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Sharon Vosmek, CEO Astia Message from the CEOI don't usually do women-only events. They run counter to the Astia strategy of building an inclusive ecosystem of
men and women. However, I did attend one last week and admit that it fed nicely into this month's promised newsletter topic of the need for investment
by women investors into women entrepreneurs. The event, dubbed Alley to the Valley, brought together 50 prominent women to discuss
women's participation in high-growth businesses as both entrepreneurs and investors. As articulated in the New York Times piece that preceded the
Summit, "The Alley to the Valley organizers want to increase access to investment funds for female entrepreneurs." My role in the day's conversation was to share my call to
action. For this, I borrowed lessons from TiE. In the early days of TIE, Indian investors actively sought out Indian entrepreneurs to fill their portfolios. I believe we must be the
change we seek. In this case, we women must lead the way. To be abundantly clear, I am not advocating a change in investment strategy
- I am not mixing philanthropy with investment. What I am talking about is changing behavior to ensure diverse deal flow - because it makes good
business sense and because the commitment to make this change is needed. To seek guidance on this front, I asked three prominent female investors to
share their perspective for our newsletter: Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures; Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, Golden Seeds; and Janet Hanson, 85 Broads. Each
of them filled with the wisdom and perspective that only time in business can afford the individual. Cindy Padnos has a clear
position articulated in her investment strategy: "At Illuminate Ventures we believe that gender should never be an investment criterion, but nor should
it be a barrier. With research clearly showing that companies with more gender diversity at the management and board levels outperform those with less
- particularly with regard to innovation, it simply makes good business sense not to exclude talented men... or women." Golden Seeds has a slightly different
angle: Stephanie Hanbury-Brown states "It's a niche investment strategy. When you invest in a specific niche, you see all the deals in your niche, and
can then pick the best and brightest. Independent data confirms that we have more deal flow than 99% of similar groups in the country. By investing in
women entrepreneurs we add mission to our reach for above market returns." Golden Seeds invests through its fund and through direct investments of its
angel members in companies that have at least one women in a C-level management position. Janet Hanson of 85 Broads has yet another perspective. "I love to think of 85 Broads as a 'confidence accelerator.' If our network
gives women the confidence and encouragement they need to launch their own businesses and then in turn, to get funded by female and male investors,
then that is an out of the park home run!" At Astia, our founder, Catherine Muther of
the Three Guineas Fund has set the foundation for the work we do, "We started Astia to address two key principles: 1) that gender is not part
of the calculus of assessing business risk - that there are issues of equal access to capital for women and, 2) creating a value of giving back was
essential to this work." Each of these women has not only made the case for investing in women, they have set
out to make the change they seek. Who is in a better position to make this commitment than the women who have gone before and achieved their
success? Cheers,  Sharon Vosmek Chief Executive Officer 6th Annual Astia AwardsJoin Astia in celebrating the Astia Awards winners Register here or email Astia to see if you qualify for free attendance! This year's winners are: Astia News43 Exceptional Women-led Start-ups to Participate in Astia's Venture AcceleratorAstia's Doing it Right Silicon Valley 2010 Program was a success. Read the press release here. Mitchell Kurtzman joins Astia Board of TrusteesMitchell Kertzman, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners has joined the Astia Board of Trustees. Mitchell has been a longtime member of the Astia community, having invested in Astia client, Palamida in 2004 after seeing them present at our Investor Forum. Mitchell and his colleagues at Hummer Winblad have been sponsors of Astia since 2005. Why There Are So Few Women in TechFrom self-confidence to motherhood and even parental discouragement, women in the technology industry confront obstacles that keep their numbers thin. Read the full article here. Nobel Laureates Honor Physic Ventures' William Rosenzweig With Business For Peace AwardWilliam Rosenzweig, co-founder and Managing Director of Physic Ventures, was honored with the Oslo Business for Peace Award, presented jointly by the Business for Peace Foundation and International Chamber of Commerce in Oslo, Norway. Rosenzweig, the only American among seven winners, was selected for his astute leadership and innovative approach to creating successful businesses focused on personal health and sustainable living. Read more here. Vanessa Shaw joins the Astia teamAfter volunteering for two months, Vanessa joined the team to assist with fundraising, donor events and communications. |
