Friday, March 31, 2006

RE: Banging the Pots to Keep the Movement Moving

"'Do you really believe,' Cornelia replied, 'that everything historians tell us about men - or about women - is actually true? You ought to consider the fact that these histories have been written by men...And if you consider, in addition, the envy and ill will they bear us women, it is hardly surprising that they rarely have a good word to say for us, and concentrate instead on praising their own sex in general and particular members of it, as a way of praising themselves...It really is something that men disapprove even of our doing things that are patently good..."
- "The Worth of Women," Moderata Fonte (Modesta Pozzo, Venice, Italy), 1600, reprinted by University of Chicago Press, 1996. - MORE.

This week I agreed to step into an unexpectedly vacated role on the National Board of NAWBO (the National Association of Women in Business) as the Midwest Public Policy Chairperson. The responsibilities of the role? Serving as an advocate for women business owners in the Midwest, representing issues to government agencies, elected officials, and other public policy makers. Over the next 3 months, we'll be working to support the Women in Public Policy's (WIPP) National Procurement Task Force initiatives. We'll also be finalizing NAWBO's Public Policy Learning Community, details to be released at NAWBO's National Conference June 1 - 3 in San Francisco.

I took on this role at the personal request of NAWBO National President-Elect, Carol Kuc, and Claire Guthrie Castanaga, VP of Public Policy - NAWBO National. I've served on the Chicago Board for 1 year, and was part of the first Illinois NAWBO Inter-Chapter Council (a powerful group of women who led the signature Step Up to the Plate event).

While I'm a busy gal with demanding client projects, defending women's issues remains my personal passion and life's mission. In my own little way, I'm trying to change the world. There's never enough time to do everything that needs to be done. Many women business owners have dual roles as busy mothers and wives. They feed and fend for themselves, their families and their employees. Not only are they busy, but they also often feel that they don't have the know-how to really make a difference or that their individual efforts will not have an impact.

The truth is every woman has the potential to be an advocate - in many ways it is an extension of what you are already doing as a woman - educating, building rapport, influencing on behalf of others, connecting with your community. It requires spoken and written words, making noise, and broadcasting our voice - letters to legislators, discussions, and demonstrations. For me, getting the message out about women's public policy concerns (affordable healthcare insurance, access to government contracts, equitable tax treatment) is a priority. WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN IT, THE QUESTION IS: IF WE WON'T DO IT, THEN WHO WILL?

Liken this to: banging the pots to keep the movement moving.

"Pot-banging is sort of an institution in South America (another Latin culture)...Powerless women found their voice by banging on pots and pans as a cry in the wilderness. It was a great nuisance to corrupt leftist politicians...A stream of mostly women would march through the streets banging on pots and pans, would attract a crowd, and grow it to huge size - all banging on pots and pans together as the cacerolazeros passed by." - MORE.

Many cavalier, small-minded men (and women) are threatened by women high achievers with strong conviction (women "pot-bangers") and they will try to thwart her efforts and marginalize her character. There are quite a few people in this world who really hate strong women. I mean really hate them - want to see them admonished, suffering, suffocated, and/or dead hate them. As with a certain class of racist, they prefer to blame every woman for any slight - real or imagined - done to them throughout the entirety of their lives.

I certainly hope this is not the case. Because what it means for women has broader implications. But if it is, I may be making a call to action to good women for your support.

This unsettled feeling I feel is not foreign to women with conviction, at home or abroad. Betty Friedan, who also hailed from Illinois, felt it. As did Moderata. I wonder how Moderata would have felt about the upcoming April 9 elections in Italy deciding women's political representation, civil unions, and reproductive rights? Italian women are protesting under the message Usciamo dal Silenzio, or "Let's Come Out of Silence." They are pot-banging. Like Moderata and Italian women activists, I have some Italian blood running through my veins. I once studied on exchange at University of Bocconi, Milano. This week I've tried to no avail to engage former McKinsey man Federico Minoli, current CEO of Bologna, Italy-based Ducati, on his new Desmo Blog, stumbling awkwardly over my rusty Italian. And Antonio, my guiding light, returns from his 10-day trip to Padova, Italy on Monday. He whispered me sage counsel in Italian by phone this afternoon before he headed off to bed (there's an 8-hour time difference).

So with good reason I am focused on the Italian election. I am nervously awaiting the outcome. As a young woman who wonders about the world -- without yet the fortitude to influence foreign country politics or the ability to wield anything more than words or voice against vehement opposition -- all I can do is wait...

They say a watched pot never boils; when women bang that pot, will the world listen?

kindly,
kirsten

Technorati tags: Osolind women leadership advocacy men NAWBO WIPP

posted by kirsten | 6:45 PM | | |
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RE: March Madness for Martha: Mogul Interviews, Mansions, Magazines, and Media Awards.

As part of Martha Stewart's March Madness, she appeared as Eisner's first talk-show guest over at CNBC this past Tuesday. She smiled as she responded to his questions. Hard-hitting former Mogul interview questions like: "how did you brighten up your day for inmates?" "Tell me about your reputation as a micromanager?" and "In everything you do, do you go for perfection or do you go for close to perfection?"

Meanwhile, Martha's been hard at work on her "Twin Lakes community" in Cary, N.C. -- each home designed with details from Martha's Mansions in partnership with KB Homes. Somehow Martha also found spare time to work the sold-out crowd when she served as honorary chairwoman of the Charleston International Antiques Show and the Festival of Houses and Gardens, March 17-19.

More of Martha's March Madness? Finalizing the launch of Blueprint Magazine "for multi-tasking women over thirty." Blueprint hits newstands May 1. You can preview the premiere issue free by CLICKING HERE. Martha Stewart and daughter Alexis (age 40) must have planned the concept while playing Scrabble during their federal prison visits.

Blueprint seems vaguely similar to now-tanked Organic Style. Former Organic Style publisher Sally Preston just so happens to have landed at Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Maybe Martha is yet capable of miracles - her publishing team did win the Executive Team of the Year Media Award as part of Adweek's Annual 'Hot List' Issue earlier this month.

Elsewhere in the world of media for enterprising chicks, expect new news out of Atlanta-based Worthwhile Magazine in April. Worthwhile readership skews female. And what about also Atlanta-based Pink Magazine? The magazine has increased initial circulation from 100,000 to 110,000 -- 25% subscriptions, 75% newsstand. Advertising is running 30% ahead of projections and income is expected to top $4 million this year.

Technorati tags: osolind women media blueprint eisner worthwhile pink

posted by kirsten | 12:20 AM | | |
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Thursday, March 30, 2006

RE: Mentor Relationships Can Be Powerful.

Hi. I'm Melissa and I write re:invention's Thursday blog feature -- Business Shoulder Story Bag -- stories about mentors and people in business that have received or offer a shoulder of support.

Kylie Dixon, Principal of Ascend Ventures Group, has a strong message to share. While speaking with her, I asked: "How did you get into the venture community?" Her answer was simple: "I knew someone and stayed in touch." Her Managing Partner, Darryl Wash, is someone she worked for prior to business school. When she left his company, Kylie remembers thinking: "I hope I get to work for him again someday". She kept in touch out of admiriation, and to ask career advice. After business school and three jobs, she decided she wanted to make a change and work with small companies that are passionate about changing the world. Darryl extended an invitation for her to join Ascend.

Kylie does not take her mentor for granted. "If I had a personal board of directors, he would be my chairman!" She developed her relationship over time, and it was not forced. Kylie's advice for finding the right mentor "Pay attention to people who take the time to teach and push you...who take PRIDE in your being successful."

Kylie believes in karma, as do I, and she has developed mentoring relationships of her own, talking with people about their career choices. Best wishes to you Kylie - you deserve it!

On a side note: Kirsten, if you are reading, I hope you took note - you have to be INVITED IN (like that will ever happen). Now stop carrying around that ratty, dog-eared book, "Venture Capital at the Crossroads," because it's not going to help you. And if you paraphrase from that book one more time, I might have to slug you!

SHARE YOUR MENTOR STORIES WITH MELISSA ON THURSDAYS!
Want to share your Business Shoulder Story with re:invention blog readers next Thursday? Send me your personal business stories - we prefer stories about someone who offered a hand, renewed your faith, or helped you overcome a business obstacle. Do you need a business shoulder for support? Ask us a question and we'll try to give you an answer or find someone who can. Click here to send me an EMAIL.

Technorati tags: Reinert women leadership mentors VC

posted by Melissa | 10:15 AM | | |
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RE: Golden Seeds Launches New Website.

Yes women only receive ~4% of venture capital.
And 9% of angel investments.

There's hope. Golden Seeds is on a mission to identify and invest in women-led ventures with the potential to grow into multi-million dollar businesses, and provide women entrepreneurs with strategic business advice and the tools they need for growth. Today they've launched a spruced-up website.

