About this item
Highlights
- Valley Girls is an impassioned call-to-action and a clear-eyed guide for every woman with a brilliant business idea who has been sitting on the sidelines.
- Author(s): Kelley Steven-Waiss
- 182 Pages
- Business + Money Management, Entrepreneurship
Description
About the Book
Valley Girls is an impassioned call-to-action and a clear-eyed guide for every woman with a brilliant business idea who has been sitting on the sidelines. It offers inspiration, role models, and a clear path to empower women to follow their dreams.
Author Kelley Steven-Waiss, founder and former CEO of the SaaS tech start-up Hitch Works ("Hitch"), knew that less than 3% of venture capital went to all-women founding teams in the year she set out to be an entrepreneur. And yet, she managed to succeed. Now, she gives other women the benefit of her experience as well as that of the diverse female founders she interviewed. What did they all have in common? Which strategies brought success and which failed? How did they persevere through the hard times? This practical, hands-on guide and the powerful and passionate women profiled in it answer these questions and more, paving the way for all women to succeed.
Book Synopsis
Valley Girls is an impassioned call-to-action and a clear-eyed guide for every woman with a brilliant business idea who has been sitting on the sidelines. It offers inspiration, role models, and a clear path to empower women to follow their dreams.
Author Kelley Steven-Waiss, founder and former CEO of the SaaS tech start-up Hitch Works ("Hitch"), knew that less than 3% of venture capital went to all-women founding teams in the year she set out to be an entrepreneur. And yet, she managed to succeed. Now, she gives other women the benefit of her experience as well as that of the diverse female founders she interviewed. What did they all have in common? Which strategies brought success and which failed? How did they persevere through the hard times? This practical, hands-on guide and the powerful and passionate women profiled in it answer these questions and more, paving the way for all women to succeed.
Review Quotes
This is an important book, not just for women, but for anyone with a dream and an idea. Kelley Steven-Waiss has shown us what's possible when you combine dreams and ideas with passion, purpose, and grit. I've known Kelley for many years, and as the father of two daughters, I've often described her to them as a role model for what women can accomplish. Valley Girls shines a spotlight on what's possible when passion becomes the fuel for living one's dream and bringing a bold idea to the world. More importantly, I hope this book shines a long-overdue spotlight on the enormous contribution women can make if we would only kick open the doors that have held them back!
-Richard Mirabile, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO of Success Factor Systems (now SAP SuccessFactors)
This book surely would have helped me "stick to it" in 1997, when at twenty-six years old I stood for my first VC pitch. All I remember from it was "cool product, kid, but where are your cofounders?" As a Valley Girl entrepreneur, now in her 50s with one successful exit, and one still building, I'm energized by Kelley's synthesis of our experience. She brilliantly illustrates the lessons and stories that display how we push forward, how we channel our resilience and perseverance, and how we overcome! This is a book for everyone invested in ensuring the next generation of great companies is launched by the best variety of individuals our world has to offer.
-Coco Brown
Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance; 100 Most Powerful People of Silicon Valley
This book illustrates what is possible when you build a culture of inclusion, where the best ideas can open new and adjacent markets or create value. Great leaders support innovation from all areas of the company and empower women at all levels to be seen, valued, and heard. I was fortunate to partner with Kelley along her entrepreneurial journey when I was the CEO of HERE Technologies and to share her vision for the future of work. Kelley's message in the book is clear-the world will benefit from more female intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs disrupting the status quo.
-Edzard Overbeek
former CEO of HERE Technologies and board director of KPN and CVC
Valley Girls represents the core philosophy Kelley has lived in her professional life. I have had the privilege of being a part of her journey from CHRO to entrepreneur and seeing first-hand how she took many of the concepts as a thought leader in the future of work and applied them to her own career. In these pages, she has an inspirational message to female innovators to live a growth mindset, go after their dreams, and to pursue each of their entrepreneurial paths with eyes wide open.
-John Boudreau, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist, University of Southern California, author of Reinventing Jobs, Lead the Work, Work Without Jobs, and Investing in People
Valley Girls is a must read for all aspiring entrepreneurs and investors, regardless of their gender. Kelley Steven-Waiss builds upon her eye-opening personal experience with incredible stories of women who have achieved success by embracing their own strengths and lifting others up instead of conforming to the stereotype of the hard-charging disruptor that has been historically glorified in Silicon Valley. Valley Girls provides a much-needed expanded blueprint for how it looks to change the world with technology and will surely inspire a new generation of collaborative leaders.
-Allison Baum-Gates
General Partner, SemperVirens and author of Breaking Into Venture