Girls In Tech

Startup Weekend is a grass roots organization of 15,000+ entrepreneurs/developers that rapidly develop new startups in 54 hours. Startup Weekend is a tech focused event currently operating in 60 cities spanning 18 countries and growing. During the event 75-200 attendees form 8-12 new ventures from mobile apps to web services to cupcake shops and anything between.

This is the second time that Startup Weekend is being held in Portland,Oregon. Girls In tech/Portland is a proud media supporter and sponsor. The event is open to anyone interested in the local entrepreneurial community, and it puts them in a setting where anything is possible. In the past 2 years, 280+ startups have started, 9,000+ entrepreneurs have been inspired. Teams have even started to generate revenue during the 54hr event, and others have even gone on to direct angel and VC investment. None of these stats take into account the amazing networking, ongoing professional relationships, and amazing experience that happen at every event.

Join us at Portland Startup Weekend: March 5-7, 2010 GIT members receive $10 off and use; discount code “girlsintech” register at http://portland.startupweekend.org/

Speakers & Mentors that will be there to help teams during the weekend:
Matt Compton (venture partner at Madrona and ex vp at Yahoo), Rob Wiltbank (venture partner at Montlake Capital and professor at Willamette U), Eric Doebele (Founder/CEO Reliable.remodeler.com), Nitin Khanna (Founder/CEO of MergerTech), Doug Fieldhouse (CEO of Vesta) and of course the guys from Mugasha Akshay and Justin will be there.

Learn more about Girls in Tech PDX or email ivo@girlsintech.net /tweet @mssonicflare

What we planned to do: publicize an event to girls in Silicon Valley, an iPhone app store competition in which they, grouped into teams, were to design and storyboard a brand new iPhone app.  They would have to think through a quick and dirty business plan and pitch it in 60 seconds. And the winners would take home brand new iPod Touches!

We hoped that by hosting a fun, enticing, and engaging competition, we could show the participating girls that careers in engineering and science weren’t limited to the stereotypical images of pocker protectors and protractors we see on TV.

What we did do: exactly that, and more.

As I walked around the room while the girls and their mentors were chattering excitedly about their ideas, I knew we had done it– we had clusters of girls at each table from all different schools in Silicon Valley, including a group of girls who traveled to Cupertino all the way from San Francisco that had already completed high school but were now participating in a program which prepares them for particular trades that require a certification program or two year degree. Everybody was talking to each other freely, shooting off ideas with confidence and finesse. Nobody cared that the tables were mixed up with girls of different ages (14-17) or that they hadn’t ever met before. Likewise they were interacting with each mentor with enthusiasm and respect. These mentors were women who had technical and engineering backgrounds who worked at Apple, Virgin America, and Admob and volunteered their time as resources for the inspiration and guidance of this group of girls during the competition. And everyone had a blast!

The feedback from the post-event survey was wonderfully positive. The girls said things like:

“I learned that there is a lot more to engineering than sitting behind a computer and [that] science and math really help.” “”I thought the mentors were cool and had a lot of variety of careers and I learned that a positive team-work attitude was cool.” “I learned that engineering is an option for girls and that I wouldn’t be alone.”

Ultimately, the winning app, titled “Stop, Shop and Go!” had most of the elements of a real iPhone app people clamor to use on a daily basis– the melding of geographic data, coupon codes, and (duh!) a shopping guide. All of the apps that were dreamt up that day were feasible– now if we could only create them all! The presentations, while limited to 60 seconds, were vivid, engaging, amusing, and fearless. These girls rocked it.

I would say, without hesitation, that the Girls in Tech mentorshorship debut was a resounding success. I would also say, this raises the bar so high on what’s still to come!

In the spring, we’re taking the involvement to a whole new level. We are partnering with Iridescent again to put on the Technovation Challenge 2010! This time, it won’t be one evening, but several months of teamwork, leadership, and engineering. The girls will learn, with the guidance of professional women in the tech industry, how to design and program cool mobile apps using App Inventor for Android, a new programming language developed by Google. Once created, these apps will be presented to a real team of venture capitalists for prizes, feedback, and the chance to be recruited into summer internships at some of the coolest local startups. Don’t you wish you were still in high school?

