Here is a story from another member of the House of Mikko team in Women 2.0 Labs. This time, an entrepreneur with a development background shares her story of living the dream:
Vida Ha’s Story
I moved to the Bay Area at the end of the last year with the same dreams of every engineer in Silicon Valley — that I might one day start my own company in the distant future. Then, three months ago, I was finally struck by the magical “great idea meteorite” — an idea I felt passionate about. Read More »
Two weeks into Women 2.0 Labs with three weeks to go… This week, we hear from a fresh MBA graduate working on a beauty genome website.
Kimberly Dillon’s Story
I had been in the Bay Area for about 4 days before I started the Women 2.0 Labs program. Since then, my nights and weekends have been completely focused on charging forward with my business idea. When people ask me about landmark/touristy things I have done in the city, I laugh because I have spent most of my free time at Pier 38 and startup events. Read More »
Mobile meets cloud at GigaOm’s Mobilize conference on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 in San Francisco, CA. The conjunction of mobile computing and cloud-based services has created product and market growth. Mobilize 2010 brings together thought leaders and practitioners of mobile web ecosystems for discussions, demos and debate.
The success of touch-based tablet devices is likely to see the addition of subscriber numbers. Then, add to that base a legion of machines as subscribers -– your car, your fridge, your TV for example — and you have the makings of a vast new opportunity. At Mobilize, an A-list roster of speakers will examine what new opportunities are enabled by broadband wireless and how the proliferation of new device types creates opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and consumers. The Mobilize shedule and our speaker list is increasing daily. For more info and to register, click here.
Women 2.0 members save $50 on tickets with coupon code “WOMEN2″ when you register here.
One week into Women 2.0 Labs (Summer 2010 Edition) with four more weeks to go. Women 2.0 Labs will launch five startups on August 5th, 2010 at Women 2.0 Labs Pitch Night.
Here is the story from one of the startup teams in Labs:
Rebecca Woodcock’s Story
Silicon Valley is the place for entrepreneurs. The entire ecosystem is set up for startup building, everywhere you meet someone starting or funding a company, and there is such a pay-it-forward mentality to help new entrepreneurs. It was time to take my shot. Read More »
Here are some female founders to watch. They are also the Chief Operating Officers at their startups! Check them out:
Elena Haliczer (Co-Founder & COO, Adaptive Semantics)
Elena’s startup Adaptive Semantics was acquired by the Huffington Post in June 2010. Follow Elena on her Twitter @elliesemantic and on Tumblr as startupgirl!
Laney Whitcanack (Co-Founder & COO, Big Tent)
Laney previously co-founded The Princess Project. Laney currently serves as COO of Big Tent, a women-led startup funded by Mohr Davidow and Menlo Ventures. Check out their team here!
Christine Lemke (Co-Founder & COO, Sense Networks)
Christine is an early-stage startupper. Prior to Sense Networks, she co-founded Channel Velocity and was the first employee at Returns Online. Follow Christine on her Twitter @cklemke!
Dina Kaplan (Co-Founder & COO, Blip.tv)
Dina oversees industry marketing, public relations, finance, key partnerships and human resources for blip.tv. Follow Dina on Twitter @dinakaplan and on Tumblr as dinakaplan!
Susan Coelius-Keplinger (Co-Founder & COO, Triggit)
Susan co-founded Triggit, a venture-funded online advertising technology company. Follow Susan on Twitter @sueck!
Do you know more female founders of startups that are currently serving as COO? Let us know in the comments below.
Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX) and Jason Calacanis (CEO of Mahalo) are speaking at The Founder Showcase on Tuesday evening, August 3rd in Mountain View, CA. This quarterly start-up pitch and networking event brings together over 275 investors, founders, and members of the press to hear speeches from leading CEOs, and pitches from 10 hot technology start-ups in an open Pitch Competition.
Women 2.0 members save 15% on tickets with coupon code “w20″ here.
Watch as ten of the most promising early-stage companies, as selected by over 14,500 registered CEO Members of TheFunded.com, present their companies to the Silicon Valley elite. A panel of investors will provide critical feedback of the pitches, and the two best companies will face off in a “Showcase Showdown” lightning round to determine the Grand Prize Winner. There is also a networking and table area where investors and start-ups will convene with food and drinks. Tickets start at just $40, but there is a very limited number available. For more information or to apply to the free Pitch Competition, click here.
Founder Friday is a Women 2.0 networking event organized in partnership with liked-minded organizations like Startup Weekend. Everyone has to eat, so why not share a meal and startup stories? Then we will walk over to Startup Weekend together after dinner.
