StartupQuote: People were skeptical, but that’s always true when you do something that hasn’t been done before
It's Women 2.0 Wednesday at StartupQuote with Jessica Livingston, Co-Founder of Y Combinator --
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3 Lessons Learned From Founders That Succeed
By Poornima Vijayashanker (Founder & CEO, BizeeBee) I've had the good fortunate to steal a few plays from the founder's playbook and wanted to share them in the hopes of shedding some light into what it takes to be a founder.
Lesson #1 -- Be a party crasher!
When I first moved to the Bay Area, I thought I needed to be invited to the startup scene. Then I realized that my invite wasn't lost in the mail or spam filter. I had to get out there, meet people and learn about the scene. I've seen too many girls, including myself, ask for permission instead of just showing up and participating.
... Read More... Bloomberg TV's Julie Hyman Talks to Women 2.0 CEO Shaherose Charania About Women Entrepreneurs
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)
Julie Hyman of Bloomberg TV laid out the numbers: women make up 56% of visitors of social networki... Read More...
Bloomberg TV’s Julie Hyman Talks to Women 2.0 CEO Shaherose Charania About Women Entrepreneurs
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0) Julie Hyman of Bloomberg TV laid out the numbers: women make up 56% of visitors of social networking sites and blogs, 25% of tech sector jobs are held by women, 8% of tech firms are started by women.
Shaherose Charania (CEO & Co-Founder of Women 2.0) reminds us why it's important to correct the imbalance --
"There are 2 big reasons. Women are influential offline and online, driving social activity and ecommerce.
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Testing Your Product at the Idea State (Before Alpha)
By Sabrina Kiefer (Author, The Smart Entrepreneur) Innovative businesses are typically surrounded by uncertainty. You can’t be entirely certain if your new idea will attract users and customers until you launch it.
If you are a web start-up aiming at the consumer market, your risk is somewhat lower than for other businesses, because your main investment in the early days will be programming time; you and your associates may be able to moonlight on the project while doing other work, put the product out, test it in the real market...
... Read More... Why Should We Increase Women's Participation in Technology, and How To Start Coding
By Adda Birnir (Co-Founder & Front-End Developer, Balance Media)
A week ago, I read a letter to the editor in the New York Times penned by Dr. Jane Margoli... Read More...
Why Should We Increase Women’s Participation in Technology, and How To Start Coding
By Adda Birnir (Co-Founder & Front-End Developer, Balance Media) A week ago, I read a letter to the editor in the New York Times penned by Dr. Jane Margolis, a researcher at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
In her letter, Dr. Margolis expressed the importance of continuing to support the participation of women and minorities in Computer Science, especially in light of the increased interest in the field.
... Read More... Cracking The Glass Ceiling: Female Leaders Alexa Andrzejewski, Shaherose Charania and Julia Hu Making Strides at Start-Ups
By Emily Glazer (Writer, Wall Street Journal) Women represent just over 15% of angel investors, and only 5% to 7% of partners at high-tech VC investor firms in the U.S., according to a recent study by Illuminate Ventures, an early-stage venture firm.
In an attempt to close the gap, a number of mentoring and investing organizations have popped up or grown significantly over the past few years, such as Women 2.0, Golden Seeds and Pipeline Fund.
In August 2009, designer Alexa Andrzejewski, who focuses on product strategy, research and design, attended
... Read More... Founder Labs Wraps Up Their First NYC Program
By Joanne Wilson (Blogger & Angel Investor, Gotham Gal) Founder Labs, a five week intensive program built to help people incubate their mobile start-up ideas just completed their first program in NYC.
Shaherose Charania is the force of nature behind this idea. Fred and I have been a big supporter of what she is doing. We both popped in a few evenings to hear where the companies were in their growth.
I was really impressed with what each of them were able to create in 5 weeks time (without knowing each other before...
... Read More... We Need A Black Zuckerberg or Jackie Robinson of Startups
By Hadiyah Mujhid (Co-Founder, BlackFounders) When I first met my mentee 3 years ago, the first thing that she said was, “I’m so happy that you’re black!” This was an hilarious moment for the both of us. She later explained that when her social worker mentioned that mentors were volunteers, she associated volunteering with white people. And that she was happy to have someone that looked like her -- a black female.
Accelerating the success of minority groups in the tech startup community is part of the work that NewMe Accelerator and BlackFounders are doing through connecting, equipping, and creating visibility. But this is just a start, and currently blacks’ exposure to startup networks are still limited.
The entire startup community needs to understand how diversity can effect innovation, which can impact profit margins.
... Read More... No "A" For Effort: Train and Study The Competition
By Lisa Maki (Co-Founder & President, BeliefNetworks)
I was thinking about elite performance today. Some people go after it, some are scared of it, some re... Read More...
No “A” For Effort: Train and Study The Competition
By Lisa Maki (Co-Founder & President, BeliefNetworks) I was thinking about elite performance today. Some people go after it, some are scared of it, some reject it, some are content to sit and watch it on TV. No matter your stance I challenge you to deny that not all people are created equal, or if we are, we sure don’t end up equal in the end.
I’m not talking about gender, race, or any of those other easy fall-back excuses as to why one or the other of us didn’t see and take our chances, I’m talking about elite performance at the individual level, not a demographic one.
... Read More... Cognitive Science and Software-Assisted Psychotherapy Startup Co-Founded by Eve Phillips
By Eve Phillips (Co-Founder & CEO, Empower Interactive) My background includes computer science degrees from MIT, an MBA from Stanford, and a number of roles in both software/internet operational positions (product management at Trilogy, strategy at Microsoft, CEO at Chirp) as well as on tech investing teams (Vector, Greylock).
These would have set me up well to continue to work in pure-play internet businesses, but I have always been fascinated by psychology and cognitive science...
... Read More... Female Founders to Watch in Singapore
By Aihui Ong (Founding CEO & CTO, Love With Food) Did you watch The Social Network? Where is Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook? He's in Singapore, investing in startups. Even Plug and Play recently opened their Asian Headquarters in Singapore.
With a business-friendly environment and attractive tax incentives for investors, Singapore is quickly becoming one of the hot startup scenes in Asia. Whether it's using technology to educate children or provide entertainment, these female entrepreneurs in Singapore are definitely creating a stir in Asia!
... Read More... Angel Investor Esther Dyson on Women Entrepreneurs and Health-Focused Startups
Women 2.0 asks Esther Dyson, angel investor in companies like Flickr and 23andMe, about opportunities for entrepreneurs and the women entrepreneurs in her portfolio.Esther Dyson: The opportunities for women are basically the same as opportunities in general. They are not currently in video sharing or yet another social network (ie. "if we get 10 million people we'd be wildly successful"). People forget that to get the wide audience you need, you need to spend a lot on marketing or have something unique.
In general, the opportunities aren’t so much strategic, but specific to an individual. What do you know?
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