Must Be Talking To An Angel: More Investors Are Focused On Women Entrepreneurs

Since there is a wave of women entrepreneurs, it stands to reason that are women angel investors and venture capital executives. The Harvard Business Review has an article about angel investors. There are a few angel investor firms who are focused on women entrepreneurs, 500 Startups, Golden Seeds and Pipeline. In addition, there are individuals who have made angel investments to women-founded startup. You can look up women angel investors on Angel List. I only found a few including Marissa Mayer, Maria Thomas, Donna Wells and Christine Tsai.

According to the Kauffman Foundation, venture funds with women on their teams invest in women founders 70%of the time. In short, the more women investors at the table, the more women run companies are funded, and the pipeline of women run companies grows. The difference is that women entrepreneurs bring in 20% more revenue with 50% less money invested; therefore, investors who expand their networks to include more women founders will be more likely to reap the rewards.

 

 

British Columbia Provides Mentoring Program For Female Entrepreneurs

From our neighbors to the North, I read about a great program in British Columbia.

The B.C. government is providing $100,000 in funding to support the fifth and final year of a mentoring program designed to foster female entrepreneurial and small business growth in the province. The money is directed to the Women’s Enterprise Centre (WEC) which has administered the Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship Mentoring program since 2007.

The program provides one-on-one mentoring, peer mentoring groups and mentor advisory forums to B.C. female entrepreneurs. Graduates are trained to handle the challenges of running a business, as the program provides business development skills, teaches participants to achieve work/life balance, and directs them to business resources.

Study: Women Get Fewer Game-Changing Leadership Roles

Marissa  Mayer is one of the few. Studies have shown that the representation of women in the senior ranks has been virtually unchanged for years, despite considerable organizational investment in talent management systems. According to a study by Catalyst, women rarely get game changing leadership roles.

via Study: Women Get Fewer Game-Changing Leadership Roles – Christine Silva and Herminia Ibarra – Harvard Business Review.

 

Advice From Women Who Have Built Their Dream Careers – Oprah.com

Be Open to Anything”A friend asked if I wanted to do a food trade show with her. I brought a few products with me, not expecting to sell or anything—and suddenly we got all these orders! I had no idea how we were going to package or prepare so much so quickly, but I never say no unless I completely understand why it cant be done. I think how you approach obstacles is a big part of being successful—you cant give up.”—Alisa Barry, Chef and Owner, Bella Cucina Artful Food

via Advice From Women Who Have Built Their Dream Careers – Oprah.com.

 

Apply Now: Women Innovate Mobile

Via NY Convergence, we hear about Women Innovate Mobile

“Companies and entrepreneurs that have the opportunity to participate in an accelerator program are given an advantage because of their access to networks and mentoring,”Kelly Hoey, co-founder and managing director of Women Innovate Mobile, told the Wall Street Journal. “There are a lot of women entrepreneurs out there but without access to networks, without access to feedback and mentoring and guidance and funding.”

Women Innovate Mobile is ameliorating the blatant discrepancy between the number of men and women in the industry, focusing on mobile technology. Hoey believes mobile is the next wave of tech development, essential for a wide range of sectors from banking to education, the WSJ mentions.

Women Innovate Mobile opened its applications last week to startups with a woman founder or co-founder and a product that is related to mobile. The accelerator will offer two to five start-ups free NY office space, mentoring and coaching, access to venture capitalists and other investors in addition to $18,000 in seed funding, $10,000 worth of product development and design support, and $10,000 worth of mobile marketing promotions, the WSJ notes.

Bloomberg Business Week To Offer Entrepreneur Scholarships To Sandbox Global Summit

Sandbox, ‘the leading global network of the most inspiring innovators below 30’, is delighted to announce our most recent media partnership with Bloomberg Businessweek.
From a commitment to helping young leaders accelerate their ideas to connecting them with other changemakers around the world, Sandbox and Bloomberg Businessweek share a common vision of supporting young inspiring innovators to achieve their full potential. This partnership enables Sandbox and the members of our community to have a strong media partner on our side, while providing grants (click here to apply) for young female leaders from around the world to participate in the Sandbox Global Summit in Lisbon on January 20-22, 2012.  (H/T to Soraya)

Women And The Reverse Pay Gap

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times about young career women closing the pay gap in the United States.  What will be the affect culturally in the long term? Right now some women are already downplaying their job. Liza Mundy has written a book, The Richer Sex, How The New Majority Of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love And Family, that will be published in March, and she has documented the following behaviors.

She met high-achieving women who, afraid to put men off, devise strategies to play down their affluence. One woman carries small bills to pay for tips, drinks, parking and other dating expenses rather than whipping out her high-limit credit card.

“Some of these women had learned the hard way that when they went to bars, they were better off lying about what they did — saying that they were a cosmetologist or music teacher rather than a software consultant or lawyer,” Ms. Mundy said.

Are women going to continue to downplay their achievements to get dates and/or married?  It is interesting to note that many African American women have been dealing with this for years and now this issue has grown across all ethnic communities in United States as more women obtain college degrees.

Inside The Connected World Of Female Tech Founders

Fortune.com has an article about how women tech founders are connected and know each other. It’s great that they highlight the women tech founders, but I would hate for readers to think that have replaced the “old boys’ club” with an “old new girls club”.  I especially like Alexa Hirchfeld’s quote about  what women tech founders need to know:

“These women are serious, sharp business people, but most are not powerhouse developers or designers,” says Hirschfeld, who also works as a user interface designer at Paperless Post. “But tech is now layered on top of all businesses. You need to learn the language enough to do your job, but not enough to do developers’ jobs.”

Apply For A 20K Grant From The International Women’s Media Foundation

From Fishbowl LA:

IWMF has a $20,000 grant available through something they’re calling the Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier program.

Here’s the deal:

The Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier grant program is designed to diversify the emerging digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs. The International Women’s Media Foundation will award three $20,000 grants to women journalists who aspire to be new media entrepreneurs. The IWMF seeks proposals that are innovative, sustainable, and that further the role of women in the news media.

The deadline is coming up on November 30th. Get on that application now if you’re interested. More info on the IWMF website

What’s Your Negotiating Style?

One of the biggest mistakes women make is not negotiating compensation whenever they have an opportunity to do so.  I remember years ago hearing Nell Merlino say that women leaving money on the table. When taking on a freelance client, working with advertisers or any kind of  business deal where money is exchanged, I often pause.  Saying yes too quickly can cost you.

Read this article from Women For Hire about negotiating.