We can’t make this level of awesomeness happen, however, without help. If you are a female professional in the Silicon  Valley area, I hope that you will think about joining us for our program in February.  We will be working with the students twice a week for 8 weeks (Tuesdays and Thursdays 5pm – 7pm beginning on February 23rd).  The girls and their mentors (looking at you!…hopefully) will work in teams to learn how to program mobile apps for Android and they will develop working prototypes.  The teams will also get coaching from VCs and entrepreneurs on writing a business plan for their app ideas.  We are building an exciting team of VCs, entrepreneurs, and speakers that will focus on teaching various parts of the program, so it promises to be a great learning experience for students and mentors alike.  If you have ever done any kind of programming before or are interested in learning how to program in this new language, the girls would greatly benefit from working with you, so please consider joining.

We even had a fellow GIT pro photographer hook it up! Thanks Elizabeth McGinnis!

One of the things that we learned from our experience on Friday is that it works much better to have two mentors per team, since mentors often have other commitments and may have to step out from time to time.  So if you’re interested in mentoring in the Spring, but are not sure if you can make it to every meeting, let us know and we can either pair you up with another mentor or you can sign up with a friend!

Thanks E McG for capturing these ladies' true essence!

Girls in Tech and Iridescent made something really cool happen for a group of enthusiastic girls this past Friday. We want to do it again, on a much bigger and hopefully even more impacting scale. Will you help us?

Last month it was that time of year again: Panel Picker Voting for the Annual South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference in Austin, TX. Sound familiar? Check out fellow GIT blogger Kristine Gloria’s post about it here: http://girlsintech.net/2009/08/31/girls-in-tech-at-sxsw-2010/

Each year the public votes online for which proposed panels should make it through to being accepted for the conference. I submitted a panel proposal, titled “Impact of Women in Technology”. Whether the panel makes it through to the final round and becomes an official SXSWi panel or not, I do want to share some of my thoughts on the subject, as well as hear everyone else’s and get some great discussion going on this.

For all you girls out there, was there a female presence that got you excited about tech? Maybe it was a mother, sister, aunt, or friend. Perhaps someone well respected in technology today, like Social Media Strategist Erica O’Grady, or Ad-Village CEO Marissa Louie for example?

If you do have an example like this, what about them or their journey in the tech world inspired or empowered you to pursue your dreams? How important do you think their roles are as pillars of Women in Technology to the future of Women in Tech? For me, two of those people are Tekzilla Co-Host & Gadget Guru Veronica Belmont, & New media producer and star of “The Guild”, Felicia Day. These two women are strong willed, have shown great initiative in their respective spaces, and have become pioneers and tastemakers in the fields of Journalism & New Media.

How have women influenced and changed the face of technology as we know it? This includes anything even remotely tech related, whether it be Journalism, Gaming, PR, Marketing, Social media, & more. Are there any famous cases of companies or brands that have seen great success due to Women in Technology? What issues as a Girl in Tech have you had to face? What issues have other women who’ve made a major impact in technology had to face on their paths to success? What would you tell younger or newer women entering the tech space to help them overcome these hurdles and encourage growth of the amount of women in the tech field?

Why are women in tech important to you, or the Tech Space in general?
I hope this post serves as some great food for thought, & would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and discussion (preferably in the comments below) about this!

Thanks!

On October 10th we will be inviting all of the Chapter Managing Directors and Advisory Board Members from all over the world to Santa Cruz for our Retreat where we will be working together to foster the growth of the organization.

The agenda for the retreat is shaping up very nicely and we wanted to share our progress. The event location is currently TBD but we plan on making a decision this week! We are very excited about the program we are putting together and look forward to making the retreat an annual event. If you are interested in assisting in the planning of the event, would like to sponsor or would like to attend, please email seana at girlsintech dot net.

Girls in Tech First Annual Retreat Agenda

October 9th, 2009
- 7 – 9 PM Welcome Mixer

October 10th, 2009
- 8:30 AM Coffee & Breakfast, Networking
- 9:00 AM Welcome remarks by Adriana Gascoigne (Founder)
- 9:15 AM  ‘Chapter Evolution’ Morning session round table on what works and what doesn’t
- 10:00 AM Keynote (Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal and AllThingsDigital)
- 10:30 AM Break
- 11:00 AM Public Speaking Workshop with Bronwyn Saglimbeni and Kristine Schaefer
- 1:00 PM Lunch
- 2:00 PM Social Media Scalability for Social Businesses with JD Lasica
– 3:00 PM Women in VC Panel
- 4:00 PM Fireside chat w/ Priya Ganapati (formerly of Red Herring, currently at TheStreet & WIRED)
- 5:00 PM Closing remarks: Where we are taking GIT from here
- 5:30 PM Beach BBQ & Bonfire!

