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Message from the CEO
Put your stake in the ground! |
 | Sharon Vosmek
CEO Astia
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Lately, I have had the good fortune to talk to entrepreneurs in a large stage format. At Astia, we seldom gather large groups, focusing our efforts instead on creating more intimate settings where critical business relationships can develop. I confess to being a bit enamored by the energy of a room filled to the brim with entrepreneurs - or entrepreneurs in the making.
This past year at Astia, we have chosen this very strategy and put a clear stake in the ground of our own- a view that endeavors to increase our impact and mainstream our message to the broader business community. This will be the first CEO letter in a three-part series that outlines for you the exciting changes afoot at Astia. The bottom line: increasing impact and mainstreaming the message. To this end, allow me to present the new Astia Board of Trustees. Last year, in an effort to better align the organization's governance structure with our global mission and client base, we invited an exciting collection of industry leaders to join the Board. Allow me to present the Astia Trustees: Margaret H. Kavalaris, SNR Denton Jamie Lerner, Cisco Richard Nunneley, Dalton Strategic Partnership Ilya Nykin, Prolog Ventures Jeanne Sullivan, StarVest Partners Sharon Vosmek, Astia
They represent a broad spectrum of experience: Venture Capital, Family Offices, Industry, Angel Investment, Life Sciences, Technology, Consumer Health & Wellness, Clean Technology, Women's Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Innovation; and they bring to Astia their unique perspectives from around the globe.
Please join me in welcoming them to their new roles within the organization and community. Already we are benefiting from the expertise, perspectives, networks and commitment that these generous individuals have offered to Astia.
I look forward to sharing more next month. Until then...
Cheers,
Sharon Vosmek
Chief Executive Officer
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Gust & Astia team up for International Women's Day
On March 22nd, Gust (formerly Angelsoft) and Astia announced the launch of what we hope will become an annual tradition-- The International Women's Day Scholarship. The winning startup will receive a full scholarship to attend Astia's Fall 2012 Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program.
Astia has final determination as to who receives the scholarship and is still looking for a few investor advisors to participate in the final judging process. If you are part of or know of any women led companies please encourage them to apply. The due date for applications is April 8, 2012. If you are an investor looking to participate in judging, please contact Jen Shelby at jen@astia.org.
To learn more about this incredible opportunity, check out the Gust.com blog. |
Astia Hosts Inaugural CEO Summit
In February, we convened our first CEO Summit in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation headquartered in Kansas City, MO. What an inspiring conference and a perfect venue to launch our premier offering for growth stage companies and CEO's focused on defining success and business leadership. Follow this link to watch the CEO Summit sessions: http://channel.vbrick.com/Kauffman/Index.aspx
The Summit brought together top performing companies in the Astia network to share conversations with serial entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
A few key takeaways from the conference:
- Networks and competencies are top characteristics of highly successful female technology entrepreneurs and executives--- It truly 'takes a village' to achieve success as an entrepreneur. Networks and relationships matter
- Pay it Forward--- as we all achieve success it is critical that we support women executives and be a resource not only for each other, but the next generation of entrepreneurs
- Innovation is the key driver to creating high growth companies
- As women executives we typically play by rules that works for men. When half of the population is not able to contribute to innovation or economic growth, we do our entire economy a dis-service. We need to create a level playing field; then everyone wins.
Speakers included: Ruth Owades, founder & CEO of both Gardener's Eden and Calyx & Corolla and current Board member Deckers Outdoor & Northern Trust; Heidi Messer, serial entrepreneur and founder of Collective[I]; Scott Case, founder of Priceline and CEO of the Startup America Partnership; Patricia Fletcher, PhD, Marketing Executive at SAP; Ken Millman, Sr. Economist, BNY Mellon Wealth Management and Claudia Fan Munce, Managing Director, IBM Venture Capital Group.
This is set to become an annual conference and a premier offering to our high growth CEO's. For more insights on the conference, you can view the individual sessions here: http://channel.vbrick.com/Kauffman/Index.aspx
The 2012 -2013 CEO Summit will be hosted in Silicon Valley, October 24th-26th. Stay tuned for more details.
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Astia Portfolio Company Personally Cool Launches!
Huge congratulations are in order for Susie Hadas and Hugh Brownstone, co-founders of Personally Cool, on the launch of their website and product this month!
Susie Hadas invented coldfront® because, "I couldn't find what I'll call an "and" product for my hot flashes." The founder and President of Personally Cool Inc. continues, "I wanted to handle hot flashes with a little grace and dignity, but couldn't find a suitable solution. Nothing was effective AND safe AND discreet AND convenient AND socially responsible. So I created one!"
But coldfront provides more than physical relief. It can change women's lives. "With coldfront, our aim is to reframe the discussion around menopause and hot flashes," says Hadas. "We are an incredibly powerful but terribly underserved demographic," she says of women aged 40 to 59. "It's time for us to define, and take into our own hands, how we live our lives through menopause and beyond. What we love about coldfront most is that it doesn't medicalize menopause. It doesn't stigmatize it, and it doesn't dramatize it. Women have been dealing with hormonal upheaval their entire lives. Menopause is as natural as any other stage of life. With coldfront we're saying there's more to life than sweating over a hot flash. We're saying - we make menopause cool, and you can, too."
Learn more about coldfront® at www.mycoldfront.com and www.facebook.com/mycoldfront
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Astia's Investor Advisory Council
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