Last month, I attended my first SF Mobile event, Women in Technology, which turned out to be a different kind of SF Mobile event. Typically focused on the latest mobile start ups, SF Mobile teamed up with Orange Labs to pay homage to a group of extraordinary Silicon Valley women. All were entrepreneurial in the truest sense of the word, and were an impressive bunch in the eyes of yours truly. Special thanks to Vator.tv for the wonderful and useful recap!
Photo courtesy of DanielKokin.smugmug.com
It’s a tough choice deciding who was most interesting. Each of these women brought a unique perspective, experience and personality to the event. Sandy Jen (Meebo), was the classic Silicon Valley start up founder, laid back, unassuming and humble. Beatrice Tarka (Mobissimo) was as charming as any of her counterparts; and her company is producing revenue-bonus! Rashmi Sinha (Slideshare) had a compelling, and at times humorous story to tell, while Heather Harde (TechCrunch) provided insightful discussion on new media and the future of TechCrunch. Leila Chirayath Janah (Samasource) impressed the audience with the intelligent and creative philanthropy of her business model; and Silvia Console Battiana (Auctionomics) was entertaining in ways that I didn’t realize a Economics PhD with a radical idea could be.
I have to give big-ups to Orange Labs and Pascale Diaine for working with SF Mobile to produce such a fun event. Following the speakers, the cocktail/social hour was fun, relaxed and conducive to networking. Nice job! Diaine and VatorNews left us with a couple of great videos from the event. Diaine’s ‘Her Code’ can be seen on YouTube; and Vater.tv posted a great recap and video interview with Diaine (check it out below).
The event wasn’t what I expected from the SF Mobile, but it was truly inspiring. Membership in the SF Mobile Meetup and attendance at this event is doing more though. It’s leading Less Networks toward a new friendship with SF Mobile’s Lars Kamp, as we find our company immersed in mobile users, LBS technology and mobile advertising solutions; and tying it neatly into the social mobile world around Less Networks and humans at large.
~roberto
