Women 2.0 - Where are the Women-Founded Startups?

mariecasas — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:27:20 -0600

Where are the women-founded startups? Chris Shipley, Executive Director of DEMO, points out the painful lack of women founders who try to launch at their events. DEMO is the premiere semi-annual conference for launching tech products.

Out of the 30 web startups I have profiled since January 2008 for Pinoy Web Startup, a tech blog that features web techologies from the Philippines and Asia, I've listed less than 5 women principals.

I thought I could attribute my difficulty (just a tad) in interviewing about new web apps made by other tech guys to gender difference but after hearing what Chris has to say:

Fewer than 10 percent of venture-based technology companies have a woman on the founding team. This startling statistic has led some to assert that venture is a male-dominated business dismissive, if not outright hostile, toward women.
I won’t defend the venture business; I’ve heard enough anecdotes to give at least some credence to that perspective. But I think there is, at root, something different happening. Women build different kinds of businesses from men. They have different aspirations and quite often they fund them differently - usually through organic growth rather than venture capital infusion. There are exceptions of course. Diane Green at VMWare, Kim Polese at SpikeSource, and more recently Gina Bianchini at Ning provide a few examples.

I realize it's just because I have a business background rather than computer science -- not gender. It's strangely liberating to acknowledge the gender gap in the tech startup scene in the global scale.

Before I went full-time in our web startup and even now, I'm still nagged by "what if's" that I'm sure are part of the obstacles faced by women who want to start a brick-and-mortar business or web application. What happens if my business idea fails? What if I get sick? How will I ever meet someone cute to date? When can I settle down? Will I ever settle down? What if I have a baby -- can I ever afford to have a baby? How can I save for the future? Will I ever afford new clothes? Where will I get funding? Who can I turn to? No one understands.

Luckily, some women got a headstart and are kind enough to offer mentorship through the Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition. The best business plan presented in a 7x7 napkin gets a chance to meet with top venture capital firms and Esther Dyson of EDVenture.

Does your business idea have a chance? Learn more about the business plan competition.

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Women 2.0 - Where are the Women-Founded Startups?