| As young women with world-changing aspirations, we recognize entrepreneurship as the means to fulfill our life goals. After attending numerous local networking events for entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, we asked “Where are all the women in the Silicon Valley?” | |
 About the founders About the team About the awards About the committee |
About the sponsors About the affiliates About the media partners About the events |
Women 2.0 Founders
Shaherose is at JAJAH developing products for consumers and enterprises to call the world from any mobile or landline on JAJAH’s global IP network. Prior to that, she was at TiE overseeing governance, product development and operations of 40+ entrepreneurship centers in places like the US, India, the UAE, and Malaysia. She aspires to pour her entrepreneurial spirit into launching tech solutions for the developing world. Shaherose holds a B.A. in Business Administration from The University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business.
Angie is a product manager by day, web designer by habit, and entrepreneur at heart. She created the logo for Women 2.0 in 2006 and built the brand identity from the ground up. In her spare time, Angie produces all Women 2.0 communications materials online and off, keeping her ear to the ground as to what’s hot in the diaspora of tech-savvy and entrepreneurial women. Angie launched Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners in early 2008, requiring that guys come as the “+1″ for once. Angie holds a B.A. in English and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.
Shivani is an auditing machine at a Big Four accounting firm, tearing through balance sheets and making sure that everything is in order. When she has some time, she’s reading gossip blogs (and tech blogs, of course) and chilling with friends. She’s also a fan of playing cards - anybody like Gin-Rummy? Shivani holds a B.S. in Business Admin and B.A. in Economics from UC Berkeley.
When Wen-Wen isn’t out and about planning fun events with her friends, she can be found learning about marketing, bikram yoga, shopping, and keeping up with the latest celebrity gossip. Prior to being Renkoo’s Marketing Director, she was part of the marketing team at LinkedIn. Wen-Wen holds a B.A. in Economics from UC Berkeley. She is taking a sabbatical from Women 2.0 activities, and is currently pursuing her MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Women 2.0 2009 Team
“Life’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. Aihui is always ready to take on any new chocolate of adventures, whether it’s backpacking round the world, launching high-tech startups or skydiving over the Swiss Alps. For now, she’s happily piloting her tech consulting company, EdgiLabs, and in love with Ruby on Rails. The only constant thing is her life is searching for the next chocolate of adventure. Aihui holds a B.S. in Computer Science & Information Systems from the National University of Singapore and an MBA from the University of Warwick Business School.
Arielle is currently a junior at UC Berkeley, where she analyzes consumer behavior and psychology under her independent interdisciplinary major. In between classes, she works as a business development consultant for small businesses and startups that target young people. Her goal is to transform ordinary students into living, breathing entrepreneurs ready to break into startup culture. When she has some extra time, she organizes painting parties with her friends and she shops at vintage stores.
Baat grew up in Jerusalem, and after traveling in many countries is now excited to be a part of the energetic and creative community of Silicon Valley. She has been working in the tech industry for nearly 10 years as a security software specialist and business development roles with BMC Software and PLYmedia. Baat is enthusiastic about launching entrepreneurial women to new heights, and loves being involved with Women 2.0. Baat also loves to skydive, ski, and to play with her 2 boys. Baat holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Diana is a seasoned software professional. Her latest gig was as Director of Quality Engineering at iPass, where she led a 60+ member global team located in California, Israel and India. Prior to iPass, she was part of the management team at Siebel Systems and a senior consultant with Accenture. In her spare time, Diana serves on the Board of Directors for BRAVO! Club, a group of young professionals dedicated to building a new audience for SF Opera. Diana is thrilled about Women 2.0 bringing talented technical women together to change the world.
Emily became interested in multimedia as a tool telling stories while working on Chicago Public Radio’s global affairs show “Worldview”. She covered theater and arts for NYou in college and was a health reporter for South Africa’s Cape Times. She produced sustainable online & offline communication for an advertising agency before helping brands grow their communities online as a digital strategist. She volunteers for the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival while blogging for trends site JoshSpear.com and her arts & culture blog. Emily holds a B.S.J. in Journalism from Northwestern.
Esther spends her workday preserving archival moving image materials for a community media arts organization in Los Angeles. She is also a web designer and budding developer, an avid technology enthusiast and general-purpose geek. In her spare time, she enjoys watching films and reading silly things on the Internets.
Esther holds a B.A. in Psychology and French from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Moving Image Archive Studies from UCLA.
