Gotham Gal

National Girlfriends Networking Day

First off I just love the name.  National Girlfriends Networking Day is a nationwide celebration of making connections.  Events take place around the country on June 4th. I am going to be on a panel that day from 12-1 EST with three amazing women; Lesley Jane Seyour the editor of MORE magazine, Taj Williams-Franklin a WNBA coach, player and community activist and Soledad O'Brien Emmy award winning journalist.  We will be taking questions through social media from nationwide participants.  I am really looking forward to it. 

I was introduced to Amy Siskind who is the co-founder of the New Agenda.  An impressive woman who was a highly successful Wall Street executive who decided to hop off the train when kids came into the picture.  Having a daughter made her really think about the importance of networking and community among women.  Amy speaks in college campuses talking about the importance of economic empowerment for women. 

Amy is inspirational and passionate about what she is trying to do at New Agenda.  The title says it all and so does the tag line; a voice for all women.  Women need to encourage each other to network and connect one on one.  We need to applaud each other and the choices we make with the hope that many of us grow into leadership positions.  All of these reasons are why we should celebrate National Girlfriends Networking day.

Hope you tune in and register now. 

Power Hour/Step Up Auction

This will be the second year where I get auctioned off at the Power Hour.  It is live now.  The proceeds go thru an organization that celebrates the power of mentors through Step Up.  Step Up is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and girls find their full potential through impactful after school programs, professional women connections (aka mentoring) and inspring everyone involved with Step Up to invest in the future of the women they touch.  It is the perfect partnership for these two organizations.

Last year I had lunch with a great guy who bid and won to have lunch with me.  There are a bunch of interesting things to bid on.  Take a look and if one sparks your interest, go for it.

 

40:20 Vision

I was invited several times from Christina Vuleta to attend one of her 40:20 events.  I finally went to one. 

There were about 16 people there that night some younger (aka 20) and some older (aka 40).  The idea is to create a forum where people have questions to ask each other sort of like a speed mentorship evening.  Christina was a strategic marketing person with an interesting career and she is the perfect person to lead the night.  Each question is written down on a large piece of paper and she threads them together so the conversation flows intelligently. 

The questions are mostly about the difficulties of being a woman entrepreneur as you live in your own head so advice is helpful.  It can be anything from how to hire, how to raise money, do you need a founder and how to juggle life.  I have found that women are more honest and open about the issues that they face when they are alone in a room with each other.  I see this at the Womens Entrepreneur Festival. 

Christina is doing a great thing connecting groups of women.  Take a look at Christinas site.  It is something she is passionate about and I love that this is something that she did started not long ago.  Her career led her to this and one day she had an aha moment to help younger women to learn from others who are farther along in their careers.  Learning from others who have been there done that is truly a gift. 

The tag line sums it all up:  advice from 40 something women to 20 something women.  Her site is a place where people can start conversations, share experiences and facilitate mentoring between generations.

Communitech in Canada

I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of Canandian entrepreneurs last week.  Nabil Fahel who is the Director of Business Services for Communitech was nothing but persistent in getting me to one of their events. Communitech is dedicated to helping companies in the tech space grow and succeed.  They have an accelerator program, they put on events, they have created a community across their country with the hope that everything they do will help make an impact on the economy.

What I really liked about the talk was the event was well run, everything was on time and the group was not too big.  I sat on a table instead of sitting behind it or standing at the podium.  It was very intimate.  I talked a little bit about my journey.  I also spoke about how I see the landscape of investments changing including how every vertical has new companies being built for disruption.  I did not speak long because I just opened it up for questions.  I really like the question and answer forum.  It is more engaging and more than likely the questions asked are ones that other people are really interested in hearing answers for.  Personally I find those events more engaging and for me much more comfortable and fun. 

I was given one of the nicest gifts for speaking to the group from Nabil.  They had all spent time reading my blog before the event and Nabil got me something that could not be more perfect.  A huge bottle of Canadian Maple Syrup, a gift card to Eataly and bowl of hummus.  Nabil is from Lebanon and his parents had a restaurant for 15 years.  His Mom made me a huge bowl of hummus.  Honestly the best hummus I have ever had.  I think there are tiny rye seeds in there but not sure.  I am slowly making my way through the bowl.  Incredibly thoughtful.

 

L'Oreal nominations

L'Oreal has put a stake in the ground to support women in technology. The 2013 Women in Digital program and call for nominations is live today.

This year, they are asking for nominations on women-led technology companies, and L'Oreal  will be awarding three grand-prize winners.

