Women are the Future of Technology Entrepreneurship

Makovsky & Women 2.0 Panel Highlights the Growing Presence of Women in High-Tech Leadership

NEW YORK, NY, December 1, 2011 — Technology companies more inclusive of women in leadership are more successful and valuable than their peers, according to a panel of high-tech innovators and venture capitalists that gathered recently for an event entitled, “Do Women Dominate the Web?” The event, hosted by Makovsky + Company, one of the world’s largest independent public relations firms, and Women 2.0, a business network and media company for technology startups, was held in New York on November 9.

“It’s no secret that the technology sector is a critical driver of rapid, broad-based and sustainable economic growth and competition in the U.S.,” said Matt Wolfrom, executive vice president at Makovsky. “One trend that cannot be overlooked is that women are the catalyst behind much of this growth. Whether we are talking about the spending engine behind e-commerce sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, or the innovators behind sites like Rent the Runway and Blip.tv, we are witnessing the creation of a new ‘power-demo.’”

The panel featured: Shaherose Charania, CEO and Co-Founder, Women 2.0; Joy Marcus, Partner, DFJ Gotham Ventures; Rebecca Paoletti, President Digital, Major League Gaming, and Dina Kaplan, COO and Co-Founder, Blip.tv.

“New York has overtaken Boston as the second largest hub for technology venture funding,” said Ms. Charania. “In large part thanks to the prevalence of industries like media, fashion and communications, New York has an ideal ecosystem for women founders.”

“We certainly need more role models, more mentors” Ms. Marcus added. “And, we need to be incredibly open about learning from each other. But, the change is happening. My 11 year old daughter feels she can be anything and do anything — even start a company!” 

About Makovsky + Company
Founded in 1979, Makovsky + Company (www.makovsky.com) is one of the nation’s leading independent global public relations, investor relations and branding consultancies, focused in financial services, professional services, health, technology, digital, branding and investor relations.  The firm attributes its success to its original vision: that the Power of Specialized Thinking™ is the best way to build reputation, sales and fair valuation for a client. Based in New York City, the firm has agency partners in more than 27 countries and in 37 U.S. cities through IPREX (IPREX.com), the second largest worldwide public relations agency partnership, of which Makovsky is a founder.

About Women 2.0
Women 2.0 is an emerging global media company for aspiring and current female entrepreneurs to launch successful, scalable, innovative ventures. Women 2.0 distributes its intellectual capital across multiple platforms online (mobile, social, web) and offline (events, workshops, conferences). It is a global network and social platform for influencers that drive trends and decisions — as startup founders and as consumers. For more information, visit www.women2.org.