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Valley Girls
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Valley Girls

Lessons From Female Founders in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

Kelley Steven-Waiss
ForbesBooks, 2024
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8

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Business founder and HR executive Kelley Steven-Waiss discusses why women in tech start-ups have difficulty securing investors and earning their male peers’ respect. She pursued a familiar entrepreneurial path: Have a “big idea,” assemble a team, tap your network, seek venture capital – and face stumbling blocks from male investors who sideline female decision-makers. Now, she asks if that playbook is still relevant. Could an abundance mindset replace the typical corporate scarcity mindset? Might founders do better as team-oriented dolphins than as sharks? Drawing from interviews with other female founders, Steven-Waiss argues that the business world needs more women to become entrepreneurs and that they deserve more respect.

Summary

Women entrepreneurs must embrace robust reality to dispel establishment myths.

The numbers tell the story: More women than men are graduating from universities in almost every discipline and women’s presence in the professional workforce is growing. What does this mean for female founders launching tech start-ups?

Historically, men have dominated this field, and venture capitalists remain reluctant to invest in companies founded by women. The myths about which traits a founder must have to succeed reinforce behaviors that favor men’s dominance in start-up culture. According to these myths:

  • Founders are aggressive sharks.
  • Founders go it alone.
  • Founders are born, not made.
  • Founders must be financial pros.
  • Founders are inherent risk-takers.

The nuanced realities that counter these myths demonstrate that collaboration generates positive results and that women are well-suited to entrepreneurship:

  • Founders are cooperative dolphins.
  • Founders nurture allies.
  • Founders are made, not born.
  • Founders must be creative.
  • Founders manage risk.

...

About the Author

Kelley Steven-Waiss, founder and CEO of Hitch Works, Inc., co-wrote The Inside Gig: How Sharing Untapped Talent Across Boundaries Unleashes Organizational Capacity.

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