Becoming a CEO: Lessons from Four Techette Leaders
Details: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP10215
Techette - some terms are not the most positive way to represent men and women. They think it makes them sound like internet Barbies. They didn't pick the name.
3 of the 5 women have families.
How do they balance it all?
Meredith Flynn-Ripley: Doesn't believe there is such a thing as work/life balance. It's a see saw. Make sure you're not up in the air on one and leaving the other behind. Her husband stays home with the children. She can't always be there, so it's important to have a partnership.
Julia Hartz: One of the most important business decisions you'll make is whether you'll have a partner and who the partner will be. This applies to your marriage as well.
A start up is like a child. You will give it that attention and love.
Alexa von Tobel: Doesn't have children, but she finds that when you're as busy as they are, you have a lot of focus. The most important things end up on your schedule.
Donna Wells: Also has a stay at home husband. When you look at male CEO's, there is a good chance that their wives are staying at home too.
When you were raising money, did you encounter any negative reactions to being a woman?
Tobel: She has never cared about what box she lives in. She just wants to be the best at what she is doing. She dropped out of Harvard in the middle of the recession and started a company. It was the worst time to do it, but she had the confidence in herself to do it. She never had anyone care about who she was or where she came from, they just cared about what she thought. Don't let stereotypes slow you down.
Ripley: She thinks things are changing. Women are moving into the role more. You are definitely looked at differently. She was pregnant at one company and hid it from her board meeting. She only took 2 weeks maternity leave.
Wells: Funders today are 75% more likely to fund a company if they have at least on VC female partner.
In the building of your business, you sought out mentors. Are they male or female? Tell us about your experience.
Wells: Her mentors have all been men.
Ripley: Started her career at Ogilvy. She was surrounded by VP's, SVP's who were both men and women. She moved into telcom where there were no women around. As a result, most of her mentors are men.
Hartz: Being in San Francisco, she has been able to find female mentors who can give her advice on how to balance life. There are lots of ways to find mentors. Don't focus on their gender, but rather their experience and how it can help you.
von Tobel: If you want to do something, find someone who has done it really well. Don't pay attention to their gender, just make sure they're the best at what they do. In general, she only thinks about skill set.
One of the most important facets of business is hiring the smartest & brightest people. What is your experience here.
von Tobel: A stunning office is one where you can work with people who inspire you and are really smart.
Hartz: They have built their team from internal referrals. You want to find people who inspire others and build a collaborative culture. One of the misconceptions she has had that is if you grow a team really fast, it will lose it's interest. She has learned that if you are careful about how you grow it, it won't.
Ripley: Interviewing two candidates. One has the exact right skill & intelligence, but not the right cultural fit. The other has the cultural fit, but not the experience. Which do you hire? Neither. You need to find the person that is right on both accounts. You also need to realize that people don't change with the company. It's one of the hardest things you'll face.
Wells: You need people to be an advocate for your company. Negative voices are harmful. Hiring from referrals is a great strategy. How do you find A players? Auren Hoffman, CEO of Rapleaf, has given talks on how to find A players.
In regards to women not making as much as men, have you found that women don't negotiate for a base salary, but men are?
Hartz: It's equal on both sides.
von Tobel: She teaches people how to negotiate because she respects them. Every woman should do it. If they can't give you the salary, you should ask for intangibles. She has info on her site about how to do it.
Hartz: Keep in mind that there is a healthy negotiation and an unhealthy negotiation. You learn a lot about people when you're in that position.
Wells: It's age related, not gender related. People in their 20's are less willing to negotiate than people in their 30's. It comes from learning. If you're passionate about what you're doing, don't short change yourself.
Ripley: Most people she runs into are negotiating. Once you have an employee in a position, she sees women in her organization aren't as open to asking for what they want. Women need to take more initiative and take risks.
What book have you read that you want to recommend?
Ripley: The Power of Unpopular
Wells: The Startup of You
Hartz: Drive, Cindarella Ate My Daughter, & 5 Disfunctions of a Team
von Tobel: 7 effective qualities of being a leader
My opinion of this panel
I'm disheartened to continue to hear that in order to run a business, one has to give up their personal life. I do not believe business should be prioritized over family and personal health. I also do not believe my perspective on this automatically bars me from starting a business or moving up the ranks in a business. There is a battle that needs to be fought and to my dismay, the women on this panel are on the wrong side. They play the game that their male counterparts have set out and they are setting a dangerous precedent for the rest of is.
You live only one life, live it to it's fullest. It is possible to manage a business within reasonable hours and have more than one passion to spend your time focusing on. It is absolutely not sustainable or healthy to focus all of your energy on one passion. You can't conquer the world in one day, so take your time and enjoy it while you're accomplishing your dreams.
