Infuse start up teams with females to strengthen the business

Mark Zuckerburg told Sheryl Sandburg, his COO, that he does not check off boxes to get the right people. Mark will not hire to fill a gender quota but he did make Sheryl the most important person on his team and within a short period, the bleeding Facebook was making revenues thanks to Sheryl's new policy on advertising streams.
I also do not like gender and diversity for companies because it is good business sense to have a wide range of people in your business. Ruth Bastedo supports women in business strongly but without the preachiness, just the good business sense. Here is Ruth:

So, what is stopping women from taking major leadership roles in the technology startups of today? Through my work in the field of women entrepreneurs, I have identified five recommendations to increase the number of women in startup teams:

1. Encourage startup teams to consciously analyze the diversity in their leadership teams. What diversity of thought could be missing as part of the growth strategy? Ask founders what might be missing in the mix, from product development to sales strategy to growth strategy? For example, with consumer-oriented products, how is the team addressing the needs of a female user base? Groupon’s subscription base is over 75% female. This is not the type of number to dismiss lightly. At times, the female viewpoint needs to be represented at senior levels in the organization, even if that female viewpoint is that of the end consumer.
2. Tap into a base of experienced, older women leaders. Women business leaders in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are excellent sources of experienced management talent for startups. Tapping into this group and engaging them in technology startups as investors or members of a management team or advisory board can be an excellent way to tap into the experience and expertise of these women. This is the view of private equity expert Jacoline Loewen, Director at Loewen and Partners in Toronto and panelist on the Business News Network television show The Pitch. She says, “Startups are like an intense marriage and choosing a woman 50+ to be a founding member, particularly if you are all males under 30, could be a savvy choice… these guys have to get over the stereotype of mum with the cookie tray nagging about a messy room. At age 53, Arianna Huffington did a startup bloggers’ forum website called The Huffington Post which went on to get sold 6 years later to AOL for US$315 million.”
3. Acknowledge that women may have different needs than their male counterparts. In their early 20s, women can compete more or less head to head with men. Unfortunately, many women soon find that their careers are impacted by the decision to have a family. What they need during this period is as much flexibility as possible. They also need to earn enough money to have good quality childcare so that they can present to that potential investor in New York on the spur of the moment. This need for cash flow during this critical period is important to understand.
4. Support and nurture organizations that in turn support women entrepreneurs. There are several organizations and initiatives in Canada, and increasingly internationally, that support women who want to engage and be successful in high-growth startups. The support for these organizations needs to come from multiple sectors: government, professional services, technology, financial services, and academia. In order to increase the likelihood of success, women need the contacts, networks, mentorship, and access to information that these initiatives can provide. Compelling examples of these types of initiative in Canada include:
   • Canadian Women in Technology
   • Rotman’s Next Steps
   • WEConnect
   • Women’s President’s Organization
   Further examples from the United States include:
   • National Association of Women Business Owners
   • Astia
   • National Centre for Women & Information Technology’sEntrepreneurial Alliance program, designed to integrate women into startup teams of under 100 employees
5. Expose technology and computer science to girls in a more compelling way. Girls and young women love using technology, as any parent with any exposure to girls and their Webkinz can attest to, but how can this early enthusiasm and interest be translated into an interest in product and software design? How can we teach girls to engage in programming in a more appealing way? There are those that are trying, but the representation of women in computer science departments continues to decline. From 2002 through 2009, the proportion of female graduates from computer science bachelor degree programs declined from 19.4% to 11.3% in Canada and the United States (Zweben, 2009).
   Initiatives such as Alice, educational software that teaches students computer programming in a 3D environment at Carnegie Mellon, show a model of how to engage girls in middle school. Alice allows students to learn fundamental concepts of programming and programming logic without a background in mathematics and programming. The software introduces a storytelling model, which allows girls to create software that is personally relevant to them. (For further details on the promise of the Alice approach for influencing later success in computer science education, see the paper by the National Center for Women & Information Technology) Going through the process of learning how to program is very important in the technology industry, not only as a potential pathway to becoming a programmer, but also as important background to enable more effective interactions with technical teams. This early engagement in technology is a critical step in getting women to the point where, in their 20s, they might find themselves in an environment conducive to creating the next “killer app”.

From my vantage point, following these recommendations would help infuse our existing startup teams with female talent and nurture the younger generation of women that is interested in using technology to create products and services that are consumer friendly. Encouraging more women to be a part of high-growth technology startup teams, as entrepreneurs or otherwise, will result in well-balanced technology companies that can compete effectively in today’s diverse world.

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Is Ruth Bastedo Right about Women and Start Ups?

With the recent flurry from Facebook's female COO, Sheryl Sandburg, discussing how women need to lean into their careers, how about encouraging women to apply for positions in start ups?
I'm with Sheryl, women need to do more of the stepping forward. I spent the weekend with a family where the 16 year old daughter won the science fair project, yet the mother is encouraging to follow music. When I probed, she told me she plays the piccolo and, no, she has not won any music award. Her mother just thinks the piccolo is "lovely", but a recent trip to see Billy Elliott shocked them as the entire wind section f the orchestra was done by a key board.
I mentoned to the girl that if she loves science, she might think of the big salary that comes from getting a degree in engineering or science. I also told her there would be scholarships for a female. She can still play the piccolo as a hobby.
In the same line of thinking, Ruth Bastedo's article got me thinking that older women would be great foils for young start ups entrepreneurs. Ruth says:

A recent Catalyst study showed that companies with three or more women on their board of directors outperform those with fewer women by 53% on return on equity, 42% on return on sales, and 66% of return on invested capital (Joy et al., 2007). Moreover, the study found that the link between women board directors and corporate performance holds across industries. I am convinced that part of the reason for our startup’s success, was that, at all times, there was that strong female representation in the founding leadership team (with a female COO and VP Creative) that impacted all parts of the company, ranging from product and service development, client service, human resources, operations, and business development. Our “secret sauce” was the diversity in our leadership team.

