Lately, female startup founders have been coming together to discuss their experiences in the industry. At a recent panel held at Time Inc., these inspiring women opened up about what they’ve learned and experienced in the tech world. They left everyone in attendance feeling motivated and ready to take on whatever challenges come their way.
Some of the world’s most amazing women entrepreneurs –Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO at Learnvest, Hayley Barna, founder and co-CEO at Birchbox, Elena Silenok, founder and CEO at Clothia, and Levo’s very own CEO Caroline Ghosn – recently gathered to talk about the importance of networking, how technology can be your friend, and the best advice they’ve ever received. Here are some key quotes from their conversation:
On what makes a startup easier:
“I would like to highlight the importance of having a cofounder. There’s always one person who’s pushing for more and another who’s looking at numbers, especially among most successful business women.” — Caroline
On fear:
As I wiped my tears [after dropping out of Harvard business school], it was a moment when I, along with many other women founders, looked fear in the face completely, and I decided that looking back and realizing that if I never did it, it would be a lot worse.” – Alexa
On building a network:
“I was basically reaching out to anyone who would listen, and that’s pretty much how I operate these days.” – Elena
On gaining momentum:
“For us, it was a mix of a lot of different channels. The thing that really worked was PR and the other thing was word of mouth among successful women in business. That was the best thing we could have done because it’s free.” – Hayley
On not fearing technology:
“I would not underestimate what you can learn with cold Korean food at 4 a.m. Find low-cost classes. I really gained a lot of respect for technology – it’s nothing more than a common tongue.” – Caroline
On lessons learned:
“If you’re going to climb Kilimanjaro, how do you get there? I don’t know how to climb Kilimanjaro. When I didn’t have answers, I went and begged smart people to come and be with the company. If I didn’t have that I don’t think we’d be nearly as far as we are today, especially in the realm of inspiring women in business.” – Alexa
On finding a management style:
“I’ve never really honestly sat down to figure out what my management style is. We talk about the features we need to do and the changes that need to be made and we discuss how soon we can do that. I like to be very clear what I’m expecting from them and I like to give them metrics.” — Elena
On the best piece of advice ever given:
“Even if you fail miserably, you’re going to learn so much.” – Hayley
