What’s the biggest challenge currently facing women in tech startup communities? What steps have you taken to change that in your own community or business?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
BACKING AWAY FROM PITCHING
“Las Vegas has dynamite women in our tech startup community. Many serve as co-founders or on senior leadership teams, but men still take the mic at many of our pitch events. A woman’s socialized way of communicating, via stories and emotional connection, is an asset. As a public speaking coach, I enjoy seeing tech women use their authentic style to garner attention and money in the funding space.”
– Alexia Vernon | Communication and Leadership Author / Coach, Alexia Vernon Empowerment LLC
HESITATING TO ASK FOR MORE
“Women in the tech startup community are often hesitant to ask for help from peers, advisors or investors. At Levo, we strive to encourage women to ask for more and to support other women in the workplace. While competitiveness can be positive, exclusivity or cattiness never has rewarding results.”
– Caroline Ghosn | CEO / Co-Founder, The Levo League
SEEING THE SHEER NUMBERS
“For me, the biggest challenge when I attend a tech startup event is that there are very few other women. It can feel very intimidating to walk into a room full of successful startup founders and VCs, and only see a few other women. In order to change that, I try to recruit other women founders to come with me. This concerted effort to spread the word about the events has helped tremendously.”
– Sarah Schupp | Founder, UniversityParent
NOT INVESTING IN EACH OTHER
“We hear successful women say that we need more women in the tech startup world – but when it comes time to invest in women-owned companies, those sentiments do not translate into ground support. If it’s a ‘good ol’ boys’ club’ then what’s to stop us from doing the same for women? Our company supports other women in the startup world by providing them a voice, when theirs is often talked over.”
– Benish Shah | CEO / Co-Founder, Vicaire Ny
NOT WILLING TO BE THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM
“We need women who are willing to be groundbreakers – but it’s a difficult proposition. It’s downright scary to be the only woman in the room, and even harder to speak up in that situation. I tend to make arrangements to have a ‘wingwoman’ at tech events, or even put together a whole group to attend together. At the very least, it makes it easier to get started.”
– Thursday Bram | Consultant, Hyper Modern Consulting
HAVING LIMITED NETWORKS
“When my co-founder and I started our company a couple of years ago, we found it difficult to find other female tech entrepreneurs. The men we connected with were great, but we made a concerted effort to seek out women from whom we could learn and relate. We now help run a Women in Tech Meetup and have worked on several initiatives to make it easier for women to connect.”
– Martina Welke | CEO / Co-Founder, Zealyst
CONFUSING OUR ROLE
“At tech startup events, I sometimes sense confusion about my role from other attendees. Is she an entrepreneur? An event organizer? Someone’s girlfriend? The best way to clarify who I am and why I’m there is to be a speaker. When that’s not appropriate/possible, the second best way is to become friends with some of the other regular attendees who are male and can easily make intros to others.”
– Elizabeth Saunders | CEO / Founder, Real Life E®
