Join Sharp Minds in San Francisco February 13th and 14th

Women 2.0’s upcoming San Francisco conference (February 13-14th) is about giving founders, investors and tech company leaders the information and connections they need to thrive in today’s outsized reality.

Featured speakers include:

1. Gwynne Shotwell, President & CEO of Space X
2. Sarah Friar, CFO & Operations Lead of Square
3. Daphne Koller, Co-Founder of Coursera
4. Dana Ringelmann, Co-Founder of Indiegogo
5. Julia Hartz, Co-Founder & President of Eventbrite
6. Charles Hudson, Partner at Softech VC

What will be addressed at the conference?

• In-depth discussions, panels and keynotes
• Practical case studies filled with actionable advice for employees at big tech companies and startups
• Intimate networking with other entrepreneurs, technologists, CxOs, investors and more

What is Women 2.0?

About Women 2.0: Women 2.0 is a media company at the intersection of women, entrepreneurship and technology, offering content, a community and conferences to further its mission of diversity among employees, entrepreneurs and investors in technology. Women 2.0’s platform is open to men and women.

Visit Women 2.0 to learn more about the organization.  To sign up and get your tickets for the conference, visit here.

Illustration courtesy:  Women 2.0

Crush Your Self-Doubt

Melissa Pickering says women experience self-doubt more than men. She confronted it and followed six steps to build a successful company.

When I started iCreate to Educate, I read a lot of books on female entrepreneurs and started to recognize a consistent message—female entrepreneurs tend to have more self-doubt than our male counterparts. How was I, as a female entrepreneur, going to battle this self-doubt in order to be successful?

Read Melissa's good advice here.

Photo courtesy: BK

The Importance of Women Business Owners

Each year the National Women's Business Council (NWBC) delivers its annual report focusing on economic issues of importance to women business owners along with policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Small Business Administration. This year's annual report addresses four main areas to advance women entrepreneurs:

1.  Access to Capital
2.  Access to Markets
3.  Job Creation & Growth
4.  Data Collection

The National Women's Business Council's annual report is available at http://nwbc.gov/research/nwbc-2013-annual-report

Illustration courtesy:  NWBC 2013

Lady Tradies In Pursuit of Their Dreams

Carpentry apprentice Juliette Liddle says that building houses suits her much better than fluffing pillows.

She is part of a minority of women who are infiltrating male-dominated trades in pursuit of their dreams. Since 2010, the state government has injected more than $300,000 into programs to overcome some of the biggest stumbling blocks to female participation. And it is working.

Read the entire article:  Female trades follow their dreams in a man's world

For more information, visit:   APlus Apprentice and Trainee Services (its mission is to see 40 female students in years 10 to 12 placed in non-female traditional trades over the next year as part of a Victorian government push for women to take up trade apprenticeships).

Why should the men have all the fun in jobs?

Photo courtesy:  University of Salford Press