Every few months, a reporter, blogger, or columnist knocks on meebo’s door and invites one or all of us to share our experiences about being an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. We’ve talked about the early days brainstorming at California Pizza Kitchen, the day our lone meebo server almost melted underneath Sandy’s desk, and how we’ve been fortunate to find fantastic people to join our team.
Last Tuesday, I was chatting with a columnist about my experiences as an entrepreneur. We talked about how meebo started, what I was doing prior to meebo, and then the subject turned to what it is like being a Silicon Valley female. “What’s it like to get venture capital as a female? Do you think think the entrepreneurial landscape has changed over the last five years as a female? In your observations, how do you think the role of leading tech companies has changed as a female?”
Throughout my relatively short career, I’m not aware of facing extra obstacles or challenges as a female. Regardless of whether you’re male or female, a start-up is an act of passion and requires a lot of elbow grease and adaptibility. In my periphery, I’ve heard the horror stories and seen the support groups. And if I stop to think about it, it’s true that most of the people I encounter everyday have XY chromosomes. However, for me, being female has always been something I’ve taken for granted. In terms of identity, I place more value on being from the Midwest, being a part of my family, or having a technical degree before I’d start thinking about being female.
I tried to answer the questions as best as I could. “There’s more money now and starting a company doesn’t require as much capital as it did five years ago. I think there’s been more democratization in this space and I feel fortunate to have this opportunity.” How do I think the media has changed its perspective on female entrepreneurs over the last five years? “Well, it’s certainly not 50/50 and it appears to still be a sensationalistic story, but I’m hoping that as we move forward it will become a non-issue.”
The columnist I was talking with stopped me midway through our conversation and explained that she wasn’t trying to ask leading questions. However, the other interviews she had with leading females were very different. Why do I think that my experience has been different?
I have tremendous gratitude for the women who have paved the way. And perhaps coming from an engineering major where most of study partners and peers were males made it easier for me to prepare and adapt to a typically-male Silicon Valley. However, Sandy and I have never felt out of place. For the columnists out there, my experiences being a female have been thankfully dull. And I’d encourage anyone (male or female) who has an idea itching to give the start-up life a shot. I wouldn’t trade my meebo experiences for anything!
Take Care!
-Elaine
[ comments ] [ past blogs ]
May 6th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Excellent article. Lovely how you got through with the columnist who has affixed gender-issues on the interview. There is a lot to learn and understand on both sides and realizing there really isn’t any faction in any skill/ability landscape only wether you could take on the gig or not. Much like Jennifer Batten taking on the Michael Jackson gig
Rock on Elaine 
May 6th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
See? Meebo is the best startup to date.
May 6th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
wow..your website (this meebo thing) is really awesome!!!
May 7th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Two questions:
1. Is your CEO male or female?
2. Where are the girl-power CEOs now? (Carly Fiorina, Jill Barad…)
I believe in equal opportunity for all but I just think the world has a long way to go. I hope it gets there
May 7th, 2007 at 12:45 am
i rili like 2day’s blog cus it give me a motivation of going on wit my dream which seem very difficult to come bu ybut i day i’ll succeed.have anice day.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Well, our country director is a female. And she does a great job.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:57 am
Elaine,
Thanks for setting the record straight in setting font to blog your opinions on the entrepreneurial landscape. I commend you on encouraging to others who consider going start-up to give it a shot and that it dose not matter if they are male or female.
Challenges and barries are before us all and its the victory of overcoming those barries that make us stronger.
I hope others read you blog and find inspirration as I have and to apply it to whatever asirations they may be seeking.
You should go into motivational speaking, I think you can bring inspiration and value and to many people.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:06 am
I’m glad you rose above the damsel-in-distress stereotype.
May 7th, 2007 at 4:12 am
As a female IT student, I know what you mean – while I haven’t actually faced any issues relating to my gender, I too know the stories. The (female) head of my program is holding a free luncheon for female IT students in a few weeks, to discuss how we can be better supported and to talk about our experiences. Since I don’t think extra support is necessary (exceptions being perhaps single studying mothers, and there’s already child-care facilities all over our university) I’m going solely for the free lunch and to see what others have to say.
May 7th, 2007 at 4:21 am
Great post.
Her questions speak more about her age than anything. Putting all politics to aside, she probably thinks that it’s a big deal that Hilary could be the first female president or that Obama could be the first black president.
