other research. Notably, that women-led tech companies are less capital intensive, and have fewer failures.
... Read More... By Natasha Murashev (Co-Founder & Director of Operations, Holler)Since coming to Silicon Valley a little over a year ago, I fell in love with the hacker culture. It was incredible to meet people who had ideas and then actually went out and made them happen!
The problem was, I was a psychology major and do not have any coding experience. Nevertheless, I found some amazing people to start a startup with and it’s been an incredible journey so far. Yet, it is clear that my startup could use some more engineering help, and frustrating to have my hands tied up when it comes to helping out. That is why I decided to learn to code
... Read More... By Joan C. Williams & Rachel Dempsey (Authors, The New Girls' Network) As we discussed in our last post, a recent study by the non-profit Catalyst found that the best strategy to get a raise is to make your achievements known around the office. Seems simple enough, right? Let your co-workers know about a deal that went your way. Be sure to get credit for ideas you originate. Mention that big account you just landed at the next partner's meeting. Except, as it turns out, self-promotion is just as likely to make people think you're a jerk as it is to make people think you deserve a raise or a promotion.
... Read More...