Join fellow founders, both aspiring and current, for dinner together before Startup Weekend San Francisco. Elizabeth Knopf (current founder of a stealth startup) has made reservations at District for 5pm on Friday, July 23rd, 2010. Please RSVP here by Wednesday, July 21, 2010.
We have reserved an area in the front lounge area at District. Ticket price covers 1 drink (additional food and drinks will need to be paid for separately). Then we will walk a few blocks over to KickLabs for Startup Weekend, which starts at 6:30pm.
Women 2.0 members save 20% on Startup Weekend San Francisco tickets here.
Women 2.0 has partnered again with Startup Weekend! And this time, it’s all about Mobile! On Friday, July 23rd through Sunday, July 25th, 2010, Startup Weekend San Francisco will be happening at KickLabs to focus on mobile startups.
For the ones who don’t know Startup Weeekend, this is your chance to go from idea to prototype in a weekend! For those who have been to a Startup Weekend, this is a good way to experiment and try new thing, to be a better entrepreneur (ie. learning by doing!). For more info and to register, click here.
Women 2.0 members save 20% on Startup Weekend San Francisco tickets here.
We are holding a Founder Friday at District wine bar on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 @ 5pm. Afterward, we will be walking over to Startup Weekend together. For more info on Founder Friday San Francisco and to register, click here.
Founder Friday is a Women 2.0 networking event organized in partnership with like-minded organizations like Startup Weekend. Everyone has to eat, so why not share a meal and startup stories? Meet fellow Women 2.0 members in your city! This time we’re meeting in Tel Aviv before Startup Weekend.
Ruthy Kaidar, an entrepreneur in the medical devices field, has made dinner reservations for us on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 @ 6:30pm. Join fellow Women 2.0 founders, aspiring and current, for dinner to meet each other before attending Startup Weekend Tel Aviv. Please RSVP here by Sunday, July 11th, 2010 so we know how many people to expect for Founder “Two-sday” in Tel Aviv.
Founder Fridays are usually on Fridays as Startup Weekends usually start on Fridays. However Startup Weekend Tel Aviv starts on Wednesday, we are hosting Founder Twos-day on Tuesday. “Founder Two-sday” refers to Women “2.0″ as well as the saying “Twice as good on a Tuesday.”
Women 2.0 members save 50 shekels on Startup Weekend Tel Aviv tickets when you register here. Read More »
Women 2.0 Labs is a new 5-week program (July 6 - August 5, 2010) for engineers, designers, biz dev and marketing mavens to begin to develop high-growth technology ventures in San Francisco, CA.
This Women 2.0 program is open to both women and men.
Application to Women 2.0 Labs is now closed. Selected participants will be notified June 25, 2010.
Keep your day job, join us afterward! Over the course of five weeks, selected participants will moonlight in teams at the Women 2.0 Labs co-working space — and every Thursday night, demo their latest startup prototype.
Week 1 — Teams form around ideas
Week 2 — Product release
Week 3 — Product release
Week 4 — Product release
Week 5 — Product release (Pitch Night)
Participants will be joined by industry leaders who will serve as visiting advisors.
5 engineers (software, hardware, bio)
+ 5 more engineers (students)
+ 5 designers
+ 5 business / marketing people
+ 5 week program
+ 5 days a week (M-F after work)
+ 555 dollars to join the race
—————————————
= 5 startups will emerge
Why $555? Two reasons:
Add up your “eating out” money each month, it’s about the same. Save it by investing in your startup!
Refund Policy: Due to the up front costs we incur and the structure of the program agenda, a 50% refund will be allowable until the end of the first week of the program. Refunds for emergency situations will be considered with proper documentation. Email us to discuss obtaining a refund.
- Someone with an idea they’d like to validate, and passionately curious about starting a startup
- Someone without an idea, and passionately curious about starting a startup
Are you interested in founding a startup? Join us! We’ve reserved a few spots for female engineers still in school, or recently graduated, to join Women 2.0 Labs. Email baat@women2.org if interested.
Women 2.0 Labs participants will meet on Thursday nights from 6pm to 9pm from July 6th through August 5th, 2010. Teams present their latest product releases each Thursday evening. Teams are allowed to use the San Francisco space to work on their startups on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday from 6pm to 9pm.
Week 0 - Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Idea Brainstorming and Team Formation.
Week 1 - Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Visiting Advisors: Ann Miura-Ko (Partner, FLOODGATE), Jon Callaghan (General Partner, True Ventures) Steve Blank (Creator, Customer Development).
Week 2 - Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Visiting Advisors: Eric Ries (Creator, Lean Startup).
Week 3 - Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Visiting Advisors: Ryan Spoon (Senior Associate, Polaris Ventures), Saad Khan (Partner, CMEA Capital), and Rebecca Lynn (Principal, Morganthaler Ventures).