Most people I know about 25 and under are more concerned about the policies than the chromosomes. That’s a good thing. Now the world just has to wait for us old geezers (I’m 42) to either get it, or die off.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Well i have an idea ,,, which would definitely work… if you are interested in investing some money ,, do call me,,, or im me,,,, roomno814@yahoo.co.in
May 7th, 2007 at 5:44 am
I’ve been in the IT field for going on twenty years now and I could not agree more. My being female is a very minor consideration. And that comes with not quite 8 years in the military in the IT field.
The people I have worked with throughout my entire career have been focused on what a person can accomplish, not what a person looks like. If you can talk the talk, walk the walk and contribute, and take a little good natured sarcasm along the way and keep your sense of humor, then you are more than welcome on my team.
I do know though, through the same types of stories and support groups you mention, how miserable life could be for pioneering women in their fields, whether IT, facilities maintenance or management. I am so grateful to those women whose professionalism and desire to achieve have made my time easier.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:45 am
I think journos do have a fixation of sorts when it comes to successful women (a question that is asked 4 times out of 5 to women who’v done well professionally is “so how different was your experience as a woman.”) What is worse is that this is more prevalent with women journalists than men.
I can’t figure out what they’d like to hear better- “Yes, there is a glass ceiling etc etc.” because it makes for a meatier story OR “No, noone judges us by our gender” because that would mean that women’s struggle for equality in the workplace has finally borne fruit!
Working for a non-profit that fosters entrepreneurship and acts as a resource for aspiring entrepreneurs,
May 7th, 2007 at 5:48 am
I do see many more men as entrepreneurs than women. But I do think that women entrepreneurs tend to be much more successful than women who have risen from the ranks in large organizations to positions of power. And I don’t know why this is (although this observation is totally empirical in nature).
I also see that women do better in certain industries than others- such as: Life Sciences, Financial Services etc.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:05 am
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May 7th, 2007 at 6:19 am
Elaine, It’s great that you are comfortable and confident in your role in the IT field and at Meebo. To not have encountered gender stereotypes and generalities that plague many in both IT and various other industries, frankly, is quite amazing. I’m glad to hear that you’ve had postive experiences and that you recognize the importance of the women who have paved the way for you and others to succeed in any professional role.
I wanted to point out that I think many people (journalists, etc.), ask the gender-specific questions because of two reasons. One, young girls need to realize that they can succeed in anything they put their minds to and two, unfortunately, many people who are in positions of power (decision-makers for financial services and venture capital co.’s) still have false assumptions about women and their ability to operate a successful organization and thrive under pressure, etc.. There are many studies to support these claims, such as those foind on Catalystwomen.org and the WSJ (Career Journal Dec. 1, 2006 & August 2006)
Overall, congrats on a good job and I hope you continue to thrive in the IT field, thus paving the way for many young women!
May 7th, 2007 at 6:32 am
good…
i love it
May 7th, 2007 at 6:32 am
excellent…
i love it
May 7th, 2007 at 6:52 am
It is da best eva
May 7th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Well said! And well done.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Meebo is awesome. This post (what the reporter was asking) goes to show that certain stereotypes still exist. I hope more and more females are encouraged by this post to get into/continue pursuing IT.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:18 am
hey i Love MEEBO/AIM its the best to have longer conversations and its better i guess so ya BBBBBBBYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE
May 7th, 2007 at 7:19 am
Excellent article. Lovely how you got through with the columnist who has affixed gender-issues on the interview. There is a lot to learn and understand on both sides and realizing there really isn’t any faction in any skill/ability landscape only wether you could take on the gig or not. Much like Jennifer Batten taking on the Michael Jackson gig Rock on Elaine
May 7th, 2007 at 8:37 am
As a current student in a male-dominated technical major, I do pride myself on being one of the only females in my classes…..Although I know this doesn’t make me who I am, as do you, its still nice to see that the issue of gender doesn’t phase you particularly. If only everyone thought that way and could see both sexes as equal.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:01 am
hiii my name is karina as a estudent medicina I am tecnihnical. IS A EXELLEN YOU PACH WAW
May 7th, 2007 at 10:20 am
I love this site, It’s the BEST… Well done!!! I would like to learn more about Meebo…
May 7th, 2007 at 10:20 am
jesus christ……………oh
May 7th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Thank you for being you and not trotting out the same old feminist blahble. Keep up the good work guys… I also have an idea, but unlike Saurabh K I will just give it to you:
I think it would be neat if you started adding audio, video, and even desktop sharing. I believe in the coming years everything will be segmented into instant communication vs. delayed communication, so IM alone won’t cut it – just my opinion. If you haven’t already started thinking about this and planning it, and want a place to start, you might consider partnering with another small company that could fit. Check out http://www.ispq.com/ for starters, it might be mutually beneficial.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:59 am
i dont wanna see u in my window elanie
get lost 
i need to be alone
May 7th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
STOP WITH THE ANNOYING BLOG
IT IS SO ANNOYING I AM SO FILLED WITH RAGE EVERY TIME IT COMES UP WITHOUIT MY CONSENT AND I HAVE TO CLOSE IT
YOU MEEBO PEOPLE ARE SO VAIN, STOP FORCING EVERYONE TO READ ABOUT YOUR BORING LIVES
CODE A CHECKBOX IM PREFERENCES “do you want to read our stoopid blog every day” HOW HARD IS THAT
May 7th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Thank you so much for your article! It expressed a lot of things that I’ve been feeling for awhile but never heard anyone else say.
