Flush the Toilet: Young Entrepreneurs

Well, I think there are pleanty of female entrepreneurs. I don’t think you can base it just on the fact that many of them are not blogging therefore there must not be that many of them out there. Blogging is very much a computer orientated activity and I think females in general are not so much attracted to techology and tech related businesses so that’s why they may not be blogging so much.

Every entrepreneurship event I’ve been to I didn’t sense any disconnect between the female and male entrepreneurs. It’s not like a diaper changing workshop where women are suppose to be more skilled at the task, entrepreneurship I think is a skill (or mind set) that is not one that comes easier to one sex vs another, gender doesn’t make any difference, it’s just the person within that matters. So if I meet aspiring/current entrepreneurs, the first thing I pay attention to is not their gender, to me that’s insignificant. I hope it is to you guys too, because if it isn’t, well then “snap out of it”

Liana, I was never denying the fact that there are plenty of female entrepreneurs; I “do” believe that there are. I was making reference to the ratio of male entrepreneurs who “Speak” about their businesses to the females entrepreneurs who don’t. I want to see that ratio change.

You have a point: I would agree that males are more computer-oriented. But I’m sure that there are plenty computer-savvy female entrepreneurs out there who simply are just sitting back and not voicing themselves over the net even when they have the means to.. And that’s sad.

I’ve seen HUGE disconnects in entrepreneurship events where there would literally be 5 - 15 women in a room of over 500 people — you do the math.

Yes, entrepreneurship is a “mindset.” I couldn’t agree more. As per my post, I think that women and men are on equal standings when it comes to entrepreneurship — but women (as far as I can see) are lacking a voice.

That’s great that you don’t pay attention to peoples’ genders. But you know what, I do. I do take notice of gender and from my experiences, women have offered me advice that I have never received from men, and vice-versa. It’s not a bad thing to think about someones gender, it’s only natural.

I hope that more women “snap open their voices” and start talking more about their business, quite frankly.

Dave, I don’t understand why you are so focused on “speaking” on the NET? Again just because lots of female entrepreneurs don’t blog doesn’t mean that they don’t share their thoughts in other ways. That’s a hasty conclusion. I personally prefer giving presentations, writing newspaper articles and talking to people one-on-one. Just because I don’t blog, doesn’t mean I or other female entrepreneurs don’t share our ideas.

Now saying that you would hope to see more women blog is different from saying that we don’t share our thoughts. I personally find blogging too time consuming, but for some reason I find giving presenations less so. I think you find blogging to be a good outlet for your ideas and you seem to have met a few people through doing that, but I’m taking a different route. Which one is right? I don’t know, whatever works for you may not work for me.

I’m also kind of puzzled as to why you seem to encounter such low ratio of women at your entrepreneurial events. Maybe yours are more tech focused? I rarely if ever see such big difference. Maybe you should attend the CEO (Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization) conference in Chicago this Nov. I think this event gives a much better idea of male:female ration in entrepreneurship.

Now I agree with you that women may have a different insight into business which is worthwhile to listen too. But I don’t think that it only applies to women. I think you need to expand even beyond that: talk to the immigrant restaurant owner, the punk kid who created his own sticker line, the person who runs a non-profit etc. I think all of you suit&tie/tech entrepreneurs need to venture out… maybe even starting with the women. Any new perspective is great for future ventures.

Hmm… well I think I lost you on the whole “suit/tie entrepreneurs..” comment as I am not one of those so I can’t add to that.

Yeah, the event I made reference to is an entrepreneur startup/tech event. I used that example because it was proof to me that women aren’t involved with “internet entrepreneurship” (re: blogging about businesses, creating online businesses, etc…) as much as men are and that’s what I want to see change.

Why the net? Well that’s simple. A part from it being the second most effective means of communication in the world — behind face to face contact — it’s has superseded television
( re: flash, blogs, online news, etc..) when it comes to connecting to people and I think it’s only logical to use the net to express yourself and your thoughts, especially if you’re an entrepreneur…

okay, if we’re speaking about tech entrepreneurship then I do agree with you. Otherwise it’s a long stretch. Glad to have had this debate with you

The pleasure was mine, Liana. Thank you

Too bad I missed out on this one. David, it’s funny… just as I was going through MindPetals and your blog, I began thinking to myself, “Wow. He and I think a lot alike based on your posts and comments. From Paying it Forward, to the MindPetals concept.” But then I run into this post and I… well buddy, I have to disagree with a lot of what you’ve said so far and side with Liana.

Without dragging this on, I’ll say that two Entrepreneurs that I happen to admire and have much respect for happen to be women and they are Oprah(of course) and Martha Stewart. Powerhouse Entrepreneurs… oh, and female.

Although you do make a good point about the tech Entrepreneur world, but then what about Emily Chang of eHub(www.emilychang.com), Liz Folger of BizyMoms(www.bizymoms.com) and many more?

Then you also mentioned that men Entrepreneurs tend to be more open and willing to share with each other. I have to disagree with you on that too. I don’t see many sites like BizyMoms, WAHM, etc. for the male Entrepreneur, but I do see these woman owned sites alive with very active forums, chats and message boards. I don’t remember the last time I saw something like this from us men, which honestly ticks me off, but before I start complaining about the problem, I’m working on a solution.(hint, hint… stay tuned).

Great post though and Liana two stars for you today!

Women DO need to become more vocal. I have written about that quite extensively on my two blogs and in the articles on my website: www.thenewtnwoman.com I have also purchased audio acrobat in order to collect audio interviews about their businesses which will be promoted on my site.

The problem is….the women’s associations that currently exist in TN (and this is probably true of other states as well) divide women into segments according to industry. There are lawyer’s associations, builder’s associations, mom’s groups, political groups, women who lunch…and so worth. Counseling, if it is included at all, is by peers, not experts in marketing, financing, business plan analysis, philanthropy, franchising, etcetera. If informal networking were working, we would not see so many women launch and then close their business within three years.

Women need to come TOGETHER under one umbrella to solve local and state issues that effect their ability to be successful entrepreneurs. I am working to create a statewide database of female entrepreneurs, across all industries, that will be truly seen by buyers of their services. When a TN female entrepreneur types into google: “TN female entrepreneur” and “TN Businesswomen” she immediately finds my site and PR. That’s what every state need to do for its female entrepreneurs, instead of sending them to smaller niche associations.

We lose our voice when we are divided!Each association has collected names and put them in a tidy book, seen by only those 30-300 members and called it quits. It’s a have as their main need, spreading the word about their business to as many people as they possibly can. They effectively close themselves off to outside communication when they join these circles, incubators, and niche groups which do more to commiserate than really propel them to growth.

The goal should be to CONNECT women across industries, so they can increase the visibility of their business, LINK UP with quality mentors, and SHARE through a barter x-change their skills.
Not to create more paper directories that are never seen or used!

http://rferrerifeske.audioacrobat.com/rss/launch-of-the-new-tennessee-woman.xml

The New Tennessee woman promotes Tennessee’s female entrepreneurs, providing mentorship opportunities, and improving the lives of women statewide through philanthropy.

Paragraph 4 sentence 2 did not upload properly; it should read: “It’s a shame because new entrepreneurs have as their main need, spreading the word about their business to as many people as they possibly can.”