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04/11/14 | Uncategorized

What Got Us Talking at Women 2.0 This Week: April 11 Edition

Check out the latest edition of our weekly Women 2.0 reading guide and join the conversation.

By Betsy Mikel (Editor, Women 2.0)

  • Check out the 99U talk from Daily Muse cofounder and startup advisor Kathryn Minshew about 7 startup mistakes to avoid. One of her biggest tips is to avoid the “Gollum Syndrome” and treating your startup as “my precious.” Minshew encourages founders to get their idea out there and iterate because ““an ugly baby is better than no baby at all.”

  • Time reported on a new study from Technische Universität München (TUM) that found women were less likely to apply to job postings that used words commonly associated with men like “assertive”, “independent”, “aggressive” and “analytical.” So if the job sounds like it’s meant for a man, women steer clear. Should women change, or should job ads? asks The XX Factor, Slate’s “What Women Really Think” section.

  • Silicon Valley is pouring money into education startups — which received $1.25 billion in funding in 2013. Is one of America’s biggest problems a huge opportunity for startups? Quartz wonders if digital classrooms can save U.S. education.

  • We’ve been hearing about the tech bubble bursting for as long as someone had the idea to put those two words together. NPR’s All Tech Considered takes a new angle and examines the risk and bubble-bursting potential of the recent ginormous acquisitions of Snapchat, Nest and WhatsApp.

  • HBO debuted Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley this week (You can watch the first episode for free on YouTube) where everyone has a startup idea they think will change the world. The satirical take on the tech ecosystem is rife with stereotypes we know all too well, right down the white commuter buses and on-site rock climbing wall at the super cool startup-turned-behemoth-tech-company HQ. Yet as TechCrunch points out, “The lack of women in Judge’s Silicon Valley is also a serious flaw, and if the show gets renewed, Judge & co. might want to ‘change the ratio.’”

  • In “How to Break up the Old Boys’ Club in Your Office,” Quartz gives employers tangible, actionable guidance in how to recognize leadership potential in employees who aren’t white men.

  • It’s great news when your startup secures a large round of funding and you can afford to quickly bring on several new employees to help scale your business. But if you make the wrong hires, it can be problematic. FastCompany put together an infographic based on CareerBuilder survey results on how much a bad hire can cost you. Beyond the $25,000-50,000 survey respondents said bad hires cost them in one year, companies have also “paid” in a loss of worker productivity, negative impact on employee morale and more.

  • Can soon-to-be-moms who are CEOs really take maternity leave? In FastCompany, Founder and CEO of Luminary Labs Sara Holoubek gives five practical tips based on her own experience. One of our favorite excerpts from her piece: “There is never an optimal time to have a baby. If you are working on a startup, raising capital, growing revenue from $5 to $10 million, looking to sell, this cycle will continue until you retire or die.”

  • Which New York VCs give women money — and which don’t? Business Insider researched active portfolios for 16 early-to-mid-stage venture capital funds in New York and got in touch with every firm to confirm the numbers.

  • FastCompany published a story on tech executive Amanda North, who was 15 feet away from one of last year’s Boston Marathon bombings. While recovering from her injuries, North decided to leave her job and do what she really wanted to do: Launch a startup and online marketplace that sells high-end home-decor products made by artisans in developing countries. Read more about North’s story and inspiration.

  • Earlier this week, Uber gave Silicon Valley startups the chance to hop in an car with Google Ventures investors and pitch their idea in just seven minutes. One of the #UberPITCH advisors was Google Ventures partner Shanna Tellerman.

  • In case you missed it: Condoleezza Rice is joining the Dropbox board of directors. The former United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor will advise on matters such as international expansion and privacy.

  • One of our favorite Women 2.0 posts this week: 3 Managers of Dog Breeds written and illustrated by Elaine Wherr. Are you (or do you know) a sheepdog, golden retriever or greyhound manager?

Read anything interesting on the web this week? Let us know in the comments!

Betsy Mikel (@betsym) is an editor at Women 2.0. As a freelance copywriter and content strategist, she also helps brands, businesses and entrepreneurs tell their stories.

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