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?

Here's what I'm looking for:

- Entrepreneur or investor in entrepreneurs

- Built a tech company (eg web, ads, iPhone, software, hardware, etc)

- With a big business success or big failure

http://mixergy.com/contact

[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

[AndrewWarner]

PERFECT!

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

I'm emailing you now.

[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.

[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.

[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...

[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.)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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...

[AndrewWarner]

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

[jonnii]

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

[AndrewWarner]

Thanks, but her company seems too young right now.

[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.

[famfam]

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

[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.

[email protected]

[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/

[neilc]

Neither Fiorina nor Whitman is an entrepreneur, however.

[AndrewWarner]

I'll try to reach out to them and see. They're not founders, but considering their track records, they're worth making an exception for.

[Tawheed]

Kathy Sierra

[AndrewWarner]

Thanks. Just emailed her.

[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!

[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.

[Tawheed]

Caterina Fake

[AndrewWarner]

Good suggestion.

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

[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

[AndrewWarner]

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

[jaekwon]

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

http://www.85broads.com/

[jarin]

Cyan Bannister from Zivity

[AndrewWarner]

Done. I emailed her.