290th Roundtable Recording On Jan. 21, 2016: With Steals.com Founder Jana Francis

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

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Roundtable Recap: January 21 – Navigating Through Massive Challenges

During this week’s roundtable, we had Jana Francis, Founder and President of Steals.com, as our guest. Jana has experienced significant challenges in building her bootstrapped company from Utah. She candidly discussed these challenges, and her experiences were eye-opening and inspiring for our audience.

Quimojo
As for the pitches, first up, Dean Owen from Shanghai, China, pitched Quimojo, a candidate database of recent graduates for hiring managers to tap into. Dean is trying to pilot a somewhat different business and usage model for hiring, and we discussed his validation strategy at the session.

VTechis.com
Next, Arindam Chakraborty from Mumbai, India, pitched VTechis.com, a tiny company with five different seemingly related businesses. My core advice to Arindam is to focus on one business, instead of biting a piece each from five different apples.
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Women ARE Raising Venture Capital: Kerry Cooper, CEO of ChooseEnergy (Part 1)

Kerry was brought into ChooseEnergy by Kleiner Perkins along with the seed funding. Since then, she has raised $25 million and is running a traditional venture-funded company. This interview includes a discussion on the controversial subject of women in technology and venture capital.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Kerry Cooper: I was born and raised in New Mexico. I was born in Santa Fe and raised, mostly, in Albuquerque. Both my parents are veterinarians. My mom was one of the first women to go to veterinary school. However, I grew up in a lower middle-class environment. We didn’t have much money. I started working when I was eight. I started babysitting when I was 12. I got my first job at Baskin-Robbins when I was 15. I think I’ve had a thousand jobs since then. That was the very beginning. I graduated from high school in Albuquerque. >>>

10 Must Read Posts On Women And Entrepreneurship

The issue of women and entrepreneurship has been top of mind of late. It is a topic that I have written a fair bit about, and want to share with you a shortlist of key posts: >>>

Roundtable Recording On Oct. 29, 2015: Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship with Susan Mason, Aligned Partners

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Roundtable Recap: October 29 – Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship with Susan Mason, General Partner, Aligned Ventures

During this week’s roundtable, we started with a conversation with Susan Mason, General Partner of Aligned Ventures, who talked about the dysfunctions of the broader venture capital model, and what her firm is doing to address those. Excellent conversation, please listen to it.

RentMyStay
As for the pitches, first up, Kiran N. from Bangalore, India, pitched RentMyStay, a marketplace for renting short-term housing. The company is already in revenue, growing nicely, and is executing very well.
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Long Journey in Healthcare: Canadian Entrepreneurs Matthew Sappern and Emily Hamilton of PeriGen (Part 1)

Perigen is an amalgamation of a couple of different companies. This story relates how the entrepreneurs navigated a long journey.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by telling us a little bit about your personal background. I’d like to do that with both of you since you are co-founders.

Matthew Sappern: Just for clarity’s sake, Emily developed this technology. I was brought in by the Board a number of years ago to essentially restart this company.

Sramana Mitra: I see. Emily is the founder.

Matthew Sappern: One of the initial founders, and the developer of the core technology. >>>

Roundtable Recap: August 27 – Showcase of Women Entrepreneurs

During this week’s roundtable, we had an unusual pitch roster of the first three entrepreneurs being women.

RegDesk
First up, Priya Bhutani from Chicago, Illinois, pitched RegDesk, a marketplace for healthcare regulatory experts who can complete projects for major pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The company also has a subscription-based regulatory information service, and is currently in revenue.

Gazillion Fund
Next Ann Shin from Santa Clara, California, pitched Gazillion Fund, a Kickstarter for fashion designers offered on a mobile app format. The concept seems fine. Execution will determine success.
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Feminist Father vs. Chauvinist Father

We hear a lot of complaints about sexism and chauvinism in 21st-century Silicon Valley. I want to share some stories from India in the mid-20th century. It may sound prehistoric, but it wasn’t that long ago.

I was born into an old family in Calcutta, India. We were a traditional extended family with about 25 family members and another 25 servants living in one family home. My father is the youngest of six siblings — three brothers and three sisters. His father, my grandfather, was a good man, a noble patriarch, well-meaning, trying to do the right thing.

The right thing, however, in his worldview, did not include treating his sons and daughters equally.
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269th Roundtable Recording On July 23, 2015: Future of K-12 Education with Betsy Corcoran, CEO of EdSurge

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here: