Words of advice from inspiring chicks at DEMO Asia

Let’s face it. There is still a dearth of female entrepreneurs in startup land. As I walked around the booths at DEMO Asia 2012, only about ten percent of startups had female founders. But what does this mean for all of us aspiring, or current, female founders? I was fortunate to interview three inspiring women and capture their words of advice for us.

1. Being female does not handicap you.

Rebeca Hwang, Co-founder and CEO of YouNoodle

Rebeca Hwang, co-founder and CEO of YouNoodle, expressed that gender-bias is not as rampant as perceived by some. Founded in 2007, Rebeca does have some years of experience up her sleeve. She disagrees that female founders have a harder time raising funds.

At most, slight gender bias occurs when boardroom meetings are filled with middle-aged men. In such cases, questions related to finances were often directed to her male counterpart, whereas she often received queries related to team dynamics or social media. But once she stepped up and answered the “manly” questions, the attention was immediately directed back to her.

So long as you are well-prepared, women can command similar respect in boardrooms too. In fact, being a female in the startup community is often an advantage rather than a disadvantage. “Being female helps you stand out from the crowd”, according to Pascale Helyar-Moray, founder of StyleRocks.

2. Be a help-seeker.

“We have a high level of honesty with ourselves, and are not afraid to ask for help.”

Lee Min Xuan, co-founder of Playmoolah

Min Xuan highlighted that while setting up Playmoolah, co-founder Audrey Lee and her were often seeking for help. Though it is questionable whether this is a female-exclusive trait, this practice was also observed by Pascale of StyleRocks. Time constraints due to being a mother to baby-twins forced Pascale to recognize early on that she had to partner someone else to fill the tactical gap in StyleRocks. Through Mega, an pro-entrepreneurship course in Austrailia, she managed to find technical co-founders needed to complement her.

3. Find a support group.

“It’s important to have a bridge to the ecosystem; to be part of a support group with others whom you trust and share a bond with; to share intimate issues happening in your company.”