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The WinE Blog is Back! Apologies for several months of quiet, it has been a busy year for me balancing the second year of my MBA and my growing jewelry company, K Kane. That said, we wanted to be in touch to introduce our new first-year WinE Directors, and tell you a bit about what we have been up to so far this year!

Firstly, a bit about this year’s WinE team – Jessica Sawhney, Whitney Young, and yours truly, Kate Kane:

Jessica Sawhney graduated from Emory University with a double major in political science and psychology. Jessica began her career at J.P. Morgan in New York City, where she covered health care executives and foundations and assisted them with their investment management needs. Looking to make more of a direct impact, Jessica accepted a William J. Clinton Fellowship and worked in India with Anudip, a technology services start up that trains low-income farmers to join the formal workforce through its IT services business. Jessica provided internal strategy to help Anudip transform from a non-profit to a for-profit social enterprise.  After a year, Jessica moved to San Francisco to open the company’s US office as Head of Business Development where she was instrumental in raising its first big round of funding. Meanwhile, Jessica combined her background in finance with her passion for entrepreneurship and co-authored a research paper on impact investing entitled “Coordating Impact Capital.” After two great years, she decided to pursue an MBA with a concentration in health sector management at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Whitney Young worked as an equity analyst in New York covering large-cap banks and other financial institutions for Raymond James and Associates. As an equity analyst, Whitney has been quoted in American Banker, CNBC.com, and CNNMoney.com. Whitney is a graduate of the College of William and Mary with a degree in economics. In college, she worked to launch and expand Students Helping Honduras, an international nonprofit organization.

Kate Kane has been an entrepreneur since childhood. At 10 years old she began making beaded jewelry for friends and family, and when she turned 11 she enrolled in adult metalsmithing classes at a local arts center, where she continued to define and refine her design aesthetic. Upon graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College (CT) in 2005 with a BA in English Literature, Kate knew that her career would always revolve around jewelry, and she was lucky enough to land her dream job working at luxury diamond jeweler Harry Winston. She spent five amazing years at Harry Winston; first as Wholesale Marketing Manager responsible for marketing Harry Winston’s North American timepiece business, and then as manager of Harry Winston’s Marketing Intelligence Department. After realizing that the time has come to translate her lifelong love affair with jewelry into her own iconic jewelry brand, Kate is pursuing her MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business while developing her jewelry company, K Kane, for launch in July 2012. In addition to being the Director of WinE, Kate is also co-president of Fuqua’s Luxury Brand and Retail Club.

This year has been an exciting one at Fuqua! We kicked off our WinE programming in September, with an absolutely fantastic and inspiring evening at the home of Brooks Bell, a Duke alumna and the Founder & CEO of Brooks Bell Interactive. Brooks Bell Interactive is a leading data-driven online marketing firm that has provided game changing services for clients such as AOL, WeightWatchers.com, The Washington Post, Adobe and many more. My top takeaways from the evening with Brooks included: 1.) Define your Core Values, and when hiring people to work for your firm, hire people who reflect those values, 2.) Don’t be afraid to get scrappy with your business and go ALL IN, 3.) Use “we” not “I” when referring to your business to foster an inclusive atmosphere where everyone is accountable, 4.) Its good to prioritize happiness – make decisions that will allow that, 5.) Don’t underestimate the power and confidence that can be derived from great style. Brooks’ #1 book recommendation for aspiring entrepreneurs? “The E-Myth Revisited.” We were so pleased to have Brooks join us again as a keynote speaker for the 2011 Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Symposium at Fuqua, and will likely be visiting her home again in the spring for a second WinE Night!

Most recently, we were thrilled to have hosted an official event within Admissions’ annual Weekend for Women. Having noticed a growing interest from incoming female students in Social Entrepreneurship, we decided to cater our event towards this topic, and were lucky enough to secure five absolutely fantastic current Fuqua students to talk about their experiences working on and leading social enterprises. Our speakers included Bridget Bailey, Fuqua ’13, Courtney Lareau, Fuqua/Nicholas School ’12, Rachel Lichte, Fuqua/Nicholas School ’14, Jessica Sawhney, Fuqua ’13 and Joanne Sprague, Fuqua ’12. We will post a video of this event, along with pictures, very soon!