Jamie works at Sparkpr on the consumer team specializing in media relations. Since joining, she has worked on a variety of accounts including blinkx, MOO.com, Wetpaint, YouMail, FON and Education.com. When she’s not geeking out over new consumer technologies, she is out running trails, doing Bikram yoga, or enjoying good SF eats with friends. Jamie holds a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
Janice has been an entrepreneur since childhood (businesses included a neighborhood newsletter, door-to-door baked goods, and the somewhat disastrous “Backyard Bobsledding” with two dogs, a skateboard, and steep driveway). As an adult, she launched a successful paper arts store, Ji Paperie. Currently a brand and product manager, Janice’s design and brand strategy work has launched several industry-changing product lines. In her free time she can be found cooking, travelling, writing, and doodling. Janice holds a A.B. in Political Science from Stanford University.
Jazmin is the web marketing director for Tekserve, an independent Apple computer store in NYC. She also produces a business mentoring podcast series for women at CrackTheGlass.org. Jazmin is currently moonlighting in iPhone application development and is working towards the initial release of several cross-platform games for her company, LFT Games. Jazmin holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from SUNY: Empire State College.
Julie works at VeriSign in their Enterprise Messaging & Mobile Media division, bringing the strategic visions of enterprises to fruition through VeriSign’s mobile delivery services portfolio in the U.S. and abroad. She manages an 18-state territory for new business sales. Julie aspires to channel her entrepreneurial spirit to one day build a business which creates efficiencies in a person’s everyday life. A recent transplant from the East Coast, Julie is a sucker for soccer and wine… and sometimes together. Julie holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Texas Christian University.
Kristina is a consultant by day specializing in web strategy and online marketing. When she is not consulting or producing events for Women 2.0, she spends her time working on her music with band Lucid Lovers. She grew up partially in Japan, spent some time in L.A. and now calls San Francisco home. She is passionate about the recent converge of entrepreneurship, technology and music. Kristina holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Azusa Pacific University.
Pokin is the co-founder of a GeckoGo - a travel site that wants to make planning travel as fun as actually traveling! Prior to that, she was a Product Manager at the L’Oreal Group in Montreal, the Campbell Soup Company in Hong Kong, and Research In Motion in Waterloo. When she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s probably rock climbing, baking cupcakes, or reading travel guides. Pokin holds a B.A. in Marketing from Simon Fraser University.
Saroj is democratizing education via Supercool School where she works full-time as Lead Engineer. Born in a small village in India, she plans to connect people from various parts of the world to bring meaningful changes. She just started doing it in a small way by connecting fashionable San Francisco women with other women in need via her Kiva Team Beauty in Action. You can always catch her scribbling at her blog. Saroj holds a M.S. in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Yelena was born in Belarus, and recently moved from Midwest to the Bay Area to surround herself with motivated people with similar interests and be involved with the entrepreneurial community. Her experience while with Accenture contributed to shaping Yelena’s outstanding professional tenure and commitment to complete tasks. In 2007, Yelena co-founded Zilpy, a free online rental market facts and analysis service, which quickly established itself as a leading source for accurate US rental data. In her spare time, Yelena loves to plan vacations and to spend time with her family.
Women 2.0 Awards
Women 2.0 Steering Committee
Alka Gupta
(Advisor and Board Member, consumer media companies)
Carol Sands
(Founder and Managing Member, The Angels’ Forum and The Halo Funds)
Chris Shipley
(Founding Partner, Guidewire Group)
Marlene McDaniel
(CEO, Lightworks)
Women 2.0 Platinum Sponsors
| Sun Startup Essentials program is specifically designed to help startups get their business off the ground rapidly, and at lower cost — get the industry-leading systems your company needs at significantly discounted prices. Get access to discounted hosting services, free software, and free technical advice via email. The free and discounted services Sun Startup Essentials members receive are key to accelerating your business today. |  |
| Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal is your best source for up-to-date local Silicon Valley/San Jose business news and resources. You’ll find top stories and latest breaking business news updated throughout the day at the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. |
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| Microsoft Startup Zone reveals one of their best-kept secrets - the availability of lots of free software for development, as well as some terrific program and software values for small companies. |  |
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a full-service law firm with a presence in the world’s major financial and technology centers. Pillsbury counsels on global business and litigation by working in multidisciplinary teams, anticipating trends and offering a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues, and helping clients take greater advantage of new opportunities and better mitigate risk.
