Girls In Tech

To date, the Founder Institute has launched over 190 technology companies in 10 cities worldwide – many of which have been founded by women, such as Skimble, Memetales, WhatsFun, and many more. Is yours next?  Applications are closing soon for Winter Semesters in Silicon Valley, Houston, Seattle and Boston.

This 4-month startup accelerator program provides structured training to launch an enduring technology company, in a teamwork-oriented environment where everyone participates in a shared equity pool. In addition, sessions take place once a week at night, so you are not required to quit your day job.

Their great Winter 2010 Mentors include:

- Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO of Mint.com;

- Heather Harde, CEO of TechCrunch

- Gina Bianchini, Co-founder, Ning

- Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin;

- Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo;

- Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote;

- Phillip Kaplan, Co-Founder of Blippy;

- Jeffrey Dachis, Co-Founder of Razorfish;

- Adeo Ressi, Founder of the Founder Institute;

- and many more.

Anyone starting a technology company or thinking to become an entrepreneur should apply. It only takes a few minutes, and you don’t even need an idea – just a passion to create a great technology company.- Apply to Silicon Valley by Nov. 7th

- Apply to Houston by Nov. 7th

- Apply to Seattle by Nov. 21st

- Apply to Boston by Jan. 16th

For more information, click here.

Tags: Founder Institute, start-up, technology, The Funded
Posted in Boston, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley | No Comments »

Mountain View based start-up, Bizzy, is a new way for local businesses to share deals, events, tips and news with their customers.

Today they announced “What’s Happening” in San Francisco which provides us (consumers) with a listing of great offers, events and promotions from businesses in their city at any given time – all in one place.

On Bizzy, you create a customized list of your favorite local businesses and once you’re connected, your Bizzy homepage acts as a feed of updates, highlighting special deals and events from the businesses you’ve selected. All of the feed items are shareable on Facebook, Twitter and via e-mail providing an easy way for new customers to discover local businesses by learning from their friends’ experiences or from people with similar taste.

What I love about it is the fact that my inbox isn’t being bombarded with 20% off deals and the like. When I am ready to make plans for the weekend, want to shop, or whatever – I can go to Bizzy to see whats going on in San Francisco.

Wondering what to do this weekend? Take a look at “What’s Happening” in San Francisco: http://bizzy.com/happening/sf

Bizzy is also available in NYC and Dallas and I can’t wait for it to launch in Santa Cruz

Tags: bizzy, coupons, crm, deals, Events, San Francisco, start-up
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If you are looking to launch your start-up but what you need is an extra little push, i/o Ventures is there to help.   This company is a start-up accelerator who seems to be the “working angel,” not a typical  angel investor, with the resources to help you by:  investing up to $25K,  providing office space (including space for small conferences and meetings), and other assistance which runs the gamut from matching you up with mentors to holding off-sites for you to meet with them.

Their program starts with an orientation, and is followed by a 4-month period of intense product market readiness.  This time includes weekly ‘one on one’s’ as well as an abundance of critical feedback.  Also throughout this time, they will host events to allow you to meet other budding entrepreneurs.   Off-sites and events can be held in a variety of venues and make for optimal bonding and advice-swapping time.   According to the company,

“The most honest discussions, best feedback, and most memorable experiences often happen on a chairlift while snowboarding, on a nice hike or around a campfire. Every one of us at i/o can attest to that personally.”

Visit their website to read more about the company or how you can apply to be chosen! -  http://www.ventures.io/info/about

i/o Ventures was started by leading industry specialists from companies such as MySpace, BitTorrent, and Lefora.  You can also see their bios on the i/o website.

Tags: i/o ventures, start-up
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Join Women 2.0 for Startup Essentials, October 13-15, 2009! Held in San Francisco, all three evening sessions will include networking and a discussion workshop. Each night features a speaker covering their topic of expertise: development issues, legal issues, and PR issues. Find out the best way to support your venture in each of these areas on a tight budget.

Food and drinks will be provided.

Register at: http://www.eventbee.com/view/startupessentials
Startup Essentials: http://www.women2.org/october-2009-startup-essentials/

Tags: development, legal, PR, start-up, women 2.0
Posted in All Chapters, San Francisco | No Comments »

After March’s Women in Business Development event, I was chatting with some other attendees about the brilliant women who just spoke on the panel, when I was approached by a very friendly woman wearing exquisite jewelry. Since I have always been a sucker for turquoise, I was immediately drawn to her lacquered turquoise and shining silver necklace and earrings. She went on to tell me that she’s the co-founder of WooMeOver.com, a social networking site for jewelry designers and enthusiasts. I was shocked that I hadn’t heard about the site as it enables designers to monetize their craft online not through just a personal website, but through yet another social network, where you build sort of a fan base for your products along with a portfolio, get feedback straight from the source as well as requests to custom make items for new and old clients.

I am, after all, quite a jewelry enthusiast myself, but have yet to grow a collection of my own that’s not from the dollar store or Forever 21. I’ve always agreed with the original Diva herself, Holly Golightly, that diamonds are tacky for anyone under 50, but scanning through the delicious designs from amazingly talented designers on WooMeOver and their ‘Bling Blog’, I may want to start my real rock collection a bit before I’m half a century old!

If you’re a jewelry designer, or aspiring designer, this network would be an amazing place to build up your clientele, network with other designers and get daily inspiration from the bold colors, immense creativity and unbelievable designs.

WooMeOver.com is still in beta, but if you’re interested, check out the home page and you can register to be a part of the community and scan the artistic images, learn about the designers and even build your personal collection!

Tags: Allison Bethurem, e-commerce, girls in tech, Jewlrey, San Francisco, start-up, technology, WooMeOver
Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »