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Last weekend, more than 1000 thought leaders came together to discuss the Economy and Society from a female perspective. Unlike the Davos Global Forum, in Deauville powerful women are in the majority at the fifth international Women's Forum for the Economy and Society. Its motto is:
"Think again, think ahead! It is time for action, change and hope".
There were many international speakers unveiling their ideas on politics, entrepreneurship, economics; a lot of the time about the effects of the financial crisis, but also on the chances and opportunities that it brings. Among the speakers - 17 Rising Talents of 2009 - was Founder of Smarta, Shaa Wasmund.
Some conclusions from the forum were:
Women are Hit Hard by the Financial Crisis
It may be that women-led hedge funds have performed better in the financial crisis than hedge funds run by men - as was one of the conclusions of a Report launched at the Women's Forum - and yet women and girls in poor countries have been hit the hardest by the implosion of banks thousands of miles away.
The developed world has received far more funding to combat the crisis, in comparison to that received by the worlds poorest countries. As a result, women now need similarly large-scale solutions, including access to capital and to larger markets, to combat the crisis.
"The ground has shifted beneath the feet of our business models and social and economic policies”, explains Founder and CEO Aude Zieseniss de Thuin. "The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society views moments of rupture like this as an opportunity to advance new ideas, technologies and even paradigms for society and the economy. With their male counterparts, women have a key role to play in the process of creating a more resilient future," the Founder of the Women’s Forum said.
Empowering Women makes Financial Sense
Discussed at great length, was the idea that empowering women economically is not just a matter of fairness, but of financial sense.
World Leaders unite today in Davos for the World Economic Forum, a five day conference in which the most pressing issues facing the world are discussed. This year it is entitled "Shaping the Post-Crisis World." Business leaders, executives, politicians, intellectuals and journalists are expected to talk about the economic crisis and how to get through it, but they also due to cover topics such as environmental damage, corruption, energy or health. Themes can be found here.
Attendees in the forum have historically been primarily men, but this changed when Aude Zieseniss de Thuin founded the "Davos" Women's Forum for the Economy & Society in 2005 to promote a women’s vision on the economic and social issues of the world.
This year, these are the women that will be at Davos:
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It’s been a great 12 months for Lisa Falzone. Last year she
raised $3.7 million in her series "A" funding round; then last month at the Macworld
– iWorld event, her company Revel
Systems was officially announced as the winner of the Best iPad Business App of the Year Award.
Many female high achievers have made it on to the list of the The Lawyer's Hot 100 of 2008, the list of UK's best lawyers, annually compiled by editor Catrin Griffiths. Among them websavvy technology and media specialists, litigators, telecom gurus, allround general counsels and money driven tax lawyers. We highlight the following:
- Maya Abu Deed, General Counsel of Bloomberg, who litigated against premature third party Harry Potter publication on the internet
- Mary Geraghty, Group General Counsel of Arcadia, who stood against Google's new advertisement policy on key words of competitors
- Sarah Priestly, tax lawyer at Weil Gotshall, who advises Lion Capital, one of the major consumer based investors (a.o. Jimmy Choo and HEMA)
Sue Chen founded Nova Medical Products in
1993 when she was just 23 years old with a strong vision – offer stylish
designs and choices to people using mobility equipment.
Today, Nova has grown to become an industry leader in Mobility and Bathroom Safety products, providing greater independence and well being to people at all stages of life, with products that reflect the beauty, style and confidence of their customers.
Sue is changing the look and perception of medical equipment and improving the lives of millions of Americans reliant on assistive devices by incorporating fashion and function in products such as designer canes and colorful walkers. Through her trademark “Mobility Makeover,” Sue helps customers show their style and pursue an active lifestyle with the help of their mobility equipment.
Most recently, Sue was a finalist for the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, recipient of the Community Leadership Award from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and named one of the ten Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women issue.
This is a guest post by Rob Shedd, VP of Product and Technology for Three Screen Games, who is actively involved with the Lion Launch Pad, an accelerator program for student entrepreneurs at Penn State. You can read the original article here.
This is a post I've had a running draft of for some time. I'm happy to be getting it out of my draft bin and out onto the web!
Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital spoke at DreamIt Ventures this summer. During his talk, Josh mentioned how he expects to see an increasing number of DreamIt/TechStars/Y Combinator-style locally-focused "seed stage startup accelerator" programs in the coming years.
The NextWomen DWEN Interview Series features Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Executive VP &
Artistic Director of OPI Products Inc., the world leader in professional nail
care.
A Review Of The "Ubercloud Conference" On Digital Creativity
At the end of September, tech lovers, creatives and all sorts of other inhabitants of the digital world pilgrimaged to Cologne, Germany. There were two reasons for this: Firstly, the dmexco digital marketing expo & conference: It claims to be "leading the global digital business", takes place yearly and has steadily grown bigger since 2009. This year, the dmexco was preceded by another fine reason to come to Cologne: The UBERCLOUD Conference. As "The Visible Mass of Digital Creativity", it called creative minds together to make the importance – and the possibilities – of digital creation visible especially to the ones doing business in these spheres.
This is a guest post by Deb Elzie, an Interaction Designer with a background in educational psychology, based part of her time in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa. She enjoys creating open learning incorporating social networking and new media, and has done a tremendous job by highlighting African women in tech.
Africa is a rich mixture of countries and ethnicities and its women are equally diverse in their leadership. I found it interesting to take a look at some of the women who were noted in 2010 in tech and media. Just reading through Afrinnovator’s 2 part (part 1) (part 2) year-end review highlighted many women, but there were a few others that came to mind as well. While most of the stories of innovation are happening in Nairobi, I’m sure there will be more stories shared in 2011 as other innovation hubs take off.
In February, Afrinnovator published an interview with Kenyan blogger Njeri Wangari (@KenyanPoet). While blogging may be waning in popularity for some, I found her answers about blogging creating citizen journalists to be encouraging.
In March, Afrinnovator interviewed one of my favorites digital media artists – Jepchumba (see photo left, Photo Credit: African Digital Art) (@digitalafrican). She is the founder of the African Digital Art community. Each visit to the site's African Weekly Inspiration is a real treat. And “The District”, an online community for Africa’s creatives, is a great source of contacts.
Innovation hubs seem to be popping up all over the continent with iHub officially launching in March in Nairobi. You’ve probably all read about the work that Jessica Colaço (@jessicacolaco) has been doing as the iHub Manager. Check out this BBC video interview.
In April, Ethiopian Bruktawit Tigabu (@brukty) was named one of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise: Young Laureates Programme winners for her Whiz Kids Workshop which produces the "Tsehai Loves Learning" animated children's television show. The show helps young children learn good personal hygiene.
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If you decide to make the jump and set up your own business, chances are you’ll be offered tons of well-meaning advice. Some of it will be helpful, some of it will be rubbish, a lot of it will be contradictory. In Common Sense Rules, the new book from Deborah Meaden, the denizen of Dragons’ Den sets out to question the truth behind the clichés. Meaden believes that it is only by busting the myths behind these clichés that the business world can really move on.
In a series of 4 articles, Deborah Meaden will reveal to the The NextWomen her best tips for Success as an Entrepreneur. Here, in the third of the series, Deborah Meaden gives her top tips for takeovers.
If you dream of being your own boss but haven’t yet come up with an amazing idea for a start-up you might think about buying an existing business. I often think that just as much, if not more, entrepreneurial skill goes into turning around an existing business than it does in starting up a new one. It takes the vision to spot a business that is doing well in spite of itself and the nous to see the improvements you can make.
Here are some key questions to ask yourself when you’re considering buying a business:
Can I make a difference?
The key to buying somebody else’s business is knowing that it can do better and being able to identify clearly what changes need to be made, how long it will take, how much it will cost and – most importantly – how much profit those changes are going to generate. Having a clear plan of what it is that can be done to make it better, rather than a vague notion of fancying giving it a go, is essential.
Am I thinking about this opportunity rationally?
Buying a business can be an emotionally charged experience. However, I would urge you to try to remain rational. Being passionate about business is important, but if you can’t find the right business, or it’s not the right time, or something just does not feel right, you should walk away rather than regret rushing into something. Keep a cool head and take a long, hard, critical look at the proposition in front of you and then, if you are still totally convinced of the opportunity, get passionate and go for it.
What are the business’s strengths and weaknesses?
All businesses, no matter how badly they have been run in the past, will have some good qualities that customers liked. The trick is to find them – and fast. The best place to start is to talk to the people who already work there. I always have a round-table meeting with all of the key people in the business at the earliest opportunity and ask everyone in the room:
‘Right, what is the plan? What could you do for this business?’
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