How Lucky Ant Works from Lucky Ant on Vimeo.

If you are considering to raise money for your business via crowdfunding, then you may want to check out Lucky Ant.

Like successful crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Lucky Ant allows people to pledge different amounts, in return for incentives offered up by the merchants like VIP treatment and other perks. However, by focusing on small local businesses (currently only in New York, but with plans to expand soon) this platform gives owners a way to build customer loyalty with members of the community, creating a model for sustaining their businesses over the long term, while also enabling them to raise capital for immediate improvements.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/kickstarter-like-crowdfunding-platform-for-local-merchants-launches.html#ixzz1iVSPr035

“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.

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)

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.

Here are 3 tips for entrepreneurial women starting high-growth companies:

#1: Think Big

For example, thinking of building a marketplace for dog owners? Instead, think of building a platform for dog owners, parents who walk children on leashes and in strollers, people who like (insert name of esoteric hobby/lifestyle here)… These interests and small cohorts of people are service by what we call “verticals” and this system that can service all these verticals is called a “platform.” If you build a site for a limited group of people, you won’t be able to grow your business to hire all your friends and their friends.

We at Women 2.0 champion high-growth, high-technology companies. What we mean by high-growth is that the sky is the limit and you shouldn’t limit yourself to just creating a product for a small group of people. You can release your alpha/beta product to a small group, but you should always have the vision of conquering the world with your company.

#2: Do Your Homework

Have you read “Business Model Generation?” Know what the gist of “Lean Startup?” Tested your genius idea with some “Customer Development?” Well, you should. If not, use that magical thing called Google to find out what these buzzwords mean — they’re the entrepreneurial terms of the century so don’t be left behind the times! You want to make sure you use the tried and true ways of starting up. For example, Women 2.0 provides daily knowledge on women-led startups — from tips and tricks, to founder stories. Go ahead and subscribe now for your daily inspiration!

#3: Aim To Disrupt

“Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History” is a famous slogan and now a ubiquitous bumper sticker attributed to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. What this means is to be brave and go after that wild thought in your head — the thought that says “this current way of doing things is broken, and I want to fix it with my startup”

The On Time Show with Petunia van de Twirp from Catie Lazarus on Vimeo.

Here’s a late show night hosted by a girl. Check out Catie Lazarus’ video.

“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.”

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

Read this article from Women For Hire about negotiating.