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TOC New York 2012 Call for Proposals: Due August 29

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By Kat Meyer (Co-Chair & Community Manager, Tools for Change, O'Reilly Media) Every year, the greatest minds in the publishing and tech industries converge at O'Reilly's Tools of Change Conference (TOC) to map out the future of publishing, and to share their experiences and expertise. We're in the planning stages of TOC 2012, and if you've got a great proposal for a presentation you'd like to make, we'd love to hear from you.

We're not looking for talking heads to deliberate on the state of the industry as it is; we're looking for original people with great ideas, mad skills, and real-world experience who can explore

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The Importance of Off-the-Record Conversations with Engineers

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By Cindy Alvarez (Head of Products and Customer Development, KISSmetrics) Do you talk to the engineers you work with?

I mean, outside of specs, user stories, and meetings to review specs or user stories?

If you aren’t, you’re leaving a lot of untapped potential on the table and your company is losing a competitive advantage because of it.

I mean, you’re probably pretty smart.

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Tech is Really a Man’s Man’s Man’s World

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By Linda Forrest (Associate, Francis Moran & Associates)  

Reading a recent post about the role formal education plays in entrepreneurship, I was reminded of an article I read a few months ago about the "real reason women quit engineering."

In Stemming The Tide: Why Women Leave Engineering, two University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professors report on their survey of over 3,700 women with engineering degrees. They found that just one in four women who had left the field reported doing so to spend more time with family.

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Golden Seeds’ Managing Director Stephanie Hanbury-Brown on Women Entrepreneurs

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By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0) We talk to Managing Director Stephanie Hanbury-Brown of Golden Seeds, a nationwide angel network.

Women 2.0: What is your reaction to the latest news about women entrepreneurs and investors?

Stephanie Hanbury-Brown: Women get described as consumers and managing 80 percent of the household wallet. We need to turn that around and make it about investing, not spending. After all, who are we making rich in the process?

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Women 2.0 Save 20% on Tickets to Mega Startup Weekend (September 9-11 in Mountain View)

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By Maris McEdward (Community Manager, Startup Weekend) The Internet is full of articles describing, lamenting, and diagnosing the fact that there aren’t enough women in tech. And it’s true -- women are under-represented in technology and as entrepreneurs.

But talking about the problem doesn’t do a whole lot to change the situation. If women want to be better represented in the worlds of technology and entrepreneurship, we have to act.

I’ve seen firsthand, again and again, the power of doing over discussing. At Startup Weekend, we’ve taken the motto of “No Talk. All Action.” to heart. Entrepreneurs know that to build companies

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Apply by August 15: Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program

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By Sharon Vosmek (CEO, Astia) Entrepreneurs –- we want to remind you that Astia's application deadline of August 15 is quickly approaching! We know the life of an entrepreneur means that you are always busy and searching for those spare minutes but now is a great time to apply to Astia! Applying by August 15 provides an opportunity to participate in our not to be missed Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program*, October 10-15, 2011.

Apply now to benefit from the programming, advisory services, investor connections and peer-to-peer network designed by Astia to accelerate growth.

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High School Intern’s Experience at a Women-Led Software Startup

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By Carmen Vargas (Intern, Experience in Software) I’ve been in Eureka! since the 7th grade, and I was thrilled to finally get an internship this year. Eureka! is a program that takes place during the summer and school year. It helps teenage girls prepare for college and it prepares them to work in a world where math, science, and technology are used.

In my interview with Zakiya, Eureka!’s coordinator, I informed her about the different interests I have, which include fashion designing, drawing, and cosmetology. I had to wait about 3 weeks until Zakiya would announce the internship sites.

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Lean Startup Machine: 1 Part Learning + 1 Part Mentorship.. Stir!

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By Kelley Boyd (Founder & Strategist, Think Experience) My first experience at Lean Startup Machine (LSM) was also the first Lean Startup Machine ever held. It was just over a year ago, and I mean that literally. I walked into LSM at Hive at 55 and began relationships that I hold among the closest in my professional life today.

As an attendee at the first #LsmNYC, I absorbed firsthand guidance from two actual practitioners of Lean: Brant Cooper, Co-Author of The Entrepreneurs Guide to Customer Development, and Giff Constable, who was going “lean” with his startup Aprizi.

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A Site for Sore Eyes: My Startup Story of Color P.I.

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By Asmau Ahmed (Founder, color p.i.) My startup story begins long before color p.i. was chosen as one of a select few Astia clients, long before I built the technology, and certainly long before I wrote the business plan while I was at Columbia Business School. My story begins with years of unsuccessfully navigating cosmetic counters and aisle in search of colors to make me look my best. I would spend hours trying on makeup only to come home and realize that I didn’t like the colors. As an engineer and beauty enthusiast, I was compelled to address the problem with technology.

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Charging for Product: Why Price Matters, Even For Non-Profits

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By Karen Zeller (Contributing Writer, Women 2.0) Let’s say you create a new innovative product for the masses, which will change the way people live and change the world. That doesn’t sound strange for most of us working in technology here in Silicon Valley; that’s the ambition of many around here.

What if your ambition is to help the four billion people in the world who get no stock options, free snacks, let alone health insurance.

Imagine you want to create products that dramatically improve the health and productivity of those who make four dollars a day or less. Why not raise grants or get government money

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Cynthia Ringo, Managing Director of DBL Investors, on Women-Led Firms and Solving Big Problems

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By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0) Last week, we saw a flurry of activity around a news article stating that DBL Investors is the only women-led VC firm in the United States. We asked Cynthia Ringo, Managing Partner at DBL Investors about it.

Cynthia Ringo: We know there are more women-led VC firms, and, If we don't know them already, we love to know about them. Starvest, on the East Coast, also has significant assets under management, and a great track record. I'm not certain, but I believe the article was written on NVCA data, and we did not provide the headline. We know there are other women-led funds, but clearly still few enough to be notable.

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5 Ways to Stop Dreaming and Start Building Your New Business – Save 50% for Online Assessment on Your Startup Idea

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By Jenn Houser (Founder, Upstart Bootcamp) Dreaming is easy. Starting? Not so much. Here are five ways to make the first steps easier.

As a serial entrepreneur, I've had my share of new business ideas and I find it fun to think about them. Many don’t last longer than it takes me to say, "Hey, it would be cool to (insert idea du jour)." But occasionally an idea sticks with me. I find myself dreaming about turning it into a business. But actually taking the first steps can feel intimidating, even when I’ve done it before.

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