In March, TiE New Jersey held an event to commemorate Women’s History Month. Approximately 100 men and women attended and heard an inspiring panel discussion of female entrepreneurs. The audience was almost evenly split between men and women.
Kathleen Coviello, chief economic transformation officer for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), also spoke. Here is an article about her talk.
NJTech Weekly.com The TiE New Jersey Women’s Special Interest Group (SIG) was encouraged by the enthusiastic support it received from the crowd. TiE New Jersey Chairman Suresh U. Kumar was the lead sponsor and set out three challenges for TiE members.
- For men to become truly equal partners by eliminating more subtle forms of prejudice against women that deny them opportunities for growth and development.
- He called it a “zero-to-one” startup because community members support female founders with innovative ideas across organizational boundaries.
- Thai New Jersey lawmakers aim to join the fight against recent restrictions on women’s right to choose and access health care in some U.S. states through the ballot box.
The panel discussion was moderated by Nivedita Kandade, founder and principal of Manda (Princeton), a firm that provides M&A advisory services to clients. Panelists included Madhu Stemmerman, co-founder and CEO of Sunray Scientific (Eatontown), a cutting-edge electronic materials company that enables flexible wearable electronics and semiconductors; . Donna Conroy, co-founder and CEO of SciMar ONE (Allentown). The company is a startup with a platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI that eliminates inefficiencies and accelerates strategic drug development. Ritu Kaul, chief marketing officer at technology solutions company Calance (Anaheim, California); Veneta Singhal, executive director and banker at JPMorgan Private Bank in Princeton;
fear of failure
The first issue the panelists addressed was fear of failure, and Candade asked them:
Stemmerman said it’s not uncommon to hear these inner voices, but the key is to ignore them. If you ignore them long enough, you’ll build up enough confidence to know that you can actually do those things. She added that she still has that voice, but when she hears it, she ignores it.
Conroy added, “Part of the reason we have more self-doubt than men is because of the weight we carry. … I think our plates are fuller. I’m worried that something will fall off and the whole tray will collapse. That raises some questions.
Singhal told the group that the desire for perfection seems to be ingrained in women as they grow up. “And I think those concepts make us believe that it has to be perfect from the beginning. And when you try something new, of course you don’t know everything. And failure. And what I’m saying is that failure isn’t actually the opposite of success. It’s part of success. You can’t be successful without failing.”
Kaur, who has vast experience in marketing, told the audience (both men and women) to believe in themselves. “What you guys and women are doing is amazing.” “Get involved in your communities and networks and connect with each other and help each other.” And if you can’t help, get out of the way. Please. ”
Panelists also addressed questions about transitioning from one role to another and the need for support from men in the industry for women entrepreneurs. “If we didn’t have male champions and sponsors, Sunray Scientific Fick wouldn’t be here.” . She specifically mentioned her partner Steve Socolof, managing partner at her Tech Council Ventures (Summit), who invested in the company and introduced her SunRay to other investors. “Many of the decision-makers today are men, so it would be absolutely foolish not to collaborate with male counterparts and male champions.”
At the beginning of the event, attendees heard from Shaiya Dixit, founder and CEO of Curio Digital Therapeutics (Princeton) and co-chair of the TiE New Jersey Women’s SIG . “Women’s empowerment empowers women,” said Dixit. She highlighted how few women entrepreneurs are and mentioned the challenges women entrepreneurs face in raising capital. She highlighted the role her TiE New Jersey played in helping her find a “personal board” to lean on and how important it is for entrepreneurs to have their own personal support system .
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About the author
Esther Sarden
Esther is the founder and editor-in-chief of NJ Tech Weekly
