It seems that everywhere I look, there is a widening disparity between male and female entrepreneurs, most notably in the tech sector.
Whether this difference comes down to what toys we grow up playing with, or just the ways in which men and women approach technology, I am always struck when I see something which exhibits that in fact the gender gap is closing.
I recently read an article, on NYDailyNews titled “Golden Ladies of NYC”, which totally inspired me!
In a few words, the article is basically about how New York City (Go NYC!), has become the center of the world for female headed tech startups, in the sense that many women who want to start their own companies come and do so here, in ‘the City’.
A major component of this is certainly related to the fact that NYC has vibrant and blossoming fashion, advertising and PR opportunities which are typically positions sought out by women. Even more vital to the growth of the NYC female tech startup scene, as Jalak Jobanputra, 39, an investor highlights, is the fact that women “realize they don’t necessarily have to have a technical background. They can build a team to complement their skill set.” On this note, women interested in starting their own businesses have to realize that they themselves don’t need to have a firm grasp on the actual technical side of the business.
What I’d like to see, are bold females who have brilliant ideas and a knack for management coming to NYC to launch their startups. They will then be in a city full of skilled and capable individuals who could become part of their team, while they themselves will focus on startup investors and managing the company from the helm.
The reason I used the Birchbox logo, as the main photo for this article, is intrinsically intertwined with this last point. For those of you who don’t know Birchbox, it’s well worth giving it a try. Like Rent the Runway, Birchbox is a female headed tech startup dedicated to delivering a high quality product right to your door.
Birchbox’s clever business model is simple: Deliver handpicked, high quality beauty products right to customers’ doors for a set monthly fee. But more for the purposes of this piece, Birchbox is a paradigm of the NYC female headed tech startup scene in that the women in charge were not techie’s, but were able to bring their brilliant concept to a willing and able tech team to launch and get it well off the ground.
Something really different about the relationship between NYC and female entrepreneurs, which makes me proud to be an active part of it is the growing number of resources available for women looking to get in.
As opposed to barriers to entry, in many other markets, here there are organizations like “Golden Seeds, one of a number of investor networks rooted in the city that is dedicated to funding start-ups led by women”, not to mention “Women Innovate Mobile, billed as the nation’s first accelerator program focused specifically on women-founded firms.”
I am extremely excited about all of the females in town and hope to hear from many more soon. Keep up the good work ladies!
Photo Credit [via]
