Category: Professional Relationship Building

17 May, 2013

How to Explain the ROI of Career Development Workshops

by Karen Catlin

Founders for growth stage startup and executives in a larger company know that the war for technical talent is intense. They also understand that they need to differentiate themselves is to show that they care about their employees, career growth, and development. They want to provide training workshops, mentoring opportunities, and other skill development options.

Employees also suggest such programs, but too often don’t know how to answer the following questions posed by management:

How will these offerings make a difference?
What return will the company get on their investment?

As a consultant for companies who want to hire and retain female technical talent, I often hear these questions. While it may seem challenging to measure the return on investment of a career development workshop, a group mentoring program, or a coaching package, I’ve found some straightforward approaches to take. It’s not as hard at it looks! My methodology is based on skills I learned as an executive in the software industry, where we used metrics to measure the impact of just about everything we did.

To calculate and communicate ROI, I follow these 5 steps:

Identify the business problem that you want to hire a consultant to solve. For example, many of the companies I advise want to retain their female technical talent, reducing the turnover or “regretted losses” of this highly-sought after demographic.

Simplify the problem. Instead of measuring the full impact of the program, recast it in simpler terms. E.g., What is the ROI for this program if it helps retain just one female engineer?

Measure the cost. While retaining an employee doesn’t have specific costs, replacing an employee does. To measure that cost, I searched for information from highly rated research groups. I found estimates reporting that it costs from 50% to 250% of a person’s salary to replace them (source: Catalyst). I decided to be conservative and go with the lower number. Based on my experience managing software development teams in Silicon Valley, I decided to use $120,000 as an average salary for my calculation. So, 50% of $120,000 = $60,000, or the average cost to replace a software engineer.

Calculate the ROI of the program you want. Simply divide the cost of the problem by the cost of the program. If the fee for the project is $10,000, the ROI would be $60,000/$10,000, or 6:1.

Compare the ROI to other initiatives. Ask management about the ROI they’ve seen for other career development programs. Or, find published examples for other companies. Assuming the ROI being offered to you is comparable or better, this data will showcase the impact the program can have for your organization. For example, I found that Sodexo measured reduced turnover and increased productivity to assess their mentoring program. In 2007, they reported a 2:1 ROI. (Source: Catalyst). If I can provide mentoring with a 6:1 ROI, my program will benefit you well by comparison

Have you seen other ways to measure ROI for career development programs? Please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

After a successful career in the software industry, Karen Catlin now focuses on developing powerful women leaders. She draws from her experience as an executive to coach individuals, lead workshops, and advise companies on hiring and retaining female talent. Karen also writes “Use Your Inside Voice,” a blog about the intersection of parenting and leadership.

In her prior role, Karen was a vice president in the CTO’s office at Adobe Systems. She co-founded the “Adobe & Women” initiative, focused on attracting, retaining, and providing career development opportunities for women at Adobe. Karen joined Adobe as part of the 2005 acquisition of Macromedia. While at Macromedia, she held a variety of management positions across engineering, including establishing the program management discipline for the company. Earlier in her career Karen worked for GO Corporation, Hitachi Europe Limited, and Brown University.

Karen holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Brown University.

In her spare time, Karen enjoys being outdoors, playing tennis, and designing hand-knit accessories. She resides in San Mateo, CA with her husband and their two teenagers.

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6 May, 2013

I Don’t Want to Burn Any Bridges

I don’t know if it’s the proximity to the Golden Gate Bridge, or just a common phrase, but last week I heard not 1, not 2, but 3 people I’m mentoring tell me, “Well I don’t want to burn any bridges.” They were responding to my gentle nudge for them to speak up for what they wanted.

These three people thought that reaching out to someone they didn’t know and asking them for a favor, standing up to a boss, or asking for what they needed to advance in their career would somehow burn a bridge. My response to their remark was, “The funny thing about bridges is that they go both ways.”