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Women 2.0 Community Sponsors
| Hiball Energy is offered in 4 fantastic flavors: Lemon Lime, Wild Berry, Orange and the new Grapefruit. HiBall Energy also created a special energy mixer - HiBall Energy Club Soda & HiBall Energy Tonic Water. These drinks have the same great taste as traditional club soda and tonic water but with the added energy boost from the addition of taurine, guarana, ginseng, B-vitamins and caffeine as well. |  |
| Bottlenotes is both a customized wine club service offering five different wine clubs based on personal taste preferences, and a wine retail website offering wines from some of the best producers in the world. And coming soon: Bottlenotes Events, a corporate and consumer wine special events service. |  |
Women 2.0 Affiliates
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Astia accelerates the funding and growth of companies through programs that are designed for start-ups at all stages, and is supported by Astia’s Advisor Network (over 70 former and current CEOs and 100 investors).
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| STIRR is an independent entity that connects early stage entrepreneurs with peers, senior entrepreneurs, and the ecosystem they need in their first 6-24 months of operations. Check out their events, Founder’s Table, and PitchLab. |  |
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NCWIT (National Center for Women and Information Technology) hosts an Entrepreneurial Alliance that brings together representatives from more than 20 established entrepreneurial organizations who understand the factors associated with entrepreneurial success. The EA’s work will address the causes and possible interventions concerning the small number of women involved in starting businesses, filing patents, and transferring technology in the IT field as its member organizations work to increase women’s representation. |
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Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners is an extension of London Girl Geek Dinners.
The format of the events is informal, buffet dinner style with finger foods and wine as well as soft drinks for those who are driving. We have a speaker or three on a subject of choice either based on a technical subject area or business area, or even on women and tech issues (such as mentoring). The events are varied and the reach vast. |
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Girls in Tech aims to offer a variety of resources and tools for women to supplement and further enhance their professional careers and aspirations in technology: educational workshops and lectures, networking functions, round table discussions, conferences, social engagements, and recruitment events.
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Ladies Who Launch is the first company to define entrepreneurship as a lifestyle choice and connect women online and in person to foster creativity, community, and support, serving Incubator programs, Ladies Who Launch LIVE conferences, and a book articulating the feminine approach to launching.
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Women 2.0 Media Partners
| The CulturalConnect, an award-winning online media company, publishes five weekly e-magazines filled with must-read profiles of the professional world’s often overlooked population of driven, innovative, progressive and successful under-35 leaders to an expansive subscriber base of up-and-coming young professionals in over 100 countries. |  |
| Real Girls Media is a venture capital funded media network with two products. The first is an advertising network that provides publishers and bloggers increased revenue through ads from Fortune 500 brands, as well as increased traffic through a content exchange. The second product is a web community called DivineCaroline. |
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Invincibelle is a premium site for women who live and work in a multicultural world, bringing trusted and relevant content to accelerate personal and professional growth of women worldwide.
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Women 2.0 Events
Starting with a Women 2.0 Conference in April 2006 celebrating Internet startups founders who happen to be women, Women 2.0 has held everything from conferences to panel discussions with accomplished businesswomen, entrepreneurs, and Internet heroes. Wine and cheese mixers are held regularly. An annual business plan competition culminates in a Pitch Night when finalists present their best pitches to a judging panel of VC and executives.
April 2006
“Starting a Startup” Women 2.0 Conference (Palo Alto, CA)
» Mary Hodder (Founder and CEO, Dabble)
» Jessica Hardwick (Founder and CEO, SwapThing)
» Elaine Wherry (Co-Founder and Developer, Meebo)
» Sandy Jen (Co-Founder and Developer, Meebo)
» Joyce Park (Founder, Renkoo)
» Emily Chang (Co-Founder, IdeaCodes)
July 2006
Bowling 2.0 Series (Palo Alto, CA)
August 2006
Poolside Summer Party with Meetro (Sunnyvale, CA)
November 2006
“Converting your Passion into a Real Business” Panel (Palo Alto, CA)
» Liz Gannes (Reporter, GigaOM)
» Nick Douglas (Reporter, Gawker Media)
» Shannon McClenaghan (President, JimmyJane)
» Amy Andersen (Founder and CEO, LinxDating)
» Christopher Surdi (Co-Founder and President, Global Educational Program)
» Michael Cerda (CEO, Jangl)
» Moderator: Ariel Poler (CEO, TextMarks)
January 2007
Wine and Cheese Networking (Palo Alto, CA)
February 2007
Wine and Cheese Networking (San Francisco, CA)
» Rebecca Young (Startup Coach)
March 2007
Web 2.0 Expo Exhibition (San Francisco, CA)
Pitch 2007 (San Francisco, CA)
» Carol Sands (Founder and Managing Member, The Angels’ Forum)
» David Stern (Partner, Clearstone Venture Partners)
» Lara Druyan (Partner, Allegis Capital)
» Marianne Wu (Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures)
» Marleen McDaniel (Emeritus CEO, Women.com)
» Shannon McClenaghan (President, JimmyJane)
» Sharon Vosmek (CEO, Astia)
» Tami Zhu (VP of Business Development, AOL New Ventures)
» Venky Ganesan (Managing Director, Globespan Venture Partners)
May 2007
Spring BBQ Mixer (Palo Alto, CA)
June 2007
Pub Night Mixer (San Francisco, CA)
July 2007
Garden Party Mixer (Atherton, CA)
» Katherine Barr (Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures)
» Rachel Cook (Co-Founder, Minti)
August 2007
Wine and Cheese Networking (San Francisco, CA)
October 2007
Wine and Cheese Networking (San Francisco, CA)
November 2007
Intrapreneurship Fireside Chat (Sunnyvale, CA)
» Nina Bhatti (Scientist, HP Labs)
» Cynthia Johanson (Product Manager, Yahoo!)
