Changing Internet Opening New Doors to Women Entrepreneurs
Women have been starting technology companies and obtaining venture capital in a mini-boom that has embraced both corporate veterans and young entrepreneurs.
The changing uses of the Internet are making it possible for women, whose strengths have typically been in marketing, communication and customer service, to use their experience to create consumer-oriented technology ventures that are distinctly different from the tools- and research-oriented technology businesses started by men.
It is the beginning of a shift in technology companies that will benefit women, say those in the business of counseling, observing and catering to women technological entrepreneurs.
“In the last year to 18 months, the tide has turned,” said Denise Brosseau, president and executive director of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), a San Mateo-based nonprofit that promotes high-tech entrepreneurship among women. “We are seeing a phenomenal change in the number of companies being run by women.”
Start-ups headed by women abound. Pets.com CEO Julie Wainwright previously worked at Berkeley Systems Inc. and Reel.com, while Allyson Campa, founder of BravoGifts.com Inc., secured $8 million in venture capital to launch her online business gift site this year. Web sites geared to women are proliferating, including https://www.women.com, https://www.mamamedia.com and https://www.ivillage.com.
Not only are women getting significant venture capital to start their own companies, but veteran women executives are being plucked out of major companies to head start-ups or take over maturing technology companies. For example, Carolyn Rogers, a former investment banker and tech entrepreneur is now CEO of ReleaseNow.com, an online software distribution company. Meg Whitman, a former marketing executive at Walt Disney Co., Procter & Gamble Co. and Hasbro Inc., is now president and CEO of EBay Inc., which runs an online auction site.
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Indeed, there appear to be two distinct types of women technology entrepreneurs out there, said Margarita Quihuis, director of the Women’s Technology Cluster, an incubator in San Francisco. First, there are women 35 years and older, who are creating their own start-ups after spending 10 to 15 years in big, corporate technology companies. Then there are the twentysomethings. With their newly minted MBAs and two year’s worth of experience working in other start-ups, these young women are now taking their ideas forward in their own companies.
“In some ways, they are not burdened by gender issues,” Quihuis said of the younger entrepreneurs. “They haven’t hit the [glass] ceilings and they feel they can do anything.”
In addition, the number of women holding significant funding posts in venture capital firms--which fuel the start-ups--has increased from a mere six when Brosseau began FWE six years ago, to more than 70 currently.
It’s the beginning of a shift from the male-dominated, early days of the computer hardware, software and Internet industries when few women were listed as CEOs, founders or even technicians. Although women have increasingly come on board as technicians and many technology company staffs are now nearly 30% women, becoming a tech manager still presents a hurdle, say those in the industry.
“There’s a conceit in the tech industry that we don’t care if you’re black, male, Martian or what you’re doing . . . unless you happen to be a woman,” said Jeannine Parker, owner of J Parker Co., an Internet consulting firm in Santa Monica. “I call it the plexiglass ceiling, . . it actually flexes so you actually move,” but it’s still a ceiling.
Women fed up with corporate life who opted to create their own ventures often found that road even tougher, since 90% of the venture capital vice presidents were white males who networked among themselves. As recently as last year, only 4% of the $13 billion in venture capital awarded nationwide went to information technology companies headed by women CEOs.
But Brosseau believes the statistics will be dramatically different for 1999.
The reason is that as Internet and tech companies have matured, a shift is underway. Alongside technology companies that create the tools and infrastructure for the industry are companies focusing on content and services. The success of these newer companies depends on technology advancements but also good customer relationship management and communication, areas in which women traditionally excel, Parker said.
“If you look at some of the early businesses that are now huge, a strong technical background was required, say in semiconductors or other technology,” Brosseau said. “But in the new types of companies, a lot of their technology is outsourced and you don’t have to know how the technology works; you have to know how to brand, how to build partnerships, how to market and sell.”
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Recognizing the opportunities, a number of organizations have created events to capitalize on the growing tech boom for women entrepreneurs. They include:
* Springboard 2000, a venture capital forum for 25 women technology entrepreneurs, will take place Jan. 27 in Redwood City. Sponsored by FWE, the event already has attracted more than 250 applicants eager to present proposals before 300 to 400 angel investors. For more information, call (650) 357-0222 or go to https://www.fwe.org.
* Women in Technology, International is hosting a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Skirball Cultural Center called Women Leading the WWWay, focusing on women who have founded Internet companies. Contact suzana@witi.org to get on a mailing list.
* Women at Work, a nonprofit career resource center in Pasadena will present at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 a panel on careers in the Internet and computer industries, featuring executives and workers from various technology companies. Although the focus is not on entrepreneurship, but employment, gender issues will still be discussed. For more information, call (626) 796-6870 or go to https://www.womenatwork1.org.
* Women’s New Media Alliance holds networking events and plans to hold a holiday party in December. Call (310) 712-5658 or go to https://www.wnma.org.
Still, women shouldn’t assume that a general business background can translate to technology company success, warn those in the field. They still need a grounding in basic technology, an idea of what technological changes are coming down the road and what type of technology can best accomplish what they seek.
The Internet world “is not some kind of vanilla, generic business idea,” said Jon Goodman, CEO of EC2, a technology incubator in Los Angeles. “You need a level of technical expertise that is more than the average bear.”
“There’s an intimidation factor, whether cultural or mythical, that math, science and technology are things for boys,” Parker agreed. “Women just have to get over that.”
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Staff writer Vicki Torres leaves The Times on Oct. 29 to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities and will no longer write a column. To reach The Times regarding small-business issues, contact small-business editor Pat Benson by fax at (213) 237-7837 or by e-mail at pat.benson@latimes.com.
