Girls In Tech

A few days ago, OnlineMBA blog published a feature piece on 15 Successful Startups Founded by Women so we wanted to share the list with our Girls in Tech readers, while noting that there are many more startups and successful companies led by women that were not included in this piece. This list underscores how important women are to the development and design of future technologies, touching upon a variety of different sectors such as healthcare, education, retail, non-profit . . . the list goes on. While there are more female entrepreneurs launching companies now more than ever before, our gender is still considered scarce in the tech industry. It is important to continue developing programs for girls in math, tech and science to break down societal stereotypes, the glass ceiling and pave the path for more female tech pioneers.

1. 23andMe

   The personal genomics and biotechnology company, 23andMe is set to print genetic testing to everyday people. Founded by Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey, the company has become increasingly easier to access, with an initial cost of $999, which has now dropped to an incredibly accessible $99 with a subscription. Using the service, subscribers can study their own genetic information, and get updates on discoveries made over time. 23andMe has attracted plenty of investors, most notably Google, with $3.9M and $2.6M. Co-founder Anne Wojcicki may have something to do with the group’s financial success: she is married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The company’s unique service has been featured on Oprah, The New York Times, and several other high profile media outlets. Additionally, Time magazine named 23andMe’s testing service “Invention of the Year” for 2008.

2. TaskRabbit

   Some people have more money than time, while others have more time than money. TaskRabbit brings the two together, allowing people who need help with small jobs to get connected with others who are happy to do them for a little cash. IKEA furniture assembly, grocery shopping, and even laundry tasks can be found among the offerings on this site. Featured in Forbes, the site has grown quickly, going beyond founder Leah Busque’s hometown of Boston to include New York City, Chicago, LA, and the San Francisco Bay Area with more coming soon. TaskRabbit has attracted $6.85M in funding since early 2009, and even boasts the famous 4-day work weeker Timothy Ferriss as a board member. Former Hotwire CEO Eric Grosse has also come on as CEO.

3. Affectiva

   Another Massachusetts-born startup founded by women, Affectiva does things most people only see in the movies. Using electrodermal testing and face expression recognition tools, Affectiva can actually recognize and measure emotions. Rana el Kaliouby and Rosalind Picard won a $650,000 National Science Foundation grant in early 2011, and have since taken their total funding to $7.7M. The company has gone on to do amazing things, and CEO Dave Berman tells GigaOm that the future may include a “social network that knew you liked something based on your face or physiological signals without you having to push a “like” button.”

4. Hunch

   What do people on the Internet like? Hunch knows, and they’re building a “taste graph” of the Internet. With this web application, co-founder Caterina Fake and her team are able to map the affinities of online users, creating taste profiles based on a series of questions, and then suggesting a “hunch” of what the user might like. Hunch has found more than $19 million in funding, and boasts Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales as a board member. Founder Caterina herself has been a star in the startup world, co-founding Flickr and serving as a board member of Etsy. Hunch is well-loved by the press, with mentions from Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Time, Forbes, and more.

5. BaubleBar

   Following the success of so many other flash-sale websites, Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain created BaubleBar, which focuses its efforts exclusively on fashion jewelry with deep discounts. It’s certainly not a new idea, but the company has found its niche, selling items that typically sell between $50 to $80, capitalizing on impulse buys while at the same time benefiting from return customers. In their first round, BaubleBar has received just over $1 million in funding.

To read more, click on the following link: http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/15-successful-tech-startups-founded-by-women/

Tags: 15 successful startups, Adriana Gascoigne, Female CEOs, girls in tech, OnlineMBA, startups, women in tech
Posted in All Chapters | No Comments »

FailCon 2011 is just 2 weeks away!  And the FailCon crew is excited to announce their incredible Demo Competitors for this year’s SuccessCon-test.  Twelve new startups will be trying to win your vote as “Most Likely To Succeed.”

