Gautham S

City of Beaches and Beer is now turning in to a startup hub.

Rahul Bahadur

Balachandran S Elayath

First time opening doors to registered folks to witness pre-selected women founders showcase their awesome startups!Do not miss this golden opportunity, to witness a Showcase Event, with inputs and interactions from strong women entrepreneurs and ecosystem players.Agenda<ol><li>A fun day involving friendly and insightful talks with experts along with interactive discussions.</li><li>Vibrant Showcase round by shortlisted women-led startups.</li><li>Engage in networking opportunities to foster a vibrant ecosystem of growth and innovation in Goa with delicious Munchies.</li></ol>This event is for you if you are:<ol><li>Woman-owned startup</li><li>Achieved PMF, ambitious to grow/scale</li><li>Fund-raise ready, or getting there</li><li>Looking to connect with investors, and enablers in your city</li><li>Investor/Fund looking to connect with sharp, ambitious, innovative founders</li><li>Male and Female Entrepreneurs/Startup founders want to build super networks and learn a lot.</li></ol>Note: Pre-registration &amp; confirmation mandatory

This initiative is exclusively for women entrepreneurs. "WE" want to to build a community of women entrepreneurs and take it to the next level by supporting and helping each other and eradicate a few barriers we face. 

Why an initiative exclusive for women?

Well, there has been a big debate among our team itself on the same question. Some of us supported the fact that entrepreneurship opportunities are rather the same for both genders, thereby questioning the need for an exclusive “Women Only” initiative/community while some opined otherwise. We hope that by the time you finish reading this blog, you will have some answers to it.

The facts

Women entrepreneurs may be defined as ‘Woman or a group of women who initiate, organize and run a business enterprise’. Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs based on women participation in equity and employment of a business enterprise. Accordingly, a woman-run enterprise is defined as ‘An enterprise owned and controlled by a woman having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to women’. Women entrepreneurs constitute 10 % of all entrepreneurs in the country.

We might believe that the situation is a little better in the US, but even then, for every nine men raising equity financing to start and scale their businesses, only one woman does, according to a report by the National Women’s Business Council (US).

Women Entrepreneurs also fall into sub groups such as Homepreneurs, Mompreneurs and many more and every sub group has some specific needs. While ‘WE’ initiative will try to cover the larger goals of the community as a whole, we will also try our best to cater to the interests of the sub groups as well.

The problems

Something that has always bothered us is the low participation of women in the events that happen across the city. There are pitch events, co-founder search, founders’ mingle etc. and the sad reality is that typically 90% of the attendees are men. This happens for several reasons. We talked to few women who are running their business or aspiring to start one and here is what we heard:
“Most of the events are highly technology-centric while our businesses may not necessarily involve technology.”
“The comfort factor is missing in such gatherings dominated by men.”
“Many of these events are on weekdays and we can’t leave kids at home without supervision”
“We need peer support, preferably from women like us who have been able to start a venture given the similar circumstances of managing home and work.”
“We cannot attend 2 days hackathon leaving a toddler at home.
It is upsetting. While there is so much happening around us, women entrepreneurs are able to explore only a small fragment.”

We found this well-known but less talked about fact which happens to be an apt descriptionription of reality too:

“Business plan competitions and pitch forums are frequently about bravado and making ridiculous projections. Men excel at this. Women tend to be more conservative. This is the #1 complaint I get from the hundreds of women entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed,” said Vivek Wadhwa, academic, researcher, entrepreneur, and a vocal critic of the under funding of women-led companies by Silicon Valley (and a man). “When they [women] go to angel forums and the like, they feel intimidated and left out.”

What do ‘WE’ intend to do?
‘WE’ at Headstart Network
– want to sincerely put an effort to reduce some of these barriers and help women come out and explore in a community that helps, learns and grows together.
– want to infuse self confidence in first time women entrepreneurs so that they are able to headstart their journey with no constraints felt whatsoever.
– want the ecosystem to hear the needs of women entrepreneurs and support them.
– want not to compete, but complement and collaborate with existing women entrepreneur groups and initiatives.
– want to make the pie bigger for everyone!

How do ‘WE’ see the future?

Picture this.
An ecosystem which understands that if you are willing to start-up and have a family too, that is NOT a problem!
An accelerator that boasts of having your child taken care of in a day care while you work to make that awesome Product in INDIA.
Possibilities are immense. “WE” dream BIG.
“Dream BIG! If it offends someone, so what! Dream Bigger!” – Anonymous


WE Club

91springboard Goa

The place is nice, but would like to have more response from the coworkers.

Brilliant set ip. Very comfortable and makes a working space feel light and fun. Had all required facilities and takes a huge burden off the employers mind in terms of basics like hygiene, security, cafeteria facilites, etc. Loved it.

Cody place to work around with free WiFi networks and again with all facilities for having a good environment essentially for the upcoming youth's to startup or take up ventures and entrepreneurship and assist in product development mentorship and related issues. Had been there for a meet-up nd had an awesome time. Air conditioners around with facility like venting machine, cooler and a space for a small gathering. Must be place for the passion seekers.

Amazing place,  amazing people. Goa is a fantastic place,  full of opportunities,  a place like 91springboard is playing a facilitator for entrepreneurs to fullfil their dreams.

I have been there twice to conduct "Social Media Marketing Masterclass" for entrepreneurs,  startups and SMEs.  Their board roam is great to conduct smaller events like this.

The place is quite conveniently located at the heart of the Panjim city.   Facilities like Smart Screen/Projectors,  and access to wifi makes it just perfect for the events/meetings.

Highly recommend if you are willing to organise an event for entrepreneurs or even if you are looking for a co-working space.

This is a great place for aspiring entrepreneurs to get to work while keeping the costs down. This is a huge location considering it is based in Goa. Spread over two floors, it's got multiple meeting rooms, breakout areas and a cafeteria in addition to a state of the art conference room. They also have tons of activities over the week that help entrepreneurs network, exchange ideas and get inspiration from. Workspaces include hot-desks, fixed desks and cabins in a variety of sizes. Super friendly staff too!  Definitely worth a visit if you've an entrepreneur wanting to set up a business in Goa.

WeWin Goa - She Rise by Headstart Women Entrepreneurs Club

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