In This Issue
SUPPORT Astia as a donor & Join us at the 2010 Awards Dinner! 2010 Marked the beginning of the Decade of the Woman Entrepreneur. As the year comes to a close, support Astia today! Help us maintain our momentum to grow our networks globally and expand the reaches of our community. Operating on less than a one million dollar budget annually, Astia continues to deliver unparalleled programs and services to women entrepreneurs, but we can't do it without you! Contribute today and receive a complimentary ticket to our 2010 Astia Awards Dinner. Astia is now blogging! Join our ongoing discussions at Astia Notes You can now follow Astia on Twitter: Sharon
Vosmek | AstiaSF | AstiaEurope | Astia is also on Linked-In and Facebook. Be sure to join our groups! Want to join the Astia community? Register for the community portal and fill out your member profile! Astia Investor Advisory Council JOIN Astia's Investor Advisory Council
Alloy Ventures How to Get Connected Silicon Valley New York Europe India |
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Market Updates |
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Silicon Valley
November 1-6 was the Silicon Valley Doing it Right Program for entrepreneurs. This year 43 companies from North America, Europe, India and New Zealand, including Astia companies from previous programs, participated in the elite program led by more than 180 speakers in 48 sessions over a 6 day period. There were evocative panels, content rich workshops and inspirational keynotes including Bill Campbell, Tom Kosnik, Gail Maderis, and Susan Wojcicki. India
Astia's global momentum continues with the Silicon Valley Doing it Right program becoming the gathering point for the Astia companies. Two exciting companies with their operations based out of India, Frontier Markets and Embrace, attended the Silicon Valley bootcamp in November. In addition, Astia's Asia-Pacific presence was underlined by the participation of MiniMonos, a company based in New Zealand. |
New York
We're back in New York after spending the last couple of weeks in Silicon Valley - a lot has
happened while we were away! The leaves are changing, the temperature has dropped, and New York Entrepreneur Week came and went. We hope you were able
to attend some of the events. Thank you to NYEW for extending Astia companies a special discount! Europe
This year various European companies screened for the Astia Silicon Valley program 2010 through the European Advisory Board. Two European companies joined the full program in Silicon Valley: digital expert Rens Plandsoen who runs one of the largest digital agencies in The Netherlands, and is now founder of Mamayoyo Kids Resorts, a plan for a series of green holiday resorts with an ecommerce and loyalty programme attached to it, and Jackie Hunter, a life science expert who is founder of Neurosymptomatix. Both entrepreneurs were full of praise of the outstanding quality of the program, speakers and entrepreneurs. Astia Europe is organizing a couple of partner events to continue its outreach to European companies wanting to join Astia: The BIG Kitchen Dinner & UKTI's Technology Conference. |
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Astia is Hiring!Astia is seeking committed individuals to join the team. You can review current postings here. Market Spotlight
Read more here. Client News
Sponsor SpotlightStar Sponsor - Fenwick Renews for 9th Year
With over 250 attorneys in the Bay Area, F&W provides comprehensive legal services to high technology and life sciences clients. They differentiate themselves by having a deeper understanding of their clients' technologies, industry environments and business needs than is typically expected of lawyers and are committed to provide innovative, cost-effective and practical legal services. Astia EventsAstia 6th Annual Awards CeremonyDate: December 2, 2010, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Register here or email Astia to see if you qualify for free attendance! You can read more about the awards and register here. 9th Annual Astia Silicon Valley Investor Forum Save the Date: January 20, 2011 This is the premier funding event for women-led technology, life science and clean tech companies where qualified companies from the Astia Doing it Right program will participate in this flagship event in the investment community’s calendar. Click for details and registration. The BIG Kitchen Dinner Date: December 1, 2010, 7:00pm - 11:00pm Astia joins The NextWomen and The Prince's Trust for The BIG Kitchen Dinner. The