What I meant by that remark was that if someone is going to shoot you down or be unresponsive then do you really want to continue the relationship with them? The problem is that too often we think that if we reach out to ask someone for a favor they will be annoyed or burdened. It’s because we’re so conditioned to getting rejected or thinking that we’re not good enough. We forget that we also have values to offer to others, which includes or talents, skills, and experience.

As smart and honestly overqualified as the people are that I mentor, their biggest problem isn’t finding a job, or even leveling up in their career. What’s really holding them back is that they don’t understand their own self-worth.

On paper, I have been under-qualified for EVERY job I have applied for.

My first job right out of college was as an R&D Engineer, the job description read something like: 5 years experience or a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Must have experience in ASIC verification.

I didn’t have 5 years experience, nor did I have a PhD, and I sure as heck didn’t know what ASIC verification was (if you’re curious: it’s an application specific integrated circuit). During my interview, I didn’t sit there and feel sorry for myself. I knew my interviewers knew that I had limited abilities and experience. But they were willing to fly me across the country, put me up in a rather nice hotel, take me out to lunch and dinner, and spend the entire day interviewing me, so I figured I must know something. During the interview, I just did the best I could, I answered every question I knew, and mentioned what I didn’t know. That was enough to get the job, and be one of the highest paid engineering graduates back in 2004, when tech was still recovering from it’s previous dot com bubble burst!

Fast forward to 2006, when I started working at Mint. Being a founding engineer meant that I had to interview both my bosses: the director of engineering and the VP of engineering. Clearly these two men had many many years of experience on me. At the time, I didn’t even know what they would do in the roles. But I just marched on up to the white board, and had them solve problems.

In each of these situations, I knew that I had limited capabilities, but it didn’t stop me from trying and reaching out to people. The biggest thing I had going for me was knowing that sometime before I had been presented with a challenge, and had figured out a way to tackle it.

And yes rejection is part of the game. They way in which someone rejects you is important. If they don’t respond at all or are overly harsh, then you’re better of not working with them or for them.

So instead of second guessing your own abilities, take the time to quiet your mind, and let your mouth do the talking. Know that you have something to offer, and if people want to reject you, give them the freedom to reject you. And know that you also have the freedom to pursue other opportunities. Don’t hold yourself back by coming up with some excuse like, “I don’t want to burn any bridges.”

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8 March, 2013

Femgineer Forum: Because Knowing How to Code Isn’t Always Enough

By Sujata Menon

If you have ever been in a bind to figure out how to ASK – for a raise, change in role, work life balance, or anything that affects your work life, Poornima Vijayashanker has some simple, well thought out strategies and solutions. Her forums are in the format of a workshop; it is not just all talk. You get to practice what you just heard and receive instant feedback from a group that gets it. This is what makes Poornima’s forums unique!

Poornima’s upcoming Forum at CoverHound in San Francisco, is about Fostering Female Friendly Companies. Here’s the agenda:

Strategies on how to build up the confidence you to need to approach supervisors regarding sensitive topics
Provide you with effective communication techniques for dealing with difficult teammates and supervisors
Give you a guide to building a culture that attracts and retains females, and is known for being female friendly organization

I have attended both of Poornima’s past forums and left with some great usable tips. Poornima’s first forum on Compelling Communication aka how to craft an ASK helped me out a ton! I took a break after I had my first child. 6 months into the motherhood, I started interviewing. I wasn’t sure if I could tell my interviewer that I had a child, and if I should cover up an important aspect of my life. I didn’t know that I could seek out specific jobs based on how supportive the workplace would be, and accepting of the fact that I am a new mother. I constantly wondered the following: Are startups ruled out for me? Or am I destined for a boring job? I had so many questions and I was not even sure if these were valid questions. After meeting the femgineers, I got a lot of feedback and ideas to approach my job hunt which proved very helpful.

The second forum covered yet another important topic of how to change roles at workplace. Poornima had ideas as how one can build up an experience even without the title, look for a job internally or externally with experience and portfolio to prove that you have the experience for the new role.

