Sharon Vosmek, CEO Astia Message from the CEOAstia as philosophy.This month, I have been thinking about what I have termed, the entrepreneur's paradox. Most simply stated, it is the importance of discomfort, juxtaposed with the need for comfort zones - both of which I believe, are fundamental to the success of the entrepreneur. Get uncomfortable - it will make you grow. I do my best thinking, listening, and learning when I am outside of my comfort zone. It seems true for most of us, that in strange places with new people we are better able to listen to the conversation before we put forward what we know - or what we think we know. Get a community - the individual cannot do it alone. And yet, I thrive when surrounded by an engaged community that lends thoughtful support, constructive input, validating energy, and positive reinforcement. A group of people provide an important source of strength and comfort for the isolated start-up. I believe to succeed as entrepreneurs - we need both. And I believe that Astia - for the entrepreneur - can be both. We need ample opportunity to feel challenged and stretched beyond what we thought we were capable of. I am reminded of the numerous Astia founders who had exceptional technical expertise, and who found Astia most challenging for them when they were confronted with owning the business elements like the financials, the go to market strategy, or the fundraising conversations. This stretch ensured they grew as leaders and as founders. We also need ample moments when we are bolstered by those who align with us. I say it often, "The individual does not scale. High-growth entrepreneurship cannot be done alone." To be successful, the entrepreneur must be able to attract others to their vision. They must be able to inspire others to follow them to the "great unknown" of the entrepreneur's vision, idea, and purpose. And they need this cohort in order to succeed. Astia is the space where the 'entrepreneur's paradox' can be resolved. Astia is at the same time the platform for critical thinking - and - the community at the ready. I believe this is one of our greatest differentiators. We are a community that can both challenge and bolster the entrepreneur. For the savvy entrepreneur, Astia maintains the space for both critical thinking leading to growth - and - supportive community aligned with your success. Food for thought for those of you wondering if Astia is right for you. We welcome the conversation - and accept applications year-round. Give us a call. Together, we may just change your world - as you always envisioned you would! Cheers, Sharon Vosmek, CEO Wondering if Astia is right for you or an entrepreneur you know. give us a call or drop us an email to info@astia.org.
Astia's Global Entrepreneur Program - Call for Applications for 2011 The Astia Entrepreneur Program is an unparalleled resource for success - a transformative program designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs who want to become dominant players in their sectors. The Format? A comprehensive multi-day workshop, 2-month program of personalized advising from premier experts and the opportunity to start benefiting from the global ecosystem of Angels, VCs, corporations, and entrepreneurs that is Astia. Who Should Apply? Exceptional women-led high growth start-ups who know that success is not just about raising money but about growing a business and thriving in today's tough market. Applications are taken on a rolling basis. Apply today if you have...
Visit Astia and complete your application to be considered for the Astia Entrepreneur Program. Astia 2011 CalendarAstia Entrepreneur Programs Astia Investor Forums Annual Events Astia NewsFacebook Town Hall with President Obama - Astia CEO, Sharon Vosmek and Astia Board Member, John China attended. Astia client, Adriana Neagu spoke on the panel Startup America: Winning the Future through EntrepreneurshipRead more here. Press Releases
Astia VP Rob Delman joins mentor community for Angel Pipeline fundRead more here. Astia CEO, Sharon Vosmek, interviewed by Ecosalon in article: VCs, Angels and Investing in Women: What Are They Not Thinking?Read more here. CEO of Astia portfolio company, Remedy Interactive, Keynotes on Alternative Growth Strategies at European Entrepreneur ConferenceRead more here. Xconomy: Astia: Knocking Down the Hurdles for Women-Led StartupsRead more here. Astia mention in Why Venture Industry would Have Much Higher Success Rate if they Focused on WomenRead more here. Astia client, Alexa von Tobel of LearnVest featured in NY Times, A Club for the Women Atop the LadderRead more here. Astia clients Kiboo, Balooning Nest Eggs and Hey, Neighbor! In the 85Broads SpotlightRead more here. Astia Client, Lisa Halpern of Kiboo gives 3 Useful Tips for First Time Entrepreneurs on 85BroadsRead more here. Astia Investor Advisory Council Member, Andreessen Horowitz, on Advantages of Being TechnicalRead more here. Astia Sponsor, Fenwick & West, and champion, Gordy Davidson featured in SFGateRead more here. Wall Street Journal: 2 Astia Clients, J’aime Ohm of WiseDame and Alexa von Tobel of LearnVest, named Top Women in Tech Under 30Read more here. Community NewsMashable: Sustain Momentum after Startup SuccessRead more here. Silicon Valley Business Journal: Women of Influence: The power of good connectionsRead more here. Women & European Early Stage Investing: Strengthening European Entrepreneurship by Enrolling more Women in Early Stage InvestingRead more here. Women own about 41% of privately held companies but get little venture capitalRead more here. Wall Street Journal