formula is simple: 85 leading, founding and investing women and men will get together for a veritable feast of culinary delights and fine wine in a
carefully selected venue in London for three inspiring keynotes and the chance to exchange ideas with the whole party. Astia member Lisa Halpern of
Kiboo will deliver a keynote. The evening will start with canapes and prosecco, followed by a 3-course meal when keynotes will briefly talk about their
experience and join us in a short panel on the challenges and return of selling your business to investors and advisors. UKTI: Technology World Date: December 7-8, 2010, 8:30am -
5:00pm Simone Brummelhuis will be present at Technology World, the UK's leading technology
and science event hosted by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) at London's ExCel. UK female technology and web entrepreneurs are called upon to join the
event to discuss international growth opportunities. This event represents a unique opportunity for founders and business leaders to connect with
global market players. Assess what international partnerships can help to grow your business that represent real incremental revenue opportunities in
the short and long term. You can make the right international connections through Technology World. Astia Partner Events2010 Cleantech Open Awards GalaDate: Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 12:00pm - 8:30pm The Cleantech Open finds, funds and fosters the big ideas that address today's most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges. Since 2006, this dedicated non-profit organization has been running the world's largest business competition and a host of associated programs. Over 450 cleantech companies to date have brought their innovations to market. All this is made possible through the generosity and involvement of corporations, individuals, and foundations. As part of the Astia community, register here for your 20% discount. Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum- 6th Annual Technology Entrepreneurship ChallengeThursday, November 18, 2010 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm Sponsored by Intel Corporation. The Lester Center and UC Berkeley have partnered with Intel Corporation to create the premier global, technology-focused, business plan competition in the world. IBTEC brings the winning teams from university-centric competitions from around the world here to UC Berkeley to compete in the heart of the U.S. entrepreneurial community. This year, more than 25 teams will compete in the three-day competition and eventually narrow down to the eight finalist teams that will present their plans at the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum. The teams, representing universities in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the U.S., bring with them some of the brightest and innovative technology ideas in the world and will be vying for $45,000 in prizes. Registration is $20 in advance (before Tuesday November 16 at 5pm) and $30 onsite. Register here. Bloomberg Businessweek European Leadership ForumTuesday, November 23, 2010 - Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Bloomberg Businessweek invites you to attend the tenth annual European Leadership Forum. The Forum will host business leaders, policy makers and investors who will provide unrivaled insight into the emerging trends, strategies and prospects for growth in competitive enterprise, emerging markets, geopolitics, energy, sustainability, innovation, technology and the global village. Space is limited. Astia members receive a special rate of US $1,500 - 50% off the regular registration fee. To learn more and to register, click here, or contact Tracy David. The Founder's Speakers Series - Esther Dyson Speaking at NYUTuesday, November 30, 2010 -
6:30pm Esther Dyson will be speaking at The Founder's Speakers Series at NYU. Space is limited. Biotechnology Payroll Expense Tax Exclusion WorkshopTuesday, November 30, 2010 - 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm In 2004, the City passed an unprecedented payroll expense tax exclusion for biotechnology companies in San Francisco. In May of this year, this program was extended. The Biotechnology Payroll Expense Tax Exclusion extension included changes in the process for applying for the exclusion, changes in reporting and the inclusion of a workforce component. The purpose of this workshop is to: (1) describe the changes to the program, (2) walk through the application process (for new firms) and the renewal process (for firms already taking advantage of the payroll expense tax exclusion), and (3) answer any questions companies may have. Representatives from all of the key City departments involved with the Biotechnology Payroll Expense Tax Exclusion program will be attending. RSVP: linda.eng@qb3.org More information here.
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