A typical forum is structured like this:

Poornima will discuss her strategies about the topic at hand like how to craft an ASK.
The participants pair up and discuss, practice the solution to their problem based on Poornima’s ideas.
A few of the chosen participants will get to present to the entire audience for feedback and more ideas to solve the issue.

You will leave the workshop with many tips and ideas to apply at your workplace. Plus, you get to network with fellow femgineers! And, dinner is covered. What’s not to like?

To sum up, here are 6 reasons why you should attend femgineer forums:

Network with fellow femgineers.
Get help from other professionals with similar workplace challenges.
Hear tested solutions about the chosen topic.
Get feedback about your specific issue from a supportive audience which gets it.
Propose new forum topics that Poornima will think about and help you solve.
Enjoy free food.

Even though this event is primarily focused on women in STEM, men are welcome to join. In fact, we had an amazing event at iSocket, where many of the men on the team participated, because they too wanted to know how to change roles in their career!

Hope to see you at the next Femgineer Forum!

Sujata Menon holds a Masters in Computer Science from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, India and works as a developer in SF Bay Area.

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4 March, 2013

Femgineer Heading to SxSWi

I’ll be taking the annual expedition to SXSW. While it’s a veritable spring break for startup fiends and tech geeks I like to set some goals for what I’m going to accomplish. This years goals are actually quite simple and focused:

Spread the word about Femgineer. I’m sure many of you have noticed that for the past 6 months I’ve been heavily focused on teaching, blogging, and basically transforming Femgineer into a educational startup focused on helping highly skilled professionals level up in their careers. I always like to start building companies for a niche. So my initial customer base is tech professionals: engineers, designers, product managers, and tech entrepreneurs. I’ve also honed in my offerings to: a long form course on lean product development taught for 8 weeks a few times a year, and short workshops that I teach around the SF Bay Area. At SXSW I’ll be offering some specials to those who sign up for the next Lean Product Development course, which will begin at the end of April. But you have to be present and at SXSW to get the special!

Meet other Femgineers. I’ll be hosting a dinner, and inviting designers, developers, and product managers to attend. The focus of any conference is to network, but sometimes it’s nice to do in a more intimate setting with like-minded people who are from around the country. To keep it an intimate affair, I’m capping the attendee list to 25. If you’re interested in joining please RSVP. I’d like to thank our sponsor Social Chorus and my buddy from high school, David Cruz, for helping to make this event happen!

Catch up startup fiend friends from around the country. While I wish all my startup friends lives in SF, I’m actually really happy that they don’t. Not because I don’t want to see them regularly, but because I get the chance to hear what’s going on in their neck of the woods. Getting a different perspective is key to creativity. David Kadavy is one of my all time favorite SXSW buddies, and I have to thank my dear friend Abby Albright from high school for hosting me! I’m also really looking forward to meeting a few people I’ve been mentoring for months at the conference.

Every year SXSW gets bigger, and a lot of people complain about it. But I think you have to take it all in stride. The things I enjoy about the conference are learning more about design, networking, and above savoring delicious Texas BBQ!

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19 February, 2013

How to be A Team-player in an Agile Team, Part 1

by Frances Advincula

The last few days was my first foray into the agile practice of the planning game, wherein stakeholders, programmers, and the rest of the team go in a room and brainstorm, think, talk, and fight in order to come up with what we are actually going to build. It was really mind opening to just see how the dynamics work — the software architects and programmers tend to really have lots to say, because, well they’re the ones going to build the software. On the other hand, it was also interesting to see how the QA and the documentation team asked a lot of questions, and usually ones that customers will most likely be asking. It really reinforced me once again how great debate and teamwork ultimately leads to a better product.

Seeing the value of a synergistic team, I thought I would expound on my previous article on how to work more effectively with your team by interviewing a technical writer and a scrum master (who we will keep anonymous for this post). Our technical writer Bonnie Doyle Chase has worked various documentation and product management positions. Follow her grammatically correct tweets at @bonniedchase.)