Demo Competitors Include:

• Repost.us - an instant syndication platform that makes digital content embeddable.
• SaverMint - a smartphone based loyalty and referral program for small and medium businesses.
• BAMM.tv - provides free HD video creation, global distribution and payments for artists.
• 2600hz - a scalable, open-source VoIP platform that supports many telecommunication services.
• Dolphin - a customizable, touchscreen-specialized Android browser.
• Who’s Here Now - an event application to help you connect with the best people.
• Overstat - robust website analytics and landing page optimization, with no programming required.
• Passing Green - helps businesses receive qualified leads and better manage the process.
• CardFlick - the easiest way to create and share business cards with your phone
• MoreDays - a mobile app to make planning and designing your life easier and fun.
• Let’s Listen - a cloud music locker that lets you chat and listen to music with friends in real-time.
• GridSearch - the easiest way to navigate videos on a mobile device.

So, come out and demo their apps, cheer them on, and vote your favorite to the top!

Join 500 founders, investors, designers, and developers at this year’s incredible FailCon.

Details:

October 24^th, 2011  |  8:30 AM – 7:00 PM

Hotel Kabuki

1625 Post Street

San Francisco, 94115

Register:  here.

Tags: Allison Strouse, Cass Phillips, entrepreneurs, FailCon, startups
Posted in Girls In Tech, Palo Alto, San Francisco | No Comments »

Another year passed for OSCON 2011 with over 3000+ attendees flocking to Portland, Oregon for this year’s theme: From Disruption to Default.

OSCON 2011 events, tracks, sessions and keynotes raised the bar again.

Here are a few highlights of the keynote session and tracks:

-       Microsoft Keynote by Gianugo Rabelino, Sr Director of Open Source Communities is quite great as he talks about the future of community: informed trends: education, repeatable science and experience. See speakers slides

-       Rob Pike: The  expressiveness of Go programming language. Read blog

-       Ariel Waldman: On hacking space exploration. See speaker slides

-       IBM: On building native mobile apps with phone gap. Becky Gibson and Simon MacDonald showed best practices on mobile apps. See speaker slides

-       Gabe Zichermann discussed the importance of Gamification. Check out the slides

Check out full speaker list

Check out full program speaker and slides

Check out keynote and video interviews

Lastly, On Thursday, July 28th, Global Girls in Tech Mentorship Program kicked off their inaugural VIP sessions at Oscon. Fortune 500, academic, tech and entrepreneurs and leaders from all over the world gathered together to participate and support our kick-off meet-up. Thanks so much to everyone who showed up. We couldn’t have done it without your continued help and participation. Interested in participating? Drop me an email; ivo@girlsintech.net  | Follow me @MsSonicFlare

For More info about GIT Mentorship

Watch video live interview with Ivo Lukas- Director of Global Mentorship/Partnership program & MD of Portland Chapter

Join our Local PDX Chapter

(Photo credit:  Pinar Ozger & OSCON)

Tags: 24notion, education, entrepreneurs, girls and technology, girls intech, girlsintech mentorship, girlsintech portland, gitpdx, ivo, Ivo Lukas, Mentorship program, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, OSCON2011, Portland, startups, technology, women in tech, women leadership, women technology
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Events, Girls In Tech, GIT Mentorship, GIT U, Portland | No Comments »

The San Francisco Chapter is thrilled to announce that Marissa Louie has been added as a panelist for next week’s PR for Startups event.

Marissa Louie brings the dual perspective of a startup entrepreneur (Dilemma, HeroEx, AD Village) and a PR and marketing consultant (Double Dutch, RateItAll, Trumpet, Compute.org). Her work has been featured in publications including TechCrunch, Mashable, VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, TheNextWeb, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Huffington Post, and Shape Magazine.

