Let’s Give Women Entrepreneurs the R-E-S-P-E-C-T and Support They Deserve

I have to agree with Adelaide Lancaster’s blog last week.

Women entrepreneurs don’t get the respect they deserve. They have their own approach to starting and growing businesses and there is nothing wrong with our choices, but I do think we’re not unleashing the full potential of women entrepreneurship.

And the term “lifestyle entrepreneurship” applied to women-owned businesses is demeaning. Adelaide had some good suggestions for legitimizing and getting the respect due women entrepreneurs as well as questioning the traditional venture capital model.

To her comments, I’d add:

• What if women entrepreneurs broke through the glass walls that hold them back from starting high-growth companies?
• What if women scientists patented and brought their great ideas to market just as frequently as their male counter parts? (They aren’t, according to the Kauffman Foundation.)
• What if women technologist had the gumption -- or encouragement -- to start the next Google or Facebook?

The answer to all three questions: A whole lot of jobs would be created and the economy would be humming.

It’s about having the choice, being given the opportunity, and moving past the societal influences that hold women back. Women have been shattering glass ceilings in the corporate, academic, and political worlds.

Let’s give them the fire ax to break through the glass walls in the entrepreneurial world. With the support of the organizations Adelaide mentioned, and others, women will be encouraged and supported on their journey to create a new generation of high-growth, job-generating businesses.

What do you think we need to do to encourage women to start high-growth businesses?

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