On the Value of Documentation

Let’s start with appreciating the work of the technical writer on your team. I think it would help us, as developers, to know where they are coming from, so that we can work more productively with them.

I know sometimes developers tend to brush off doc as “just doc”. What do you have to say about that?

We hear the myth time and again, “no one cares about documentation.” I brush these comments off because as I see it, no one knows they care about documentation. I believe this stigma comes from the amount of bad documentation people have been exposed to in the past. They didn’t have good technical communicators writing quality documentation. And there are still writers out there perpetuating this myth through bad documentation. However, there is a new generation of technical communicators out there who I like to call Docvocates. They are the ones who are actively working on eliminating this myth by producing quality work and speaking out about what we really do. I hope we can change the way people view doc, but it may take a while. These are what I view as the top three benefits of good documentation:

Eases cognitive friction
Improves the chances of product success
Reduces the number of support tickets

The proof is in the metrics. The thousands of visits we get to our documentation site, the emails we receive from customers asking for more information on a product or process, and the research completed in the field all point to the value of documentation. A lesson I’ve learned in my field (which could apply to many others) is this: Know your value, even when others do not. People read documentation; they just don’t like to admit it.

Is there anything you wish developers knew about documentation?

Technical writers don’t want to be developers. I make this statement because if you look at the history of technical communication, the initial writers were developers and engineers. It wasn’t something that people went to school for, and it wasn’t necessarily something many developers and engineers wanted to do. Sure, that is still the case in some companies that are behind the times, but for the most part, technical communication is recognized as its own profession and academic program. The field has made tremendous strides over the last decade and will continue to do so in the coming years. And it’s not just about writing. For a lot of technical communicators, writing is only 10% of what they do. They are information architects, document and web designers, content strategists, and usability specialists. Technical writers need developers for their subject-matter expertise, and developers need technical writers to bridge the gap with their users. While they don’t want to be developers, there is a relationship there that will always remain and should be fostered.

If developers could do just one thing to improve the process/help you perform your job better, what would it be?

Give technical writers time. Whether they need more information about issues to write release notes, or information about functionality to write the doc, take some time to answer questions. Doc teams obtain the technical information from developers and turn it into something understandable for the user. The longer developers take to respond, the shorter the time writers have to do their jobs. That timeline impacts the quality of the work, and it impacts how users view the product.

In your opinion, do you think doc has a place in startups?

Yes. Sam Carpenter will do a much better job of telling you why: Why Startups Need Documentation.

On the Value of Project Management

I also just started my masters at Johns Hopkins, and I’m taking a class in project management. Let me tell you — I have never appreciated my managers more! Between responding to request for proposals, creating work breakdown structures, really, my head just spun! With that in mind, let’s see how we can cooperate better with our managers (I noticed we developers sometimes can be quite anti-management.), which will ultimately help make the team more successful.

Is there anything you wish developers knew about your job?

I do wish that developers understood the importance of project tasks that don’t include coding. Most developers are good with this, but some don’t understand the importance of things other than coding. I know things like time tracking are not that exciting, but accurate time tracking is extremely important as far a project reporting goes. Which eventually rolls all the way up to asking for more funding next year to increase the team size (or to keep it the same) so that we can continue to deliver great code. It’s not enough to deliver great code. It must be on time and on budget as well.

If developers could do just one thing to improve the process/help you perform your job better, what would it be?

Communication, some developers get offended when you ask them what they are working on or when they will be done. Estimates are hard to give, and I understand that, but we also have to give them. We can handle it when we are wrong with things such as change control but often developers hate to be tied to do a time estimate.

Is there anything you wish they would stop doing?

For the most part I have always worked with great developers. One thing that is hard for them to do is to deliver code that is good enough. We should always strive for great code, but you can spend too much time tweaking code. With us trying to hit market demand we must be agile and fast. In no way should we ship bad code. Sometimes though we need to ship good code… not excellent code. This is a very hard line to decide what is good enough. It’s very hard to tell developers that as well.