 This year our winners will receive the following:

1. A guaranteed pilot with case study with one of brands (NEW)
2. Q&A’s with members of our Advisory Board (i.e. How to Apply for TechStars, How to Pitch Women 2.0, etc.)(NEW)
3. Introduction to investors, L'Oréal executives and VC firms
4. Roundtrip tickets to NYC to attend our NEXT Generation Awards
5. Press opportunities
6. Ongoing mentorship from L'Oréal USA executives and Advisory Board members

They also added some criteria as well for this year:

L’Oreal is looking to recognize best-in-class women-operated companies that can help us engage with CONNECTED CONSUMERS meeting the following objectives for L’Oréal USA (one or more):

•Create a digital experience helping beauty shoppers choose and purchase beauty products in mass retailers, hair salons, online or at beauty counters and specialty stores.

•Leverage and gather data to help us acquire new customers across our portfolio of brands.

•Provide us with a new channel for customer acquisition or loyalty for beauty customers across all digital platforms, mobile and emerging technology.

•Able to create technology to help diagnose and recommend beauty regimens for skincare analysis, makeup and hair color trials driving to online or in-store purchase.

•Any disruptive technology that we may not even know about today.

To nominate someone or to share with your networks, use the following link:

www.lorealwomenindigital.com/nominate.

Nominations close May 20^th.

More on the history of the Internet

I was on a panel that I wrote about called the Boom and Bust, NYC Tech in the 90's.  Thanks to an engaged reader of this blog he posted the talk in the comments.  I watched it this morning and decided to post the panel.  If you have the time, it is an interesting topic of conversation.

 

Boom and Bust: Venture Labor Book Launch w/ INC@NYU from Media, Culture, Communication on Vimeo.

Mass Challenge

I know about the Mass Challenge because one of the women, Reem Yared, who I wrote about on Mondays got to the semi-finals in this challenge.  It set her business of in a completely different direction. 

Here is the info:

MassChallenge is the largest-ever start-up accelerator, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. Benefits for startups include:

• 4 month accelerator program – world-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more.
• $1.2 million in cash awards - $10+ million in in-kind support.
• Open to all – any startup can enter, from anywhere in the world, in any industry.
• No strings attached – no equity taken and no restrictions applied.

President Obama honored MassChallenge in January of 2011 as one of the nation's best 

organizations for supporting high-growth entrepreneurs, and MassChallenge was the youngest 

inaugural affiliate of the Startup America Partnership. The 361 startups supported in the three 

MassChallenge accelerator classes have generated nearly $100 million in revenue, raised over 

$362 million in outside funding and created nearly 3,000 new jobs.

Application info:

Top Startups Wanted: MassChallenge 2013

MassChallenge connects entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed immediately with no strings attached. It's the world's largest startup accelerator and is looking for the 125 highest-impact startups from any industry for its 2013 program.

Benefits for startups include world-class mentorship & training, a driven community of fellow entrepreneurs, $10M+ in in-kind deals and $1M+ in grants with no equity taken.

All applicants receive written feedback & scores from the expert judges that evaluate them, regardless of whether they advance to the next round. The application fee is $199, but this is the only fee MassChallenge ever takes from entrepreneurs (never taking equity), and refunds can be found by searching #MCRefunds on twitter.

Applications are due by April 3 - Apply at MassChallenge.org/apply!

more on 24 hours in Los Angeles

My brother and I went out for lunch at Superba.  Great name, defines the food.   There is an enclosed outdoor porch and an indoor area with a big open kitchen.  Very LA vibe.  We split three things.  Not a lot of food but trust me I will be back for a full on dinner.

Started with a hibiscus iced tea with mint.  Really refreshing. 

We began with the crispy brussels sprouts.  They had fried up the brussel sprouts and then put them in a dashi broth and laid in a poached egg with chopped scallions over the top.  Unbelievable.  I am definitely attempting to make this at home.  The intensity of the broth mixed together with crispy brussels mixed made messy with an egg and the bite of scallions was over the top good.

This was clever too but not as wow.  Crab melt.  Crab salad over a toasted slab of brioche dressed with a old bay aioli and jarlsberg melted over the top.  Homemade pickles on the side that had a serious bite of vinegar.

This pasta was so rich that I dare someone to eat the whole thing.  Wakame based spaghetti so house made.  The spaghetti itself was dense.  The spaghetti is mixed with uni, crab, miso butter & pickled jalapenos.  It is the miso butter that really gels the dish.  Killer.

Then we went back to the house before I took off to go back to Utah for vacation.  Ruby, my niece, was having her birthday party that night.  The theme was Breakfast At Tiffanys.  The table was set in the Tiffany color with blue and white m & ms.  The girls were having a dinner party, catered by my brother and sister-in-law and their friend Lucy.  After dinner the girls would watch Breakfast at Tiffanys and have a slumber party.  Dress up was part of the event.  My niece looked the part.