Week 4 - Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Visiting Advisors: Dave McClure (Investor, FF Angel LLC) and Mari Baker (President & CEO, PlayFirst).
Week 5 - Thursday, August 5th, 2010 — Final Pitch Day
Visiting Advisors: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Polyvore), Julia Hartz (President, Eventbrite), and Theresia Gouw Ranzetta (Partner, Accel Partners).
We are currently accepting company sponsors to provide food/drink for an evening in exchange for your logo on this page and a 3-5 minute pitch at event. Please contact shaherose@women2.org if you are interested in becoming a sponsor.
The San Francisco office of True Ventures is located at Pier 38
on The Embarcadero. View map here.
Ann Miura-Ko (Partner, FLOODGATE) - Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Ann is a partner at FLOODGATE where her investment interests include e-commerce, security, and big data. Ann is finishing up a Ph.D. in the Management Science and Engineering Department at Stanford University, where her research focused on mathematical modeling of computer security. She teaches High Tech Entrepreneurship at Stanford and is a frequent lecturer in courses such as Technology Venture Formation, High-tech Entrepreneurship, and the Mayfield Fellows Program. Ann holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Yale.
Steve Blank (Creator, Customer Development) - Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Steve moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program. The “Customer Development” model he developed in his book is one of the core themes in these classes. In 2009, Steve was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. In 2010, Steve was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Eric Ries (Creator, Lean Startup) - Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Eric is an author, speaker, and consultant for The Lean Startup. Previously, he co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. He is the co-author of several books including The Black Art of Java Game Programming (Waite Group Press, 1996). In 2007, BusinessWeek named Eric one of the Best Young Entrepreneurs of Tech. He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups and venture capital firms. In 2008, he served as a venture advisor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Jon Callaghan (General Partner, True Ventures)
Jon is truly passionate about early stage companies. He has founded three companies of his own, and his venture capital career spans 17 years, includeing consistent early stage success. Before founding True, Jon was a Managing Director at Globespan, where he served on the boards of Copan Systems, FilmLoop, Glu Mobile (fka Sorrent), Ingrian Networks, Next Medium Networks, Nominum Corp., Plaxo, Sigma Dynamics, and Vazu. Jon holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rebecca Lynn (Principal, Morganthaler Ventures) - Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Rebecca focuses on early-stage investments in mobile, health 2.0, Internet services and financial services. She serves on the boards of Lending Club and Practice Fusion. Rebecca began her career at Procter and Gamble, then joined NextCard as an early employee and led product development, later serving as VP of Marketing. Rebecca holds a JD/MBA degree from Haas School of Business and U.C. Berkeley School of Law. She also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri.
Ryan Spoon (Senior Associate, Polaris Ventures) - Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Ryan Spoon is a senior associate in San Francisco at Polaris’ Dog Patch Lab. He focuses on investments in internet, technology and digital media. Prior to Ryan was VP of Marketing & Business Development at Widgetbox. Ryan spent 2003-2007 at eBay Inc as part of the internet marketing team, focusing on user acquisition, search engine optimization and social content properties. Most recently, Ryan launched and managed the Kijiji.com business. As a collegiate swimmer, Ryan founded beRecruited (acquired by RVS Ventures) and currently serves on the board. Ryan holds a B.A. from Duke University.
Saad Khan (Partner, CMEA Capital) - Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Saad focuses on CMEA Capital’s software and Internet investments. He serves on the boards of Pixazza and Jobvite. Prior to CMEA, Saad was Partner at Garage Technology Ventures (GTV), a seed and early stage venture capital firm. During his career at GTV, Saad worked with many emerging technology, software, and digital media companies. Saad is a founding member of the FilmAngels. Saad holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems and an A.B in Economics with Honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.
Dave McClure (Investor, FF Angel LLC) - Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Dave likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally help or invest in their startups if they let him. Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Mint, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Twilio, Simply Hired, O’Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Many years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.
Mari Baker (President & CEO, PlayFirst) - Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Mari is currently the President & CEO of PlayFirst. Prior to Playfirst, Mari was President & CEO for Navigenics. Mari was an executive-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins. Prior to that, Mari served as President of BabyCenter. Before joining BabyCenter, she played a significant role in the growth of Intuit for ten years. Mari has been recognized in the San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame, Fortune’s list of Silicon Valley’s Most Influential Women, and Advertising Age’s Top 100. Mari is a graduate of Stanford University with degrees in economics and sociology.
