Singapore Women Startup Weekend, a first in Asia, saw over 60% female participation

The author, Lachimi Tiwari, is an organizer of the Singapore Women Startup Weekend.

Photo: The Athena Network Singapore

Singapore Women Startup Weekend ended last Sunday evening after 54 hours of pitching, forming, and evolving. “Guys also Welcome Lah” was its tagline and the format was no different from previous Startup Weekend events held in Singapore, except with a twist: the number of male participants were controlled, resulting in over 60% female participants.

Started on Friday evening, it was an intense few days for participants. Everyone juggled their aspirations and personal lives around the event, just like they would as an entrepreneur.

Some had to rush back after a meeting at work on Saturday. There was also an amazing mum who kept rushing back and forth despite having a sick baby and a 6 month pregnant lady who stayed all weekend (hats off to you!). Read more

High Tea with Women Entrepreneurs of Singapore

One of the highlights of the annual NTU Entrepreneurship & Innovation (E&I) Week 2012, the High Tea with Women Entrepreneurs of Singapore features the entrepreneurial success of women in Singapore. A rare event, it opens up an opportunity for students to peek into the challenges that the women faced, and entrepreneurial journey these outstanding women have embarked on. Through this event, we will bring together women entrepreneurs of diverse background and experiences, making for a wonderful learning experience unforgetable for all.

Speakers

- Violet Oon, Singapore’s Food Ambassador
- Jill Lowe, Founder, Jill Lowe International
- Bernise Ang, Founder, SYINC
- Pamela Chng, Founder, Bettr Barista Coffee Academy
- Grace Chew, Technical Director, Hydroemission Corporation
- Audrey Wang and Khoh Wan Chin, Co-Founders, Creamier Handcrafted Ice Cream and Coffee
- Ruby Teo, CEO, Stalford Education Holdings
- Gwendolyn Regina Tan, Co-Founder, SGE [our editor-in-chief!]

There will also be live updates on their Facebook page.

Event Details

When: Wednesday 15th August
Time: 3-5pm
Where: Research Techno Plaza Foyer, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, 50 Nanyang Drive Singapore 637553 [map]
REGISTER HERE.

Girls In Tech Singapore Presents: Investing in Women Entrepreneurs

Girls in Tech, Singapore cordially invites you for an evening of inspiration, ideas and networking with a difference. An opportunity to pitch your ideas, get feedback and listen to and network with investors, entrepreneurs and potential co-founders.

PANEL MEMBERS:

Frank Levinson, Managing Director, Small World Ventures
Monica Tsai, Director Investments, SingTel Innov8
Shirley Wong, Managing Partner, TNF Ventures
Tong Gu, Advisor, Ruvento Asset Management
Pierre Hennes, Managing Partner, Extream Ventures

Event Details

When: Tuesday 28th August 2012
Time: 6-9pm
Where: Plugin@Blk71, 71 Ayer Rajah Crescent, Singapore 139951
Price: Paid
REGISTER HERE.

What would you tell the richest woman in the world? Be a role model for other women

It’s official — mining heiress and businesswoman Gina Rinehart is the richest woman in the world and the richest person in Australia.

So what would you tell her to do with all that wealth, fame and status? That was the final question posed to panelists for The X Factor in Tech track at Echelon 2012.

Featuring tech entrepreneurs like Carmen Benitez, president of Fetch Plus, Roshni Mahtani, founder and CEO of Tickled Media, Kristine Lauria, Digital Media Consultant at Mission Street Media and Girls in Tech CEO and Founder Adriana Gascoigne, the session was peppered with debate about gender stereotypes and women bringing the X-Factor to startups. Read more

Women Entrepreneurs on the Web, by Google and Athena Network, comes to Singapore

If you’re a woman entrepreneur or professional and want to pick up skills to help your business succeed in the online world, Google and Athena Network Singapore has something for you.

