Nickname: whats all the fuss?

Review: I just recently began a business. Why? Because I was an artist in the music industry and I was too smart and too able minded for an A&R to use me as a woman. I started this label to free myself as a woman. However, I think all people treat people the same. I think it's just easier to close a woman or a person of color out of opportunities because it's an easy identifier. It's easy for the people in power to say we already have enough competition; let's knock out those we can all get rid of and agree on. And that's people that are easily identified by gender and color. It's not personal to them. It's business. They pretend it's personal so you doubt your own capabilities, but it's really a good method to cut out the competition. And then they use gender associations and cultural associations to validate their prejudice. It's a game. And if you don't want to play it, or you want to play it on your own turf, you start your own business.

Date reviewed: Apr 19, 2006 10:18 PM

Nickname: Alicia Rodriguez

Review: There are many reasons women start businesses. The women in this article name some of the primary ones. This isn't about women versus men. The reality for women, especially women with children, is cultural: Women are still the primary caretakers of children - and now, aging parents. The traditional business "structure" is based on a model that has been geared to men at work. The structure of "work" needs to change in order to support both men and women who want more out of life than a job. That requires assessing needs against business objectives, and creating completely different models for work. That is what women entrepreneurs are doing when they start businesses. My hope is that women continue to do this and as they succeed, they provide others, men and women, the same flexibility and access to fulfilling work and life as they have created for themselves.

Date reviewed: Mar 17, 2006 7:11 PM

Nickname: Anonymous

Review: While the story about Cary Marsh and streaming media start-up was fascinating, the others running businesses in "soft" industries less so. It would be very interesting to learn of the progress (and success or failure) or lack of process that business women are making in traditionally male-lead "start up" industries (e.g. technology such as computers, software, networking, financial services including venture capital, pharma, insurance, manufacturing, distribution, legal, etc.) What do the statistics and facts actually show there? What is the actual percentage of women that hold board positions in "start-ups" versus men? What is the actual percentage of women holding executive management positions in "start-ups"?

Date reviewed: Mar 16, 2006 1:22 PM

Nickname: A woman with a dream

Review: You do not become an entrepreneur to take revenge or to show that you are better than somebody else (including the opposite sex). One may initially be successful when they start with such goals in mind, but they will soon run out of the fuel that sustains their will. Being an entrepreneur is about having passions and dreams and the determination to make them happen. Being an entrepreneur is about seizing opportunities with an optimistic and positive spirit. All women described in this article have one thing in common: Courage to not let life events or limitations of society and workplace bring them down and control their life. Most importantly these women have the courage to believe in themselves and their dreams. That is what makes them entrepreneurs.

Date reviewed: Mar 16, 2006 7:50 AM

Nickname: steff

Review: I am so grateful to be alive right now and in a world (or at least in a "high-income country") where I am able to define my own success. I left a corporate environment nearly six years ago and started my own communications consulting business at the tender age of 27. I loathed the idea that my salary was X and could only increase some pitiful percentage each year (assuming no salary freezes were in place) ... I chafed under the idea that someone else was determining my value. I also wanted to express the full range of my creative talents, which I was unable to do in my slot at the cube farm. What I discovered after "leaping off the cliff" was that I was far more energized working for myself, for MY clients, and for MY future, where I was the one benefiting directly from my hard work and quality of effort. I also found "leaping off the cliff" wasn't that at all ... there was a step to catch me and I didn't fall. Now, as a mom, I LOVE the flexibility. Man/woman, go CREATE your life!

Date reviewed: Mar 16, 2006 5:14 AM

Nickname: A Man

Review: I think there is too much of this "women are better than men" thing. Women are becoming entrepreneurs because, like men, they have what they think are good ideas for business. If they do it because they are sick and tired of men, then surely they will fail. They must, like men, be passionate about their goals, practical, hard working, just like men. In fact, what I see out there are bitter women, trying to be more like men, and, alas, succeeding. Unfortunately, women are no better than men. Whether for multi-tasking, business, or politics. They are just women, not a bad thing, not a good thing, only a fact. More women should act like women. It's easy to pick on men when there are so many examples out there. Soon enough, as the death rate climbs, heart disease increases, and ulcers find their way into the women's world, we will have just as many examples of badly performing women as we do of men...after all we are all just human in the end.

Date reviewed: Mar 15, 2006 11:28 PM

Nickname: Margaret Heffernan

Review: Some 420 women a day start new businesses. They do so because they're sick of being forced into male paradigms. They're sick of being patronized. They're sick of being powerless. And they know they're good. Multitasking is part of it, but perhaps more crucial is that most of these women have kids. Their success shows that yes, you can have a great career and a great family--but not if it has to conform to traditional (yes, male) models of how and when work gets done. There really isn't anything women aren't good at--except, perhaps, being men.

Date reviewed: Mar 14, 2006 9:13 AM

Nickname: nicolar

Review: More and more women may become entrepreneurs simply because they are capable of multi-tasking at higher levels. Ask any wife, mother and career-woman what multi-tasking is and she will tell you that you are looking at a living example.

Date reviewed: Mar 9, 2006 4:40 PM