As a reminder, the PR for Startups event will be held on Tuesday, March 8th at the Founder’s Den and features a panel of experts who will discuss how PR can play a role in growing your business. The final panelist lineup includes:

• Scott McGrew of NBC Bay Area and ‘Press: Here’
• Andrew Sinkov, Vice President of Marketing for Evernote
• Tracey Parry, Vice President of Airfoil Public Relations
• Marissa Louie, Serial Entrepreneur /Co-Founder & CEO at Dilemma
• Moderater: Kym McNicholas of Forbes.com

Tickets for the event are still available but selling out fast. To reserve your spot, register at http://gitprforstartups.eventbrite.com/

If you have any questions you would like to submit in advance or during the event, please tweet them to @christine1oneto or @luciagia or text them to: 650-283-8008

Tags: Andrew Sinkov, girls in tech, Kym McNicholas, Marissa Louie, PR, public relations, Scott McGrew, startups, Tracey Parry
Posted in Events, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | No Comments »

Girls in Tech LA is proud to announce its newest partnership – the Startup Demo event at Social Media Week LA.

Please join us for an evening of fun mingling with other startups, VCs, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts.  StartupDemo (www.startupdemo.com) is an opportunity for early stage startups to showcase their new products and/or services. Founders use StartupDemo as an opportunity to get frank feedback from VCs, angels, peers and the technolust.  At StartupDemo, we’re all about one thing:  uncovering the latest and greatest technologies.  StartupDemo is produced by the same folks behind Schmoozd. Follow them  @startupdemo for more info and updates leading up to the event.

When: Wednesday,  Sept 22nd, 2010 – 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Where: Wokcano, 1413 5th Street, Santa Monica, CA

What: A Startup Demo event

Price: FREE

Register Here

Tags: event, social networking, startups
Posted in Events, Los Angeles | No Comments »

Mayor Sam Adams gave a closing speech at OSCON this year – “Great beer selections, no sales tax; come to Portland, move your family and start your business here”. I’ve had the liberty to sit down with Mayor Sam Adams to chat about tech scene, start ups and a great lifestyle by living in Portland, Ore

Sam Adams – Mayor, City of Portland, Oregon.

Mayor Sam Adams of Portland, Oregon was elected Mayor of Portland in May 2008. Prior to being elected Mayor, Adams served as a Commissioner on the City Council for four years earning a reputation as a “policy-driven” advocate for sustainability, public transit, transportation planning, the arts, and gay rights. As a City Commissioner, Adams was Commissioner in Charge of Portland’s Office of Transportation and the Bureau of Environmental Services, and council liaison to, among others, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Association of Portland Neighborhood Business Districts, and Worksystems, Incorporated. In his role as Mayor, Adams is the lead Council member on Economic Development, Planning and Sustainability, Education, Arts and Culture, and Transportation.

During his first year as Mayor, Adams has launched a number of initiatives designed to showcase and provide support to Portland’s open source software community. Notably, Mayor Adams and City Council approved the nation’s first open source and open data resolution, which places open source software on equal footing with commercial software for purposes of City contracts. Also, Portland recently launched Civic Apps for Greater Portland, which is the nation’s first regional open data and open source app contest. Mayor Adams brings renewed focus to developing and implementing plans that will not only keep Portland livable, vibrant, and economically healthy, but will also increase Portland’s status as a national leader. He is proud of Portland’s open source software community, and he wants to do his part to ensure Portland maintains its reputation as an international hub for open source innovation.

Q&A

Exciting how the city of Portland is hosting OSCON again this year! How’s OSCON in Portland this year?

Portland, Oregon is the perfect host city for the open source convention. As a city, we have a wide breadth of un-matched talent; proprietary and open source software development, digital media firms, programming, coding and creative skill-sets. As a city, we are faster, cheaper and more creative. We have to be to compete with the other cities.  We have the quality and value – all in one city.

How has the tech scene evolved over the last several years?. What’s next? Where do we grow?

The Portland technology community has been able to take collaborative and open source philosophies to the next level. We’ve done some creative stuff; from digital development through productization.

