Women who are smart enough to have the kind of big ideas that can change the world are also smart enough to understand that the odds are stacked against them.
As Steven-waiss demonstrates, the winners of the next decades will be those able to tap into the best ideas no matter who brings them to t.
Valley Girls speaks to women at every stage of their entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial journey and to every C-suite executive and venture capitalist, male or female, who wants to find the next big thing.
Each founder\'s story provides a guiding light for a different element of the Female entrepreneur\'s journey including: Mastering the idea stage and whiteboarding Navigating early setbacks Pitching venture capital Bootstrapping and angel investment Managing the post-funding stage Thriving through intrapreneurship Balancing family and personal commitments Handling stress and anxiety Overcoming inevitable setbacks Crafting the successful exit.
She offers inspiration, role models, and a clear path to empower women to get into the game.
With clear eyes and hard-won insight, Steven-waiss presents their exhilarating and sometimes disappointing experiences alongside her own, demonstrating the unique obstacles that await women Founders and showing that there is hope.
In her book, Valley Girls, she provides readers with a roadmap of how she and a dozen other women like her beat the odds.
Now, Steven-waiss is paying it forward by giving inspiration and insight to others pursuing a big idea while female.
And yet, she not only succeeded, but just two years later, she helped to steer her company through a strategic acquisition to a major platform company.
What she encountered wasn\'t always an easy road.
Leaving the safety of a career as CHRO of a major technology company, she dove into the challenging waters of venture capital first as an intrapreneur and then an entrepreneur.
She experienced the dynamics of raising capital as a woman founder firsthand.
Author Kelley Steven-Waiss, founder and CEO of Hitch Works Inc., a cloud-based skills mapping and intelligence platform, ought to know.
And yet, there is a path forward for any woman with a great idea and the passion to succeed.
These factors push some of the most innovative ideas and talents onto the sidelines.
Women seeking capital run up against negative stereotypes, cultural biases, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
In the past decade, all-Female founding teams never received more than 3% of the US venture capital pool.
Women who are smart enough to have the kind of big ideas that can change the world are also smart enough to understand that the odds are stacked against them
