Nicola Hazell from SheStarts: These are the women redefining what it means to be a tech entrepreneur

What do a shark-scientist, an accountant, an urban designer, a farmer and a veterinarian have in common?

In this case, they’re all women. And what’s more, they’re all tech startup founders.

Ask someone on the street to describe a typical tech startup founder, and chances are they’ll paint a picture of a dude wearing a baseball cap and sneakers, perhaps sitting in a dark room writing code on their computer, or playing pingpong and eating pizza with their mates.

Basically, Mark Zuckerberg in the Social Network.

The proliferation of this image stems from years of pattern matching: computer engineering graduates coming out of their dorm rooms into the offices of male investors, pitching big ideas for tech businesses with the potential to achieve rapid growth and rapid returns.

It’s a model that has worked well for many founders and investors alike — and it has in some ways changed the look of the modern executive from a man in a suit to a man in hoodie.

But this image — while liberating for thousands of young men keen to avoid a life in pinstripes — has created a massive barrier for women who have determined “that bro-culture is not for me”. Read more

Nicola Hazell - Smart Company - 6 Nov 2017