Entrepreneurship, Strategic Transformation & Wine.
My second interviewee is Linsey Fryatt, the Managing Editor of Berlin-based online startup magazine Venture Village. Linsey has been a part of the entrepreneurial scene in Berlin for a year now, and looks at it wearing a journalist’s hat most of the time. I contacted Linsey because I wanted that exact perspective: the views of someone who has been in Berlin long enough to know her way around; someone who is not a founder herself but intimately linked with this very particular parallel universe.
Over lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the heart of Berlin’s Mitte district, Franziska von Hardenberg, founder of Bloomydays (a successful subscription-based flower delivery service) offers her own perspective on being a woman entrepreneur:
“Actually, there are many occasions – events, panel discussions, conferences – where I’ve been the only woman. However, I think the whole discussion is overrated. And, to be perfectly honest – it’s something that you can use to your own advantage so easily!
Since Marissa Mayer’s appointment as CEO of Yahoo, the media spotlight has gone in search of female senior managers in tech companies and female entrepreneurs. But the harsh spotlight is revealing – in some cases – unpleasant detail. Women speaking out about serious gender bias, describing experiences of mobbing and ridicule, and telling stories of glass ceilings letting careers fall short of their potential.
In what ways is the situation of women in tech and tech-driven startups different from the position of women in other industries? First of all, it probably isn’t, depending on the angle from which you look at it. However there are some significant differences that make the topic interesting enough for some further exploration.
Anna Michel 