Entrepreneurs Corner: Avoiding The Female Ghetto

There’s something happening in New York Tech Scene: The female community is finding and establishing itself among the ranks of the techies in the Big Apple. For a lot of reasons New York is not Silicon Valley, where the culture has matured to the point that everyone seems to look and dress the same; engineers rock their T-shirts or hoodies while VCs strut their nice leather belts. Everyone has their part to play. The culture is so cemented that it can replicated in startup communities around the world. It’s as if Silicon Valley is almost a nouveau social class which can be spotted nearly anywhere by a seasoned veteran. New York is not the same. There are some brogrammers and hacksters in Brooklyn but the culture here is still finding itself. Founders generally wear slacks and nice shoes while the tech community has its own unique flavor – even in how and what it doest for meetups. The interesting part about the New York scene however is the developing female community. In the NYC female community so far two biggest divides are age and industry. Are you web 1.0 or mobile? Are you in something fashion related or problem related? And then there are the subgroups: the technical gals with backgrounds in design or engineering. There are the corporate girls who came from major consulting firms and want a task of creative freedom. Then there’s the funded vs. non funded and even the “Husband Funded” who are women with ideas fully financially backed by life partners. But there is one place that doesn’t get much attention or success. It’s the female ghetto. THE FEMALE GHETTO The female ghetto is the place women get stuck in when their idea revolves around something stereotypical female or “gender limited.” I know some amazing women within this space but it’s a tricky place to be. The Female Ghetto is where your only merits to your idea is via your gender: “It’s for shopping... and I like to shop” “x is the problem, I know I’m female” “There need to be more beauty apps…” Carissa Ganelli CEO & Founder of Commerce Drivers even pointed out casually, “Its tough because as an entrepreneur you don’t want to be limited to a certain area or feel restricted... I think about it often as I meet other female founders in similar spaces that I call the Female Ghetto." If women really wanted to follow statistics, they’d be making social games on Facebook. While highly saturated, females are having the highest gaming growth online and the companies making the games are led by men, designed by men, and programed by men – for the most part. Chasing a stereotype is not progress. INNOVATORS VS. NON-INNOVATORS And thus the women designing and building innovative apps are forced to resent the Barbie-like founders “changing the way we shop online.” I know a female founder changing the molecular biology of gas pipe lining so there’s less poison seeping into the water streams near major pipes. Genetic testing and family planning is evolving at a fast rate because of some female-backed research and our “heroes” are the very often the ones adding fuel to the very girly (stereotypes) we are trying to overcome. It confusing as community. But not all within the community is underdeveloped. Our tech events run on time and usually involve wine and warm food. There might be a few backpacks in the crowd but generally everyone looks slightly corporate with a splash of bling and everyone is eager to get to know each other as some seasoned hawks prey on the newbies to the community. Last week Women2.0 hosted a global Founder Friday in San Francisco, Madrid, New York and assorted global cities on the same night. The first time ever and on the east coast I saw over 200 women in the room. All colors and shapes, the elder professional females tried to figure out what the younger generation was up to and everyone chatted amongst each other – it became obvious the divide between who was trying to change the world and who wanted a quick win. It will be interesting to see how the community continues to evolve and how us all work together but one of the last comments I got from the event the other night “Are you in the ghetto, too?” Either the ghetto is growing or the awareness of the ghetto is growing. All I know is some of us are ready to change the world and in it for the long haul. (This article is by our resident SocialTimes entrepreneur, Ellie Cachette. Cachette is the founder of ConsumerBell a start-up that specializes in helping brands through product recalls. For more articles by Ellie, click here.)

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Entrepreneurs Corner: Avoiding The Female Ghetto

Ellie Cachette

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Ellie Cachette