by Lesley Vos
These wonderful women know perfectly what business is. They followed their dreams and intuition, got all necessary knowledge and skills, and did everything possible to become successful startupers they are today.
Let’s meet 10 ladies who can serve as an example for others to follow:
1. Sandy Jen from Meebo (CTO and Co-Founder)
Sandy Jen founded Meebo in 2005 with her two friends – Elaine Wherry and Seth Sternberg. Being a software developer and engineer herself, Jen had a goal to make online engagement easier; together with her friends, she offered a service of web-based instant messanger. Meebo organized the Web around people and gave them faster access to all relevant information.
In 2012, Meebo was acquired by Google; but it had raised $62 million, so Sandy Jan should be probably proud of herself.
2. Gwynne Shotwell from SpaceX (President)
This lady graduated from Northwestern University and worked as an engineer for Aerospace Corporation before she decided to join Elon Musk in 2002 and help him with his space exploration company.
She started her career as VP of Business Development, and now she is a President of this company who manages all operations there.
3. Marci Harris from POPVOX (CEO)
This woman founded POPVOX in 2010 when she noticed that customer services captured everything except… Congress. Harris decided to open a simple Web channel for communication between people and members of Congress: every user can leave a comment under an alias, and their comment, address and name will be privately routed to a Congress member they wrote to.
Today POPVOX is used actively by thousands of people who want to share their opinion with Congress and the world.
4. Kellee Khalil from Lover.ly (Founder and CEO)
Kellee knew exactly what every girl dreamed about: a wedding. Her sister worked in Be Inspired PR (the wedding public relations agency), when Khalil decided to launch her Lover.ly – a search engine for everything related to wedding.
This woman was able to raise $1 million, and it seems she isn’t going to stop here: Kellee seeks to make her service the top destination for wedding planning.
5. Jennifer Pahlka from Code for America (Founder)
After her graduation from Yale University, Jennifer worked in the non-profit center first; but in 2009 the idea came to improve services for people through connecting developers with governments. Pahlka founded Code for America with a strong belief that we should improve citizenship if we want to improve our government.
This woman is also known for Coding a Better Government, a TED talk where she shared her opinion and ideas with the audience. In 2011, Code for America received a grant from Google ($1.5 million).
6. Julia Hartz from Eventbrite (Co-Founder and President)
A former manager for FX Networks, Julia co-founded Eventbrite in 2006 together with Kevin Hartz. Now it is valued at $350 million.
Eventbrite is an online ticket seller that helps event organizers promote and publish their events across social networks. People can also use this platform to find interesting events and purchase tickets.
7. Cindy Gallop from If We Ran the World (CEO and Founder)
This amazing lady is a real professional when it comes to advertising, branding and marketing. She launched If We Ran the World in 2010, calling it a platform to turn all ideas into action. Now she also works as an adviser to different tech startups, such as Behance for example.
In 2002, Cindy Gallop was named Advertising Woman of the Year. She is also known as a founder of such website as Make Love Not Porn.
8. Amy Jo Martin from Digital Royalty (Founder)
Amy Jo Martin founded her Digital Royalty to help people (professional athletes, celebrities, and companies) build and monetize their personal brands on social media. She launched the company in 2009, and now she is known as a social media expert who helped to develop such brands as Nike, Shaquille O’Neal and The X-Factor.
Martin is an author of Renegades Write the Rules, a book that reveals all innovative strategies behind the social media success.
9. Jessica Herrin from Stella & Dot (CEO and Founder)
This jewelry selling startup is worth about $400 million today. Jessica didn’t think much on her future career after graduation from college: she had founded her first successful venture by age 24 (it was called Wedding Channel), and it seems she is not going tp stop here.
Stella & Dot is based in San Francisco, and it creates entrepreneurial opportunities for ladies by giving them a chance to start home based business.
10. Christina Wallace from Quincy (Co-Founder and CEO)
Quincy is a company that helped women with different body types find and choose clothes that would fit them most. They focused on specific measurements, making the process of shopping more efficient and pleasant for ladies.
Christina founded her Quincy in 2012 together with her friend from Harvard Business school – Alex Nelson. They closed this startup in 2013 because of a disagreement and the Series A crunch. Now Cristina works as a guest blogger and public speaker.
While graduate students check and use various resources for job searches, other ones decide to change this world somehow, organizing startups that bring them both income and satisfaction, and make them feel needed and happier. Do you need any more reasons to follow the example of above mentioned ladies and think about your own startup that would make our world better?
Lesley Vos is a career specialist for college students and a blogger for many authoritative blogs, including Website Magazine, Simply Hired, Getting Smart, and Bid4Papers. You can always contact her at Facebook or Google+.
Photo Credits
Courtesy of Lesley Vos | Eva Blu
