I attended a MeetUp networking event tonight hosted
by Girl Geeks TO. The topic of the Meetup
was Female FoundersPanel: Got What It Takes to be an Entrepreneur?
The event was inspiring on many levels.
The panel of 4 women were an intelligent and introspective group who all came to
entrepreneurship from different paths and backgrounds.
The discussion focused on inspiration, courage, partnering,
funding, failure, success and the female voice in start-ups. The discussion was very informative and as I
said earlier inspiring. My take away is
to make sure whatever it is you are doing makes you excited to get out of bed
in the morning. The path may not be easy
but if you are excited it will keep you going.
Lily Tse, founder & CEO of Think Dirty caught my attention
when she mentioned a quick exercise to find your path. Imagine a blank business card in front of
you, what do you want to see written on that card? What title does it say? What organization or company is written
there? That made me pause.
Another stand out moment for me was listening to Nancy
Peterson Founder & CEO of Homestars.com speak about a failed attempt to
launch an app for client and business connection. The description of their process was an exact
description of a non-user centric design.
The build was huge, took forever and cost millions. Ultimately, the product failed and eventually
they followed the user needs and wants and for much less money and in much less
time created a product which worked.
The event was really enjoyable but walking away I
felt maybe I had failed. I did not reach
out to speak with anyone new, I did not network. My save came on my way out. I decided to take the stairs down. I met an interesting woman one floor down and
we talked as we walked. She also comes
from a fine arts background and has meandered her way to tech as I have. Meeting this woman made me realize that it is
possible to talk with someone you do not know and find common ground very
quickly. My goal now is to get out to
another event and force myself to speak with at least two new people ( I need
to start small!).
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