Take Civicapps for example; CivicApps is an open data / open source project sponsored by several Portland-area government agencies to promote innovation in the public and private sectors. Currently over 120 civic data sets are available, including geographic, 911, transit, streets, and parks data. The aim is social change. The path is regional collaboration. The focus is local. A cool transportation app that displays arrival times for public transport in Portland, Oregon –PDX Bus—was developed using these public datasets, and it is available on a number of platforms including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

Technology products and services developed in Portland are most appealing to end-users because from the underlying software to the user experience we really figure them out to the fullest–we have high expectations. In the future, we need to focus on delivering value, quality and creativity in the most competitive ways. Portland has the potential be the most creative technology community in the world. We have so much opportunity here!

What’s your thought about expanding the women/girls presence in technology in Portland?

I think a mentoring approach is the way to go. We’ve had success with Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, which is a summer program that helps girls build confidence as musicians and learn about the music industry. That model could be used to help girls learn about other industries –like tech.

What current device/technology could you not live without? iPhone. It’s the one source that I rely on to get all of my news, connect with constituents. I tweet a lot, and I rely on a couple of applications for tweeting, including tweet deck. Beyond that I’m a news junky.  I use fluent news, incorporate, dig, and other apps.

Favorite apps? Pdxreporter.

What do you want people outside of Portland to learn about one of the most dynamic cities in the US?

Besides our worldclass beer and no sales tax?  We are a very open city that rewards creative thinking and values innovation.

We seek to be the best place to have both a fulfilling career and a balanced personal life. You really can have it all.

Also, this is a welcoming place and one of opportunity for people who want to make a difference. I am an example—I grew up poor, worked hard in public service, and now I have the honor of serving as Mayor.

To learn more about the city go to http://www.portlandonline.com/mayor/index.cfm

and be sure to follow @mayorsamadams

Be sure to join Girls in Tech Portland Chapter at OSCON 2010 this year at Portland Oregon. Girls in tech Portland is sponsored and powered by 24Notion

For More info for our local Portland chapter, go to our facebook page. If you are interested in being a guest speaker and/or panelist for our workshops and lectures, pls feel free to drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

tweet @mssonicflare @oscon @24notion @gitweet #oscon #portland #opensource

photo by David Snyder

Tags: 24notion, business, creative, designer, Developer, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, innovation, ivo, ivolukas, marketing, mobile apps, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, OSCON, Portland, PR, programmers, startups, technology, user experience, VC, women in technology
Posted in All Chapters, Portland | No Comments »

This year:

• AOL Ventures has committed to funding the winning concept out of Startup Weekend!
• NoizIvy will hand out free hosting, consultations and a slew of other prizes.
• Hive at 55 will give away 3 months of free coworking space to one team and discounts to all other teams
• Speakers include:
  • David Lifson of Postling.com (& Etsy & Amazon)
  • Mark Lizoain of Urtak.com
  • more TBA

What do Attendees get from a Startup Weekend?

We’re glad you asked:

Startup Weekend provides an unprecedented level of networking, team building, learning, and life changes for its attendees and their communities. Five or six meals – and drinks are provided. There’s a reason most attendees come back for every event; it’s just plain fun and provides amazing opportunities you can’t get anywhere else.

Sometimes a company emerges, sometimes one doesn’t, but every time people leave with more experience, insight, knowledge, friends and resources than they came with.

We hope to see you there – especially if you have a great idea for a startup.

Tags: startup, startup weekend, Startup Weekend NYC, startups
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

Though it may seem to be a particularly rough time to start a business, many experts say a recession is the best time to get going on that entrepreneurial venture.

So I love the idea of Silicon Alley Insider’s Startup 2010 Competition (in conjunction with New York University’s Stern School of Business and sponsored by General Catalyst Partners).

It’s a one-day business plan cage match in which 10 top entrepreneurial, digital startups compete for a whole heckuva lot buzz – and $100,000. The prize includes a $25,000 cash investment from General Catalyst and the remainder in goods and services that include six months of New York City office space, legal services, web hosting and the opportunity to launch at DEMO, among others.

This year’s focus is on the meeting point between location-based digital services and the mobile market. Yes, Dennis Crowley from Foursquare will be there. In and around the 10 pitches and the judges’ questions will be breakout sessions on making money with mobile, mobile apps and VC firms talking about how they choose what they’re investing in.