Also, I know that QA and documentation are not developers’ favorite thing to do, but they are necessary evils and it makes my job easier when developers just do what they need to do instead of belly ache about it.

I hope you have learned something from these interviews as I have. I know I am very guilty about some of these sins! I especially hate giving estimates, but like the interviews said, we must all do our part to ensure that the team succeeds as a whole.

One more thing, although I am very disappointed that Femgineer wasn’t mentioned, here is a goodie-bag for your women-in-tech resources fix. Happy weekend, Everyone!

Frances Advincula writes the series Frances Fridays. Frances recently graduated with a degree in Computer Science with specialization in Software Engineering. She now works as a Software Developer for Accenture (Software). A proud geek girl, she’s sure she is the only one who can’t play video games. Follow her random musings at @FranAdvincula.

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21 January, 2013

Femgineer Spotlight: Diana Espino Software Engineer at VMR Products

By Jasmine Lee

This week’s Femgineer Spotlight is Diana Espino. She began her career as a web developer at the tender age of 15 and soon after, created her first company; PeBe Inc. After more than ten years of working on her own, she joined Worth International Media Group, where she built and launched an eLearning web app for the travel industry. Today, she is a software developer on the e-commerce team at VMR Products, a consumer electronics manufacturer and distributor.

Diana’s initial passion for computer science and technology began at age six when she touched her first computer in a first grade classroom. Her natural curiosity for technology was further piqued at age fifteen when her older brother refused to help her when their home computer crashed, taking her college admissions essay with it! After personally poring over computer manuals in order to gain a better understanding, she said to herself, “I will learn to understand this machine better than anyone else!” A few hours and healthy computer later, she connected her family’s computer to the Internet for the first time and introduced herself to the World Wide Web. Ever since, Diana grew a great respect for computers and the learning process it takes to master them.

Diana’s passion for computer science was not entirely encouraged, however. The majority of Diana’s family did not believe in educating girls. Her father refused to pay for her college expenses and her mother, grandparents, aunts and uncles spoke to Diana about raising a family and attending to the needs of the household. Diana responded by going to school and began looking for a job to help offset tuition costs. However, quickly realized because she was so young, no one would hire her. Consequently, she taught herself HTML, CSS, and JavaScript all on her own, so that she could start an e-commerce site and earn the money she needed to put her way through college. She says, “I was always very interested and passionate about coding. It is my passion that got me through life.”

Diana went on to become not only the first in her family to attend college, but also graduate and with multiple degrees: a BS in Business Administration and an MBA. “I’ve always made it a priority to go out there and to learn,” she says, “computer science was my escape. Now, it has become my world.”

Today, as a software developer and active member of the South Florida tech community, Diana says, “it’s great to be a woman in tech!” Her advice to girls and young women interested in technology is “don’t pay attention to the blurriness of what’s going on around you. Stick with [computer science] if you like it. Don’t get caught up in not understanding the math and don’t be discouraged. Math will train you to think logically like a computer scientist. The math is valuable because it will help you solve problems in the real world.”

She advises young women and girls interested in STEM, “remember to be yourself and to be where you want to be. Do what you’re scared of in order to make yourself comfortable. After all, if computer science were easy, you wouldn’t be doing it.” With Diana’s passion for computer science and her work ethic, she inspires me to get excited and to be open to learning.

Jasmine is a freshman undergrad at UC Berkeley majoring in Computer Science. She is a Hackers @ Berkeley club officer and also works as a webmaster at the UC Berkeley Boalt Law School. Jasmine is humbly inspired by the hackers and builders around her and is excited to learn more about the field. Not only does she like sharing her passion with everyone, but she wants to learn how to play the ukulele and says “Carpe diem! Seize the day. Also, I like bubble milk tea.”

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14 January, 2013

Internship Insights

By Jasmine Lee

As my last few hours as an official intern for Femgineer and Poornima come to an end, I look back with gratefulness to all the Femgineers who supported me and cheered me on during this past month of growth.