Warmly written by her Dad, Shervin Pishevar, CEO and founder of SGN in 2006

Where are all the female Venture Capital Partners?

I have been on a major recruiting drive for Freewebs recently searching incredibly hard for a top Vice President of Advertising Sales. I have been having meetings all over from New York, California and here in Washington, D.C. In the last week I have had 3 trips where I left at 5am and came back home at 1am. I have met some amazing candidates so it has been worth the loss of sleep.

Last week in one of these cities I had an early 8am meeting with a top candidate who happened to be female- real stellar human being. We got to talking about her kids and my kids (we each have a young daughter) and we honed in on the lack of opportunities for women in the venture capital space. She was a top MBA, multiple VP level leadership positions and in charge of tens of millions in sales at each position. She has been in the market recently and had a few meetings with Venture firms in her city and was shocked at the dearth of females at the firms.

Less than 10%
I told her that in the 8 years since I started my first company and in my countless meetings with venture firms I had had only 2 meetings with female partners. One was with Ann Winbald at Hummer Winblad in 1999 and the other was with Heidi Roizen at Softbank in 2000 (now Mobius Capital). If I had to pin down the number of venture firms I had met with I would have to guess between 30 and 40 venture firms all over the country geographically dispersed from California, Colorado, the Northeast, Midwest and the South. Statistically that comes out to about 5 to 6.66% of the firms I met with having a female partner that I actually met with.

It turns out that a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2004 (www.emkf.org) confirmed my more unscientific assumption. The study, “Gatekeepers of Venture Growth: The Role and Participation of Women in the Venture Capital Industry,” found that women hold about 10 percent of management positions at venture capital firms and that only about a quarter of all venture firms have a woman at the decision-making level. This makes my 5-6% being partners sound pretty accurate.

That simply is UNACCEPTABLE. When I looked at that VP of Sales candidate I saw a glimpse of the future potential of my own daughter. I saw a woman who is capable of pretty much everything she set out to achieve who was incredibly intelligent, insightful and full of integrity and hard to find character. Any Venture Firm should kill to hire her (if they can beat me to her of course!- and, no, I will not tell you who she is if you email me!). She should have no barriers to becoming a partner at a top Venture Firm if she wanted to. However, those barriers are very much alive and well in the venture community.

Let’s Do It For Darya
I told her how I was raising my own 5 year old daughter, Darya, to be fearless and supremely confident in her abilities- without any of the insecurities that society might slowly try to induce in her. So far, I have succeeded all too well as Darya has essentially become the CEO of the household and now tells ME what to do. Her confidence has become invincible because everyday I try to instill in her that she has my absolute and utter faith in her mind and soul- that her voice will be heard by me at any time and anywhere and that her voice counts. I overexert my self to plant these seeds of confidence because I know that all too soon, when I am not there to be with her as she grows, this investment of faith will serve as her reservoirs of inner strength-these seeds will be her future roots keeping her steady in any storms. I can visualize her in high school and college and in her future career when the pangs of doubt might seize her and make her second guess her own judgement and I know with every ounce of my being that if I fail her now I will fail her then and she in turn will fail to raise her voice and be counted.

Too may elements of our culture and society demoralize and discount the utterly important and vital voice of women. At the end of the day raising a fearless daughter is not enough- all men and women must band to together and help make sure the doors of true meritocracy are not left closed to her and other women’s talents in the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Springboard Enterprises is hosting the first venture capital forum exclusively for women-led Life Sciences companies- AllThingsLifeSciences 2009.

The organization is actively seeking early and later stage biotech, diagnostics, therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, health IT, health care products and services, agribio, cleantech, and other life science companies led by women to present.  Companies that are qualified through the three-round screening process will have the opportunity to present to active angel, venture and corporate investors in Silicon Valley, New York City and Madison WI in October 2009.

Companies selected to present will also have the opportunity to participate in a coaching program which includes a one-day orientation Bootcamp held in Washington, D.C.  At this time, presenters will be paired with a dedicated team of at least three sector experts and investors who will play a critical role in assisting the entrepreneur with refining, and in some cases redefining, the content and effectiveness of her pitch.