Golden Seeds' portfolio includes International Strategies, Artemis Women, Design2Launch, Star Farm Productions, and RedPath.

I like Stephanie Hanbury-Brown - We placed her in an "evergreen" national t.v. segment that ran 3 times last year. Ahem. For FREE.

http://www.goldenseeds.com/home/

posted by kirsten | 9:21 AM | | |
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RE: A Working Definition of Anonymity....aka "Things Wise Enterprising Women Should Know."

Today we offer readers a working definition of anonymity...aka "Things Wise Enterprising Women Should Know."

Suppose that Alice, Bob, and Carol are the only employees that have the keys to a bank safe and that, one day, the contents of the safe are missing (without the lock being violated). Without any additional information, we do not know for sure whether it was employee Alice, Bob or Carol that opened the safe; the perpetrator remains anonymous. In particular, each of the elements in {Alice, Bob, Carol} has a 1/3 chance of being the perpetrator.

But we KNOW Alice and Carol set Bob up, right? And their "planted evidence" will be discovered any minute. Because nearly ALL working women are men-bashing b*****s. LOL. Jeez, working women get such a bad rap.

Aren't you just DYING to go check out that Smurfette site? Or your competitor's site? Come on boys and girls, I know you wanna. Welcome to the ultimate anonymity:

http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html
http://www.proxyblind.org/
http://www.superdrewby.com/column/privacy.shtml
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/22/internet_anonymity/
http://www.anonymitychecker.com/
http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/

posted by kirsten | 8:05 AM | | |
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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

RE: Kith, and Kin, and Family-Owned Businesses.

Curious about women who lead family-owned businesses?

According to a 2003 Babson College/Mass Mutual report, female-owned family businesses are nearly twice as productive as their male counterparts. Although they are somewhat smaller in size than family businesses run by men ($26 million vs. $30 million), they generate their sales with fewer employees (26 versus 50 at male-owned firms). They also have a 40% lower rate of family member attrition.

Women's voices bring these statistics to life:

- Bea Wolper, co-founder of the Family Business Center of Central Ohio is leading a new initiative called Women Family Business Leaders. In her words: "The work-family dynamic is very difficult for women. Women who take over for their fathers are still often pegged Daddy's little girl and forced to prove themselves." MORE.

- Ann Drake, CEO of DSC Logistics, assumed the lead role of her family-owned supply-chain-management company armed with an MBA and zero corporate experience. "I had lots of lessons to be learned once I got here," Ann said in a recent Chicago Tribune interview. DSC Logistics now tops $200 million in sales and Ann is a member of the Committee 200.

The 10th Annual Women in Family Business Conference recently took place from March 23-26 at the Miraval Life in Balance Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Miss it? The 9th Annual Family Business Forum will feature successful women family business leader case studies June 12 - 15 in Cannes, France.

Here at re:invention, I've hired my mother as our part-time research assistant. Why not? She has 60 years of experience as a counselor, caregiver, problem solver and nurturer. You also tend to work harder when your mother is watching you.

Technorati tags: Osolind women family business babson wolper

posted by kirsten | 6:58 PM | | |
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RE: A Woman Former VC and Blogger Since 7.05. Wonder if Matt Marshall Knows Her?

Stumbled across a rather brilliant investor yesterday with a blog. HER name? Christine Herron. Her expertise? Finding new apps for infrastructure technologies. Currently with Omidyar Network, Christine makes investments that drive collaboration, community, and access to information. She started her career as an investor with Geocapital Partners, a VC firm that focuses on early Internet infrastructure, network management software, and "entrepreneurs who have bootstrapped themselves into the post-startup stage of early revenue generation." Her portfolio included Netcom Online Communications, AXON Networks, D-Vision Systems, ViaGrafix, and FocusVision Network. In each case, Geocapital was the initial professional investor.

Wonder if Matt Marshall, Silicon Beat blogger and Mercury News VC Insider Columnist, knows her? Take heart, Matt, even Christine (who blogs more about tech trends than VC) doesn't know many VC women bloggers. Seems the girls weren't at VON either.

David Jackson over at Seeking Alpha Network is looking for women VCs and investors who blog. Know any? Send him your tips.

P.S. For more women bloggers - visit http://blogher.org/bloghers-blogrolls.

Technorati tags: Osolind women VC Siliconbeat christine herron

posted by kirsten | 8:27 AM | | |
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

RE: Ratchet the VC ~~Asshole~~ ~~Ding-Dong~~ "Very Mean Man" Quotient Up a Few Notches.

Another incisive April Fortune Small Biz article, "How to Play The Venture Game and Win Big," made its way online today. The article features Circles founders Janet Kraus and Kathy Sherbrooke. They've raised $26 million in venture funding for their concierge services business in spite of sexist snippets like these:

- Kraus has just completed her presentation (to two stone-faced venture capitalists: an older man and his younger male colleague). The room is silent...Finally the older guy slides his glasses down his nose and looks up. "So, Janet," he says. "I see Kathy's married. I'm just curious. What are you going to do when Kathy gets pregnant?"

- Sherbrooke says she never felt discriminated against as a woman in anything she tried to do -- in college, in business school, or at work -- until she started dealing with VCs. "We'd meet with a group of men, and they would say....'This is really interesting...You guys should meet Mary Jo. I bet she could be really helpful to you.' It was always a woman they put us in touch with. Always. It was so bizarre. Most of the time the women had no connection to our industry. Some of them weren't even particularly impressive. It was like all they could think of, sitting across the table and looking at us, was that we were women, and they were trying to figure out how to make some connection."

Well, we can ratchet the VC ~~asshole~~ a**hole quotient up a few notches. You think that will burn a few bridges? Hey - I didn't coin the term, they did. And its not like we're ever planning to SEEK venture capital. We just co-wrote the Venture Funding for Women Entrepreneurs REPORT.

Editor's Post-Script: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So wash my mouth out with soap.

Technorati tags: Osolind women VC capital circles circles fortune

posted by kirsten | 4:40 PM | | |
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RE: KIRSTEN'S Nudie Photo.

Decided to post my own nudie photo - to keep up with the "Samantha Joneses" in Chicago. Really wrestled with this decision (even bit a nail or two). Apparently this is what a Crain's ChicagoBusiness-listed agency CEO, Top 10 MBA, merely semi-hot gal has to do to win clients in Chicago. Guess it's either that or make-up a male agency chairman of the board.

A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do. So here you go.

P.S. Perhaps we should consider nude photos of future 10 Tips featured women. And our Thursday Business Shoulder Story Bag blog entries? Any mentors willing to comment on how nudity can help you get ahead?

posted by kirsten | 11:32 AM | | |
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Monday, March 27, 2006

RE: Insulting New Blog - Definitely Written By A Man.

New PR blog launched last week (title below) supposedly authored by a "sex kitten" woman PR gal hailing from Chicago. Definitely written by a man -- probably someone FROM Edelman. Absolutely in poor taste - but look how the guys gobble this crap up. This is indeed why I get on my soapbox for and about wise women.

Rumor has it this originated here in Chicago. I won't even patronize this stunt with an in-depth analysis. Go sic 'em: http://strumpette.com

- More On How This Bad PR Stunt/Hoax Is A Personal Affront to All Enterprising Women.

Technorati tags: Osolind women PR Chicago men

posted by kirsten | 8:42 PM | | |
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RE: News About Enterprising Women And Angel Investments

Today, the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research released its 2005 Angel Market Report. Somewhat positive news for women.

According to the report, women-owned ventures accounted for 8.7 percent of the entrepreneurs seeking angel capital in 2005 (up from ~5% in 2004) and 33 percent of these women entrepreneurs received angel investments.

Jeffrey Sohl, Center Director, issued this statement: "It appears that while the number of women seeking angel capital is low, the percentage that secure angel investments is higher than the overall market yield rate."

The 2004 yield rate for women-owned firms was 12.5 percent, which lagged behind the general angel market by 6 percent, indicating that women-owned ventures had a slightly less chance of obtaining angel funding than their male counterparts.

Interested in learning more about women and angel investments? The Women's Technology Cluster's First Annual Women's Angel Colloquium will take place on May 16th from 6 to 8 pm at The Palace Hotel, San Francisco. Our SVP Melissa Reinert sits on the advisory committee.

Technorati tags: Osolind women entrepreneurs business capital angel funding CVR

posted by kirsten | 2:54 PM | | |
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RE: Kiss Off: Enterprising Women and Exit Strategies.

According to Kate Hodel, Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, less than one-third of all business owners (men and women) have an exit strategy; women business owners are only slightly less likely to have an exit plan than men. re:invention's goal is to build a business that we can sell to a large agency. If you are planning an eventual exit strategy, you might learn a lesson or two from a good woman role model. It's not alway an easy, cut and dry decision. Last week, The Body Shop agreed to a takeover by L'Oreal.