Thank you to Poornima for welcoming me and taking me in. I am grateful for all the new experiences you’ve exposed me to this month. I passed several milestones over the course of my internship here at Femgineer: I attended my first Femgineer Forum, worked with Poornima to improve my application for the Thiel Fellowship, learned how to use Twitter (teehee!), developed an MVP for the first startup I created with a team of UC Berkeley engineers, and achieved a vast array of other goals. From working at Femgineer over these past few weeks, I have gained a clearer understanding of the skills, self motivation, and personal qualities that I need to grow as a person and entrepreneur. Thanks Poornima for leading by example, and for inspiring me with your passion and never-ending determination.

Thank you Frances for cheering me on! I enjoy reading your blog posts and hope to one day be as skilled as you are, both in coding and in writing. Thanks to Diana Espino for sharing your life stories and engineering experiences with me, and to Pascale K for giving me your advice and encouragement.

This post sounds awfully a lot like a good bye, but it really isn’t. Think of it instead as a…see you later! Thanks again to Poornima and Femgineer community for supporting me as I pursue my academic and entrepreneurial ventures. Hope to make you all proud and bring some good news soon!

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30 December, 2012

Initial Inspiration

When I was 12 I wrote and delivered first oratory. Seems like a great feat for a 12 year-old right? Well the truth is that I got a lot of help from a very kind neighbor Ms. Washington. Ms. Washington was a lawyer, I really wanted to be a lawyer at 12. At the time not only was she the only lawyer I knew, but she was the only lawyer I knew who was also well spoken, kind, and above all approachable. I told her about my oratory and what was on the line, a $1000 scholarship, and she agreed to read my oratory and help me out.

I visited Ms. Washington one afternoon. She reviewed my oratory, gave me some suggestions, and even handed me a copy of an oratory that she had written that had been published, wow! I was impressed and inspired. That afternoon at Ms. Washington’s I learned how to add imagery to my oratory so that the audience could visualize what I was saying. But what I really learned from Ms. Washington I wouldn’t realize until yesterday afternoon.

Jasmine Lee is currently an intern for Femgineer. About a week ago Jasmine told me she was going to be applying to the Thiel Fellowship, and asked if I would read over her application. I of course agreed to read it.

Reading Jasmine’s application was mostly a treat for me. I learned what initially inspired her into engineering, and understood the intimate moments of her theater experience that took her from stage fright to fearless. Sure I could have just asked Jasmine over the course of her internship, but there was something rich about reading her written words.

After I read Jasmine’s application and gave her feedback, it occurred to me that I was now Ms. Washington! It was a quiet and satisfying moment. When you get older, like say 30, you forget how far you’ve come, and what led you to where you are today. Stopping to help Jasmine was like a time machine, that put it all in perspective. Thank you Jasmine for helping bring back those wonderful memories of where it all began for me, and thank you Ms. Washington for being my initial inspiration.

PS I’ll be quietly rooting for Jasmine to get the fellowship!

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28 December, 2012

How to Make Progress with Part Timers

One of the perks that comes with getting funding is hiring full time staff to get things done. But if you’re in the boat of bootstrapping your business like myself then it might take you sometime to make your first hire. In the meantime as a founder you should be doing your best to delegate even if its to people who can contribute part-time.

Figure out what is the minimum commitment each contributor can give you. Is it 2 hours, 10 hours? 1 blog post? A market research project? Figure out the units of work, and deliverable dates so you can measure progress. I typically keep everything on a project basis, keep the projects small so there is progress, and for tasks like customer support that are unending, have it be on an hourly basis. It doesn’t matter the size of the project or the level of contribution, project management basics always apply!

Hire staff who are competent and can produce results. You want to find those who already know how to get the work done. So that in the limited amount of hours they are working they are producing. The corollary to that is you want to make sure they are each doing the work they are best at, not what needs to get done. i.e. if you have people who love doing sales, they should be doing sales. This way they will at least feel confident and competent and keep working to produce results. When they finish the work you need to do a checkin much like you would with a paid or fulltime employee. Retention is important regardless of whether someone is working fulltime or parttime, and they deserve to be appreciated!