Julia Hartz (Co-Founder & President, Eventbrite) - Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Julia is a reformed Television Network Executive and comes to Eventbrite by way of Hollywood. During her tenure in the television industry, Julia was a creative executive at FX Networks. Prior to FX Networks, Julia worked in creative development at MTV Networks. Julia brings the creativity and energy of the entertainment business to Eventbrite, leading the company with innovative thinking and a keen sense of the consumer audience. Julia holds a B.A. from Pepperdine University.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Polyvore) - Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Before joining Polyvore, Sukhinder was CEO-in-Residence at Accel Partners. From 2005-2009 Sukhinder was President of Asia Pacific and Latin America for Google, where she built the company’s presence from inception to scale across 40 domains and 103 different countries. Sukhinder first joined Google in 2003 as the General Manager for Google Local & Maps. From 1999-2003, Sukhinder was Co-founder and SVP of Business Development at Yodlee, and previously worked for Amazon.com, News Corp and Merrill Lynch. Sukhinder has served on the board of J.Crew, and is currently a board member at A Woman’s Nation and Jobtrain.
Theresia Gouw Ranzetta (Partner, Accel) - Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Theresia focuses on Internet and software investments with specific interest in vertical search/media, online media, advertising and security. She serves on boards of ForeScout, Glam Media, Imperva, Jasper Design Automation, Kosmix, LearnVest, Trulia, TRUSTe and Wetpaint. Theresia has worked in computer and communications industries since the late-1980’s as an entrepreneur, consultant and investor. Prior to Accel, she was founding VP of Business Development & Sales at Release Software. Theresia holds an Sc.B. in Engineering from Brown, magna cum laude and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Betty Kayton (CFO, Dropbox)
Betty has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, as a key member of the executive team at high-growth, venture-funded start-ups. Her contribution ranges from strategic planning and fund raising to tactical challengers such as building appropriate infrastructure without stifling growth. Betty concurrently serves as CFO of several high tech companies (Wi-Fi/mesh networks, consumer products, Web 2.0, eLearning), and previously was CFO at Leapfrog, Nominum, MGA Entertainment. Betty holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from Pomona College.
David Newman (Artist in Residence, Women 2.0 Labs)
David is an American artist living in San Francisco documenting innovators in Silicon Valley & beyond with portraits painted from life since 2006, most recently painting exclusively with the iPad. A former student of painters Wayne Thiebaud and Joan Brown at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, Newman has painted with graphics systems, including the Mac, since the early 80’s. He worked in marketing with pioneering computer graphics firms including Via Video, Inc., Networked Picture Systems, and Island Graphics Corporation. As a courtroom artist (UPI) he covered notable trials, including the trials of Huey Newton and Dan White, in the 70’s.
StartupToDo.com is graciously providing 6-month access to their productivity application for all Women 2.0 Labs participants!
Healthy Cakes is graciously donating an all-natural, sugar-free cake for the Women 2.0 Labs Pitch Night festivities!
Women 2.0 gives companies, organizations, and individuals the opportunity to invest in a future female startup founder with a $555 Women 2.0 Labs Scholarship.
Each scholarship covers the cost of the program for a female participant of Women 2.0 Labs, enabling a deserving applicant to join the new 5-week program (July 6 - August 5, 2010) for engineers, developers, biz dev folks, and marketing mavens to develop high-growth technology ventures in San Francisco, CA. Women 2.0 Labs participants keep their day jobs, testing and developing their startup ideas at night.
Donors receive:
Thanks to the following companies and organizations that donated a Women 2.0 Labs Scholarship! PayPal even donated TWO of them!!
Support a future female founder!
Email Shaherose to sponsor a Women 2.0 Labs participant this summer.
Join Etsy and Women 2.0 for a Cocktails and Crafts event on Thursday, June 10th from 7pm to 10pm in San Francisco, CA.
This is a free event, and we will be accepting donations at the door for Women 2.0 Labs scholarships.
Meet Chad Dickerson (CTO of Etsy) and make some geeky crafts like DIY screen-printed mousepads at upstairs at Pier 38 in San Francisco. Have a cocktail or two on Etsy.com — or do both. Etsy is opening a new engineering office in San Francisco, and wants to get to know their neighbors.
Women 2.0 Labs Scholarships will be the beneficiariy of funds raised at the door, so please come and support us! For more info, click here.
The 4th Annual PITCH: Women 2.0 Startup Competition is open to early-stage ventures around the world, from high growth business ventures in web 2.0 to mobile, from enterprise web/mobile to consumer clean/biotech. Applying companies must be in beta stage and have not received significant funding. Deadline to apply to PITCH is October 1st, 2010. This competition is in line with Steve Blank’s position that startups plan while companies model — hence, Women 2.0 is holding a business model competition rather than a business plan competition. A business model competition measures how well the team learn how to pivot, for example. For more about this, read his blog post here.