The Body Shop was founded 30 years ago in Brighton, England, by Anita and Gordon Roddick, and there are now more than 2,000 stores around the world. The Roddicks stepped down from managing the company in 2002, but have remained as non-executive directors and stand to bank around 117 million pounds ($204 million) from their 18 percent stake. Anita Roddick, who will retain her current role as a consultant, said the company's values would not change. 'I don't see it as selling out,' she said.

Anita recently ruminated over her decision on her Body Shop blog. In her words, "I want to make things happen, to spread human values wider in business if I possibly can. And this sale gives us the chance to do so. So I have done what any founder ought to do. I have done all I can to protect the future for thousands of employees and community trade suppliers. I am, of course, pathologically optimistic. But that doesn't mean I am wrong." Worth A READ.

Technorati tags: Osolind women business roddick bodyshop entrepreneurs exit strategy

posted by kirsten | 7:45 AM | | |
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RE: Business Denouement Boils Down to 7 F-Words?

A feisty friend of mine from fair Atlanta is famously superstitious. She occasionally sends me weekly horoscopes. Today's (compliments of Jonathan Cainer) suggests:

Clever people, with letters after their name, based in erudite academic institutions, inform us that there are only seven possible storylines to any drama or novel...Fancy knowing so much that you can never again be surprised by anything.

Funny, actually I didn't know this. I've traditionally touted Willa Cather: "there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before." From the Palm Springs Writers Guild:

Q. Is it true that there are only seven possible scripts?
A. Apparently so. In all literature, novels, theater, movies, television and stage there are basically only seven script possibilities. Coincidentally, they all begin with the letter "F." Fact, Failure, Fantasy, Fear, Fidelity, Freedom, and Fortune. From the 7F's all plots, whether simple or complex, are born. Of additional interest, consider that only 26 letters make up the alphabet, yet new words crop up each day. There are only 12 notes to a musical scale, and new songs are written as you read this newsletter.

Which of the 7 F-words accurately depicts the denouement of your entrepreneurial business or your corporation's relationship with enterprising women?

Surprisingly, one of the F-words is NOT F****D!

Technorati tags: Osolind women business corporations life funny

posted by kirsten | 3:49 AM | | |
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Sunday, March 26, 2006

RE: Supplier Diversity Programs: Mixing, Dry Measuring, and Monitoring Progress.

This past Thursday, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) announced its annual listing of America's 18 Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises at a White House ceremony and dinner. The award honors corporations for their world-class supplier diversity programs (it does not assess the corporation's ability to market to enterprising women). It's the largest list to date in the award's history.

The 18 honored corporations
Altria Group, Inc.
AT&T Inc./SBC Communications (Melissa and I began our careers at Ameritech and SBC)
Bank of America (Carol Nichols, BOA's SVP Biz Banking, sits on re:invention's advisory board)
BellSouth Corporation
Cendant Car Rental Group
CenterPoint Energy
Chevron Corporation
Eastman Kodak Company
IBM Corporation
Merrill Lynch
Office Depot
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pfizer Inc
Shell Oil Company
The Coca-Cola Company (my first brand management job, post-grad school)
TXU Corp.
UPS
Verizon

The term "supplier diversity" was originally coined by Reginald Williams. Supplier diversity began as a 1970s socioeconomic program to comply with government requirements for minority-business participation. Corporations are now starting to position their supplier diversity programs to support sales, target fast growth business segments, and survive in a changing economy.

While most companies have supplier diversity programs, many do not have clear targets for supplier diversity. World class supplier diversity programs - those the likes of AT&T, Altria and Ford - integrate with other business functions and include advanced tracking and measurement to evaluate the program. Supplier diversity becomes integral to the company's performance objectives.

Some Recent Supplier Diversity Program Headlines

In May 2005, P&G was inducted into the Billion-Dollar Roundtable, a think tank founded in 2001 created to recognize and celebrate corporations that achieved spending of at least $1 billion with minority and woman-owned suppliers. Billion-Dollar Roundtable membership now counts 14. P&G's supplier diversity program spending in fiscal year 2004/2005 topped $1.5 billion and the company's stated 2005/2006 fiscal year goal was $1.6 billion.
AT&T's supplier diversity program spent $2 billion with minority and women suppliers in 2005. This represented 15.1 percent of the company's overall 2005 procurement budget. Currently, women business enterprises make up 52% of the telecommunications company's top 25 diversity suppliers. The company has spent more than $16.5 billion with minority and women suppliers since 1968.
Wal-Mart's supplier diversity program, begun in 1994, has grown from $2 million to more than $2.9 billion.

In the end, supplier diversity programs are only part of the equation. Smart corporations also develop marketing and partnership programs designed to engage enterprising women (women entrepreneurs and women execs).

Technorati tags: Osolind women entrepeneurs corporations supplier diversity WBENC AT&T P&G

posted by kirsten | 5:56 PM | | |
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Saturday, March 25, 2006

RE: Our Saturday Feature - 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM.

Welcome to the re:invention 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM Saturday Feature. Every Saturday we feature a woman entrepreneur or executive and her personal 10 tips for success. We believe that women can be experts. They have valuable knowledge to share with one another and with corporate executives. We hope this feature will be a powerful example of "women helping women win." Our goal: a wisely-stocked toolbox for enterprising women, with practical business and marketing ideas you can use today to turn your million dollar dream into a profitable and actionable reality.

This week's featured woman entrepreneur is Karen Chung, CEO of Nomadic Group of Companies (Chicago, IL), a holding company that specializes in minority company financing and retained executive search for diversity candidates.

about Nomadic Group
Nomadic Group is a holding company that includes Nomadic Capital (www.nomadic-capital.com), a boutique investment banking firm providing venture capital and merger & acquisition services to minority-owned businesses, and Nomadic Consulting (www.nomadicconsulting.com), a boutique strategy consulting firm specializing in retained executive search for diversity candidates and human capital consulting. The secret to Nomadic Group's success? A wealth of industry experience, proven structured methodology to ensure excellence and consistency, and unparalleled understanding of each client's business that assures every financial transaction or search assignment is positioned for success. Karen formerly served as an Executive Coach and Group Leader for Inc. Magazine's Eagles CEO program and holds a Masters of Management degree from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

CLICK HERE FOR KAREN'S 10 TIPS

Share YOUR knowledge, WISE WOMEN! Submit A REQUEST to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.

Click HERE to visit the 10 Tips for 10 Million Women Archives.

Technorati tags: Osolind women entrepeneurs business saturday marketing

posted by kirsten | 9:37 PM | | |
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RE: Free Teleconference for Wild Women Entrepreneurs.

Wild Women Entrepreneurs (Wild WE) is hosting a free teleconference exclusively for women on Thursday, April 6 at 9:00 PM EST (6:00 PM PST). The teleclass, featuring Stephanie Frank, will teach participants about how to build successful businesses. Frank is the author of The Accidental Millionaire. The teleconference is free and open to the public. To register for this event, go to: http://www.thewildwe.com/rsvp/RSVP-teleconference_040606.html.

posted by kirsten | 3:44 PM | | |
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RE: Wuss Woman Vs. Wise Woman. Which One Are You?

Wise women wonder why, they forge change, they acknowledge the past, they look to the future, they inspire people to think differently, they don't settle for sugar-coated fairy-dusted stories or the easy way out, they keep their eyes open and don't follow blindly, they watch for unexpected possibilities, they celebrate little and big victories, they take action before they sing kumbaya, they raise their hand, they find a way to inspire the laggards to lead along with them, they expect respect, they overcome disappointments, they refuse to accept defeat, they don't "try" - they "do," they don't bury their head in the sand, and they unabashedly and enthusiastically lead for results...

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - and produced Michelangelo, da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce - the cuckoo clock." - Orson Welles, as Harry Lime, in "The Third Man"

"WoMmen with no vices have very few virtues." - Abe Lincoln, liberties by Kirsten
^

posted by kirsten | 9:02 AM | | |
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Friday, March 24, 2006

RE: Friday's State of the Nation For Enterprising Women Address.

Frustrating news to close out the week from the enterprising women's space.

Woman-Focused Investment Banking Firm Shutting Its Doors...
McColl Garella, an investment-banking firm focused on women-owned businesses led by Hugh McColl (former Bank of America chairman) and i-banker Julie Garella, shut its doors this week. This announcement follows the folding of female-focused VC firm Axxon. Julie is heading to Citigroup as a Business Development Director/VP.

Woman VC Blogger Shuts Down
Almost missed this one. The first female venture capital blogger, Kimberly Davis King of IDG Ventures, recently shut down her blog and left IDG Ventures. No reason given for her departure. Yikes.