Web Start-Ups Get Upper Hand Over InvestorsRead more here. The importance of high-growth businesses to the recoveryRead more here. Germany: pledge re female representation at board levelRead more here. Noteworthy Female Scientists & their contributions to the advancement of the fieldRead more here. Tech Crunch: Angel Trivia Daily Tests Your Knowledge of Startup InvestingRead more here. New York Times: Teaching Women to Think Like AngelsRead more here. |
In This Issue
SUPPORT Astia as a donor! 2010 Marked the beginning of the Decade of the Woman Entrepreneur. 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! 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! 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
Astia Silicon Valley kicks off committee meetings in early May, and we look forward to planning our 2011 programming with new ideas and building upon the successes achieved to date. In addition to the Life Sciences, CleanTech and Technology committees, we are adding a Consumer committee in 2011, to explore the need and ways to support high-growth entrepreneurs in this sector. The committees are instrumental in deal sourcing and network building in our effort to identify the highest quality women-led ventures across all markets. Please contact us if you wish to get more involved. We have been sharing a number of robust conversations about the value of Astia and the types of companies we are able to support. In addition to the earlier-stage, first time fundraising companies, we also have a wealth of resources on the advisory, functional expertise, investing and strategic partnership fronts to accelerate companies at all stages of growth, from initial funding through to exit. Reminder - New Dates: The Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program and Investor Forum dates have been changed slightly in an effort to avoid the hectic holiday crunch period and maximize the critical advisory period. Please note the following dates on your calendar - we look forward to engaging with you around these events in the coming weeks. SV Application Deadline: August 1, 2011 Europe
After the highly successful Astia European Entrepreneur Program, the current European portfolio clients are busy with their eight week advisory period. 50 advisers were assigned to the advisory teams of 9 companies. On May 11, 2011 the companies in Technology, Life Science and Clean Tech, will present at the Astia European Investor Forum. We call upon investors to register here. Simone Brummelhuis, VP of Europe, was a judge at the Everywoman in Technology Awards. At the fabulous award event, attended by Baroness Wilcox, one of the winners of the awards was Wendy Tan White, co-founder of Moonfruit.com and adviser to Astia. At TheNextWomen magazine, the full list was published here. |
New York
Astia New York recently had the in-person screening for the New York Entrepreneur Program. We saw many qualified companies and are looking forward to finalizing details and announcing them shortly. This is a highly qualified and select group of companies that encompass Technology, Clean Tech and Life Sciences. Many members of the Astia community were recently spotted at the Angel Capital Association Conference and the National Venture Capital Association Annual Meeting in Boston. Many thanks to all that reached out to Astia at those two important meetings. We have some wonderful new additions to our New York Advisory Board - Allison Brack of Citrin Cooperman (also the newest Astia Sponsor, check out the Sponsor Spotlight above), Gary Whitehill of New York Entrepreneur Week and Katie Rae of Tech Stars Boston. We are very excited to expand our board and take advantage of their collective knowledge and wisdom! India
Astia is currently serving clients in India. Oftentimes they work with unique Base of Pyramid (BOP) customers. Astia client, Frontier Markets shares some interesting details of the BOP Customer: The Base of the Pyramid (BOP) includes 732 million people in India living on less than $3,000/year in villages and urban slums throughout India. The great majority of men and women work in agriculture, animal husbandry, factories or own rural shops.
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Client News
Africa Renewables Ltd. COO and Partner, Sonia Medina will join other renewable energy experts and decision makers at the Argus Renewables Trading Summit Americas 2011, June 7 & 8 in New York City. This topical industry event spotlights the newest trends in renewable energy generation, developments in regional and national legislation and a market-focused look at RECs trading.
ASPAERIS® Since last April, a dozen universities, including UPenn's Lacrosse team, have put ASPAERIS® on their female athletes with great success. Recently, a HS basketball team completed their season wearing ASPAERIS® compression shorts and the Athletic Trainer shared "this is the first season that I can remember that we did not have any lower limb injuries at all."
DegreeArt received substantial funding from an angel investor to build out their art platform. DegreeArt.com is run by founding partners Isobel Beauchamp and Elinor Olisa. They created the company to provide promising, emerging artists with a platform from which to launch their careers and to provide the art buying public access to these artists and their art through their website, showcases, events and exhibitions. Stay tuned as they build out their platform with this new investment!