I grew up loving math and playing competitive chess, which is definitely an almost all male field. As a child, I remember my aunt giving me books geared towards girls who liked math, but to be honest, I never really understood why on earth there needed to be books for girls who like math. Looking back, I understand how that would have been helpful to some girls, but as for me, I just wanted math books for *people*.
Later, when I got to college I decided to go into computer engineering. We have a chapter of the ACM-W at my university, but honestly, I only go to its functions when I get something out of it (ie free lunch). At one point, I even volunteered to be interviewed about being a woman in computer engineering for a research project, but honestly, couldn’t think of anything to really say about it. I’ve *never* felt out of sorts being a woman in computer engineering but if other people can use those groups and get something out of it, great, but it’s not for me–I have difficulty relating with the issues brought up in those groups. (Of course, I also like video games and D&D and whatnot, so I generally identify with traditionally male interests better anyway, go figure). I’m not done with my undergraduate yet, but I’ve worked at a few places, sometimes being the only woman (or almost only woman) in the group that I’m working in. With the exception of one job where coworkers decided it’d be a good idea to hit on me, it’s been fine to work in an almost all male environment. Long story short, I was really happy to read this because I felt like there was something wrong with *me* since I never felt discriminated or out of sorts in my field.
Hopefully you guys are will still be taking interns next year, because I’d love to work at meebo for a summer
May 7th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Elizabeth Umphrey is the best person at this because my mother is one of these but i don’tknow how she got started but she really seems to like it and i like it because she likes it and it really makes her happy
May 7th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I love your guys idea i just wonna know how you do
May 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I have a questoin for you what is going on with Geekhelper?
May 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
great come back elaine/keep it up.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
George, please remove that stick before typing, kthanx?
Elaine, I think George has a point. I love the feeling of pseudo-community I get from the blog posts even if it quickly dissipates as I read the comments; but I think Meebo is past the phase when blog posts are cute and endearing and at the point when they need to be an option you can uncheck.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Good article, the issue isn’t rising above barriers anymore, it’s much deeper. The reason why there are so few women in IT is all social and is developed at a young age. Girls grow up thinking video games and computing are male and they avoid it, this idea is bred early. Thankfully a lot of girls grow up embracing those things and realize the problem and will in turn encourage their girls to like IT at a young age.
That reporter was just making an issue out of nothing and ignoring the real problem, breaking traditional gender roles before age 7.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I never knew this website was so intricate, so it’s great to find out that there’s a lot of effort and people involved! I completely agree with Josh, those barriers should be broken early. My dad is an IT guy and he would’ve loved for his girls to have explored computers more, especially to have take a look at it in college, but to no avail. I guess we had already convinced ourselves that it was a male thing. I really do appreciate his efforts!
Great article!
May 7th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
god these blogs just get more retarded every day
May 7th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
what does that have 2 do with meebo
May 7th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
This is a great perspective. Being in an engineering program as a male, there’s much discussion about why there aren’t as many females in the discipline. Most people seem to jump on the “engineering is more difficult to be apart of as a female because it’s a male dominated profession” bandwagon. I’ve always disagreed and instead thought that it was more of a function instinctive biological interest differences: statically men are just more interested in the subject matter. In my experience, both academically and professionally, I have never seen an engineer treated differently just because she was female. Some of the best engineers I know are females. I could never figure out what the females-in-engineering fuss was all about. It’s great to hear a similar opinion from over the fence: “My gender has never been a deciding factor for my success, only my passion for the subject matter.” Brilliant.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
sorry, i dont spik english !
