Five Lessons Learned From 1000 Women Entrepreneurs
By Thomas Korte via FORBESWOMAN
2/21/2012 @ 2:12PM
I was invited this week to judge the Women 2.0 PITCH Competition. I blocked out the day with one goal: give a lot of feedback and advice to entrepreneurs. And I am glad I did.
The conference was unlike any I have attended in recent years. 1000 women-tech entrepreneurs, many of them not from Silicon Valley, skipped Valentine’s Day to listen to the learnings, inspirational and success stories of fellow women entrepreneurs. 99% of the audience were women and Dave McClure, Naval Ravikant, Jeff Clavier and myself were the only men on stage.
But why was this event so different than other tech/startup events?
Yes, I know what you are thinking: “Maybe because you were only a handful men in a room with 1000 women?”. I am not denying that this it was nice, but I also think women act in such a different way than men that it gave the whole conference a very unique vibe. It was very insightful for me and I observed a few things that I think us – guys – can learn from.
Lesson #1 – Don’t fear and share; no one wants to steal your idea.
Throughout the day I noticed that everyone was incredibly collaborative. At one point I told an entrepreneur that I had just spoken to someone with a similar business idea and that they should get together, only to find out they had already met and were planning on a collaboration; this happened twice that day.
Lesson learned: Guys, just having an idea or a prototype does not make you successful – sharing ideas and collaborating make better ideas and businesses. So don’t worry so much that someone will steal your idea and use the opportunity to share and get feedback (with the right people).
Lesson #2 – Waiting is a chance to learn.
After speaking at an event, I like to linger around to give people a chance to talk to me (without having to do so in front of a large audience). Usually a small line forms with people waiting to talk to me. I spend a minute or two talking, exchanging cards and turn to the next person.
At Women 2.0, there was not line forming, but rather a circle around me. Everyone was listening to the conversations I had and chimed in. Soon there were multiple new conversations happening all around me and I was quickly not the focus point, but a participant in a larger discussion.
Lesson learned: Guys, the person on stage is interesting to talk to, but the person next to you might be just as insightful. Rather than wait to speak to someone, use the time to also talk to the person next to you. Read full article>>