A handful of startups will be chosen to pitch live in San Francisco at the PITCH event on November 4th, 2010. Previous years’ prizes included meetings with Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital), Tim Draper (Draper Fisher Jurvetson) and Esther Dyson (investor in companies such as Flickr, del.icio.us, and 23andMe), and a host of startup-friendly services.
Your submission to the Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition has 3 parts:
Fill out the application here — You may edit your application anytime prior to the closing date of October 1st, 2010. The application fee is $50 per startup.
All applications will receive feedback from at least 3 members of the judging panel. Judges are investors and successful entrepreneurs who take time to review your application in detail and provide honest, constructive feedback on your venture and application. Finalists will be notified October 14th, 2010 and invited to pitch to a live audience and a judging panel at PITCH in San Francisco on November 4th, 2010. If you are selected as a finalist, the entire team must be present at PITCH. Questions? Email them to askpitch@women2.org.
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The application must represent the original work of members of the team. You may have a team of up to FIVE individuals. At least ONE member of the founding team must be female — this is a Women 2.0 production after all! Submissions that do not adhere to the submission process and rules will be disqualified.
We accept businesses in alpha and beta launch only. Submissions accepted globally. The competition is for new, independent ventures in the seed, start-up, or early stage. PITCH 2010 is intended for growth companies and the judging panel will ask “Is this a fundable venture?”. Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area, and spin-outs from existing corporations. As if you’d be silly enough to submit that anyway.
The submission process utilizes Angelsoft, the industry standard to manage deal flows. By submitting your business plan, you are agreeing to the Terms of Service for the Angelsoft platform and agree to be bound by the terms described in the Angelsoft Privacy Policy.
See into the next three years of cloud computing at GigaOm’s Structure 2010 June 23-25, 2010 in San Francisco.
This two-day event will provide you with a content-rich look at the next three years of cloud computing. In two full days, you will experience:
Only GigaOM’s team of experienced journalists and industry analysts can bring together the people and uncover the opportunities in the IT infrastructure market with their signature insight, knowledge and candor.
Women 2.0 members save $100 on tickets with coupon code “WOMEN2″ when you register here.
Founder Friday is a Women 2.0 networking event organized in partnership with liked-minded organizations like Startup Weekend. Everyone has to eat, so why not share a meal and startup stories? Then we will walk over to Startup Weekend together after dinner.
Tal Flanchraych (Co-Founder & VP Marketing, Cabulous) has made a dinner reservation for us at a Cuban/Spanish restaurant on Friday, June 11th, 2010 @ 5:15pm. Join fellow Women 2.0 founders, aspiring and current, by NYU for dinner before walking a few blocks over to Startup Weekend NYC together after dinner. We have made dinner reservations, so please RSVP here for dinner.
Women 2.0 members save $10 on Startup Weekend NYC tickets here.
Alicia Navarro (Founder & CEO, Skimlinks) is hosting a Founder Friday in London on Friday, June 4th, 2010 @ 5:30pm for Women 2.0 founders, aspiring and current, to meet up and grab dinner before heading over to Startup Weekend London.
Please RSVP for Founder Friday London by Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010. Join fellow Women 2.0 founders, aspiring and current, in London’s South Bank for a Founder Friday dinner from 5:30pm to 7pm. The £25 price covers dim sum and 1 cocktail (additional drinks will need to be paid for separately).
We have reserved an area in the lounge upstairs, where there will be tables and seats but we will rotate every 5-10 mins to make sure everyone gets to mingle. After dinner, we will head over to Startup Weekend London at IBM South Bank together after dinner, which starts at 7pm.
Women 2.0 members save 25% on Startup Weekend London tickets here.
If a Startup Weekend is not being held in your city, you may host an independent Founder Friday event. Please note that we are more likely to host a Founder Friday in your city sooner if a Startup Weekend is coming up. Founder Friday leads must be approved by Women 2.0 before hosting the event. Fill out the form here if you are interested in hosting a Founder Friday in your city!
Mobilize 2010 (September 30, 2010 in San Francisco) is the future of the mobile web. The conjunction of mobile computing and cloud-based services will unleash an entire new wave of product and market growth. Mobilize 2010 brings together thought leaders and practitioners of mobile web ecosystems for discussions, demonstrations and debate.
Women 2.0 members save $50 when you register for Mobilize 2010 here. Read More »
Women 2.0 hosted an Angel Investor and Entrepreneur Roundtable on Thursday, June 3, 2010, 7pm in San Francisco with angel investors Anurag Nigam, Christina Brodbeck, Dan Martell, and Jim Chu.