Women Entrepreneurs on the Web (WeOW), an initiative by both organizations, will kick-off in June, with the launch party on 31st May. The event was first started by Google in India and saw over 300 female executives and entrepreneurs participate. Read more

Video: Tim Draper on women entrepreneurs

Here’s a video interview with Tim Draper, manager director of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He talks about the differences between male and female entrepreneurs, how women tend to make really good people managers but tend to be less stubborn in pursuing their ideas since they are more peer-oriented. Let us know whether you agree with him!

Indonesia’s Jamu Queen: Journey of a princess turned entrepreneur

Photo: Dr Mooryati Soedibyo's private collection

The garage has long been the birthplace of many great companies — Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, to name a few. Even Walt Disney got his start producing his first animated series, “The Alice Comedies” in his uncle’s garage before forming his own studio.

Closer to home, the humble garage also witnessed the birth of PT Mustika Ratu, Indonesia’s famed herbal medicine (or jamu) brand, in the early seventies.

The business caused many to raise their eyebrows, because not only was the person behind it a woman, she was also a direct descendant of the royal Javanese family, one who was actually raised within the walls of a kraton (Javanese palace).

It was unheard of for someone of her status to work, let alone start a business and as Dr BRA. [1] Mooryati Soedibyo readily admits, the reaction from her family was far from encouraging. “Initially, my family did not support my decision to become a business woman as it was against our ancient traditions,” she recalls.

“Only through my own determination and hard work was I able to persevere and overcome this challenge, which actually helped motivate me to become successful on my own.” Read more

Words of advice from inspiring chicks at DEMO Asia

Let’s face it. There is still a dearth of female entrepreneurs in startup land. As I walked around the booths at DEMO Asia 2012, only about ten percent of startups had female founders. But what does this mean for all of us aspiring, or current, female founders? I was fortunate to interview three inspiring women and capture their words of advice for us.

1. Being female does not handicap you.

Rebeca Hwang, Co-founder and CEO of YouNoodle

Rebeca Hwang, co-founder and CEO of YouNoodle, expressed that gender-bias is not as rampant as perceived by some. Founded in 2007, Rebeca does have some years of experience up her sleeve. She disagrees that female founders have a harder time raising funds. Read more

With help from technology, this bridal accessories maker has gone places

Helan Tan is not the stereotypical brash, zealous, and overconfident entrepreneur. Formerly employed by a bridal gown design company, she started her Singapore-based business after leaving her job as a means of attaining a more balanced lifestyle.

Her husband wanted to start a family with her. ”I didn’t want to be so hectic, working till 3am when I have kids. At the same time, I wanted to bring in some income, and carry on enjoying my interests in fashion and design,” she says.

Now, she runs Gioielli Bridal Accessories (pronounced ‘gio-eh-lei’) out of her showroom in Clarke Quay.

While she has no grand plans for world domination, this lady is no lightweight. Her accessories have been featured in prominent bridal magazines like Tatler Weddings and Her World Brides, local celebrities like Fann Wong and Zoe Tay have donned her pieces for charity shows, and she has done work for television commercials and print ads for large brands like Lux, Fujitsu, and HSBC. Read more

Build a minimum viable product, then test it at a coffee shop

Cheryl Yeoh is the co-founder and CEO at CityPockets, a digital wallet and secondary marketplace for daily deals. Her New York City based startup allows users to automagically import all their daily deal vouchers from various deal sites so they can keep track of them in one spot.  They can also sell them if they can’t use the voucher before they expire.

We caught up with Cheryl, who hailed from Malaysia, to get some insights from her trip here as mentor to the current batch of Founders Institute Singapore participants.

In Spring of 2010, she noticed that she’d bought so many vouchers from various deal sites that she lost track of them. The risk of losing money from expiring vouchers made her realise that daily deal vouchers were fast becoming a new form of currency and that led to the inspiration for CityPockets.

“I’ve always believed that the best products are created when you’re trying to solve a real problem that you experience every day, since you can truly understand the pain points and you’re familiar with it. Don’t try to solve a problem that you don’t have or that is not within your domain expertise,” she said. Read more