Interested companies are encouraged to review the application guidelines and submit an online application here.  The deadline for applications is June 1, 2009. For more information visit www.springboardenterprises.org.

The sleek,  spacious offices of Mohr Davidow Ventures in leafy Menlo Park was the site of this week’s Girls in Tech event, “Meet the Thought Leaders of the Venture Capital Community”.   The ladies of MDV, Rowan Chapman (Life Sciences),  Katherine Barr (IT) and Marianne Wu (CleanTech) shared their personal experiences and insights as they gave us a peak into the world of venture capital.  I’ve captured their advice for entrepreneurs below.

The panelists analyze four main categories when looking at new companies to add to their portfolio:
1.  Market Risk (Is it a big market? Is the right timing?)
2.  Financial Risk (How much money is required to get the company to the next stage? How much total capital is required?)
3.  Technology Risk (How difficult is it to develop?)
4.  People Risk (Why this entrepreneur? What makes them special?)

The panelists advised entrepreneurs against making these common mistakes:
1.  Don’t come across as arrogant (arrogance works for some but not for most)
2.  Don’t duck questions or come ill-prepared to answer questions.
3.  Don’t assume the VC knows your space as well as you do. Raise the level of understanding so that your value prop is easily understood by non-subject matter experts.
4.  Don’t include an exit slide. Concentrate on how you are going to build a great company, not on how you plan to cash out.
5.  Don’t exaggerate.  VCs normally spend 1-3 months doing due diligence before investing. They’ll know if you exaggerate, and you’ll lose credibility.

Our panelists emphasized following these tips for success:
1. Think big or go home. VCs are looking for visionary entrepreneurs who will change the market landscape.
2. Get a warm introduction to the VC  — It’s all about relationships!
3. A 20-page slide deck is much preferred to a 50-page business plan.
4. Capture interest in the first 5-10 minutes. You may have an hour to present, but the first 5-10 minutes are the most important.

A big thank you to the phenomenal ladies of MDV for generously sharing their time, experiences, and advice with us!

If there’s anything I’ve left out of this post that you think is important to add, I welcome your comments.

Last week’s blog on Recession Sports received a ton of positive feedback!  Thanks to all those who signed up for the Recession Sports Group.    We have nearly twenty people who are fired up to meet weekly for a bit of sport and networking.   If you haven’t signed up, it’s not too late.  And if you’ve already signed up on the Meetup page, make sure to also add yourself to the Recession Sports Group on Facebook.   This will make it easier for you to invite others and share the group with your friends.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone out at Moscone Recreation Center next Tuesday, April 28!

For those of you who are looking ahead to the same old ho-hum week of job searching, why not inject your week with a shot in the arm by attending Ad:Tech SF?!  The digital marketing event is at the Moscone Center from April 21-23, and the Expo Hall pass is only $35 if you register by EOD Monday, April 20th.  The pass gives you full access to the expo hall, keynotes and ad:tech after-parties.  This is a great opportunity to get the latest scoop on today’s digital marketing trends.  Plus $35 is an amazing deal for 3 days of networking, learning, and partying!  Girls in Tech is sponsoring an ad:tech party Tuesday night… All you need is an ad:tech badge to get in.  RSVP here for the party.

It’s a busy week!  Girls in Tech is also co-hosting an event for you to “Meet the Thought Leaders of the Venture Capital Community” on Wednesday, April 22nd at 6:30pm in the Menlo Park offices of Mohr Davidow Ventures.  It promises to be an interactive and valuable event.  You can RSVP here.

During a down economy, it’s difficult to grasp how venture capital firms are continuing to thrive and prosper by making strategic investments in IT, Life Sciences, GreenTech and every other sector that is destined to obtain major revenues, become profitable, achieve an attractive exit or even IPO. MDV has upheld not only a strong track record of investing in promising portfolios but also, has proven time and time again that they hire and cultivate relationships with the right people at the right time. During this Girls in Tech session we will highlight three of these women with powerfully impressive backgrounds in their academic, professional, and personal careers alike.

As thought leaders in their respective fields, Girls in Tech is honored to showcase these female role models that represent some of its major guiding principles: engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. Through this panel discussion we hope to provide skills, share experiences and provide answers to questions on what it takes to become a successful venture capitalist and how to make strategic investments in some very influential industries. The panelists will touch upon collaborating on winning products and marketing strategies, developing smooth operations, establishing effective distribution strategies, and fine-tuning business models.