I’m Here to Help People Realize They Can Be Successful Entrepreneurs
At age 43, I founded a company called Boardroom Insiders. At the time, I had few resources and no collaborators. If I’m totally honest, I didn’t believe I would succeed. But I loved what I was doing so I kept going.
A couple of years in, I found an incredible business partner. Together we retooled our product and recruited and trained a brilliant team of people. The business steadily grew and we acquired an impressive roster of big-name customers and a lot of fans along the way. In 2022, I led the sale of the company for $25 million.
It was a full year after the sale before I realized just how astonishingly rare this achievement was. Of course I was aware of the gender imbalance in the C-suite, the tech industry and venture funding. Over two decades I’d had dozens of meetings with VCs, private equity firms, M&A bankers and corporate development execs - and 100% of the time I was the only woman in the room.
Although women start businesses at more than twice the rate of men, fewer than 2% of female business owners ever make it to $1 million in annual revenue; just one-third the rate of their male peers. In 2022, women-founded startups secured only a paltry 1.9% of all VC funds. This is a drop from 2021, and the lowest rate since 2016.
It’s no wonder that the entrepreneurial stories we hear are almost always told from the perspective of men who create companies worth hundreds of millions and even billions. We rarely hear from women with entrepreneurial dreams who end up succeeding against all odds, creating life-changing wealth, albeit on a smaller scale.
In the Bay Area and in tech entrepreneurial circles, my $25 million sale sounds like a small number. But here’s the thing: I never raised venture capital, which means I held on to more than 50% of company ownership. My partner had another big chunk and the rest was split between three friends who provided some angel money early on. So we got to run the business on our own terms without interference from anyone. And when we sold, we got to keep most of the money.
My experience proves that entrepreneurial success on a smaller - but still life-changing - scale is possible for all of us. And, after much reflection on what I want to do next, making entrepreneurship more accessible for everyone, no matter what their background, is what really gets me excited.
So that’s my new mission: helping entrepreneurs like me succeed. To do this, I am focused on three things:
Content: I already have a robust presence on LinkedIn, Threads, Instagram and TikTok, where I share short videos focused on entrepreneurial stories and advice. I will be blogging regularly on this site, offering more long-form content. I also have a book coming out in May 2024 and will ramp up my speaking and podcast presence next year to support the launch.
Mentoring: I love advising early-stage entrepreneurs who are getting new companies up and running. I also enjoy chatting with Gen-Zers who are trying to find their footing as they navigate the first chapter of their careers. I find these conversations inspiring and rewarding.
Advising and Consulting: These are my paid gigs, where I dive deep into a given company's opportunities and challenges and advise entrepreneurs. This takes the form of board positions, Entrepreneur-in-Residence roles or consulting arrangements.
Thanks for being here! Stay tuned for more and please leave a comment if there is something specific about which you would like me to share my thoughts.