This intimate Women 2.0 event brought angel investors and entrepreneurs together to advise startups on getting funding, launching a high-growth venture, and best practices.
Sophia Perl blogged about her experience at the Women 2.0 Angel Investor & Entrepreneur Roundtable.
We have some great pictures from the event here taken by Michael O’Donnell.
About Anurag Nigam:
Anurag (Anu) is an active angel investor, a serial entrepreneur and a community leader. He is President & Board Director of Sand Hill Angels, a group of 60 Silicon Valley angels. He has been an angel investor for the last 8 years, investing in 40+ companies including 3Tera (bought by CA), Modcloth and XGraph. His investing interests range from consumer Internet to medical devices. Anu is currently founder and CEO of BuzzBox, a personalized news service. Anu holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
About Christina A. Brodbeck:
Christina enjoys helping young start-ups, is an angel investor in Heyzap, and sits on the advisory board for Achron. Christina is currently the co-founder and CEO of Pickv, a relationship and dating site that matches people based on their interests such as music, movies, books, and tv shows. Prior to Pickv, Christina most recently worked at YouTube where she joined as an early employee in 2005 and was the company’s first UI Designer. Before joining YouTube, she worked at MRL Ventures, NASA Ames Research Center, and Keynote systems.
About Dan Martell:
An award-winning Canadian entrepreneur, Dan formed his first start-up, Spheric Technologies Inc., at age 25 and watched it grow by an average of 152% per year before he sold the company 4 years later. Now living in San Francisco, Martell spends the majority of his time looking at ways to build a bridge between Silicon Valley and his home province of New Brunswick. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising entrepreneurs using metric-based marketing tactics to gain market adoption. Dan is the co-founder of FlowTown, a social marketing platform for small businesses.
About Jim Chu:
Jim has been an active angel investor since 2005. He started an internet consulting firm after graduating from Stanford, worked for Cisco where he ran marketing and business development in Latin America and Canada, lived in Africa working for Doctors Without Borders, and in the last 5 years has been investing, running, or working with startups, both bootstrapped and venture-backed. Jim is currently working on a social business venture providing clean water in Haiti. Jim holds both a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University.
OPEN Silicon Valley (Saturday, June 5th, 2010) is proud to present the OPEN Forum 2010 to be held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
OPEN Forum attracts hundreds of professionals and entrepreneurs from top technology companies, exciting start-ups, global service providers and leading venture firms. This one-day conference will give you the unique opportunity to network with and learn from seasoned CEOs, venture capitalists, financial market experts, government policy makers and professionals from the Silicon Valley. Speakers include Sumaya Kazi (CEO & Editor-in-Chief, YoProCo), Leila Chirayath Janah (CEO, Samasource), and Ann Miura-Ko (Partner, FLOODGATE). For more info and to register, click here. Women 2.0 members save 25% with coupon code “women20″.
TaskRabbit seeks Engineer in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Big Tent seeks Developer in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Big Tent seeks QA Specialist in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Catchafire seeks Front End Developer in New York, NY. (more)
Catchafire seeks Back End Developer in New York, NY. (more)
Etsy seeks Sr. Software Engineer in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Grows Up seeks Lead E-Commerce Engineer in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Slide Inc seeks Junior Web Developer in San Francisco, CA. (more)
Efficiency Match seeks Sr. Software Engineer / Developer in Santa Clara, CA. (more)
Etsy seeks Chief Architect and Team Lead: Core Platform in Brooklyn, NY. (more)
Etsy seeks Sr. Operations Engineer in Brooklyn, NY. (more)
Have a job to share with Women 2.0? Email us at jobs@women2.org to find out how. Read More »
If a Startup Weekend is not being held in your city, you may host an independent Founder Friday event. Please note that we are more likely to host a Founder Friday in your city sooner if a Startup Weekend is coming up. Founder Friday leads must be approved by Women 2.0 before hosting the event. Fill out the form here if you are interested in hosting a Founder Friday in your city!
Here are some frequently asked questions:
I’m a guy. Can I go to a Women 2.0 Founder Friday?
Founder Fridays are geared toward current and aspiring female founders, but they are open to both men and women, as are all Women 2.0 events. The majority of the attendees are women (as usually seen on the Attendee List on Eventbrite) but a few men attend, usually as the female entrepreneur’s co-founder, or the +1 of a current female founder.
Founder Friday is sold out. Can I still go?
If Eventbrite shows that Founder Friday is sold out, sign up for a “Waitlist” ticket. If any attendees cancel, we will let you know of the open spot in the order that you signed up for the “Waitlist” ticket.
I’m a current or aspiring founder but I’m not planning to attend Startup Weekend. Can I still go to Women 2.0 Founder Friday?
