KC Baker had the “perfect” life but was miserable. She shares how she overcame fear to find her own authentic voice, and how she helps other women find theirs.
By KC Baker (Founder, KC Baker)
Ten years ago I was on track for a “perfect” life. I had a killer resume: US Senate legislative assistant, investment banker, Ivy League grad. Lots of money; great clothes. But I was miserable, anxious, and felt totally trapped. Read More »
Women 2.0 joins forces with Startup Weekend this August 28th – 30th, 2009! We provide the space and brain fuel — you bring the energy and innovation to build something big over the weekend. Sign up now for your spot at Startup Weekend!
Maybe you have an idea, maybe you don’t?
Maybe you started a startup before, maybe you haven’t?
Maybe you are a developer, a designer, a do-er?
Please join us for Startup Weekend August 28-30, 2009.
What is Women 2.0 Startup Weekend? Much like a bar camp, you build something exciting over the weekend. Come to Startup Weekend to find an idea that resonates with you, join a team, and build! Startup Weekend is a place to test ideas, contribute to ideas, and meet potential founders. We are bringing together the most innovative, talented, and out-of-the-box entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. How it works: Teams form Friday night, companies develop product(s) and/or service(s) through Saturday, and company pitches are delivered on Sunday.
Looking for the most current Jumpstart Your Startup series? Click Here!
Jumpstart your startup with a new series from Women 2.0 to help bring your business idea to reality. Jumper cables in the trunk? Check. Gas? Check. Brakes? All good.
Starting on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 and wrapping up on Thursday, February 26th, 2009, the “Jumpstart Your Startup” workshop series held by Women 2.0 consists of 5 two-hour Thursday classes in Palo Alto and 2 full-day Saturday classes in San Francisco. Workshops utilize discussion forums with UC Berkeley professor Naeem Zafar and hands-on working sessions with successful women executives, VCs, and entrepreneurs providing “from the trenches” feedback and insight.
» Click here for course description, schedule, and more information on Jumpstart Your Startup
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Women with an idea for a startup and/or a startup in the making. If a part of a founding team, attendees may invite one or more team members (male or female).
ABOUT THE “JUMPSTART YOUR STARTUP” WORKSHOP SERIES
You will work with your team, or on your own, to research potential, perform analysis to identify resources, and write a simple business plan (or at least a good executive summary). By course completion, participants will have evaluated the strength and potential of their business idea and prepared the following tangibles: a market size-up, a deck of slides, and a business plan including financial projections.
HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR SPOT IN THIS WORKSHOP SERIES
Women 2.0 will be selecting up to 25 attendees based on an application with the following five questions:
To apply for a spot in the Women 2.0 Jumpstart Your Startup workshop series, email your answers to the above questions to Baat Enosh at baat@women2.org — We will be enrolling selected participants on a first-come, first-serve basis so you should apply ASAP because space is limited! Early-bird pricing for Jumpstart Your Startup has been extended to January 8, 2009!
As a Network Partner of Microsoft, Women 2.0 is one of the few entrepreneurial organizations in the United States that can enroll startups in to the BizSpark program for free software.
What do you get?
Development tools, platform technologies and production licenses
Access to the Microsoft Developer Network, Global Community, and Technical and Customer Support
Do you qualify?
Sign up for BizSpark!
Email Women 2.0 at bizspark@women2.org with the subject line “Interested in BizSpark” and tell us about your startup. Please include your answers to the above four qualifying questions in the email.
Busy running your startup but wondering how the financial crisis will impact your business? How does the future for startups seeking funding? Is this a good time to launch your dream venture? We will discuss the current financial crisis and its impact on the startup world at the Institute for the Future (IFTF) in Palo Alto on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. IFTF will demo the Massively Multiplayer Forecasting Game: Superstruct before the panel event.
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Panelists: » Shai Goldman (Director for Venture Exchange, SVB Capital) » Rebecca Lynn (Principal, Morgenthaler Ventures) » Prasanna Krishnan (Associate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson) » Betty Kayton (CFO, high tech startups & early stage firms) » Greg Schmid (Director, Managing Uncertainty Group) Moderator:
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Event sponsored by SVB Capital: |
From left: Jill Fishbein (Partner, Carr & Ferrell), Prasanna Krishnan (Associate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson), Shai Goldman (Director for Venture Exchange, SVB Capital), Rebecca Lynn (Principal, Morgenthaler Ventures), and Betty Kayton (CFO, high tech startups & early stage firms).