December 2007
Media Training Session (San Francisco, CA)
» Sue Kwon (Reporter, CBS News)
January 2008
Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #1 (Mountain View, CA)
February 2008
Meet the CEOs Open Mic Session (San Francisco, CA)
» Marleen McDaniel (Emeritus CEO, Women.com)
» Joyce Kim (CEO, Soompi)
March 2008
Meet the CEOs Open Mic Session (San Francisco, CA)
» Maria Sipka (Co-Founder and CEO, Linqia)
» Rebecca Weeks (Director of Business Development, RealGirlsMedia)
» Gina Bianchini (Co-Founder and CEO, Ning)
» William Bunker (Co-Founder and Principal, White Space Ventures)
May 2008
Beyond the Spark - Women 2.0 and Stanford Women in Business Conference (Palo Alto, CA)
» Rachel Payne (Founding Member, Google.org)
» Chris Shipley (Director, Guidewire Group)
» Erica Estrada (Product Engineer, d.light design)
» Sanjit Biswas (Co-Founder and CEO, Meraki)
» Amra Tareen (Founder, allvoices)
» Leila Chirayath (Founder and CEO, Market for Change)
» Melanie Swan (Futurist, MS Futures)
June 2008
Women 2.0 and Zynga Social (San Francisco, CA)
July 2008
Wine and Cheese Networking (San Francisco, CA)
August 2008
“Startups Helping Startups” Mixer with YouNoodle (San Francisco, CA)
September 2008
Speak with Angels (Palo Alto, CA)
» Patricia Roller (Member, The Angels’ Forum; Co-Founder, frog design)
» Georges Harik (Angel Investor; Former Director of Googlettes, Google)
» Carol Sands (Founder and Managing Member, The Halo Fund)
October 2008
Keeping Your Startup Cool During The Financial Meltdown (Palo Alto, CA)
» Shai Goldman (Director for Venture Exchange, SVB Capital)
» Rebecca Lynn (Principal, Morgenthaler Ventures)
» Prasanna Krishnan (Associate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson)
» Betty Kayton (CFO, high tech startups & early stage firms)
» Greg Schmid (Director, Managing Uncertainty Group)
» Jill E. Fishbein (Partner, Carr & Ferrell LLP)
Music Makers and Technology Shakers (San Francisco, CA)
» Angelina Moysov (Singer / Songerwriter, Persephones Bees)
» Lucia Iman (top-selling artist, SellaBand)
» Pim Betist (Founder and Creative Director, SellaBand)
» Celia Hirschman (Commentator, KCRW’s “On the Beat”)
» Cecily Mak (Senior Counsel, Real Networks and Rhapsody)
» Jay Durgan (President, Raiden Holdings; Former Head of Business Development, Warner Music)
» Elise Nordling (Music Director and DJ, Indie Pop Rocks!)
November 2008
So You Wanna Start A Company (Berkeley, CA)
» Annie Chang (Co-Founder, LOLapps)
» Edith Yeung (Founder, SFentrepreneur; Co-Founder, Clue Market, Inc.; Executive Producer, BizTechDay)
» Donielle Buie (Founding Partner, Gutsy Partners)
» Hazel Grace Dircksen (Founder, Socialbees Strategy)
» Alison Covarrubias (Owner, Business Legs; Director, San Francisco Chapter of Ladies Who Launch)