An Omission Of Smart Women's Work...
re:invention was omitted from a Fortune Small Business story titled "Which Women Get Big," written by Anne Fisher. Anne inadvertently failed to mention women-led re:invention as co-author of the re:invention/Growthink Research "Venture Funding for Women Report." She managed to mention Growthink Research. Rather ironic and a real-life example of the discrimination women-led emerging businesses face. The article suggests "women are discouraged from an early age from using the word 'I' too often." Ergo, 'I' am frustrated that Anne omitted re:invention (a woman-led company) from her reference to our company's research study in her article about women. We worked hard on that research report.

Upon Further Analysis of That Fortune Small Business Article...
Article author Anne concludes that there aren't many women business owners who burgeon big and "many women stay small because, well, they want to." To support her conclusion, Anne alludes to a Center for Women's Business Research (CWBR) study which suggested that only 21% of female business owners are willing to give up control in return for venture capital. My response: that's pure crap, a result of the study's small sample size, and not really an accurate conclusion upon more detailed analysis of the study. A few important points...

Fewer than 2% of companies (men or women-led) ever receive venture capital. Fact is, many business owners (both men and women) do not want to cede control in exchange for venture capital. That doesn't mean they all want to stay small. You can grow aggressively with private investments, bank financing, and bootstrapping.
Women's access to venture capital is limited by their lack of proliferation in technology-driven, capital intensive companies. This is changing as more women enter non-traditional industries and pursue technology careers. But VCs ain't likely to give money to service companies, chocolate companies or matchmaking firms. Or to women entrepreneurs who believe "writing a formal business plan is too restricting."
There's more to that CWBR study: those women business owners whose business goals were related to creating jobs, building great wealth, or fulfilling a personal vision were twice as likely to be ready to give up control for capital compared to those who did not have these goals. Great example of how one shoe size does not fit all.

On A Final Note, A Thump on the Head Goes To...
Ladies Who Launch's Victoria Colligan is quoted in that same Fortune Small Business article, stating "Men invented venture capital...women don't want to commit to cashing out...they want the creativity and passion to go on and on...." Ahh the old "built to last" versus "built to flip" debate spoken in simple chick language. Are these the same small-minded women carrying around pretty paper day planners who think a formal business plan is too contricting -- previous advice from the lips of Victoria. With these types of soundbytes, snippets of advice, and overgeneralizations, no wonder we women are dogpaddling. Look ladies - I'm glad you are teaching creativity and business as a lifestyle, but please don't turn emerging enterprising women's brains into mush. Yes, many women and men fail to define or design a clear exit strategy. That's not always judicious. Some thoughtful counsel for Victoria and ladies all over the world who are dreaming of launch...

"The problem with Built to Last is that it's a romantic notion. Increasingly, successful businesses will be ephemeral. They will be built to yield something of value - and once that value has been exhausted, they will vanish." - FAST COMPANY

Remember this quote about sustainability from Warren Bennis: "Great groups don't last very long."

WHAT IF ... you have a great IMPACT and then you either go away or transform or merge or partner with others? WHAT IF ... it's more about "disruption" and "innovation" and "reinvention"???

Signing off for the nite in frustration (although apparently I shouldn't bother to have an exit strategy). The World Dedicated to Helping Enterprising Women Win is becoming analogous to the Country Music counter-positioning of Sweet Society Belle Faith Hill (Victoria Colligan) and Street-Smart Redneck Woman Gretchen Wilson (Kirsten Osolind). Tony I'm tired and I miss you. Come home soon.

posted by kirsten | 7:17 PM | | |
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RE: Networking and Strategic Leader Brands

Read at your own risk, this might ruffle a few feathers.

Received word today about a contest for the 10 Best Networkers in the Nation. The first thing that crossed my mind: Networking ain't worth a hill of beans.

I once wrote, "buyers don't network." I meant it. Buyers don't attend networking events. They don't want to be there. They don't HAVE to be there. They place a premium on their spare time. And they certainly don't need you. People with high degrees of influence do not hang around and network at events. They don't even show up unless they have unbounded personal enthusiasm for the cause. Buyers don't network. Heck, I don't even network (it bugs me). I simply hang out with my friends and try to be nice to nice people.

Seth Godin has taken this one step further, suggesting: "who you know is more important than what you do" is just a lie told to protect the status quo.

Networking is dead. Anti-networking is the new marketing M.O.

Also noted in the contest release: "contest winners will also work with a renowned Leader Branding expert who will develop strategic leader brands for the winners."

Now THIS made me laugh outloud. A strategic leader brand? Strategic leadership is one of the most abused phrases in today's corporate lexicon. This is a ripe example of how people suffer from extreme self-absorption. Does Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey have "a strategic leader brand?" Hell no. John does what he does - he is what he is -- and what he is is the anti-corporate executive who wears Teva sandals, likens unions to a roaches, and went off and climbed the Appalachian Mountains smack in the middle of Whole Foods' acquisition of Harry's and absorption of the Fresh Fields brand. Do you think John spent 5 minutes vexing about his personal brand? HELL, NO. Would John be more perfect if he was "fixed?" I don't think so. I kinda appreciate him the way he is.

"Artificially created" personal brands are puff, a rip-off. No matter what they say, there is no proven route to an improved personal brand. The only secret you need to know: do good work, be who you are and revel in it. A "faux" personal brand cannot revive a flagging corporate brand. I cannot find one example where "tweaking" personal brand power of key executives had a direct impact on stock price.

In the end, it IS about your company being remarkable, acknowledging customer or client concerns and responding to them, making the common uncommon, being authentic, appearing to be news rather than publicity, stirring people's attention and emotions, speaking your target audience's language, and creating compelling conversations about your company's products and services.

It is NOT about artificially creating an intentional image or personna for your company executives.

Just my two cents. Then again, what do I know? I know nobody...

posted by kirsten | 9:31 AM | | |
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Thursday, March 23, 2006

RE: High-Tech Is The New Black.

A while back, I received flack for teasing the lovely ladies over at Ladies who Launch about their media campaign and counsel for ladies looking for a traditional paper business planner. I suggested high-tech was the new black. More news today about women and high-tech style...

According to a poll conducted by Gadgetcandy.com with 2000 women, "an emerging generation of tech-savvy women are spending more on new gadgets and gizmos than ever before, with many choosing their next purchase with the same attention to individual style and detail as if they were buying a new pair of shoes." The poll found that the most important criteria for women when buying new technology was that it has to be fashionable. Hand-bag friendly size was the second most important factor, followed by ease-of-use and brand name. Only 13% saw affordability as a barrier to buying the gadget they wanted.

According to Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) research, women are involved in 89% of all consumer electronics purchase decisions, and make 57% of those electronic purchases personally. Like men, one-third of women consider themselves early adopters of technology. Women yearn for style and function - and smart companies are starting to design tech products with women in mind...

Diamond Product Showcase Winners for Women, honored by CEA at CES 2006, included Motion System's Icon Laptop Tote, Targus's Getta Backpack Case, Motorola's Magenta RAZR, Alpine's Blackbird. MORE.

Hat-tip to Real Tech News.

Technorati tags: Osolind women entrepeneurs high-tech gadgetcandy.com style

posted by kirsten | 11:25 AM | | |
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

RE: BusinessWeek Blindsided. Here Chickie Chickies!

BusinessWeek Small Biz Insider reports today on Technology's Fresh Faces -- young entrepreneurs of tech under age 30. Check out their slide show. Not one little chickie. Hey guys, where are the girls? Esteemed reporters Sarah Lacy and Olga Kharif simply couldn't find them. - Read More.

A few girl-centric tech resources....
- Women's Technology Program at MIT
- Northwestern's Center for Women Entrepreneurs in Technology
- TechGYRLS
- CampusWIT
- More resources from NCWIT (The brilliant Brad Feld sits on the Board).

Editor's Post-Script Note...I stand corrected. Per Brad Feld, there are 2 women listed as part of Meebo. I would SWEAR that Sandy and Elaine were not in the original photo montage slide show and it was just Seth Sternberg. Fact remains, the feature still is predominantly about men.

Technorati tags: osolind women entrepeneurs technology Feldthoughts BusinessWeek

posted by kirsten | 7:25 PM | | |
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RE: Ford Fusion Flunks Crash Test and Female Road Warrior Marketing Efforts.

Taking a cue from its sister Mercury brand, Ford division is courting female customers, aged 25 to 39 for its new Fusion mid-sized sedan. Ford calls its promotion "Fusion Studio D." It includes ride and drives, makeovers, fitness training and CD giveaways. Ford is displaying an aftermarket Fusion with "Warriors in Pink" decals at Studio D locations in shopping malls and stand-alone buildings. Ford launched Studio D with a three-week event in Los Angeles that ended March 8. The tour is scheduled for nine other cities.
- MORE FROM AUTO NEWS.