More posts to come. As always, if you come across something of interest to aspiring female entrepreneurs, please forward it to jessica.sawhney@fuqua.duke.edu, whitney.young@fuqua.duke.edu or katherine.kane@fuqua.duke.edu!

As I work to get more integrated in the Bay Area entrepreneurial community, I am constantly receiving newsletters and invites from amazing organizations. Below is a list of must-have books provided by the Fearless Women Entrepreneur Network in the Bay Area. I will be on the lookout for more resources or fabulous inspirational stories and tips out here on the West Coast! Feel free to follow me on twitter for feeds on the women in e perspective @RedWagonVenture and @jessieend (Class of 2011) for news on the social enterprise front.

- Brooke H, Class of 2011

Fearless Book Picks for Women in E 

• The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Start, Run and Maintain Her Own Business
  By Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon
• Birthing the Elephant: The Woman’s Go-For-It! Guide to Overcoming the Big Challenges of Launching a Business
  By Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman
• The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu’s Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at WorkBy Chin-ning Chu
• Career and Corporate Cool : How to Look, Dress, and Act the Part–at Every Stage in Your Career
  By Rachel C. Weingarten
• The Girl’s Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business
  By Susan Wilson Solovic

On August 8th, 85 Broads is launching It’s Women — a global media campaign designed to encourage companies, VC’s, super angels, and high net worth investors to dramatically increase their investment in startups founded by women entrepreneurs.  85 Broads is teaming up with The Good Girls, a women-focused strategic branding, design and communications firm founded by Holly Lynch, on our campaign launch.

On October 19, 2004, 85 Broads staged a one-day “Buycott” as a symbolic gesture to encourage Fortune 500 companies to pay greater attention to the enormous purchasing power of women.  Business Week covered the Buycott and Trendsight summed up our impact!

Fast forward to 2011.  According to the US Census Bureau, it’s women who oversee 85% of all consumer spending in America, which amounts to $5 trillion annually.  Globally, it’s women who account for $20 trillion in consumer spending annually — a rate that is expected to accelerate rapidly over the next 5 years.

Aileen Lee, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, wrote a terrific blog on TechCrunch titled “Why Women Rule the Internet.”  A few excerpts:

“Consumer web companies are growing at an unprecedented rate in terms of both user adoption and revenue.  But here’s a little secret that’s gone unnoticed by most.  When it comes to social and shopping, it’s women who rule the internet.”

“Look at Facebook, Zynga, Groupon, and Twitter: the majority of their users are female.  Bottom line, women are the routers and the amplifiers of the social web and they are the rocket fuel of e-commerce.”

WOMEN = PROFITS

Women purchase the lion’s share of goods and services produced globally.  For that reason, investing in women-owned startups will keep our global economy growing!

OUR CAMPAIGN MISSION: to dramatically accelerate the funding and growth of high-potential, high-growth, women-led startups by showcasing their biggest investors and champions: Golden Seeds, Astia, Illuminate Ventures, The Women’s Venture Capital Fund, Women 2.0, the Pipeline Fund and those who are boldly making the case for investing in women.

Join our global campaign, follow @ItsWomen, contribute your thoughts to our efforts using the #itswomen hashtag and watch this space for news and alerts on how to get more involved as our campaign unfolds.

Follow our campaign on Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn.

If your company would like to join our media campaign as a sponsor, please contact Krista Sande-Kerback at ksande-kerback@85broads.com.

About 85 Broads

http://www.85broads.com

85 Broads is an exclusive global women’s network whose mission is to generate exceptional professional and social value for its members. Through regional events and our online, password-protected community, members engage in a rapid, high-powered exchange of ideas and information which is what makes 85 Broads unique.

From 1997 to 2000, 85 Broads was a network founded exclusively for current and former Goldman Sachs women who worked at 85 Broad Street, the firm’s NYC headquarters, and at other GS offices worldwide.  In 2000, we realized that we were “too exclusive” and at the urging of women at Harvard Business School, we invited HBS women to join, along with thousands of women at other leading graduate business schools in the US and abroad, irrespective of chosen career path.

In 2004, we recognized the need to include women at the undergraduate level who were pursuing every career path imaginable and over the next 3 years, we created clubs on over 40 campuses in the US and abroad.

And in 2007, we extended membership in 85 Broads to all trailblazing women worldwide, irrespective of one’s college or graduate school affiliation.

