

Ask HN: Could you help me meet successful female entrepreneurs? - AndrewWarner

I'm trying to do more interviews on Mixergy.com with women. Could you help introduce me?<p>Here's what I'm looking for:<p>- Entrepreneur or investor in entrepreneurs<p>- Built a tech company (eg web, ads, iPhone, software, hardware, etc)<p>- With a big business success or big failure<p>http://mixergy.com/contact
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mcherm
Perhaps not quite as "famous" as other suggestions, but one person I know
locally is Lucinda Duncalfe Holt
(<http://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindaduncalfeholt>). Lucinda has been CEO of a
few different tech companies: Destiny Software built an early "web application
server" and exploded to nearly 200 employees before imploding in 2002;
TurnTide was founded, grew explosively, then was sold for a few tens-of-
millions, and ClickEquations, where she is currently CEO, is on its way up.

I have worked for her and I can say that Lucinda is an extraordinary leader
with an unusual but effective leadership style. I would be happy to provide an
introduction if you like, although it is probably not necessary: Lucinda is
also smart enough to take advantage of free publicity! You may, however, have
to schedule around an extended trip to Korea (I think that's where she's
going) because she recently won an Eisenhower Fellowship to study and do
business development abroad.

\-- Michael Chermside

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AndrewWarner
PERFECT!

That's the kind of entrepreneur I'm trying to interview.

I'm emailing you now.

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neilk
Offtopic, but why big success or failure? The drama makes for more interesting
interviews?

Seems kind of sad that the most common outcome (middling success, never quite
finding product/market fit, running out of cash with an orderly exit) isn't
represented. Considering women are already rare in our industry, it's not
surprising you are having difficulty here.

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AndrewWarner
Interviews about failed companies are very important to me.

After you listen to a few of of my interviews about failed companies, you'll
start to find commonalities. (Doing what everybody says is a common mistake,
for example.) And, it'll stop you from repeating mistakes others have made.

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vitovito
It might be worth browsing the list of "women I'd like to hear speak at a
conference" assembled by Balsamiq:

[http://tweepml.org/Women-I-d-like-to-hear-speak-at-a-
confere...](http://tweepml.org/Women-I-d-like-to-hear-speak-at-a-conference/)

~~~
AndrewWarner
Good resource. I've asked a few people on the list.

(I wish more the people on the list had clearer Twitter bios. Reminds me to
clean mine up.)

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neilk
Claudia Ng. You probably never heard of her because she's in Vancouver, BC,
Canada.

My friends founded a little wireless access point startup back in 2001. This
is back before it was even called Wi-fi, you just tried to sell people on
something called "eight-oh-two-eleven-bee". They brought Claudia in to manage.
She was our former manager at another startup and was very well-liked. Pretty
soon she'd turned it into a dominant hotspot network in the entire province
(by some measures, all of Canada), and sold it to an ISP. That business went
from my friend's apartment to a signature address in downtown Vancouver in
just four years.

She's won just about every business award they give out in that city. She's
also an awesome person with a great sense of humor. Proof that you don't have
to be evil to get ahead.

Since then she's done a number of things and is now working on flat-panel
advertisements. I can introduce you if you like.

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zimro
I don't know if it's a good example and I also don't know squat about her, but
you should check Rashmi Sinha, she's the CEO of Slideshare.

~~~
AndrewWarner
She'll be on this. Good one.

~~~
zimro
Nice! Will wait to see the interview.

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loboman
VanesaK <http://linkedin.com/in/vanesak> is one of the founders of Palermo
Valley, organizer of TEDx Buenos Aires, and well known in Argentina's
entrepreneurship community. I'm not sure what she's working on right now,
though.

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andreshb
I've already put them both in contact. When I did Andrew was living in Buenos
Aires (where she resides too). If I am right, I think she also used to be a VC
with Mark Ventures. I think she is a perfect candidate for an interview.

~~~
AndrewWarner
Thanks for that.

Yes. We met back in Feb.

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mbrubeck
It's not yet a big success or a big failure (it's still seed- or angel-stage,
I think), but my friend Seema is the cofounder and CEO of
<http://interbots.com/>

My contact info is in my profile if you want an introduction.

~~~
AndrewWarner
Thanks!

Still too soon for Mixergy.

I like to do interviews after there's a big success or failure. I'm not so
much trying to uncover the next big hit and talk to people who had previous
hits about how they did it.

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ig1
You could try Reshma Sohoni, get the CEO of Seedcamp and has a VC background.
I don''t know her directly, but she seems pretty approachable. Plus she'll
probably do it to get publicity for Seedcamp.

<http://www.crunchbase.com/person/reshma-sohoni>

Also check out The Next Women (it's a female tech startup site), they have a
database of female entrepreneurs:

[http://thenextwomen.com/female-internet-heroes-female-
entrep...](http://thenextwomen.com/female-internet-heroes-female-
entrepreneurs-women-in-business/database-of-female-entrepreneurs-investors-
cxos/)

~~~
AndrewWarner
Excellent suggestion. I emailed her office a request for an interview.