Could Ford win enterprising women's hearts with this new Warriors in Pink Fusion Studio D campaign? re:invention's quick analysis:

Proximity Marketing (engaging enterprising women where they work and play)
Women business owners and executives are less likely to shop at malls, more likely to shop from catalogs, and more likely to say they want to get in and out of stores quickly than non-entrepreneurial or executive women. Only 27% of women business owners say that they "love going shopping." SOURCE.
Ford's Octane Rating: Low

Lifestyle Appeal
While enterprising women value companies that appeal to every aspect of their lives from work to family to play and pay attention to all of their senses, including their sixth sense (intuition), enterprising women are simply pressed for time. They juggle work and family responsibilities. At first blush, it appears Ford is appealing to ladies who lunch, not ladies who work. Sadly, ladies who lunch likely lean towards more premium auto brands.
Ford's Octane Rating: Low

Product Education
Enterprising women are looking to enhance their productivity and validate their purchase decisions. They adopt products and services that help them multi-task and become more efficient. If your company aims to engage enterprising women, your marketing programs should be both entertaining and productive. Ford is offering fitness tips and makeovers. Fluff, not fierce. Why not take this opportunity to educate women in a fun and enjoyable way about how to negotiate with a car dealer, research car insurance, buy car seats for kids, and prep a car before road trips? Perhaps Ford could explain why the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety chose the 2006 Ford Fusion as the worst safety pick for front and side crash tests.Get with the program, Ford: Start with a better product. Then, instead of CD giveaways, how about iTunes downloads for my iPOD? Why not launch a Smart, Safe Woman At The Wheel blog? Oh that's right, Edmunds is already driving that one.
Ford's Octane Rating: Embarassing

Technorati tags: Osolind women marketing Ford Fusion Mercury Lifetime entrepreneurs pink cars

posted by kirsten | 3:14 PM | | |
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Sunday, March 19, 2006

RE: Young Women Leaders Hunting For Media-Profiled Women Business Mentors.

From the Forte Foundation, a nonprofit focused on inspiring and directing women into business leadership positions.....

"We recently conducted an online survey of aspiring business women, the majority of whom ranged in age from 22 to 29. Ninety-five percent of our 550 respondents believe it is important to their success to see women in business profiled in the media, and yet 75 percent said there is an insufficient amount of women role models in business. Perhaps most alarmingly, 59 percent said that they believed being a woman will hurt their chances of attaining the highest reaches of a corporation."

MORE

We're still hunting for a few good summer interns at re:invention, inc.

Technorati tags: Osolind Forte women corporations executives mentors

posted by kirsten | 2:33 PM | | |
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Friday, March 17, 2006

RE: Can NBC Breathe Underwater Without An Oxygen Tank?

Interesting conversation last night about NBC's recent acquisition of iVillage - admittedly a bit overvalued at $600 million. The acquisition completed a major turnaround for iVillage under the leadership of CEO Doug McCormick, who was hired away from Lifetime Television four years ago. It's all part of the new tech "deep blue ocean" acquisition mentality among traditional media -- another traditional media player buying a vibrant online ad market. NBC is facing severe pressures from Wall Street to best "competing divers" Viacom, Disney, and Newscorp.

The old media bastion is looking for opportunities to cascade programming across a variety of new platforms (Internet, cellphones, and other distribution schemes) and connect with baby boomers. "Look, we're buying everything," has said Ross Levinsohn, President of Fox Interactive Media. Comcast's current efforts to buy Walt Disney Co.'s share of E! Entertainment is also generating buzz. MORE.

Could NBC's next acquisition be a women's programming network with long, lean online legs?

Consider two women's programming candidates: Lifetime and Oxygen.

Lifetime

Lifetime is available in 88 million homes.
Back in 2001 and 2002, Lifetime was the No. 1 prime-time network in all of cable. It now trails TNT and USA Network in the Nielsen chase for women ages 18 to 49.
The Lifetime Online unit offers information and entertainment on the Web.
The company operates three woman-oriented cable-TV networks (Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women) offering original movies, shows, and syndicated shows.
Remember when EchoStar yanked Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network from Dish over that ugly fee dispute?
New Lifetime programming chief Susanne Daniels hired last August from the WB, has recently signaled winds of change to Hollywood. Daniels told Variety she wants the Lifetime brand "to stand for more relevant programming," noting women "want to be empowered but also entertained. We enjoy guilty pleasures."
Back on Jan. 11, Lifetime President and Chief Executive Betty Cohen told the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal: "an overhauled Lifetime network will be ready to present to advertisers in March."
Lifetime is a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. This makes Lifetime an unlikely NBC acquisition target. Doug McCormick would most likely agree.

Oxygen Media, LLC

Oxygen (distributed via carriers like Echostar and Comcast) is available in 56 million homes, compared to Lifetime's 88 million subscribers, and Rainbow Entertainment-owned WE Women's Entertainment's 55 million subscribers.
Prime-time ratings among Oxygen's women target audience were up 16% from 2004 to 2005, 19% in the daytime.
Oxygen is reportedly turning a profit.
The company was co-founded in 1998 by Nickelodeon and Disney veteran Geraldine Laybourne (CEO), Oprah Winfrey, and the principals of TV production company Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, now Carsey-Werner. Microsoft's Paul Allen was an original backer.
Programming includes: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Girls Behaving Badly, and "Talk Sex with Sue Johanson". It partners with The Knot to present the reality show Real Weddings From The Knot.
Oxygen appeals to enterprising women in business.
Oxygen also has strong online properties which include Oxygen.com, the home base and network hub, and Oprah.com, which averages 64 million page views and 3MM+ users per month.

More about Lifetime from Yahoo
More about Oxygen Media, LLC from Yahoo

Can NBC breathe underwater without an Oxygen tank? Of course there are other niche network acquisition targets -- albeit with more slender online properties -- like Style Network, SOAPnet, HGTV, TLC, and WE (which had its strongest month in January, with a prime-time rating of 0.34, a 50% increase versus January 2005). Call me a crazy bottom-dweller, but I think more NBC acquisitions may be bubbling up soon. Do ya think Doug might dig that irony?

Technorati tags: Osolind NBC Viacom iVillage women media Lifetime Oxygen WE HGTV SOAPnet

posted by kirsten | 12:52 PM | | |
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Thursday, March 16, 2006

RE: Business Shoulder Story Bag: Lifetime Mentor

Welcome to our Thursday blog feature -- Business Shoulder Story Bag -- stories about mentors and people in business that have received or offer a shoulder of support.

I'm pausing this week to address the concept of mentors. It seems to me that men and women approach mentors differently. With woman-owned businesses flourishing at 1600 new business starts per day, there may be a need for a new kind of mentor. For the most part, men typically are all about business with regard to their leadership style, while women are more intuitive. This may cause some conflicts with traditional business mentoring relationships. Women, unhappy with the traditionally "unemotional" mentoring advice, have been seeking out balance with mentors/organizations that provide business, as well as "lifestyle" advice. This is evidenced by the amazing growth of Wild Women Entrepreneurs, a membership-based organization that encourages women to reach their full potential in business and in life. This may be the balance women are looking for! It is a great place to start if you have not identified a personal mentor. Let us know if you have found mentoring advice from professional women's organizations like WWE, instead of a specific individual, and how successful it has been.

Want to share your Business Shoulder Story with re:invention blog readers next Thursday? Send Melissa your personal business stories - she prefers stories about someone who offered a hand, renewed your faith, or helped you overcome a business obstacle. Do you need a business shoulder for support? Ask her a question and she'll try to give you an answer or find someone who can. Click here to send Melissa an EMAIL.

Technorati tags: Reinert women mentors management leadership WWE

posted by Melissa | 9:30 PM | | |
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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

RE: re:invention expands our team.

CLICK HERE for a sneak peek at new additions to re:invention's executive team (some big time VIPs). Be sure to click and scroll down. We just want to share the news with friends and family.

posted by kirsten | 1:53 PM | | |
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RE: Most Richy-Rich Chicks Inherit Their Wealth.

According to Helen Coster's new Forbes article, "Women We Envy," only 6 of the nation's 78 female billionaires are self-made. Among the six: Meg Whitman, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, and one new 38-year old mastermind billionaire, former attorney, and mother, "Ruthie Ruthless" Parasol (co-founder of Internet gambling company, PartyGaming).

For the record, it's a leap to suggest that Ruthie is entirely self-made as she is married to Harvard lawyer and serial entrepreneur Russ DeLeon, with whom she owns 32% of PartyGaming. Legend has it, Ruthie made a small fortune in online pornography after being given "a couple of sex phone lines from her father, Rick, as an unorthodox teenage birthday present." She invested the proceeds from her porn interests into PartyGaming.

As for the rest of the richy-rich chicks, they inherited their wealth.

MORE.