Alternatives to part-time staff. Some folks love hiring interns. I think they can be great as long as you follow the previous bullet i.e. you dont want to have to spend time training them. I’d also recommend automating as much as possible, and using a VA for tasks that cannot be automated but are time sinks for myself.

Make sure you’ve taken the time to create projects that are clear and concise. I recently hired an intern, but before I brought her onboard I went ahead and setup all the projects that I needed help with, and then broke them up into weeks. Below is the sample document I sent her right before she started. She used the document, and put in a few comments when she needed clarification. I’d respond to her comments either inline or during our daily 10 minute checkin.

Sample Intern Projects

Week 1

1. Compile conference list into a spreadsheet. Here is the criteria:

Must be open to paying speakers (at the very least room and board)
Proposal dates shouldn’t have passed!
Find out key contacts and conference organizers.

Note to Poornima:

I want to send an email asking for more information about pay/benefits given to speakers since none is given on the site. How do I write one? Here’s is what I’ve started:

(“Dear Conference Organizers,

I am the community management intern for Poornima Vijayashanker, CEO of Bizeebee and Femgineer. She is looking to speak at your conference on ________. What sort of benefits or pay are speakers given?

Best,
Jasmine)

2. Social Media – increase followers for Femgineer on Twitter and Facebook.

This is an ongoing task to be done weekly. Try to follow 200+ people a week.
People to follow: females – software engineers, software developers, engineers, women’s leadership organizations, bloggers in tech (women), engineering organizations (e.g. stick with it, society of women engineers)

3. Blog post

How you got this internship, and what you’ve learned so far.
Need bio that should be 1 paragraph, (see Frances’ bio) and small pic.

Remember even with limited means you can make progress! The same rules of finding people who are highly motivated, care about getting things done, and are interested in your product and company still apply. The final thing I will say is you should not feel guilty about the inability to compensate people monetarily! However, it is extremely important that you are respectful of their time, other commitments, show appreciation for their work, give them tasks that will build confidence, checkin periodically, and compensate them when you do have the means to do so. The final point is extremely important. If people notice that you’re benefiting from their hard work and not sharing the windfall they will definitely leave or start to underperform! Seems like a lot right? Truth is that it is the lack of doing all of the above that drive people away from high paying careers to pursue ones that are more fulfilling even if they are paid less

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27 December, 2012

Startups & Moms Can Mix

By Lyndi Thompson

In May of 2012, I joined an elite group of women who call themselves “mothers.” I wear this new title proudly even when I am sleep deprived. While I love being a Mom, I also love working. I even had a self intervention a few nights ago talking myself into going back to sleep instead of working on an editorial calendar for the upcoming year. Boiled down, my work revolves around supporting entrepreneurs as a Generalist, Strategist, Analyst and Marketer.

I want to work, but I need a supportive environment. I know there are other moms out there like me who are trying to figure out what makes sense for their lifestyle and career ambitions. The first step to balancing kids and a career is to know that you are in control when it comes to approaching companies and communicating your needs.

Limitations of Larger Companies

Larger companies are taking some steps which make being a working mom easier. Cisco is allowing their employees to telecommute (though under the banner of being “green”). Some big-box companies have re-purposed janitorial closets for “Mothers’ rooms.” Oh so cozy. Working Mother even labeled some business as Mom friendly. However, I just keep hearing it from my tiny-person-in-tow tribe that most big companies just don’t get us moms.

“They’re organized, can multi-task, and have zero time to screw around. In short: Moms are wired to kick ass.” – Stacey Epstein, Inc

That quote made me smile. Not a smug someone-gets-it smile, but more of a “thank you for noticing” Eeyore style.