The women in 85 Broads are entrepreneurs, investment bankers, consultants, lawyers, educators, venture capitalists, hedge fund managers, philanthropists, athletes, doctors, engineers, artists, and rocket scientists.  Learn more about our exclusive network and apply for membership.

An inspiring article, courtesy of Fuqua alumna Sarah Kate Fishback!

By Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (Founder & Chairman, Joyus)

Eleven years after founding my first company, I’ve discovered that embracing my inner entrepreneur again is more difficult than I had imagined it would be. This whole experience leading up to the soft launch of Joyus has made me think a lot about why women don’t start companies at the rate men do — and why, despite the trend, here I am on my second startup.

One thing I know for sure: It helps if entrepreneurialism is in the blood. My parents, both doctors, ran a medical practice for over 30 years. My father loved running a small business. From the age of 11, I was doing his taxes. I was taught to work for myself. And it’s stayed with me. My experience supports the data out there that entrepreneurship runs in the family and is fostered in families.

That said, there are a few other things I’ve learned about entrepreneurial success since I’ve been on my own and in the game:

Face up to ego risk.

When I started my first company, Yodlee, at 29, the risk facing me was in material/financial terms. Today the biggest risk — the thing that could have inhibited me from starting a company — is ego risk. That’s much more intangible that financial risk, but it’s powerful emotionally. I think to myself, what if I fail? What if I don’t figure it out? Will others judge me for choosing this path over the expected “executive” role? While I know male identities are also tied up in their work, I wonder if women take failure and all its implications more personally.

If not now, when?

When I left Google in 2009, I wanted get back to my passion for building companies and find my higher purpose and impact. I left three months pregnant with my third child. Today, with two of my three children age five and under, I sometimes think that maybe there’s a better time to be taking this kind of endeavor. But as we grow older and time grows scarce, I am seeking my highest potential, and there’s no better time than now to find it.

Embrace your grand vision.

Giving myself permission to be visionary has been harder than giving it to others. I’m not sure why, because for many years, vision and energy have been essential parts of my leadership style in scaling large teams. Perhaps it’s because in the world of technology, you’re either labeled an “executive/operator” or a “product visionary.” As if it’s impossible to be both. But there’s little upside to not embracing your grand vision for your company. As Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn (LNKD) and an investor in some of today’s hottest startups, says, it takes as much energy to think big as it does to think small, so why think small?

Know that you’re a slave and master too.

As an executive or an entrepreneur of great ambition, you are deeply tied to your work–and all the more so when you’re the one keeping the lights on. All the women on my management team want to win–badly–and work incredible hours day and night. For women who occupy dual titles of CEO and CHO (chief household officer), the entrepreneurial life is daunting. In our family, Simon, my husband, runs his own money management firm and is pretty involved–and we have an amazing nanny. But with children who are 11, five and one, it still takes all our effort to juggle schedules. Not that building my own company will be easy in any way, but I can be the master of my calendar. Having the choice to not commute cross-country (or across countries) is meaningful. So is being able to spend two hours with my children before they go to bed and answer emails and phone calls afterwards.

Permit yourself to be irrational.

In some ways, there is no rationality in being an entrepreneur. You are trading direct and perhaps major impact in a job you currently do for potential greater impact, but the statistical probability is that you will fail. I love data and have been trained in data-driven cultures all my life. But by choosing to start a company again, I’ve had to come to peace with allowing both sides of my brain — the creative and the analytical–to participate in the process. And after two decades inside entrepreneurial companies, here is the most valuable lesson I’ve learned in deciding whether or not to take the plunge: The greatest risk lies in not giving yourself the full chance to make it.

For all of you new to e-ship, I highly recommend the following blog….it is a great place to find practical tips to broaden your understanding of founder’s issues and start-up basics.

Feld starts off this week with a very simple overview of how to allocate partners’ equity and initial investment. This is a quick read so hop to it!

Finance Fridays: Getting Started – Allocating Equity and Founder’s Investment

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you
to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout
the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and
addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital
for the business.

We felt like we needed to put some groundwork in place using a case-study
like approach, rather than just jumping into looking at balance sheets, income
statements, and cash flow statements. Hopefully, by the time we are done, we’ll
all have some new friends and a lot of knowledge. Let’s get started.