Technorati tags: Osolind women billionaires whitman oprah parasol self-made

posted by kirsten | 8:23 AM | | |
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

RE: Keep Up With the Joneses - Invest Your Tax Refund Dollars In Marketing.

According to Constant Contact's 2006 Small Business Tax Outlook survey, 60% of U.S. small business entrepreneurs are concerned about the effect of taxes on their businesses...and 50% of those small businesses that expect to receive a refund plan to invest those refund dollars in marketing and advertising initiatives. Comparatively, only 17% plan to use their refunds for hardware or equipment.

At first blush, taxes seems to be a strange research topic for Constant Contact -- "the leading email marketing service for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits" -- but the survey results caught my eye. It's a small sample size; just 275 current Constant Contact customers conducted between February 22nd and March 10th, 2006. Still, what a great example of how breaking news, research and a customer survey can be used to leverage your company's key messages....

For curious minds, Constant Contact's CEO is Gail Goodman, a seasoned software executive and Tuck MBA who began her career with Bain Consulting. Constant Contact is funded by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners and Hudson Ventures.

Constant Contact doesn't have a blog. But Chris at ExactTarget has a good one.

Technorati tags: Osolind women constantcontact taxes refund marketing joneses entrepreneurs

posted by kirsten | 2:21 PM | | |
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Sunday, March 12, 2006

RE: A Vacation.

I am off to West Palm Springs this weekend. Rarely do I take a vacation. My team is..."excited" to see me go. Last time I tried to take a vacation was over New Year's. That nifty little trip was cut unexpectedly short. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't end up stranded somewhere in FLA on the side of the road!

Note to kind commenter and critic "Publius": it's official. I'm now an Economic Club of Chicago member (I was ironically elected on International Women's Day, in spite of my live wire hoo-hah joke). Do you think they'll rein me in and ask me to behave? The reasonable inference being: when I was a little girl growing up in the South, I used to dream of winning the Miss America crown, donning the sash, turning to the applauding audience....and vociferously trouncing those people who sanction beauty pageants and exploit women's beauty. Ahh yes. I was like every other All-American girl...

posted by kirsten | 12:40 AM | | |
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Saturday, March 11, 2006

RE: Our Saturday Feature - 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM.

Welcome to the re:invention 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM Saturday Feature. Every Saturday we feature a woman entrepreneur or executive and her personal 10 tips for success. We believe that women can be experts. They have valuable knowledge to share with one another and with corporate executives. We hope this feature will be a powerful example of "women helping women win." Our goal: a wisely-stocked toolbox for enterprising women, with practical business and marketing ideas you can use today to turn your million dollar dream into a profitable and actionable reality.

This week's featured woman entrepreneur is Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO of KDPaine & Partners. (Durham, NH), a firm dedicated to ensuring that public information and public affairs professionals around the world have the information and knowledge they need to measure the success of their efforts.

about KDPaine & Partners.
KDPaine & Partners is a firm dedicated to ensuring that public information and public affairs professionals around the world have the information and knowledge they need to measure the success of their efforts. Through its consulting and publishing services, KDPaine & Partners provides clients with the insight and knowledge they need to not just measure the effectiveness of their communications efforts, but to help them make better, more informed decisions for their organizations. Their latest software product, DIY Dashboard, provides an easy, inexpensive way for organizations to measure the effectiveness of their PR efforts.

CLICK HERE FOR KATIE'S 10 TIPS

Share YOUR knowledge, WISE WOMEN! Submit A REQUEST to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.

Click HERE to visit the 10 Tips for 10 Million Women Archives.

Technorati tags: tips women entrepreneurs business saturday marketing

posted by kirsten | 6:35 PM | | |
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Friday, March 10, 2006

RE: Note to MIT Researchers: Ask Yourself, WWWT? "What Would Women Think?"

Have you been traveling incessantly, teetering on high heels, missing your sweetie, closing high-powered business deals? Here's one solution: The Lover's Cup. Think: wine over WIFI for long-distance relationships.

According to MIT Media Lab's human-computer interaction experts Jackie Lee and Hyemin Chung: "The Lover's Cups connect a couple through drinking behaviors while they are working. Two cups are wireless connected to each other with sip sensors and LED illumination. The Lover's cups will glow when your lover is drinking. When both of you are drinking at the same time, both of the Lover's Cups glow and celebrate this virtual kiss."

Awwwww. No kidding. Actual product coming soon, no doubt, to QVC. What do we women think? Makes a gal wistful for good old fashioned phone sex.

Technorati tags: Osolind women marketing WWWT love MIT

posted by kirsten | 9:32 AM | | |
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Thursday, March 09, 2006

RE: Business Shoulder Story Bag: Lifetime Mentor

Welcome to our Thursday blog feature -- Business Shoulder Story Bag -- stories about mentors and people in business that have received or offer a shoulder of support.

Maureen Johnston, a writer for the Northville Record, said she would love to share her mentor story, fighting back tears. She shares a wonderful story of how she was able to write full-time about her hometown and the same paper her life long mentor, Jean Day, so eloquently built up when she was a kid. "I aspired to become the type of journalist she was. She lived her belief of focusing our newspaper on local concerns, keeping her finger on the pulse of her neighbors through her community involvement." Both writers were and are single moms, hard workers, dedicated, and classy. "I never had the opportunity or temerity to tell this living legend how I aspired to become the type of writer she was." She was a lifetime mentor, and although Maureen never told Jean this, the power of this relationship must have rang clear. After Jean died in 2005, one of her daughters asked Maureen to write a dedication story about her mom. There is a plaque still hanging today at the newsroom denoting "The Day Room" - a permanent reminder of an inspirational mentor.

Want to share your Business Shoulder Story with re:invention blog readers next Thursday? Send me your personal business stories - we prefer stories about someone who offered a hand, renewed your faith, or helped you overcome a business obstacle. Do you need a business shoulder for support? Ask us a question and we'll try to give you an answer or find someone who can. Click here to send me an EMAIL.

Technorati tags: Reinert women mentors management marketing northville shoulder bag

posted by Melissa | 2:20 PM | | |
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RE: Go Green? But It's Still 8 Days 'Til St. Patrick's Day.

Chicks are more environmentally conscious than men. I've got the stats to back my a** up. Poll after poll shows that women place a higher importance on environmental and social purchasing criteria than men. One-third of all enterprising women -- entrepreneurs and employees -- say that the environmental friendliness of a product is a major influence on their consumer purchase decisions. Green -- not greed -- is good.

Green graces the news today...

- Small Biz Owners Should Go Green:
According to Stephane Rejasse, GM - Middle East, Fujitsu Siemens Computers: "Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) should start to take responsibility for the shift to green technologies in the workplace...Small and medium business owners probably don't even know how environmentally responsible their IT products are. As a host of new environmental regulations go into effect globally, SMEs will be affected in terms of how they dispose of old equipment, where they must do so, as well as the costs involved...Enterprises that fail to address these concerns early may face the risk of being hit hard financially down the line as their IT equipment will become out-dated."

- No Surprise Here - VC's Go For Green:
"The amount of North American venture capital invested in environmentally friendly technologies jumped 35 percent last year to more than $1.6 billion."

- New Technology Is Helping the World Go Green:
"New industrial technologies and novel financial ideas can help the fight against global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to scientists and climate experts gathered here by the World Bank."

- Green Technology Is Where The Jobs Are:
A succession of cities, counties, regions, and states have sought to brand themselves as the "Sillycon -- I mean, Silicon -- Valley" of clean technology...from San Francisco to Arizona, New Mexico, New York, and the Midwest. According to "Jobs in L.A.'s Green Technology Sector," released last week by the Economic Roundtable, "even Los Angeles has unrealized opportunities to become a growing provider of green goods and services." That last sentence made me laugh outloud.

- Thinking of Marketing Green to Women?
Some tips from Andrea Learned's blog. Be careful about how you market "greenwashing" and environmental campaigns to women. Choose environmental efforts that fit your brand. Share your green accomplishments with a whisper. Describe your green aspects in consumer-friendly, relevant language. And own up to your environmental errors and progress.

Heck. It's not even St. Patrick's Day yet. Since Melissa and I both attended Michigan State, we're pleased as punch to see such gusto for green.

Technorati tags: Osolind women men green siliconvalley marketing environment capital VC

posted by kirsten | 11:12 AM | | |
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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

RE: An Online Community of Men Who Want To Empower Women in Business.

From blogger Rachel Bondi:

Many men ask, is there really a difference for women who are appointed to leadership? Here are five things that women in charge have discovered, often to their own surprise:
People will notice she is a woman first, not her title.
People will not assume she is competent; the burden of proof is on her.
People will find it easier to stick to stereotypes, caricatures and distance in labeling her rather than taking time to grasp her complexities, realities, and intimacy with who she really is.
People will assume she plotted, schemed, and had a hidden game plan to get where she is.
Men who have "context" will do better with her in charge than those without.