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jonnii
You should get in touch with Aubree Nichols from urbansignals. Her twitter is
@aubree11.

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AndrewWarner
Thanks, but her company seems too young right now.

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btilly
Have you talked to Victoria Ransom at <http://www.wildfireapp.com/> yet?

If you need an intro, my email is my user name at gmail.

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famfam
Yep, Mixergy has interviewed Victora: <http://mixergy.com/victoria-ransom-
wildfire-interview/>

~~~
AndrewWarner
Thanks guys. She was incredibly popular on the site.

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awa
What about Diane Greene .. I know Vmware isn't a recent story, but I would
love to see a interview of her. (I have no contact info though)

~~~
hal
Contact her through her husband, Mendel Rosenblum, he's a professor at
Stanford.

mendel@cs.stanford.edu

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callmeed
This might be a long shot or a bit crazy, but what about Whitman or Fiorina?

They were both in big tech companies and now are running for major offices
that could drastically impact startups. Maybe they would like the exposure and
you could talk to them about policies that relate to entrepreneurs.

Maybe PG (or someone here) knows someone who knows someone ...

<http://www.megwhitman.com/contact.php> <http://carlyforca.com/eventrequest/>

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neilc
Neither Fiorina nor Whitman is an entrepreneur, however.

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Tawheed
Kathy Sierra

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AndrewWarner
Thanks. Just emailed her.

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cbonn
My boss, Ooshma Garg, is an outstanding female entrepreneur. She is the CEO of
the diversity recruiting website www.Anapata.com, which she started her junior
year at Stanford. She was also recently featured in an article in the Palo
Alto Weekly: <http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/toc.php?i=370>. I would be
happy to introduce you; trust me when I say she is headed for big things!

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ChuckSmythe
There is absolutely no better place to meet women entrepreneurs and investors
than at the Global Information Network "Online Community" page. Unfortunately
you have to be a member to contact them. To sign-up, visit
<https://www.globalinformationnetwork.com/Apply/Referrer/> and use my
Affiliate code: 1501473

Might I add there are a lot of single women there as well.

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Tawheed
Caterina Fake

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AndrewWarner
Good suggestion.

We've been having a hard time scheduling, but she'll be on.

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typaldos
I'll talk to you...we are on the path of being a big business success :-)

Cynthia Typaldos Founder, Kachingle www.kachingle.com cynthia AT kachingle DOT
come

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AndrewWarner
I'm emailing you now to find out more about the company.

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jaekwon
Check this source, though I can't vouch for it. (my friend is on it).

<http://www.85broads.com/>

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jarin
Cyan Bannister from Zivity

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AndrewWarner
Done. I emailed her.

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mathewgj
Susan Koger, Modcloth

Also - an awesome interview would be Anu Shukla (ex-Offerpal, among other
companies)

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malloreon
"[Let me respond to what Mike just said:] Shit, Doubleshit, and Bullshit." -
Anu Shukla

~~~
AndrewWarner
;-)

She was on and she was good.

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YuriNiyazov
the other half of tipjoy?

~~~
AndrewWarner
Thanks. I just emailed Abby and asked her.

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fezzl
I'd REALLY love to watch an interview with Rashmi Sinha, the CEO and co-
founder of Slideshare.

<http://rashmisinha.com/>

~~~
AndrewWarner
Thanks.

She's scheduled to come on tomorrow @ 10am Pacific Time, but I'm still waiting
for her Skype name so I can do the interview.

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ryssiebee
You should interview Jen Bekman from 20x200. She is @jenbee on Twitter. I saw
her speak on a panel in New York City a few weeks ago, and she was great!

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melvinram
Jacqueline Novogratz - I believe Seth Godin has worked with the Acumen Fund so
he might be able to provide an introduction.

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mukyu
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung> maybe

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atrophic
Try the founders of midwestix.com.

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ashishbharthi
Gina Trapani

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AndrewWarner
She's one of the few people to turn me down outright. I'd love to have her on
when she's ready.

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tiffani
Wow. Slightly disappointing. Mind sharing why she turned you down?

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dnsworks
My list is sadly short (I'll gladly provide contact information off-line)

\- Lisa Rutherford (TwoFish) \- Sarah Novotony (Bluegecko) \- Rashmi Sinha
(Slideshare) \- Dana Kanze (Moonit) \- Alyssa Royse (JustCauseIt)

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Aetius
Susan Wu