I recently heard a Mom melt into a place of surrender; her white flag said “OK, I will postpone my career, take care of my children and do house chores until I get a supernatural sign that I can return to work.” The label of Mom sometimes feels frumpy and disappointing compared to its previous glamorous pregnant chapter. Anticipation leads up the big day then – BAM – she is transformed from woman to mom. Without skipping a beat, women feel that there is a clock tick tick ticking away in them to make some really hard decisions. Quit working full time, consider daycare, lose the baby pudge, be back-to-work or interview ready, or what? Whether a woman needs or just wants to work the pressure is on. If you are a mom reading this, remember you are not alone.

“Some 71% of women with children under age 18 either work or are looking for work, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report in early 2011.” – Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

Flexibility and Freedom

Technology startups have a certain soft spot in my heart. Maybe it’s because they rattle the conventional thoughts of how technology can be used to improve our world and make everyday annoyances obsolete. One of the reasons I fell head over heels in love with startups is that they explore how work can be done (rather than how it should be done or is currently being done). Another is that the where, how and by whom work can be done is constantly being challenged, revisited and redefined. What startups need are clever, scrappy, and action-taking team members. If you find yourself looking at a job description, remember a universal startup attitude is that many skills can be taught, fit cannot.

Website domains are a bit like cars, simple to look at but under the hood it’s easy to get lost in obscure details, I learned about domains, hosting and a lot more at the first startup I worked at. Working for no more than 15 hours a week to start gave me a chance to see if I liked the company, and them a better sense of how I worked and where I could be of even more valuable. My first taste of startup life eventually lead to long days and bumpy times but I loved every moment of it, I was hooked and guess what – I was working for a CEO who was also a very dedicated Mom.

I have been on both sides of the startup hiring table pitching myself as a valuable asset, as well as looking at potential team members. When I hire, I ask myself two questions, “does this person have a good words to work ratio?” and “would I feel safe with them driving my car?” Action taking, trustworthy people are often tricky to find. Finding talent for a startup can often be a tedious game of panning for gold. It’s messy, time sucking and often disappointing. To avoid the resume blasting the trick is: get noticed and maintain your brand. That was cruelly simplified and I know that even without a baby on your hip creating a personal brand isn’t going to happen overnight. However, that’s why startups and Moms can mix; entrepreneurs can smell potential and are willing to place bets on people who are willing to row across the startup sea with them.

Bringing home my baby girl was surreal. I was starving for support. I found myself embracing a local Le Leche League chapter, a couple of online Moms’ groups and keeping my Mom friends on speed dial. Startups also have such groups and don’t be shocked when you go and find out many of the people there are parents. Meetup groups are a good place to look for “working mom,” “ladies in technology” and “tech startup” groups. Hand off baby for a couple hours and join an event to see if it’s a good fit.

“The average age of a first-time founder of a company is 39 — meaning that start-up life for some entrepreneurs is less about video game marathons on Saturdays and more about balancing parental responsibilities.” – Hannah Seligson, NY Times

Plan to Make it All Work

Once an a curious talent seeking entrepreneur comes knocking at your door, tweeting at you or asks for your Linkedin url be prepared: you need to be able to communicate

How many hours you can work per day/week: Be conservative and be willing to negotiate.
How and when you can be reached: For example, by phone from 10AM to 4PM, Skype chat when available and text messages are OK anytime.
Your rate: If you truly don’t know, it’s okay to ask a friend, do some research or some math to figure out rates. Know what rate you can live with, what would be good and what would rock your socks.
What you can offer in what time frame: For example, in three months I can deliver a prototype of the Flash game ready to be converted and polished for iOS devices.

Remember, opportunities are never in short supply and, like babies, with a strong support network, bloom beyond our wildest imagination.

Lyndi Thompson is an online marketer for tech startups like BizeeBee. She lives and works on a hobby farm in Maple Valley, WA, where she is surrounded by the breathtaking views of the Pacific Northwest, and many gentle souls: her husband, 2 dogs, cat, 2 horses, donkey, ducks, chickens, and latest addition Clara, her baby girl! Learn more about Lyndi at Lyndit.

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