Hmm. I'm just thinking: boy, Bondi is bright.

Bondi also heads a women's organization called Earning Power, a 2005 Stevie Awards for Women Enterpreneurs finalist in the "best women's organization" category. Now here's what I find so sexy: although founded by a woman, Earning Power is an online community of men who want to benefit women by empowering them in business.

So yes, today marks International Women's Day. Even QVC is paying homage to women entrepreneurs. Heck with that, I'm honoring Earning Power's men.

Technorati tags: Osolind women men earningpower bondi marketing

posted by kirsten | 9:02 PM | | |
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Monday, March 06, 2006

RE: NBC Universal to Buy iVillage for $600 million.

11-year old iVillage owns several sites, all marketed to women. What a boon for marketing advertisers. And iVillage.com is the 39th most visited Web site in the country, with 15.6 million unique visitors a month, according to comScore Media Metrix.

I've had the good fortune to connect with former founding iVillage CFO Beth Polish -- now on the advisory board for the Women's Leadership Exchange, a NYU faculty member, President of Critical Junctures (a group which helps companies with startup, growth planning, mergers/acquisitions, turnaround and securing financing), and evangelist for DROOM (Don't Run Out Of Money). I adore her for her willingness to coach aspiring young women. Thoughts, Beth?

The iVillage team will report to another wonderwoman Beth: Beth Comstock, NBC Universal's President of Digital Media and Market Development. Check out Beth: she's one hot smart cookie.

Oh quit yer moaning...you know I have to link it all back to enterprising women and gender. If little KCC doesn't give a shout out to women business leaders, who will????

Shares rose 4.4 percent before the opening bell.

Executives from NBC Universal and iVillage will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. that will be broadcast live via www.ivillage.com/investor and www.streetevents.com.

MORE.

Technorati tags: Osolind women iVillage NBC bethpolish criticaljunctures marketing

posted by kirsten | 7:42 AM | | |
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Sunday, March 05, 2006

RE: Counsel for Geek Guys: Cool or Connected?

For all my hot geek guy fans who've been asking...I've got yer back. I FINALLY found it on the web. Want to succeed in Palo Alto? It all comes down to relationships and six degrees of stinkin' rich -- aka being connected.

Take for instance, Google. Here's a map of relationships for your entertainment. Be sure to click on a chart name to peruse ruling class connections. The lesson here: suck up when you can. F*** over someone even slightly influential (ala an aspiring underling with the potential to rule the world) and pay the piper.

Then again, what do I know? I'm just a little average Chicago PR and marketing girl who knows nobody. Shouldn't matter. Shouldn't matter. But I ain't no holla back girl :)

posted by kirsten | 12:02 PM | | |
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RE: AT&T To Acquire BellSouth. Ring Ma Bell.

Melissa and I have a certain nostalgic fondness for the Bell Companies...she once worked for Ameritech and I once worked for SBC. Back then big boys Larry Hull and Wayne Alexander -- and worldly wonder-women like Pat Parker, Cassandra Carr, and Karen Jennings -- ruled SBC's Texas roost. Several years later during my tenure at Coke, I cheerled former PAC Bell's Scott Adams as part of the Dilbert Takes the Nestea Plunge under-the cap promotion.

So we're moved by this latest news: AT&T is planning to acquire BellSouth for an all-stock deal worth roughly $67 billion. The new entity will be based in San Antonio. See ya, Cingular!

Now AT&T's SEVP of H.R. and Communications, Karen Jennings has her transition work cut out for her. Karen's no slouch - she was chosen the 2005 HR Executive of the Year by Human Resources Executive Magazine.

The deal could be announced as early as Monday. MORE. And MORE.

Good luck Karen -- from a former baby LDP-er! Ring Ma Bell.

Let me pipe up: I think Ed Whitacre rules. In spite of the garbage silly, threatened tech boys toss out. Ed's good at playing Monopoly to win and he won't let technical advances distract him from world domination. Danger, Will Robinson, danger! It's the end of the Internet, ya know.

P.S. More from the NY Times. And TechMemeorandum.

Technorati tags: Osolind women executives AT&T bellsouth KarenJennings Whitacre

posted by kirsten | 12:15 AM | | |
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Saturday, March 04, 2006

RE: Our Saturday Feature - 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM.

Welcome to the re:invention 10 Tips for 10 Million Women^TM Saturday Feature. Every Saturday we feature a woman entrepreneur or executive and her personal 10 tips for success. We believe that women can be experts. They have valuable knowledge to share with one another and with corporate executives. We hope this feature will be a powerful example of "women helping women win." Our goal: a wisely-stocked toolbox for enterprising women, with practical business and marketing ideas you can use today to turn your million dollar dream into a profitable and actionable reality.

This week's featured woman entrepreneur is Chris Vasiliadis, President of Signature Faces, Inc. (Burlington, MA), a company that helps you face the world at your unique best.

about Signature Faces, Inc.
Signature Faces is an image consulting company based in Burlington, MA. Founder and President Chris Vasiliadis helps women create a signature presence that attracts clients. She specializes in working with people who are the face of their business: sole proprietors and small business owners. Chris formerly worked as a systems engineer, but her intuitiveness in people skills and human relations helps her promote women. She has been featured in The Boston Globe, Women's Business Boston, and the Downtown Women's Club's national newsletter, DWC Dish. Chris is quoted in the marketing books Perfecting Your Pitch by Nancy Michaels and Building Buzz by Marisa D'Vari. She is currently working on her first book.

CLICK HERE FOR CHRIS'S 10 TIPS

Share YOUR knowledge, WISE WOMEN! Submit A REQUEST to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.

Click HERE to visit the 10 Tips for 10 Million Women Archives.

Technorati tags: tips women entrepreneurs business saturday marketing

posted by kirsten | 1:46 PM | | |
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Friday, March 03, 2006

RE: Hot Fox Meets -- Meetro????

It can't be so! Has hell truly frozen over? A former Chicago-based tech company potentially being acquired by Fox Interactive? Back in August Meetro's rumored buyer was Google.

Note to Paragon Five owner and Meetro CEO Paul Bragiel: you busy, bad boy. And after I gave you all that insider info on NLP a few months ago.

Meet Meetro. It breaks the ice.

Editor's Post Script Note: Nah. Can't be. I'm probably wrong on this one...esp. since Wendell doesn't know anything about it. And Paul has "looking for media/press contacts" posted on his Meetro profile (I broke down and downloaded the software). He's also apparently looking for someone to cook for him. That's right gals, beep him.

P.P.S. Doesn't it seem funny that Dogster's Ted Rheingold is pointing his finger at Meetro?

P.P.P.S. Update as of Fri 11:25 p.m. CST. Paul himself promises me it isn't Meetro...via Meetro. And he doesn't think it's Dogster or Tagged, based on tips from his friends. What am I doing home at 11:25 p.m. on a Friday? Yeah. Great question.

posted by kirsten | 6:10 PM | | |
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RE: A Plausible Reason Why Women Entrepreneurs Aren't Receiving VC Funding.

Wanna know why more women biz owners aren't getting funded by VCs? THIS BREAKING NEWS MIGHT EXPLAIN IT.

The headline: "Big-time VC head accused of wife-beating."

Remember my memorable New Year's Eve Kicked to The Curb incident? HE was a former Palo Alto VC too. Guess I'm lucky he didn't give me a shiner before dropping me off on the side of the road in L.A. and driving himself back home to Palo Alto.

Alright: I concede this might be a leap. Sue me.

Technorati tags: Osolind VC wife-beater women oooh

posted by kirsten | 3:36 PM | | |
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RE: Women Working Inside and Outside the Home.

March is women's history month. Media likes to spin women's history to the negative. Yes -- I can say this with some crediblity. Throughout 2005 I wrote a little marketing column for Entrepreneur Magazine.

Damn: I buried my lead again. Second try: here's new news about women working outside the home.

Per today's NY Times, the percentage of women working outside the home has stalled at around 80% (8 out of 10 of us). Media concludes: "The gender revolution may be over...women just want to stay home and take care of their children." I mean REALLY, it would be soooo much more impressive if 9 out of 10 women worked outside the home? ;)

There is one exception to the trend: The percentage of single mothers in the work force jumped to more than 75 percent from 63 percent.

Here's what media's not telling you: Many women-owned businesses begin as home-based businesses. Why? Even the most loving and maternal woman can go out of her mind talking to four year olds all day. She longs for a sense of community, productivity, personal identity, and ability to create something. Over 70% of women-owned businesses are run out of the home and women own nearly 70% of all home-based businesses. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of home-based women-owned businesses employ people in addition to the owner.

What This Implies for Corporations Looking to Do Business With Enterprising Women:
Consider catering to the needs of home-based businesses and your corporation can succeed with enterprising women.

