{"id":45220,"date":"2023-10-20T15:41:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/jessica-alba-and-susan-wojcickis-10-tips-for-female-tech-entrepreneurs-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:41:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:41:57","slug":"jessica-alba-and-susan-wojcickis-10-tips-for-female-tech-entrepreneurs-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/jessica-alba-and-susan-wojcickis-10-tips-for-female-tech-entrepreneurs-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Alba and Susan Wojcicki’s 10 tips for female tech entrepreneurs – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Get ready for rejection and ask the stupid questions say Jessica Alba and Susan Wojcicki, who were key speakers at the Women\u2019s Innovation Panel at Salesforce\u2019s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

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Hollywood A-lister Alba is founder of the Honest Company, while Wojcicki is the chief executive of YouTube.<\/p>\n

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Here are their top tips for being a woman in the tech industry:<\/p>\n

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1. Don\u2019t be put off by rejection<\/b><\/p>\n

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Alba says when she came up with the idea for her business the people she pitched to laughed and suggested she endorse a perfume line instead.<\/p>\n

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But Alba kept on refining her pitch.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019ll never know that something is going to succeed if you don\u2019t try and put yourself out there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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2. Be prepared to be in the minority<\/b><\/p>\n

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Women in technology are a minority group, which is a problem for the sector according to Alba.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are the ones consuming online. There should be more of us behind the scenes creating that experience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot out there to choose from, unfortunately I wish there were more women we could hire.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wojcicki says women are a minority in the tech industry because there are comparatively few with the appropriate qualifications and a tendency for women to drop out of the industry.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a pipeline problem, the number of women with computer science degrees is 20%, and then it\u2019s a retention problem,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhenever you have an environment that is a majority of something its hard for the minority.\u201d<\/p>\n

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3. Longer maternity leave is key<\/b><\/p>\n

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One of the factors causing women to drop out of the tech industry is a lack of maternity leave according to Wojcicki and Alba.<\/p>\n

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Most women in the United States don\u2019t have paid maternity leave, with 25% of American women going back to work 10 days after giving birth.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat we found was having a longer paid maternity leave actually helped us retain women,\u201d Wojcicki says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou are more ready to come back to work when the kids are a little bit older.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wojcicki says longer periods of paid maternity leave benefits businesses as well.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPaid maternity leave is also good for business,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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4. Work hard but balance is also important<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t want to say that you don\u2019t have to work hard; you have to work hard but you need to have balance as well,\u201d Wojcicki says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf I\u2019m there at midnight by myself in the office I\u2019m not really having so many great ideas anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wojcicki says having work life balance can help you be more creative and productive.<\/p>\n

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Alba says she \u201cloves\u201d hiring people who are parents \u201cbecause I know they can multi-task and they are very efficient with their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Since having her own two children Alba says she has mended her workaholic ways.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s important to shut down and shut off,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow weekends are my family time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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5. The early years are the toughest<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wojcicki has five children and warns the early years are the toughest for women with children.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI found it really hard when my kids were in the birth to early pre-school stage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is really those first couple of years that are really hard to get through \u2026 If you can just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and stay in the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

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6. Tech can be creative<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wojcicki says many women are deterred from working in tech because of misconceptions about the industry.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think computer science has a reputation that is not completely accurate,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe reality is that this is a field that is very creative, there are lots of opportunity [and] you get to work in groups and teams\u2026 those are the things that should be attractive to women.\u201d<\/p>\n

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7. Most of your mentors will be men<\/b><\/p>\n

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As a woman in tech, it\u2019s likely most of your mentors will be men, according to Wojcicki, purely because in most companies the leaders are still men.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe need the men to look at their teams and say \u2018Who are the women here that I can support and I can get to the next level?\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere were men who said \u2018I think you can do this job\u2019 and sponsored me and got me to the next level \u2026 I am very grateful to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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8. Be prepared to ask the stupid questions<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the things working in tech is everybody is doing things for the first time,\u201d Wojcicki says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is a lot of firsts. You have to be prepared to ask the stupid questions, plunge in and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wojcicki says in the tech industry you have to be constantly learning and constantly asking questions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat is what you have to do to be successful because things keep changing and nobody is the expert,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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9. Common sense is more important than qualifications<\/b><\/p>\n

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When she is hiring people Alba says qualifications are not the be all and end all.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI look for common sense and people who want to collaborate,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat for me is more important than a degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Alba says she also looks for real life experience and employs people at the Honest Company who are failed entrepreneurs but they have experience and \u201cknow how to hustle\u201d.<\/p>\n

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10. The future will be more inclusive<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cTechnology is changing our lives in ways that we can\u2019t even imagine now and it\u2019s just getting started,\u201d Wojcicki says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTechnology has to get more inclusive and it will, it will become mainstream. I know that will happen over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article was first published on SmartCompany. SmartCompany<\/i> attended Dreamforce as a guest of Salesforce.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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