The event was blogged at Wall Street Journal as “VCs Ask Start-Ups: What’s Your Worst-Case Scenario?”. Blogger Gwen Bell turned her live Tweets from the event into a blog post titled “Economy Got You Poppin’ Pills?: VC Advice for Your Startup (+ 5 Strategies for Thriving!)”.
Looking for funding so you can take your venture to the next level?
Join an intimate conversation with angel investors on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at the Angels’ Forum office in Palo Alto. Patricia Roller (co-founder of frog design and member of the Angels’ Forum), Georges Harik (angel investor and former Director of Googlettes, a start-up incubator that operated inside Google), and Carol Sands (founder and managing member of the Halo Fund) will answer questions and help you learn everything you ever wanted to know about early stage funding.
If you’re interested in attending, please email us your answers to the following questions:
Deadline to apply for a spot at this exclusive event is September 12, 2008. To apply, send us an email to women2.0@gmail.com with your responses to the above questions. Selected participants will be notified by September 19, 2008. Cost of the event for selected attendees is $50 a person.
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UPDATE: Debriefing and Notes from the September 30th, 2008 “Speak with Angels” Event
Angel investing is risky business compared to venture capital, but as Patricia Roller said — it’s about giving back AND making money. Both Patricia Roller and Georges Harik stressed the importance of following up on the introductions or referrals an angel investor gives you bcause even if the angel investor does not invest initially, the interest/investment of their peer(s) may lead them to invest at a later time. Georges Harik stressed the importance of finding a good angel with a strong network to be your first investor, because other angels will be more inclined to follow. Patricia Roller provided a helpful hint that even if an angel investor does not invest, consider asking them to become an advisor and do take their advice, and maybe later, their financial investment will follow their personal/professional investment. Both angel investors spoke to the entrepreneurs about keeping your angel investors and advisors updated — keep your regular reports concise and focused on what’s important. Afterall, your angel investors and advisors are there to help.
 A handpicked group of entrepreneurs met with Patricia Roller and Georges Harik to talk about angel investing. |
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 Carol Sands meets the entrepreneurs. |
 Networking is of the essence. |
More pictures from the event are available on Flickr.
Thanks to everyone who came out. The next angel investment event will be in March 2009 — stay tuned!
Stanford, California – May 10, 2008 – Entrepreneurs and VCs gathered on the grassy lawn of the Stanford Golf Course for the 2008 Women 2.0 and Stanford Women in Business Conference Beyond the Spark: Entrepreneurship Redefined. The conference included panel discussions, an interactive lunch with Silicon Valley movers and shakers, and an afternoon session with Pitch 2008 Finalists. We boasted 300+ entrepreneurs, investors, students, and a special visitor – June Sarpong, top television personality and producer from the UK (MTV UK, T4, and more) and campaigner for the HRH The Prince’s Trust. She is building an influential political and lifestyle platform and will be joining the entrepreneurial ecosystem in LA.
Team Koollage won the 2008 Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition, scoring a private meeting with Esther Dyson and business services worth over $15,0000. Team Gaiagy walked away with the People’s Choice Award, as voted by the audience with their cell phones. TechCrunch covered Pitch 2008 here.
Podcasts of all panels, speakers, and competition finalists are available here.
The vision of the conference was to ignite and inspire – to expand what we know and what we expect from ourselves and our peers. Through the stories of an esteemed panel of speakers (Google.org, d.light design, Market For a Change, allvoices, and many more), we learned how to think and execute beyond Facebook apps and social networks to find NEW ways to make millions while positively affecting change.
