Doing startups like a woman

I had the pleasure to speak at GloboMama’s networking event about how women do business differently, discuss some of the persistent lies about startups, and share advice from my years in startups and my Startup Doula business.

It wasn’t recorded — you had to be there for the whole magic. But I love you, so here’s the gist of what I said :)

I spent 20 years in early-stage startups, believing in pure tech-bro hustle culture. I worked 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. It got me 0% success and 100% burnout.

From the vantage point of time with a hefty dose of hindsight wisdom, I saw that all we did was running in circles. It didn’t matter how fast we ran or for how long — we would never reach the goal.

Understanding how to fix those mistakes gave birth to my methodology for building startups (or any business, really).

✨ Safe

Hustle culture that demands you to devote yourself 24/7 to your business is a fake barrier to deter women from trying.

You don’t need to sacrifice your life on the altar of building a startup to profit from building a tech product.

Having a financial safety net in the form of a job that pays your bills doesn’t hinder your chances at success in business; on the contrary — it allows you to make better decisions with a clear head.

✨ Sane

They say you need to think about your business 24/7, otherwise you’re not serious. That is a blatant lie that men use to get off the hook of remembering birthdays.

Having a one-track mind is a male privilege. Women have multiple things on their mind all the time because they’re the primary (or the only) responsible adult in the household.

Every decision, and especially business decisions, has to respect the boundaries of available energy and mental bandwidth.

Yes, things take time… but not all of that time has to be spent hands-on. Dough needs alone time to properly rise; so do ideas and solutions.

One of my habits, which I wish to have learned earlier, is writing everything down. I mean EVERYTHING. It’s better to throw away a heap of notes than to waste energy on remembering tens of small tasks.

✨ Sustainable

If your business drains and depletes you, it isn’t sustainable. Beachside vacations can replenish only so much…

My way to avoid that is choosing the path with challenges, not problems.

I’ll explain what I mean :)

Of course every path has issues to overcome — nobody is promised smooth sailing all the time. The question is how do you perceive those issues.

Some issues seem hard-but-doable, not pleasant but definitely solvable — those are challenges.

Some issues seem like end-of-the-world kind of issues; those that leave you crying for an adult (when you’re the adult) — those are problems.

For example, choosing to create content in the format that you enjoy creating makes learning to create good marketing content for your business much less frustrating.

This coming Wednesday is my birthday, so you’re getting a gift!

Reply to this email and tell me which one you want:

1. A digital copy of my book (EPUB)

2. 100% discount to my Validation Questions workbook

With love and purpose,

Ela Shapira
Startup Doula