If diverse startup teams can be so successful, why are they so rare? Among other factors, the following reasons contribute to the rarity of women on startup teams:

1. There are few women who have a background in technology.Women looking to work with a technology startup are more likely to have a background in sales, project management, marketing, legal issues, or human resources. Even in my case, when I did my new media training at the Vancouver Film School in 1995, there were four women in my class of about 25. To make matters worse, the numbers of women enrolling in computer science at universities is actually dwindling, as will be discussed later.
2. There are very few venture capitalists and investors who are women. Women who are investors are at least likely to connect with women on startup teams. In the United States, investment firms with at least one woman partner are 70% more likely to invest in a women entrepreneur than firms that have only make partners, according to a whitepaper published by the venture capitalist firm Illuminate Ventures.
3. There is no incentive for change. Having young women in key leadership roles is challenging. My partners were not thrilled that I took two maternity leaves, albeit short ones, within two years. People in general are very comfortable with the status quo, and the technology community has a comfortable homogeneity when it comes to the model for success. But as one recent columnist, Natasha Mooney, said, “Hiring your first woman employee when you’re a 30-person company is far more difficult than when you’re a 5-person company.”

Ruth Bastedo,
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Private equity and Jon Huntsman

There is the mistaken belief that the USA president candidate Jon Huntsman is the same Jon Huntsman who co-founded a $1.1 billion private equity firm called Huntsman Gay Global Capital. But he isn't.

The Jon Huntsman running for president is the former governor of Utah and U.S. Ambassador to China. The private equity Jon Huntsman is his father, who previously founded specialty chemicals company Huntsman Corp. and who isn't nearly as involved with the firm as is co-founder Bob Gay (a former colleague of Romney's, as it so happens). The firm also happens to employ Jon Jr.'s brother Paul as a vice president.

Huntsman Jr. does not have any financial interest in his father's firm, according to a source familiar with the matter. He would have a good understanding of the use of many private equity firms who have taken their financial power to re-energize businesses that might otherwise go bankrupt.

Who Will Win the Private Equity Cage Battle between The Bay and J.Crew

Since The Bay's renewal, the males in my family have bought all of their casual clothing there over the past year, and  I had no intention of even window shopping, yet ended up buying business suits too. I would personally say The Bay is back to being a go-to-shopping spot again. 
The Bay has achieved their relaunch thanks to private equity backing with financial depth, and the gutsy CEO, Bonnie Brooks, is probably still in the midst of the final transformation. It is with alarm that I hear the rumours that the preppy and likeable J. Crew is looking to open in Canada. 
Is there room? 
Lands End had to leave with its tail between is legs. How will J. Crew be different?
Well, first, J. Crew will also have the deep pocket, private equity backing that The Bay enjoys. Here is an article detailing the private equity story:

Now we find out that the American retail chain BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. announced Wednesday that it has agreed to be bought by private equity firms Leonard Green Partners (LGP) and CVC Capital Partners in a $2.8 billion cash deal.

Taking lead advisory roles on the deal are lawyers from Latham Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Bartlett, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale Dorr and Potter Anderson Corroon.

Under the terms of the transaction, BJ's shareholders are to receive $51.25 per share, a premium of nearly 7 percent premium over the stock's closing price on June 28, according to the BJ's statement. A proxy statement with additional information on the agreement has yet to be released to shareholders and the SEC, the companies said.

BJ's board of directors has unanimously approved the deal and has recommended it for shareholder approval. The company expects to close the acquisition in the fourth quarter.

BJ's, which operates 190 warehouse outlets in 15 states, is one of the top warehouse chains in the country and the latest in a string of retail pick-ups for LGP this year. The investment house acquired preppy clothier J.Crew, last November and added the craft-and-hobby chain Jo-Ann Stores in December.

Clients and Consultants: Venus and Mars?

Who knew? The key tasks or touch points that clients think are important for their advisers to do and what advisers think make their clients happy are very, very different. Worlds apart, in fact.

I was surprised by the results of the survey done by Jenny Sutton and The RFP Company. Jenny wrote a terrific book called "Extract Value from Your Consultants" - which sounds like a bad trip to the dentist, but if you are an adviser, this is the one book for your summer vacation - it has been a must-read in my office. Here's Jenny:

Earlier this year we conducted two surveys on the drivers of satisfaction when it comes to using consultants. One collected information from the users of consulting services, and the other from consultants themselves.

We were surprised at the massive difference between average client satisfaction and satisfaction as it is perceived by consultants. In addition, consultants and clients seem to have very different ideas about what the important factors are in creating a satisfactory outcome.
You can download a full copy of the report here.

Economist Article

In a recent article on the state of the consulting industry, The Economist  contacted Jenny for her thoughts!

“But increasingly, says Jenny Sutton of the Hong Kong-based RFP Company, clients are refusing to pay for junior staff’s on-the-job training. Instead, they are asking for fewer and better consultants and setting them to work alongside their own staff.”

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