Looking forward to spending a lot more time out in Los Angeles. 

 

Women Entrepreneurs and Investors at the Levin Institute

The SUNY Levin Institute was established after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 by George Pataki in memory of Neil Levin who was the director of the Port Authority for New York and New Jersey.  The institute if part of the State University of New York (SUNY). 

This is their mission.  The SUNY Levin Institute promotes thoughtful engagement and an active response to “globalization” and its impact on New York State. The Levin Institute is anchored in the tradition of the urban land grant University: public universities dedicated to addressing challenges of the 21st century metropolis. The Levin Institute enhances public discourse, creates and disseminates knowledge, engages international, domestic and local partners, and develops and manages programs in support of New York’s and the nation’s economic growth, sustainability, and social vitality. The Levin Institute focuses on international engagement,
entrepreneurism, innovation, scholarship, and workforce development.

I was contacted by the Deputy Director of the Levin Institute about a programming they are launching this year called Women Entrepreneurs and Investors to be an advisor.  The focus is to bring together aspiring women entrepreneurs and investors to foster the growth of the womens entrepreneurial community.  They have partnered with Springboard and Golden Seeds. 

It is great to see an educational institute reaching out to the private community to create education for entrepreneurs, networking opportunities among women and investors and a place to inspire more women to jump into the entrepreneurial game. A win for the community.

The first event is March 28th.  I will not be at this one but am looking to other events in the future.  Information on the event is below.

Women Entrepreneurs and Investors

 

   Present:

When

Thursday March 28, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM EDT
Add to Calendar

Where

SUNY Global Center
116 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022  


Driving Directions 

Contact:

WomenEntrepreneursInvestors

If I Knew Then, What I Know Now....

How To Navigate The NYC Funding Ecosystem

Register Now! 

Help us launch our new Women Entrepreneurs and Investors project!  Explore the vibrant NYC funding scene with an expert and diversified panel.   Learn from the expertise, experiences and lessons-learned of two successful women entrepreneurs.  Get an early look as up-and-coming women entrepreneurs take a swim in the Springboard Dolphin Tank, complete with constructive feedback from our panel and audience.  With lots of time for networking, engaging, learning, and celebrating Women Entrepreneurs and Investors.

AGENDA

Welcome:
Thomas Moebus, Deputy Director, SUNY Levin Institute

Moderator:
Vanessa Wilson, CFO, Golden Seeds

Expert Panel:
Amy Millman, President & Co-Founder, Springboard Enterprises

Peggy Wallace, Managing Partner, Golden Seeds

Jay Levy, Partner, Zelkova Ventures

Julia Pimsleur, CEO & Co-Founder, Little Pim

Adrienne Choma, Founder, Sr. VP & Chief Operating Officer, Saladax

Springboard's Dolphin Tank™: 

An interactive, fast-pitch session where the panel and the audience "swim alongside" the companies chosen to participate by giving supportive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their pitches.

 

Cost:  $25.00

Registration: 5:30

Program: 6:00 - 7:30

Networking: 7:30 - 8:30

Dining with Divas

I was invited to the annual lunch at the Apollo theater called Dining with Divas  There were many things about the event that just blew me away because it confirmed that New York City might be a small town but it is also a huge city. 

The room was filled with successful women from one end of the city to the other.  Each have made their own impact in NYC. I can honestly say that there were maybe two people in the room that I knew.  It was primarily an African American community celebrating the Apollo theater and the outreach that they have done for the community. 

Jonelle Procope, who has taken the lead of the Apollo board for the last 10 years has transformed the community.  She rebuilt the board, she rebuilt the structure, she created community outreach, she started evening events such as amateur night and she created TV shows promoting music that use the Apollo as the back drop for those performances.  An incredible woman who gets shit done.  Her husband gave a speech about her that did not leave a dry eye in the house. 

The events theme was about mentorship. What was the most impressive Carla Harris who is literally on ever top list in the country. She spoke about what it mean to be a mentor, an advisor and a sponsor and how you speak to each one.  She spoke about how important our journey is as woman to not make it all about us but remember it is important that we make our mark to open the door for women coming behind us.  I could not agree more. 

Here is what she said.  Advisors are people who give you advice about your business, your life or whatever it is.  They advise you and sometimes the best advisers are your peers.  Mentors are people who help you navigate your path by being honest about everything.  Giving advice that is sometimes difficult to hear and sometimes rewarding to hear.  A sponsor is someone who you only talk to about positive things because they are the people who are going to be your advocate. 

Really an inspiring day hearing women talk about other women role models and trust me there were some serious role models in that room who have broken every glass ceiling they have ever seen.