Yes, but… The purpose of Founder Friday is two-fold: We recommend Founder Friday attendees to attend Startup Weekend for hands-on experience with the entrepreneurial process. Similarly, we encourage female Startup Weekend attendees to check out Founder Friday to meet fellow female startup enthusiasts and build their networks. However, if you have other obligations and are unable to attend Startup Weekend and are interested in Founder Friday, you are most welcome to join us!
It’s the day of and I’m running late. Is there anyone I can call to let them know?
Don’t worry, come as soon as you can. The event is structured such that attendees can walk around and mingle as they eat, so don’t worry that they’re waiting on you to serve dinner or start the event.
Based on the Attendee List on Eventbrite, it seems like the other attendees are much further along in developing their companies or have years of industry experience, while I’m much earlier in my career (current university student or recent grad). Can I still go to the Founder Friday?
The event is aimed at current as well as aspiring founders of companies. There are indeed quite a few founders, but those earlier in their careers do attend, including current students or recent grads. Also, realize that some attendees only list on Eventbrite the company they are founding or co-founding, so the list doesn’t show the other job(s) that they may or may not hold.
Women 2.0 is a frequent partner for Startup Weekend events in the Bay Area. Here are some female founders to watch that have launched ideas from Startup Weekends:
Sophia Perl (Co-Founder, Eventabulous)
Sophia leveraged the Startup Weekend process and participants to vet and build an idea. Today, she and a team member are developing a working prototype for Eventabulous.
Jennie Lees (Co-Founder & Developer, Project 42)
Project 42, or www.icanhassocialskills.com, came out of the recent South Bay Startup Weekend. Other female co-founders included Vivian C. Chien, Amy Piazza, and Adina Simu.
Alexa Andrzejewski (Co-Founder, Foodspotting)
Alexa brought her idea to Jumpstart Your Startup and then Women 2.0 Startup Weekend in 2009. Fast forward to 2010: Over 45,000 foods have been spotted around the world!
Mariya Genzel (Co-Founder & CTO, SayHired)
Recruiting was a pain point for her startup so Mariya came to the Women 2.0 Startup Weekend. She found a team member and created an innovative tech platform at SayHired.
Sue Kim (Co-Founder, Dress Me Sue)
Sue kick started Dress Me Sue at the Women 2.0 Startup Weekend. She found that the community support and friendships have lasted way beyond the weekend.
Do you know more female founders of startups that came out of a Startup Weekend? Let us know in the comments below.
M.LOVE ConFestival (June 23 - 25, 2010 in Berlin) brings together 200 thought leaders and innovators to discuss the powerful potential of mobile to act as a catalyst for community, change and inspiration.
This year, the speakers include Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0), Leila Chirayath Janah (Founder & CEO, Samasource), Michelle Halsell (Founder & CEO, Missing Pixel), Allison Mooney (VP of Emerging Trends, MobileBehavior), Beverly W. Jackson (Senior Marketing Professional, The Recording Academy), Jess Greenwood (Deputy Director, Contagious), Jen McCabe (Founder & CEO, ContagionHealth), and Dawn Danby (Sustainable Design Program Manager, Autodesk). For more info and to register, click here.
Women 2.0 members save 20% on tickets with coupon code “MLOVE2010″.
The Founder Showcase, by TheFunded, is a quarterly startup pitch and networking event that highlights the newest cutting-edge businesses and helps innovators gain traction in Silicon Valley. Founder Showcase will be on Tuesday evening on May 18th, 2010 at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus. Applications for the showcase close on May 8th — apply today for Founder Showcase.
Save on Founder Showcase tickets and meet the Silicon Valley elite! Women 2.0 members receive 15% off tickets with coupon code “W20″
Watch as ten of the most promising early-stage companies, as selected by over 14,000 registered CEO Members of TheFunded.com, present to an audience of over 200 investors, founders, and members of the press. Rebecca Lynn of Morgenthaler Ventures is now on our Investor Judging Panel for the event! Read More »
Planning on being in San Jose this Friday night for Scrappy Startup or South Bay Startup Weekend? Join us for a Women 2.0 Mixer in the PayPal parking lot in San Jose on Friday!
On Friday, April 30th, 2010, Women 2.0 is meeting up in the PayPal parking lot from 5pm to 6pm. For those of you who are unable to attend Startup Weekend, this is a FREE opportunity to mingle with other startup founders (current and aspiring). People say “never eat alone” for good reason, and Women 2.0 is here to build relationships between entrepreneurs and startuppers! Food trucks in attendance will be MoGo BBQ and Treatbot, providing Korean BBQ tacos/sliders and ice cream, respectively.
