Singapore Entrepreneurs

It was the first time that I attended an entrepreneurial event with so many women and where the focus of the event was on women entrepreneurs.

The Conference

Women 2.0 organized by Entrepreneur27 in Silicon Valley, was a hit. Having organized several other entrepreneurial events before, they decided to have one that focused on women entrepreneurs and their stories. Silicon Valley and the business/entrepreneurship world in general are so frequently overwashed with men that the voices of women get drowned. This was a move to bring back the presence that should have been.

I was glad to walk into a pretty casual atmosphere with large circles of chairs separated into groups. You could already see people mixing around and already settled in (instead of the usual let’s-try-to-find-a-seat scenario). So I joined a group with the “two blue stars” stickers on their name tags – just like mine (birds of a feather has to flock together, eh) – I have no idea what the stars mean. And immediately, a lady two seats away struck up a conversation with me. This friendly and casual atmosphere continued while more and more homo sapiens with the XX chromosome combination streamed into the hall. A few XYs made it in as well, and you could tell that they were happily delirious being surrounded by so many women.

First, we had discussion groups of about 15 or so people led by some successful women who have founded companies and have had much entrepreneurial experience. In my group (there was only one guy), Indu Navar, founder and CEO of Serus was the discussion leader. She was very friendly (it seemed to be a common trait that day) and immediately started speaking to the people around her (I happened to be sitting beside her). We discussed about bringing ideas to execution, focusing on solving the customer’s problem, not worrying about getting funding or the competition, the need to believe in yourself and what it means to be a female entrepreneur. The discussion also included people like Debbie Landa (IBDNetwork), Elaine Chang (IdeaCodes) - also one of the panelists, Adina Levin (Socialtext) and Val Henson (LinuxChix - she was the gal who first spoke to me).

Thereafter, we moved on to the panel discussion which consisted of: Mary Hodder, Dabble founder; Jessica Hardwick, SwapThing founder; Elaine Wherry, Meebo co-founder; Sandy Jen, Meebo co-founder; Joyce Park, Renkoo founder; Emily Chang, IdeaCodes co-founder.

A few things that were brought up during the panel discussion:

• Usually, attendance at events consists of 95% men.
• Men seem to think that who speaks/yells/discuss/debate the loudest in seminars/mixers/conferences is the most superior. (Go have a yelling competition, boys.)
• Men promise the world when they have 30% confidence in themselves, whereas women still hesitate when they have 90% confidence.
• A related point goes: Women undersell themselves whereas men oversell, then worry about delivering later.

(So true.)

My Say

The Women 2.0 conference reminded me again of my personal vendetta against this traditionally masculine society. It used to be a non-issue for me even after working in a male environment for really long, because the guys with whom I worked with were cool and had no bias against women (BL, the other editor of this site, always acknowledges my presence by calling us “you guys and gal” encouraging – this might seem like a small point to argue over, but such sensitivity to detail represents a lot). However, this male working environment was considerably enlarged when I came over here to Silicon Valley. Now, not only was I part of the minority gender, I was also of a minority specialization – I major in European Studies - whereas here, everyone’s from a computing or engineering background (99%). Double whammy, you can say. (But hey, I look at it as my strength, but that’s something for another discussion.)

As much as I insist that one’s success is dependent on oneself and what one makes of opportunities, I’ve also come to realize that it is inevitably a small hurdle to cross when say, you wanna work in tech without a tech background (I must emphasize that it is possible, but the ride might be a little rough). Put the variable of gender in the picture, and women without tech background get ranked even lower on the scale.

People who work with me know that I am extremely sensitive to people saying just “he” when referring to an anonymous person – I correct immediately with a “he or she” (actually, I should say “she or he” - why must the male version come first?). I feel that while our society is making an effort to recognize the efforts and capabilities of women more (efforts can be seen when “fireman” was changed to “firefighter”, “mailman” to “mail carrier“, the bias is still entrenched in many ways of society. One good example would be language. “Who wears the pants in this house?” already presupposes that the person in charge of that household and who makes decisions belong to the male make-up. A good analysis of Sexism in Language is written by someone who calls himself The Language Guy (check out part 2 of that topic too).

So while I try my best to assert my female presence when with a bunch of men, I also know that it ain’t easy trying to change an entrenched mindset. My only aim is to try to get more people (especially guys, because I definitely believe that there are also women who has this male superiority bit drummed into them insidiously by society) to consciously recognize and acknowledge women rather than continue to propagate the perception that paints the picture that men are the only habitants of this world.

All I ask from all you male readers out there is to dump your ego, and use more gender-neutral terms. By acknowledging and appreciating the work of women around you doesn’t diminish you in any way. In fact, if you choose to ignore or put down their achievements, it only emphasizes the fragility of your self-esteem.

To all female readers out there, embrace your femininity and be unafraid to stand up to men.

PS: If you’re interested in a Women 2.0 conference in Singapore, please let me know. Females and males welcomed.

Links:
Shivani Sopory (lead coordinator of Women 2.0)
Entrepreneur27 Silicon Valley
Entrepreneur27 Singapore (SG Entrepreneurs’ partner organization)
Photos of the Women 2.0 inaugural conference

Technorati Tags: Women20, Women entrepreneurs, BlogHer, Entrepreneurship, Singapore Entrepreneurs

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