Trend 6: More support organizations for women entrepreneurs and women in technology

A new girls' network is here. Women are starting support organizations for women-led technology businesses. Groups range from formal membership organizations to informal groups like Systers (a networking group for women in computing) and Babes in Boyland (a group of women technology CEOs who meet to share ideas, support, and insights).

Three pioneering organizations include the Women's Technology Cluster, the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, and Women in Technology International.

• The Women's Technology Cluster is the first business incubator for women technology and Internet entrepreneurs. Started in San Francisco in February 1999 by Catherine Muther, a former senior marketing officer at Cisco Systems, it's a nonprofit incubator providing shared office space, equipment, mentoring, support, and networking opportunities to startups where women hold a major equity stake. The Women's Technology Cluster has space for approximately 20 startups. Competition to join the cluster is stiff: Less than 5 percent of applicants are admitted.
  
  The Cluster is funded by the Three Guineas Fund, a grant-making organization Muther founded and named after Virginia Woolf's "Three Guineas," an essay about philanthropy. Part of the Cluster's mission is to instill philanthropic values in the businesses it incubates. While the high-tech industry has historically come up short when it comes to philanthropy, the Cluster's entrepreneurs must agree to contribute a 2 percent equity stake to a philanthropy fund. Income from the fund is used to sustain the Cluster and support nonprofit programs that address social and economic change. "We're increasing women's access to capital and we've been able to achieve demonstrable results," says Margarita Quihuis, director of the The Women's Technology Cluster. "We've helped 70 percent of our companies raise $15 million in capital in less than a year. It really shows that women are starting hot companies and that they are fundable."
  
  
• The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) is the leading networking organization for women building and leading high-growth technology companies. Founded in 1993 and based in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area, the FWE offers women entrepreneurs advice, support, networking opportunities with other entrepreneurs, innovative programs, and access to top-tier funding sources.
  
  The FWE has been instrumental in helping women raise capital for their web and technology startups. The FWE jointly organized Springboard 2000, the first venture capital forum for women entrepreneurs. Held in January 2000 at Oracle Corporation in Silicon Valley, this event was an opportunity for selected women entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to more than 200 VCs from top firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Softbank Technology Ventures, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. This event was co-hosted by the National Women's Business Council (NWBC) and sponsored by the Three Guineas Fund, among others. The NWBC is organizing more VC forums for women-led businesses in the months and years ahead.
  
  
• Women in Technology International (WITI) is dedicated to helping women advance their careers in technology and achieve financial independence. Founded in 1989, the organization works to increase the number of women executives in technology companies and encourages young women to choose technical careers. WITI also brings women to the attention of companies, organizations, and boards looking for the best talent.

These organizations, as well as others listed in the resources section at the end of this book, are helping women break into the networks and build the relationships they need to get funded, grow their businesses, and succeed as entrepreneurs and executives.

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