 Startup Weekend host Franck Nouyrigat on the mic. |
 Orange Labs’ Maria Iu and Pascale Diaine. |
 Women 2.0’s Shuchi Rana and Yelena Drabkin. |
 Attendees of the Women 2.0 mixer networking. |
A (Few) Days in the Life of a Startup Weekend Participant
By Sophia Perl, South Bay Startup Weekend Participant
What startup idea can you and complete strangers come up with and work on for an entire weekend? I’ve always found the Startup Weekend concept interesting, more so from the perspective of a non-startup person. If you’re like me, you have many ideas brewing in the head but no time and/or place to let it all out. Startup Weekend gave me a taste of startup life and helped me meet some really cool and smart people.
The evening started off with some speakers on the topic of startups. Then the real fun began. Franck, our trusted Startup Weekend leader, invited whoever wanted to pitch to come up on stage and pitch for 60 seconds or less. About 40 to 50 people lined up to pitch their awesome and not so awesome ideas. Shaherose, Women 2.0 founder, helped out by summarizing the pitches for the audience. This turned out to be a harder task than I would have thought because some (not all) pitches were quite cryptic. Only the pitcher knew what he said and no one else understood. If another person can’t repeat or summarize your idea, it’s generally not good. Imagine having a confused investor.
I desperately wanted to pitch an idea. Then, 10 pitches in, the idea came to me. I pitched the idea of an event discovery application. I related it to an existing business but said it’s for events instead, and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to convey the idea in so little words and time.
My pitch strategy:
- One-line pitch. Figure out how to relate your idea to an existing business so that you can use less words to explain it.
- Who am I? Show that you have street-cred with the audience. People want to work with smart people.
- What is the problem and who has the problem? Explain that you understand the problem well.
- What is my solution? Talk about how only you can solve the problem.
- What kind of skills are needed for the team? Ask for what you want and recruit with a focus.
After all the pitches were done, we were left to organize into groups. It took 30 minutes when all said and done. I did my best to keep my idea alive and recruited like crazy. That night, the survival rate for ideas was 50% (50 pitches boiled down to 25 projects). At the end of it, my team consisted of 3.5 developers (I counted myself as 0.5), 0.5 of a UI person (he was part-time with us), and 3.5 business folks (0.5 for me again!). A group size of 7 is not too bad considering some had as little as 2 and as high as 10/12.
For the next two days, my team worked hard at our assigned tables. Our goal was to have a working demo by Sunday night. We started off by re-introducing ourselves including skills and brainstorming on what we wanted to build. After that, it was work, work, work. We had multiple status checks throughout the day and constantly asked if anyone needed help. Everyone was there to work and get things done. It was great.
Sunday was the big demo/presentation day. It came sooner than we had hoped. Midway through the night, we presented our working demo of a light event discovery mobile web application. We kept the presentation light and somewhat funny because everyone was so tired already.
All groups had 5 minutes to present on Sunday. Most were interesting, some were not so much. Here are ideas presented: Foursquare for music listening, social networking at or before an event, delivery of pre-picked outfits for men, war game of Foursquare mayors, get a map of the parking rules on SF streets, finding the status of a person that you’re waiting for, privacy layer on top of Twitter to exchange messages with non-followers, and product recommendation site. In the end, the winner of the evening was EnglEasy, videogames to teach kids English. The judging criteria consisted of 1) wow factor, 2) investment attractiveness, and 3) team spirit. As a winner of Startup Weekend, EnglEasy got a chance to present (2 days later) at Web 2.0 Expo Launch Pad. Congratulations to them! They were also mentioned in TechCrunch. Woo hoo!
Overall, Startup Weekend was definitely a fun, worthwhile, and tiring experience. I signed up with the high hopes of meeting like-minded people and maybe contributing to a promising startup idea. I came away with both and much much more.
More on Startup Weekend: A hacker-entrepreneur’s survival guide to Startup Weekend by Jennie Lees.
Startup Weekend South Bay is Friday, April 30th through May 2nd, 2010 in San Jose, CA. Anyone can pitch an idea and build it in a weekend. Engineers, designers, marketers… everyone is welcome! The truth is that the Startup Weekend does not always “work” in building a startup in a weekend — 10% of the time, your project is founded, and 90% of the time, you meet someone you’ll still be in touch after the Startup Weekend.
Check out what happened from Women 2.0’s last Startup Weekend.
Not in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend?
Los Angeles Startup Weekend is happening this weekend as well at the CoLoft in Santa Monica. Speakers include Scott Sangster, Mark Suster, Wil Schroder, and Sean Percival. Women 2.0 members save 20% with coupon code “women20″ here.
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