 Inside the white tent, napkin submissions for the Business Plan Competition lined a wall. Chris Shipley asked aloud: “Business plans or prayer flags?” |
 Chris Shipley (Guidewire Group) has an early morning fireside chat with Rachel Payne (Google.org). |
 Rachel Payne (Google.org) fields many questions from the audience about Google.org. |
 Dr. Maggie Haersch (VOICEMAP), Dr. Jwala Karnik (JawalCo), Pat McEntee (AuxoGlobal), and Amy Love (Protégé Performance Group) are on the morning’s panel assembled by SWIB. |
 Amy Love (former CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs) encourages entrepreneurs to be proactive and be heard. |
 Afternoon panel: Erica Estrada (d.light design), Amra Tareen (allvoices), and Leila Chirayath (Market for Change). |
 Erica Estrada (d.light design) holds up the $25 solar-powered flashlight that illuminates homes in developing third-world countries. |
 Melanie Swan (MS Futures Group) moderates the afternoon panel. |
 Erica Estrada (d.light design) inspires the audience to do good. She regularly conducts field work in places like India, China, and Burma. |
 At lunch, each table had one or two “lunch leads” — entrepreneurial movers and shakers in the Silicon Valley. |
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 Karen Hartline (CommunityNext), Katherine Barr (Mohr Davidow Ventures), and Angie Chang (Women 2.0). |
 Jeni Diaz and Roseanne Wincek (imthemusic) with Mary Wallace (Wallace Productions). |
 The judging panel lines up in front of the stage to hear the pitches from the five finalists of the 2008 Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition. |
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 Mythili Sankaran (Koollage) pitches. |
 Margot Eiran (Gaiagy) pitches. |
 Debbie Cheng and Lindsay Tabas (Skill Shop) pitch. |
 Hope Schultz and Bill Zaccheo (WebVet) pitch. |
 Kristyn Heath (Passive Devices) pitches. |
 The judges voted Koollage winner of the 2008 Women 2.0 Business Plan Competition! |
 The audience used Mozes to vote for the “People’s Choice Award”, which went to Gaiagy. |
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 How to vote using Mozes. |
 Winner of the People’s Choice Award – Gaiagy! |
 Hope Schultz (WebVet) talks to Joanne Wan (GigaOm). |
 Shannon McClenaghan (Jimmyjane), Sharon Vosmek (Astia), and Dana Florescu (Oracle). |
 Dr. Jwala Karnik (JwalaCo). |
 Artise Hardy (Strategic Analytics), Aihui Ong (Women 2.0), and June Sarpong (The Prince’s Trust). |
 Lindsay Tabas and Debbie Cheng (Skill Shop). |
 Tiffany von Emmel (Dreamfish). |
 Rachel Payne (Google.org) and Leila Chirayath (Market for Change). |
 Patricia Roller (frog design) is also a member of the Angels’ Forum. |
 Maya Baratz (MochiMedia) and friends. |
 Marleen McDaniel (Women.com). |
 Audree Halasz (dutchy) with friend. |
 Leila Chirayath (Market for Change) and Alice Wang (FTVentures). |
 Susan Lucas-Conwell (SD Forum). |
 Mitchell Tsai (Spiritual Business Companions) and Amra Tareen (allvoices). |
 Aihui Ong and Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0). |
 Current SWIB girls with the founder of SWIB. |
 Despite sharing the same last name, Angie Chang and Annie Chang (LOLapps) are not related. |
 Pokin Yeung and Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0) with Alka Gupta (Ojas Group). |
Pictures are from the photo galleries of Shirley Lin, Mitchell Tsai, and Angie Chang with permission. Please go to their galleries to find more pictures from the event. If you took pictures from the event and would like to share them, please use the tag women2.0 on Flickr or leave a comment below.
Women 2.0 partnered with Girls in Tech to experience the inner-workings of a television newsroom with CBS 5 News Anchorwoman Sue Kwon on Monday, December 3rd, 2007. Sue took a group of women from the two organizations on a tour of the CBS studio to see how stories are selected, who makes decisions, and how a story makes air – from manager meetings to crunch editing before show deadlines. She led the women in small groups into the control room to see a portion of the live broadcast and the anchors at work.
Sue demonstrated her passion for helping businesswomen and startups get their products, services, and stories heard. She spent more than an hour giving us the low-down on how a reporter thinks and selects her stories, leading exercises on the correct way to pitch – or as she demonstrated many times, spin – a story to the media. Sue focused on questions such as: what the newsroom looks for in a story, what captures their attention, what’s the wrong way to approach a reporter, how to give a sound bite, and of course, what NOT to do if you want your story to get into the news!
In the end, everyone exchanged business cards and information. After all, that’s what these events are all about, right? Stay tuned for an exciting announcement tomorrow about our holiday party!
Thanks to our esteemed speakers Nina and Cynthia, and our moderator Indu, we learned that intrapreneurship is about lobbying, pitching your efforts, getting allies, leveraging resources, exuding empathy, etc.
Practicing intrapreneurship within your organization is a way to gain credibility and a track record – all the tools are at your fingertips, from colleagues to materials. Below are pictures from the event:
And thanks to Annie Chang, we have notes from the event! You can find them after the jump.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other! Come on out to our impromptu wine and cheese gathering for the latest on what everyone’s doing.
Join us for a Women 2.0 Wine & Cheese Mixer!
When: Thursday, August 30, 2007, 7:00pm
Where: 354 25th Avenue, San Francisco, CA
* Call 510-710-8336 if you need to be let in.
Bring a bottle of wine or cheese if you have some to spare. Come with business cards!
This event is open to everybody! – See you on Thursday night!
— The Women 2.0 Team
(Shivani, Shaherose, Wen-Wen, Annie, and Angie)
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