If last year’s We Own It Summit in New York was a dip of the toe in to the water to see if it was warm enough, then this year’s Summit in London was a dive in to the deep-end followed by a forceful free-style firmly charging to the finish line in 2020.

The Decade of the Woman Entrepreneur is upon us and the collaboration has firmly embraced the opportunity and the challenge this presents.  The Summit participants have validated that the moment is now to propel women in to the high-growth, innovation economy – as entrepreneurs, investors, and ultimately beneficiaries of the wealth and influence created.

Our next steps have been identified in the goals below. It is now the responsibility of we, the collaborating organizations, to maintain the momentum and deliver on these shared commitments:

In 2011-12, we will:

Create and implement collaboration processes for research and training.

• The annual research agenda will work to address 1-3 questions annually. This work is critical as the current dearth of data pertaining to women high-growth entrepreneurs is pronounced and does not allow us to measure our progress.
• The training objectives ensure that women gain exposure to the opportunity of high-growth entrepreneurship, investment, and board participation. The goal this year is to create a shared curriculum – via the many that already exists within the collaboration – that provides access to networks and access to maps to success.

Communicate to the market the stories of successful women entrepreneurs and investors as well as clearly articulate the problem, issues and opportunities.  This year, we will complete and publish:

• 12 profiles each of female investors & entrepreneurs.
• A statement of why women’s participation matters for key constituents (LPs, VCs, government, etc.)

Take action that we believe will create real and measurable change in the market.

• A group, led by successful VCs, angels and LPs, has been created to raise an Astia Innovation Fund to invest in women-founded, women-led, high-growth start-ups.
• Borrowing from the model used by the Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley a decade ago, we will work to get women to invest in women (as well as the men who love women entrepreneurs), thereby owning the solution for ourselves.
• Where we have influence as industry leaders, LPs, Fund of Funds, family offices, VC firms, government funding agencies, etc. we will work to get women in to decision-making bodies.

The nearly 200 thought-leaders who participated in this year’s Summit have identified the above goals for the coming year as the deliverables that will lead us to the success in 2020.

And for those new to this race, the finish line has been mapped. Through this Summit and this collaboration – and any other means available to us – we will:

• Increase number of women investors.
• Increase number of women high growth entrepreneurs.
• Increase likelihood of success of these businesses.
• Get more women on public and private boards.

Come on – dive right in. The water is lovely!

Cheers,
Sharon Vosmek, CEO
Astia

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

The Women’s Organisation is delighted to collaborate on the shared agenda of facilitating increased levels of female enterprise growth. The Women’s Organisation currently works to bring together internationally distinguished academics, entrepreneurs, policy makers and practitioners in the field of female entrepreneurship start and growth together and fully support the summit’s objectives as it provides an unparalleled opportunity to exchange and utilise the combined expertise and knowledge of experts.

In particular, we hope that WOIS will provide:

• an international context for the development of female enterprise growth
• world class input and specialist knowledge relating to, female entrepreneurship support and research  priorities , best practice, governance, strategy and sustainability
• access to rigorous academic research
• an unrivalled forum for the exchange of research ideas and practice  entrepreneurial needs
• an opportunity to connect evidence to policy development

Maggie O’ Carroll – Chief Executive Officer, The Women’s Organisation

About The Women’s Organisation

http://www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk/

Follow The Women’s Orgnisation on Twitter @TheWomensOrg

The Women’s Organisation is the largest women’s economic development agency in the UK. Our outlook is international. We promote and facilitate female business start up, innovation and sustainable business growth. We enable women to achieve success and greater prosperity, to become leaders and to connect with each other.

We fulfil the role of advocate for women’s interests across a whole spectrum of areas, and are both a creator and a disseminator of knowledge. We influence policy and perception at all levels and bring together and represent the communities of interests common to women.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

I am excited about the potential afforded by collecting smart people together to consider one of the most pressing wealth creation challenges of today.  There is a huge opportunity that arises from pooling expertise, knowledge and information and distilling the collective wisdom into clear actions that inform our next steps. I look forward to showcasing the talent of the organisers and the attendees that are meeting with the ambition of changing the world of opportunity for everyone, and welcoming them to London.

Rowan Gardner – Chairman, BioLauncher

Follow Rowan on Twitter @rowan_uk

About Biolauncher

http://biolauncher.com/

Everyone at BioLauncher has a passion for life science and the potential benefits that science can bring to all of our lives. We also understand that these benefits can only be realized when scientific innovation leads to successful commercial products.

Biolauncher’s principals all have operational experience of starting their own venture backed businesses, growing them and expanding overseas. Our advice is rooted in real world experience. We work with leading universities and entrepreneurs to help establish new companies, and help growing companies source suppliers or develop commercial and marketing strategies. We have also acted as local partners to help customers to establish UK operations by seeking premises, negotiating lease agreements, procuring equipment, acting as interim management and recruiting staff.

We tailor each project to the needs of the client company and are able to work in advisory, planning and/or interim management capacities, depending on the scale and scope of the project.

We derive immense satisfaction from guiding our clients through the process of bringing technologies to market and understanding what it takes to make that happen.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post