Let me explain this one by telling you a story.
About a year ago I was on a judging panel for a tech startup competition.
There were 9 judges on the day and about 10 teams presented their ideas after having developed them for about 6 weeks.
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One of the teams that intrigued me was led by a young woman who described having watched her mother spend hours and hours, multiple times during the week, reviewing the pantry and fridge to see what had run out or was running out, making lists and then head out to the various supermarkets, markets, and shops to replenish the pantry and fridge.
Having seen her mother spend all this time, she and the team had brainstormed a solution where with a couple of taps in their android application you could scan the barcode of the pantry items to be purchased or simply add it to a shopping list.
The application would also have an algorithm to learn the family’s eating and purchasing habits and preload the shopping list with suggested items for purchase.
For example, if the application learns that just about every week you purchase a gallon of milk, it would automatically preload the shopping list with milk every week. In the future, the team hoped to automatically send the shopping list to the various stores so that the items could be set aside and/or home delivered to the customer.
I have never calculated but it seems to me the number of hours this could save for any homemaker who would rather spend the time with the family or work could, at least, make a business case.
As I sat at the judging table though, I was surprised that the team’s application was not closer to the most favored of applications
Baffled by this, I started looking around the table at the judges wondering who would be like-minded.
And then it struck me.
Out of the 9 judges, I was the only woman. So I asked my colleagues, who here does the grocery shopping for their household. No one did.
And so therein lies my concern.
I worry that we don’t have more women like the team leader, who has the knowledge and confidence to look at a woman’s challenge and see how technology can solve that challenge.
I worry that we don’t have more women seated at the judge’s table, in the boardroom, or at the VC pitch, to demonstrate how a product focused on the female demographic can still be profitable.
I worry that without solid representation in the technology field, women get left behind.
I worry that without more women thinking about enabling our lives with technology, I won’t get the pantry application.
So my simple request?
Next time you’re forming your project team, your leadership team, or your board … please ask yourself, “Have I done everything I can to make sure we have a representative to make sure each demographic, including women, is heard?”
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Let me explain this one by telling you a story.
About a year ago I was on a judging panel for a tech startup competition.
There were 9 judges on the day and about 10 teams presented their ideas after having developed them for about 6 weeks.
One of the teams that intrigued me was led by a young woman who described having watched her mother spend hours and hours, multiple times during the week, reviewing the pantry and fridge to see what had run out or was running out, making lists and then head out to the various supermarkets, markets, and shops to replenish the pantry and fridge.
Having seen her mother spend all this time, she and the team had brainstormed a solution where with a couple of taps in their android application you could scan the barcode of the pantry items to be purchased or simply add it to a shopping list.
The application would also have an algorithm to learn the family’s eating and purchasing habits and preload the shopping list with suggested items for purchase.
For example, if the application learns that just about every week you purchase a gallon of milk, it would automatically preload the shopping list with milk every week. In the future, the team hoped to automatically send the shopping list to the various stores so that the items could be set aside and/or home delivered to the customer.
I have never calculated but it seems to me the number of hours this could save for any homemaker who would rather spend the time with the family or work could, at least, make a business case.
As I sat at the judging table though, I was surprised that the team’s application was not closer to the most favored of applications
Baffled by this, I started looking around the table at the judges wondering who would be like-minded.
And then it struck me.
Out of the 9 judges, I was the only woman. So I asked my colleagues, who here does the grocery shopping for their household. No one did.
And so therein lies my concern.
I worry that we don’t have more women like the team leader, who has the knowledge and confidence to look at a woman’s challenge and see how technology can solve that challenge.
I worry that we don’t have more women seated at the judge’s table, in the boardroom, or at the VC pitch, to demonstrate how a product focused on the female demographic can still be profitable.
I worry that without solid representation in the technology field, women get left behind.
I worry that without more women thinking about enabling our lives with technology, I won’t get the pantry application.
So my simple request?
Next time you’re forming your project team, your leadership team, or your board … please ask yourself, “Have I done everything I can to make sure we have a representative to make sure each demographic, including women, is heard?”