Last year’s winner was legal startup ArticleOne Partners, which crowdsources patent validity – in other words, it uses the collective knowledge of the the intellectual property community to help determine if a patent application is actually for something new or based on someone else’s work.

The competition is May 20 at the Stern School, 44 W. Fourth St., and students there can attend for free. Tickets are $295. Even for those not competing for the prize, it seems it would be a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to rub elbows with their friends, competitors and potential investors.

Tags: entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Silicon Alley Insider, startup, Startup 2010, startups, Stern School of Business
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

Do you have a killer product concept and are ready to finally make it a reality? 2010 might be your year to build it out, launch a company, and change the world.

Betaspring – a mentorship-driven startup accelerator for technology and design entrepreneurs – is opening up applications for it’s 2010 summer program. They bring the best entrepreneurial teams from around the world to Providence, RI, for an intensive twelve week program. During that time they get your company up and running, provide mentorship, legal assistance, office space and a small amount of seed funding. At the end of the program they line up investors who want to fund you and strategic partners who want to work with you.

As Co-Founder of Olive Interactive, LLC. (DandyID and Claim.io), headquartered in Providence – and a Rhode Island native – I can personally attest for our vibrant community of technologists, artists, business leaders and innovators. Not only will you spend the summer working with stellar Betaspring mentors and members – you’ll also bump heads with The Creative Capital’s top scholars (think RISD and Brown students/grads), energetic young professionals, and enjoy plentiful access to a thriving nightlife and live music, great eats, and ocean/summer activities. Watch the I Heart Providence People’s Confessions videos for more takes on what makes this city shine: http://www.betaspring.com/2010/02/21/why-providence/

The deadline for applications is March 22nd, but early applicants will have the benefit of allowing the partners more time to get to know you and your company. The application process is quick, easy and painless, and will ask nothing you don’t already know. Head to http://betaspring.com for more information about the program and to access the application form. Questions about the program? Email Program Director, TJ Sondermann at tsondermann@betaspring.com

Tags: betaspring, providence, startups, Women Entrepreneurs
Posted in All Chapters, Boston | 1 Comment »

Startup Weekend is a grass roots organization of 15,000+ entrepreneurs/developers that rapidly develop new startups in 54 hours. Startup Weekend is a tech focused event currently operating in 60 cities spanning 18 countries and growing. During the event 75-200 attendees form 8-12 new ventures from mobile apps to web services to cupcake shops and anything between.

This is the second time that Startup Weekend is being held in Portland,Oregon. Girls In tech/Portland is a proud media supporter and sponsor. The event is open to anyone interested in the local entrepreneurial community, and it puts them in a setting where anything is possible. In the past 2 years, 280+ startups have started, 9,000+ entrepreneurs have been inspired. Teams have even started to generate revenue during the 54hr event, and others have even gone on to direct angel and VC investment. None of these stats take into account the amazing networking, ongoing professional relationships, and amazing experience that happen at every event.

Join us at Portland Startup Weekend: March 5-7, 2010 GIT members receive $10 off and use; discount code “girlsintech” register at http://portland.startupweekend.org/

Speakers & Mentors that will be there to help teams during the weekend:
Matt Compton (venture partner at Madrona and ex vp at Yahoo), Rob Wiltbank (venture partner at Montlake Capital and professor at Willamette U), Eric Doebele (Founder/CEO Reliable.remodeler.com), Nitin Khanna (Founder/CEO of MergerTech), Doug Fieldhouse (CEO of Vesta) and of course the guys from Mugasha Akshay and Justin will be there.

Learn more about Girls in Tech PDX or email ivo@girlsintech.net /tweet @mssonicflare

Tags: Developers, entrepreneur, gitpdx, Ivo Lukas, oregon, Portland, startup, startups, startupweekend, technology, venture capital
Posted in All Chapters, Portland | 1 Comment »