Technorati tags: Osolind women work news marketing

posted by kirsten | 11:43 AM | | |
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RE: Friday Funnies - For Females.

Friday funnies for females. If we can't make fun of ourselves, who can?

Q: How many Feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: That's not funny!!!

Q: How many drama queens does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one. They don't like to share the spotlight.

Q: How many WASP Princesses does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to get a Diet Coke and one to call Daddy.

Q: How many sorority sisters does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 51. One to change the bulb, and fifty to sing about the bulb being changed.

Q: How many Real Women does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None: A Real Woman would have plenty of real men around and she'd be able to convince one of them to do it.

Q: How many women with PMS does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One! ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out. And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the* **#*&%!*** light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS!! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE FREAKING LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL...

Q: How many women entrepreneurs does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: What a smart question. I'm so glad you asked me! I'd like to involve my team on this one. And we should share the tip with our friends, advisory boards, accountant, nanny, attorney, other women business owners...

Q: How many women marketing consultants does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: We should have an estimate for you by Monday.

posted by kirsten | 8:53 AM | | |
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Thursday, March 02, 2006

RE: What Lifestyle Ladies Look For In A Planner.

What "Lifestyle Ladies" Look For In A "Planner" - via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge.

Now come on lovely ladies of Ladies Who Launch, get with the program. Don't you know high-tech is the new black?

I sat in my YWCA Future Leaders Board meeting tonite with 32 women -- only 2 had "planners." During yesterday's NAWBO Board meeting I tallied about the same. Blackberrys and Treos are a cool girl's new best friend. Just like business plans and strategic planning are the nuts and bolts of building an enduring business. High growth women business owners are statistically more likely than their male counterparts to embrace technology as part of their business strategy.

Note to corporations looking to do business with enterprising women: this just goes to show that one shoe size does not fit all.

Women business owners may be home or office based, product or service driven, married or single, old or young, high tech or low tech, lifestyle businesses or venture-fundable businesses. Women business owners are growing rapidly in "non-traditional" industries. As of 2003, women own 18% of all construction firms with employees, 15% of all manufacturing firms and 21% of all firms with employees in transportation, communications, and public utilities. And there are tens of thousands of professional women's organizations in the U.S catering to the diverse needs of women business owners -- a virtual maze of amazing organizations from Springboard Enterprises (venture-fundable businesses) to NAWBO (maturing women's businesses) to WorldWIT (women's high tech businesses) to Ladies Who Launch (young women and mothers with emerging lifestyle businesses).

What This Implies for Corporations Looking to Do Business With Enterprising Women:
Smart ROI-based evaluation of partnership opportunities with influential women's professional organizations and enterprising women requires more than awareness, meaningful introductions, and trend insights. You'll need to custom-fit partnership program activation.

posted by kirsten | 9:39 PM | | |
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RE: College Isn't The Place To Go For Ideas.

Are you an aspiring young woman entrepreneur? Check out Fortune's top 10 cool colleges for entrepreneurs. Chicago's DePaul University makes the list. Harvard does too -- but only because Summers was ousted.

Just remember Helen Keller's counsel: "College isn't the place to go for ideas."

posted by kirsten | 9:06 PM | | |
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RE: Do Ya Think Microsoft Execs Know Ani DiFranco's Definition of Origami?

"I know men are delicate origami creatures who need women to unfold them..."
- Origami lyrics, Ani DiFranco

Microsoft is scheduled to launch Origami, a new handheld device reportedly designed to appeal to women, on March 9th.

It's billed as "an easy-to-use flexible device that folds and unfolds to perform 8 consumer electronics functions." The rumored 8 functions: digital camera, video camcorder, smartphone, MP3 player, PDA, Internet access and Internet picture frame, email access, video conferencing. More grist for the rumor mill: Origami was designed by Jonathan Ive ("same dude who designed the ipod"), weighs in at roughly 10 ounces and 7.5 x 4 x 1.5 inches in size, and is "pimped" by Waggener Edstrom.

Erin Biba, PC World Correspondent, summarizes skeptic analysts: Origami may not live up to the hype.

Ponder over Origami's teaser page.

Guy geeks are buzzing out their butts. Why aren't enterprising women? Has Microsoft approached any women's professional organizations as part of their launch strategy? Is this product really designed to appeal to women? Based on what design attributes? For instance: while I pickle at pink, I also dislike lime green. Frankly, it sounds like something from The Onion rather than a real product. Wonder if Microsoft Execs have read re:invention's 8 Filaments for a Custom-Fit Relationship Between Corporations and Enterprising Women?

Judges ruling here. What do we women think? Any fierce feedback or fanfare for Microsoft?

On a kind karmic note, Microsoft's SAP technology advisor Marco Manuello was re:invention's first investor. Bill's wife is a Duke MBA alum (as am I). And re:invention's original company website was designed by the same tech team that designed the Microsoft Foundation site.

Editor's Update: Origami is a windows-based mini-tablet, says CNET. And here is the leaked ad, which doesn't move me to meow.

Technorati tags: Osolind Microsoft Origami women marketing

posted by kirsten | 1:36 PM | | |
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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

RE: Last Post of the Day. I'll Play Nice With Filaments.

Want to tap into the $3 trillion in revenue generated annually by women-led businesses? re:invention knows the women-led business space intimately. We connect corporations with enterprising women.

Last week I shared one of re:invention's 8 filaments for a custom-fit relationship between corporations and enterprising women, Filament #2: Focus on women business owners' budget limitations.

fil-a-ment. n.
1. A fine or thinly spun thread, fiber, or wire.
2. In Botany, the stalk that bears the anther in a stamen.

This week I share Filament #6: Appeal to enterprising women's desire for community and enhance their credibility within their communities.

Enterprising women are looking to build their personal credibility, often feel limited by their lack of influential professional contacts, and view their peers as credible references. Statistics indicate that high-growth women business owners are more likely than their male counterparts to belong to formal business, trade, and networking organizations. A sense of community and establishing personal credibility within that community are incredibly important to enterprising women. Corporations can succeed by tapping into female experts for content and proactively forging relationships with women's professional organizations.

Curious? READ RE:INVENTION'S 8 FILAMENTS FOR A CUSTOM-FIT RELATIONSHIP WHITE PAPER.

Technorati tags: Osolind filaments women corporations marketing

posted by kirsten | 6:19 PM | | |
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RE: Fuckedcompany.com takes my "Female Funds Gone Bust" Post To Task.

Charlie's heartfelt counsel: "You know you've ruffled a few feathers when you find yourself on Fuckedcompany.com."

Same day I appear with photo in Duke University's Exchange Magazine, complete with 4 grey hairs and 3 wrinkles. Hmm. Should I take this as a sign that I need to become less crass? This might definitely impair my ability to become a trophy wife.

I swear the rest of re:invention's team is lady-like or dignified. For those of you who don't know the legendary Fuckedcompany.com -- here's an overview.

Technorati tags: Osolind fuckedcompany.com feathers hmm

posted by kirsten | 5:06 PM | | |
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RE: Wondering About SAP America's Women? Whoa.

Is it just me, or is something seriously wrong with SAP America's management team? Hop on over for a looksy. 14 shiny men's faces staring back at me (CEO Bill is kinda cute). NOT A SINGLE WOMAN EXECUTIVE.

How can SAP executives "re-think small" (SAP Business 2005) when they have limited daily perspective, insight, or contact with enterprising women? Talk about enterprising strategy. At least SAP sponsors Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) events. Wonder who leveraged that relationship?

Bill claims his best decision to date was marrying his wife, Julie. Hey Bill - promoting a gal to SAP's executive ranks might be another good decision.

editor's post-script: Hmm. Seems Oracle supports enterprising women.

Technorati tags: Osolind SAP women executives oracle

posted by kirsten | 1:23 PM | | |
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RE: Condoleezza Shakin' Her Ass. Now That's High Society.

Arrived late for this morning's breakfast meeting at Chicago's tony East Bank Club. I'm not a club member; the very idea of working out exhausts me. While listening to my car radio en route to the club, I learned that Secretary of State and Southern Belle Condoleezza Rice would be "shakin' her ass" in a 3-day exercise segment on Washington's NBC television affiliate, WRC, beginning this morning.

"She's an active, active secretary of state," said State Department official Adam Ereli, in a public statement.

Umm. Why do I need to know this? Chalk this up to one of the many ways contemporary society continues to marginalize women.

Condoleezza has dated Gene Washington and Denver Broncos' Rick Upchurch. No wonder she's an aspiring NFL football commissioner. She's also an accomplished pianist. This type of trivial minutiae is, after all, important biographical detail to share about our women leaders.

Technorati tags: Osolind women Condoleezza ridiculous

posted by kirsten | 9:55 AM | | |
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