May 7th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
i beleive that gender is not a big issue at all I think, not in non physical work anyway. My grandma is a vice president of a company and shes female. There a tons of female’s in high positions in office’s/ businesses. If you try hard enough, you can do anything. So get over it. There is no issue.
May 7th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
P.S. Billy up two or three posts is a genius. That dude has got my opinion exactly. Just worded better.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
idiot girls, you expect to be gone easy upon in any sport, But whine and whine about how “Women aren’t treated fairly blah blah blah” If you F***ing want to be treated fairly than you should be treated the exact same way as men in EVERYTHING. You cant just pick and choose which ones, All or None. Thankyou and im sorry it just pi$$es me off.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Hey, ummmmmmmmmmmm, yea this guy i know he’s blocking me cuz were playing this game. So i have two ta three aim screen names and i wanted to know how you can log on two aim names at the same time. I know you can because my friend does it. well thnxz.
Indya
May 7th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Gender is not an issue.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
agreed with KRis “Gender is not an issue’
May 7th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
awesome post. I’d love to see the day when sex and gender are non-issues. Keep on keeping on and all the best with Meebo. I know it’s greased the wheels of my startup.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
very good
May 7th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
hi, how r u all?
May 8th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Wile some people might doubt that you put the meeblog in every screen on startup, I must admit that I have enjoyed reading the post once again. Keep up the good work.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:52 am
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May 8th, 2007 at 1:31 am
blah blah blah i wish that blog didnt come up every time i logged in
May 8th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Nice post
May 8th, 2007 at 4:14 am
Interesting article, thanks for the dull start up experience. Its been two years since my start up was created and I tend to agree with you. As a female my experiences have been rather dull also. Good luck for continued success.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Well, I am happy that Elaine is giving supportive and encouraging comments to people who want to start a business.
Yet, I am dissapointed that you state that you state that you do not identify with your self as a female, and more as a ‘midwesterner’. This is a classica case of the successful woman, who has become successfull in part because she has deserted her feminity. Well, of course she is successfull because she has the brains too. I just hate to hear her say her experience has been dull. I guess that’s why she’s in the IT feild, and not in English lit;)
May 8th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Just have to add for all those who have posted comments that try to sway readers to think that there is no difference between the perceptions and treatment of males versus females. You’ve either not experienced it (may be due to not being exposed to it, or may be blind to it, or may just be the luckiest person around), or is basically kidding yourselves that we leave in an ideal world.
Note that this has nothing to do with Elaine’s positive success story…I’m glad that there’s someone like her taking care of business!
May 8th, 2007 at 6:01 am
i belongs to strong xy community of pakistan and is post graduate student of cancer sciences,the issue of gender sensitisation is little bit passive inits nature,on so many occassion specially in team work where xx,and xy works together is realised by female folk even that males are not considering the difference and this is the time when female face some problem in working areas,if they do not realise their gender i think problems will not faced to them on behalf of their gender.
to day female has shown extereme worth of their presence in every field.females are are no way less than male in any field but some very natural attributes are sticky to them due to which they face problem.and it can be overcome if addressed the same in very natural way socilisation,not on biased approach of gender discrimination. khalidvet75@yahoo.com. e.mail can be send through this address.
May 8th, 2007 at 6:14 am
Hi Elaine,
You are a true role model for girls. I can’t decide though if I”m glad you don’t think about your status as a female or not. It’s just so wonderful that there are less work obstacles to females these days.
However, this has all been done on the backs of your female fore bearers who risked ridicule, family life and their personal freedom to give us the freedoms we enjoy and take for granted now.
May 8th, 2007 at 8:36 am
well said, good job!
May 8th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Way to go Elaine.
People (whatever their gender, race, creed, etc…) still seeing or claiming to experience discrimination in our society, for the most part, are permanent victims.
You found a great idea and ran with it. That is the measure of success, no matter who or what you are.
You stood up to be measure based on your content, not your external attributes, Dr. King would be proud.