Jane and Dick worked together at Denver Health, the nation’s “most wired”
hospital according to Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine. They
have seen first-hand the impact technology can have in the medical field through
exposure to a number of Denver Health IT initiatives. Through a series of
conversations, Jane and Dick have come up with the idea to develop a social
network tailored to the medical community. Through an online platform, doctors,
nurses, and administrators would be able to assist each other with complicated
diagnoses, collaborate on research studies, and find and fill job openings.
After sharing the concept with a number of colleagues and receiving enthusiastic
support for the idea, Jane and Dick built up the confidence to quit their day
jobs and launch a business together.

Jane and Dick each brings a similar level of skill and capability to the
business, making it easy for them to agree to a 50/50 equity split. While they
could both go without salaries for a year, Dick had no extra money to invest in
the business. However, Jane was in a position to invest some of her savings into
the startup. How could they treat Jane’s cash investment in the business in a
way that was fair to both of them?

Jane could have covered expenses from her personal account for now, keeping
track of the receipts, with the plan of letting an accountant sort it out later.
After all, they needed to focus on building their product, right?

Fortunately, Dick and Jane had both read Dharmesh Shah’s piece on avoiding
co-founder conflict in Do More Faster and knew it was important to address co-founder
issues – including how to handle co-founder investments – from the start. They
also knew that it was important to set up proper accounting systems from the
beginning and that paying for bills out of your personal bank account and
having an accountant sort it out later for you seemed like a recipe for future
pain.

Jane and Dick had several options, including structuring this as a debt
transaction where Jane simply loaned the money to the company, or as convertible
debt transaction where Jane’s investment would convert into equity in the next
round. But they worried that future investors would frown on that or wouldn’t
give Jane credit for the investment at a later date, since they might consider
it as part of Jane’s contribution to her original ownership position of 50%.

That narrowed the possibilities down to an equity transaction, which would in
turn require a conversation about valuation. Jane and Dick briefly considered a
valuation based on the next external financing round, perhaps applying a
discount. For example, if the first round of external investment values the
company at $2 million post and, prior to that, Jane had invested $50,000, then
with no discount, Jane’s investment would earn her 2.5% of the company ($50k/$2M
= 2.5%). If they agreed on a 20% discount, then Jane would be entitled to 3.125%
of the company ($2M * (1-20% discount) = $1.6M; $50k/$1.6M = 3.125%).

At this stage it wasn’t clear when (or even if) the first round of external
financing might occur or what it might look like, which made agreeing on a
discount just as difficult as agreeing on a valuation, while adding complexity.
After a tense conversation about this, Jane and Dick decided to go out for a
beer and try to resolve the equity allocation issue once and for all.

Jane indicated that the most she could invest in the company before they
would have to seek other sources of capital was $50k. Dick hated to think that
he would be diluted by more than 20% of his stake over $50k and proposed that
Jane receive 10% incremental equity for her $50k. Jane felt comfortable with
receiving 10% for $50k, but no less, so they agreed on a $450k pre money
valuation of their startup.

There are a number of ways Jane and Dick could have executed the equity
transaction. The simplest would be if they agreed in the founders documents that
they would both commit full-time to the business, Jane would contribute an
initial $50k, and they would split the equity 60/40 in favor of Jane.

Dick and Jane have now successfully navigated their first finance challenge:
dividing up the founders’ equity, including an investment from one of the
founders. A few key lessons from today’s post are:

1. Invest the time upfront to get the founders’ documents right. This will save
   a lot of pain down the road. This includes agreeing on how you will handle
   personal investments in the business, but it also includes many other topics
   such as founders’ vesting schedules and voting rights.

2. Every time you put money in the business it represents some form of debt or
   equity transaction. You can introduce complicated mechanisms for handling these
   transactions (e.g. warrants or discounts). However, there is a lot to be said
   for keeping things simple during the early stage of a startup. It helps control
   transaction costs in terms of both time and money.

3. You could inject more cash into the business on an as-needed basis. However,
   this is distracting, even if you are raising the money from yourselves. Each
   cash injection effectively represents a new round of financing, which can get
   messy. Try to minimize the frequency of transactions by investing enough money
   each time to get you to the next key milestone for your business.

Next week, we will address how Jane and Dick put proper accounting
systems in place. Oh, and you’ll notice that they don’t yet have a name for
their company. They’ve told us they are open to suggestions.

