2014 My Life in Startups Lessons Learned Along the Way Mary Holstege #GHC

Fears  Too risky −Compared to what? −Ask the questions  Frat house culture? −Choose wisely −Be the change  Too much work −Just say no −Focus, focus, focus

2014 Startups Need Women  90% startups say they are hiring *  90% say finding right skills key challenge *  Women underutilized −26% computer industry ** −22% founding team * −28% US CS and math graduate students ***  Women make teams more effective **** *Silicon Valley Bank, Startup Outlook report, ** Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from Current Population. *** NSF, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: **** Wooley and Malone, Defend your research: What makes a team smarter? More women. HBR, June (6).

2014 OMG, Isn’t a Startup Risky?  28% software startups not earning revenue*  75% companies with >$1M VC funding “fail”**  Failing within 20 months of funding:*** −70-80% Internet companies −10-20% mobile −5-10% other software fail  63% “information” startups gone after 4 years**** * SVB 2013 ** Ghosh, see *** ****

2014 That Word “Fail”  Doesn’t mean what you think it means  Exit doesn’t pay back VC investment  Not necessarily a failure for you −Great experience while it lasts −Retention bonuses, cash in acquisitions −Worst case: seeds of future success

2014 A Startup is a Little Like a Cult  Keep your wits about you  Be cold and calculating before you join  Don’t be afraid to walk away  Trust your instincts  Don’t fall in love with just the idea: −Evaluate the risk

2014 Think Like a VC  Technical Risk −Does it work? Does it make sense technically?  Market Risk −“We have no competitors” = “We haven’t thought about the market”  Financial Risk −Funding? Burn rate? Cash on hand? Sales?  Execution Risk −Kind of people who will execute well? −Did they execute interview process well?

2014 Don’t Get Starry Eyed about IPOs  Do the math −Difference between market and salary −Number of options at what price? −Restrictions? Clawback provisions? −Number of shares outstanding? −What is company valuation?  It really is the journey, not the destination

2014 Just Say No  You don’t have to stay late every night −Say you are going to leave at 5 and leave −But, be flexible: sometimes you have to work the long hours  Time management −Not everything has to be done −Not everything has to be done right now −Eliminate distractions −Focus

2014 As the Twig is Bent…  Small things early matter  Live with early dev practices forever  Early hires set the tone

2014 You Need to Hire More Women  You need to be the advocate  You need to be the sourcer  You need to be the mentor  Seen a little outright negative bias  Seen a lot of favoritism

2014 My Experience in Startups  Everything you do matters  You will learn many things  You will be given great responsibility  You will work closely with a team  You will be the only (technical) woman

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