May 8th, 2007 at 9:35 am
[...] system or hardware) and I love it. One of the original idea people behind Meebo is a woman. She was interviewed recently by a columnist and was asked several rather pointed questions about her experiences starting a [...]
May 8th, 2007 at 10:02 am
sorry my dear ,my english is very poor l can’t undertsand what are saying
again l” sorry
May 8th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Hey Smart and intelligent Girl
i think its gr8 out there with u! I have read some of the comments i do not know what is the idea behind this discussion as these all are the facts of life, wheteher u call it hard or lovely. I have started to visit this site, because other sites were blocked for me. I find this a gr8 addition to the sillicon guys. However why i wrote u is i just wanted to make a suggestion and it was about ur access to other web sites. I will be gr8 if u provided all the facilities these other guys like yahoo, msn and g mail/ orkut ppl offer.
Best wishes TО
May 8th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
hey people im new my name is killika. but what do you do here?
May 8th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
hey! yeah that was kinda lame i must say but go u!
May 8th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Can we please stop with the blogs b/c evry time i sign in it makes me mad as heck
May 8th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
you are stupid
May 8th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
LAMO!!! OMG STOP SENDING THOSE DUMB THINGS TO ME-BLOG THIS BLOG THAT-I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR BLOG
May 8th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I’m all for more females in the IT/engineering/science fields. You give us males something decent to look at. Although the majority of women in these fields aren’t much to look at anyways, you do occasionally see someone you’d be willing to bang.
Go females!!
May 8th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
jeez ppl are ruude!
get a life guyss!
anyways…keep up the good workk!
:]
May 8th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Who cares? We’ll all be dead soon enough.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
even if we’re all going to be dead soon we should at least care for are loved ones for as long as we can even though we have golbel warming to deal with…
May 8th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
go on
May 8th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
well we kinda have to live with the world and learn the even though we will die but people will remember us forever… and thats all i got rite now
(L)
May 8th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
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May 8th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
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May 8th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
no entiendo que fue lo que paso con mi correo, perdi mis mensajes y contactos
May 8th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
C’mon, it’s not about male and female is it? Maybe was once, but it isn’t now.
It’s about walking the talk (read looking good.) If you’ve got the look, you can excel (be accepted even with your faults) at whatever you do. And looking good doesn’t NECESSARILY mean looking pretty. It means looking “right” for the job. Big, strong, funny, whatever. Confidence begets confidence.
May 8th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
I am actually sorry that question was asked. I do not understand the mindset that makes non-issues issues. Your gender neutral service is a great tool and i have been using it since the first few weeks. I compliment you all on your professionalism and vision. I hope the future brings all of your team continueed success. I am always amazed at the creativity of people and love to see it in action providing services that are truly useful and appreciated.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Haha, how dare you have an unremarkable experience and a post-feminist outlook! Bow down before your trailblazing forebears (who probably aimed for exactly this outcome)
CK.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:29 am
As usual, a really interesting perspective, on themes of identity worth pondering. I enjoy your entries, Elaine.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
hai hai hai
May 13th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
That was cool. By the way it was weird love nikkijanice123 P.S.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:37 am
As a female entrepreneur I get asked these female questions all the time too. I think it all depends who you talk to and where you are at as an entrepreneur. Once you are successful no one really cares about your gender. Before you get there though, it’s a different story.
I co-founded a startup with my husband and have been told point blank by would-be investors that they would like to replace me with a man because women are too emotional (based on their experience). I kid you not.
We’re in Canada though and investors here seem to be less comfortable taking risks than in the Valley. Regardless, there are a number of highly successful women in this industry, and it’s awesome that you are one of them!
Eventually these old school boys will grow up and realize it is about execution not chromosomes.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Maybe the uniqueness of your experience has something to do with Seth.
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August 4th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I do see many more men as entrepreneurs than women. But I do think that women entrepreneurs tend to be much more successful than women who have risen from the ranks in large organizations to positions of power. And I don’t know why this is (although this observation is totally empirical in nature).and i am from ghana
I also see that women do better in certain industries than others- such as: Life Sciences, Financial Services etc.
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June 16th, 2008 at 1:13 am
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May 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Hi Elaine,
Nice blog out there!. Meebo is awesome and I love it.
Yours is a great idea. Keep up the good work.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
what is wrong with woman being CEO, who knows if this world is already controled by women?