Female Founders to Watch in Mobile
The recent 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and the Mobile Premier Awards brought together the global mobile community from carriers to handset manufa... Read More...
Save 20% on tickets to Startup Lessons Learned
Startup Lessons Learned unites those interested in what it takes to succeed in building a lean startup. On Friday, April 23rd, 2010 in San Francisco, Startup Lessons Learned will give practitioners and students of the lean startup methodology the opportunity to hear insights from leaders in embracing and deploying the core principles of the lean startup methodology.
Women speakers at Startup Lessons Learned are:
» Erin McKean (Co-Founder and CEO, Wordnik)
» Rashmi Sinha (Co-Founder and CEO, SlideShare)
» Clara Shih (Founder and CEO, Hearsay Labs)
» Cindy Alvarez (Product Manager, KISSmetrics)
» Laura Klein (Principal, Users Know)
Women 2.0 members save 20% on Startup Lessons Learned tickets with discount code "WOMEN2".
Women 2.0 “Will It Launch?” workshop (Feb. 6-7 in SF)
Ideas are a dime a dozen - how do you know which startup idea to focus on for success? That was exactly what we had in mind when putting together the two-day workshop "Will it launch?" in February 2010, led by serial entrepreneurs David Weekly (Founder & CEO, PBworks) and Poornima Vijayashanker (Founding Engineer, Mint) who communicated their battle plan to quickly assess and iterate on startup ideas.
How to make people more comfortable? Get out of their "shells" and expand beyond their comfort zone on day one so they make instant bonds and connections and perhaps find co-founders or make friendships?
SFimprov, a local amateur group, came up with a solution: Improv! We invited BATS pro improviser Kasey Klemm who taught everyone first thing in the morning how to connect, fail, brainstorm and get to know one another.
We all had tons of fun doing improv, and the energy created sustained us through the weekend.
Our keynote speakers David and Poornima shared their personal journeys and startup experiences and stayed late into Saturday night's wine & cheese social hours to answer numerous Q&A and listen to personal startup/business cases.
Equipped with theory and business case examples from Day 1, we moved into Day 2 with practical application. We were focused on formulating a business idea into a clear and concise 3-minute pitch. Industry experts came to assist with concept and pitch practice - Betty Kayton, Dave McClure, David Ulevitch, Jorge Calderon, Rashmi Sinha and Saad Khan.
After we had enough practice, we gathered again for improv to get the energy up before the night finale - Pitch to the juries Betty Kayton, Dave McClure, David Ulevitch and Rashmi Sinha. This "Improv for presentation" workshop was led by another BATS pro Lisa Rowland with a bit of contribution from Dave McClure. Once again, energy up, lots of smiling faces and we are ready to go.
We had about 40 pitches that afternoon. All received feedback and thought this experience was invaluable. Our attendees who came from NYC and LA appreciated an opportunity to meet with like-minded people, the majority of whom were females and industry leaders. Our panel of experts were impressed with the quality of ideas, pitches and level of preparation!
This is what one of the participants had to say: "[Thanks for] providing a place to meet like-minded individuals. We keep in touch with a number of the women we met at the event. We are awed and inspired by each and every one of them," said Sognya Kesler.
Special thanks to Brent Tam who recorded the workshop! Videos are below:
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