More Feld Thoughts can be found here: http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2011/07/finance-fridays-getting-started-allocating-equity-and-founders-investment.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FeldThoughts+%28Feld+Thoughts%29

Astia is seeking high-growth companies at any stage to apply now to join the Astia Portfolio and benefit from their programming, advisory services, investor connections and peer-to-peer network, all specifically designed to support and accelerate growth.  Astia’s network of over 1,100 advisors, including investors, entrepreneurs, C-level executives and more, are committed to accelerating the growth and success of companies with at least one female co-founder or C-level executive.

Companies that apply before August 15, and are accepted to the Astia Portfolio, will have the opportunity to on-ramp during the Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program*, October 10-15, 2011. Online screening is beginning now; all applicants, regardless of acceptance to the Astia Program and Portfolio, receive robust feedback from our community of on-line screeners.

Key 2011 Dates
About Astia – San Francisco              July 20
Application Deadline                    August 15
In-Person Screening Day                 September 8
Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Program      October 10-15
Investor Forum                          November 29

Why Astia?
Astia’s network of over 1,100 advisors, including investors, entrepreneurs, C-level executives and more, are committed to accelerating the growth and success of companies with female co-founders or executives. Since 2003, over 60% of Astia Portfolio companies have received funding, totally over $1 billion raised with 21 exits and 2 IPOs.

How does Astia do it?
With year-round programming, customized advisor matching, leadership training, investor connections and a strong peer-to-peer network, Astia supports companies at all stages of growth. We provide the tools and guidance for identifying, focusing and accelerating towards key milestones to drive success.

Who should apply?
We seek entrepreneurs who “think big,” have an innovative business in a high-growth industry, such as technology, clean tech or life sciences, and know how to leverage a network. The team must include at least one female co-founder or C-level executive. Click here to see more details on our criteria.

*Astia’s Premier Entrepreneur Program
Developed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, Astia’s Entrepreneur Program is about delivering results in every area of your business, from funding to accelerating growth to developing leadership.  During the intensive 6-day event, you will cultivate invaluable relationships with key players, get straight talk from leading experts on developing strategies that support high growth and work one-on-one with advisors to incorporate these strategies into your business.

The format? A comprehensive 6-day workshop in Silicon Valley followed by a 2-month program of personalized coaching from premier experts and the opportunity to start benefiting from the global ecosystem of Angels, VCs, corporations, and entrepreneurs that is Astia.

The Entrepreneur’s Perspective
“The Astia program was very helpful in getting me focused on the right things, providing me insights into managing my board, and introducing me to a large network of people who really wanted to help me succeed.”  Glennis Orloff, CEO, Samara

“ I found myself texting a CEO friend saying: “You should change your gender or partner with a woman so you can come to this!”  It raised my game and put our company into a good network “ Martha Amran, CEO, Ennovationz

“For me, joining Astia has been a game changer, literally. My Astia advisors have leveled the playing field for me with the “funding dance”.  They’ve provided the coaching, support and at times interpretation so I can be on point and prepared.  Astia has been invaluable.” Charlotte Kim, Founder & CEO, Coveted List.

Remember back in 2010 when we did a Lip Balm Fundraiser partnering with BABYBEARSHOP Organic? We are on round 10 using the funds from that event to provide microloans to women entrepreneurs around the world.

Thanks for the generosity last year and enjoy the fruits of our labor!

For anyone who anticipates starting their own company and seeking some form of investment or equity sharing with employees, this presentation is a great overview on stocks and options from a non-MBA, successful business owner.

I promise it is worth taking the time to read this and take notes!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/55945011/Intro-to-Stock-and-Options

Congrats to Andrea Wilson for winning a subscription to Inc. Magazine!

We hope you all have a fabulous summer and take the following inspirational quotes from your peers to heart. Thanks to all who participated. We hope to bring you great content this summer. If you would like to contribute to the blog, please contact Kate or Brooke. Congrats on a job well done.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  - Thomas Edison

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. – Timothy Leary

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou

“I have always found that my view of success has been iconoclastic: success to me is not about money or status or fame, it’s about finding a livelihood that brings me joy and self-sufficiency and a sense of contributing to the world.”

Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop

“If there is a message at all, it’s probably that we have to recognize in ourselves how we feel morally about certain things and make sure we follow that up with our actions.”

Estee Lauder, founder of Estee Lauder Cosmetics

And my personal favorite comes from Nike:

“Just do it.”