Fab3d and their kids 3D platform myMIMO, was a winner under the 'wildcard' category for the IC Tomorrow contest by TSB. IC tomorrow is working with leading content providers to reduce or remove the problems associated with licensing digital product. Fab3d will be working with Tate Gallery.
Fanminder received financing from prominent angel investors, including Keith Rabois, COO of Square, and Cary Rosenzweig, CEO of IMVU and (ex-Intuit General Manager). Fanminder's Astia Advisor, Jenny Huang, helped Fanminder secure additional investment from her client, Droisys, in the form of three full-time engineers. We are halfway through a $300K bridge financing (angels-only) with an anticipated close in May and are simultaneously raising a $1M+ Seed Round.
Frontier Markets has launched our new site www.frontiermkts.com. It has been a very interesting year and a half, and we are moving forward thanks to the support of our community. We are proud to present our latest activities, partners, and more on our new site,. We welcome your feedback as well! We're also happy to announce that CEO and Founder, Ajaita Shah will be a speaker at the 2011 SoCap Europe Conference in Amsterdam. This is very big opportunity for Frontier Markets to be involved in a global rural electrification initiative being sponsored by European social investors.
Hey, Neighbor! released a beta site to several neighborhood groups across the United States. The first release features the MicroFavor exchange, a system enabling neighbors to ask for small favors and lend a hand easily. Hey, Neighbor! is also proud to launch its blog, Facebook page and Twitter
ImproveDigital Online advertising revenue specialist and sell-side platform, Improve Digital, has hired Alasdair Cross as VP of UK publisher development and Kevin Fox as strategic partnership manager. The move comes as the company prepares to further increase its foothold in the market following its 400 percent revenue increase in 2010.
Mamayoyo Family Resorts The expanding team of Mamayoyo (Karst IJtsma as development and construction consultant and Albert Marseille as financial specialist) is enthusiastic about the negotiations with the Government of Antigua & Barbuda. Mamayoyo is about to make a deal for a fantastic site on a stunning beach. In The Netherlands we have planned to start the road show for investors in a few weeks. Alternative financing can come from paid pre bookings, starting later this year.
Purse Flats On March 14, 2011, Erika Wilson, lawyer-turned-fashionista and creator of high-end foldable shoe line Purse Flats®, appeared on the nationally syndicated TV show Better in the "Women Who Inspire" series to talk about the latest additions to her collection of stylish and comfortable tri-fold leather flats, as well as the plans she has for the future of her growing enterprise.
PROFUSA, Inc. was awarded $735K in competitive federal grant funding to develop their in vivo, sensor platform to enable continuous monitoring of body chemistries for health management. Dr. Natalie Wisniewski, Chief Scientific Officer at PROFUSA, Principle Investigator and Astia Client, will lead PROFUSA to achieve the milestones defined in the grant, along side Dr. Kristen Helton, VP or R&D and Bill McMIllan, CEO.
Phico Therapeutics Ltd is developing a unique antibiotic technology to address one the most urgent challenges facing medicine today - how to destroy multi-drug resistant bacteria, the so-called "superbugs". Phico was featured on the BBC1 on Bang Goes the Theory episode on April 4th. Watch the video here as well as the section on antibiotic resistance here
Remedy Interactive CEO, Kim Weiss, gave the keynote speech on "Alternative Growth Strategies" at the Astia 2011 European Entrepreneur Programme in London and recently issued a press release, which includes more details about Astia and her focus on advising women-led companies.
TravelsinTaste launched its most recent curated dining experience - "A Taste of Spring" at Tocqueville Restaurant. Executive Chef Marco Moreira has decided to tease and seduce his diners with a tantalizing Tasting Menu on Wednesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. Click here to join the party
TRUUdesigns Fashion for Women who know themselves - Modern Classic Clothing with Distinctive Style and Personalized Fit. Continuing my pursuit of filling in the fashion for the millions of us who know what we want and can't find it. Partnering with womens' organizations to offer special events -Women at Work, April 3rd, Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure on April 6th. Follow Us on Twitter
UniversalGiving In response to the recent earthquake and tsunami, UniversalGiving started a Japan Crisis Relief Fund to enable donations. On the corporate front, UniversalGiving is partnering with Symantec on strategy for their corporate social responsibility program. Recent press includes articles by our CEO in Fast Company and CSRwire, discussing global CSR.
vivoGS is a Must See Website for Guiding Young Athletes according to the Marin Independent Journal, read more here. vivoGS is actively pursuing partnerships and also happy to report 48,000 followers on the Facebook page. Market Spotlight: Life Science Companies
Sponsor SpotlightCitrin Cooperman becomes Astia Silver Sponsor for NY Market!
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