Why and how I started a community for female startup founders

Photo credit: Haeruman.

How many of us would want to wake up one morning and say, “I am going to start a community today?”

Here’s what made me start one.

After withdrawing from the corporate sector to pursue and achieve my personal goals, I took the backseat to support some emerging female communities. I realized that I would have to step up and take charge or it just wouldn’t happen. After all, I am not shy and I embraced the “positioning principle” very early on in my career.

In the days of Cc:Mail (pre-internet) I would print articles on new technology and place the articles on all stakeholders’ work desks on Sundays so that my suggested readings were the first thing they would notice at the start of the workweek. I quickly became top of mind even though I had no technology background when I started. Moreover, I had a prominent advantage of being the only fluent English-speaking employee among 2,000 Taiwanese employees at Acer.

I thought to myself, “I know this!” That’s how SAW (#StartupAsiaWomen) was born in December 2016.

What made me focus on startups—on startups founded by women and on women wanting to build a career in startups?

Since my recent return to Singapore from Hong Kong, I have been curious how executives with rich corporate experiences could be relevant to startups. I soon realized that the barrier to enter startups may not be that high but the barrier to sustain and grow startups could use sound commercial judgment and experience from corporate executives like myself.

However, with hundreds of startups born every day, I wanted my contributions to count. I realized I could start with a community of women, even though the share of women still significantly pales vis-à-vis that of men. While there are other groups focusing on female entrepreneurs and founders, I noticed that not many of them tackle building careers in startups. It is also my passion to help “true” startups scale globally.

Creating SAW unleashed the power of putting yourself out there. I have been so encouraged with my head start that I put together a few pointers here to inspire others who might want to jump and put themselves out there as well. (The same principles apply if you want to position yourself as a thought leader, generate visibility for your startup, or build your personal branding.) 

1. Purpose

Putting yourself out there starts with a purpose. Have a clear idea as to why you’re doing it. Pay attention to what you and your target audience can get from it. Think of a mother who needs to mind her own safety on a plane to ensure the safety of her child.

2. Story

If you let your target audience hear your story, it will be easier for them to decide whether they’ll commit to you. It also gives them a sense of belonging.