Since I first visited the women’s entrepreneurial education startup Hatch Network’s site a few weeks ago, I’ve been visiting every few days and appreciating the clean look of its interaction design. But the vision of local co-founders Alison Covarrubias and Claire Fontana is even more important: to reduce barriers that keep first-time entrepreneurs from launching successful endeavors. They addressed their projects, including the introduction of web classes and development of more advanced courses for established businesses seeking financing.
SF: What had you observed about women-run businesses that made you two decide to start the network?
CF: Working as consultants for new businesses, Allie and I found that so many women who were passionate about starting their own venture were ill-prepared but ready to make the investment. We spent a ton of time getting people up to speed and having them clarify what they wanted to do–which was not what we were getting paid for. It was an unmet need in the marketplace, and we loved doing it, so we capitalized on it. more
Tonight’s San Francisco Ballet opening night gala to honor Helgi Tommason’s 25 years as artistic director for the company was a contradiction for me. I wonder if I was alone in finding it simultaneously glamorous and unstreamlined with performances that were lovingly presented while being manipulative. This isn’t to say it wasn’t arresting–the intriguing costumes and precise performances are what I’ve come to expect from their shows at the War Memorial–but I found the first act a bit discombulated in its combination of the affectionate pas de deux from “7 For Eight” and the light-hearted ensemble number “Mistake Waltz” from “The Concert.” Still, Tommasson’s coreography of “Concerto Grosso” couldn’t have been more beatifully prepared with five male dancers of similar strength and grace against a simple backdrop (and not just because it was the same aqua to be used in the upcoming redesign of TheSanFranista–truly, monocromatic ankle-length outfits have never looked so good). It’s enough to have me excited for a repertory season to include performances as diverse as works by Fokine/Possohkov/Forsythe and the American premiere of “The Little Mermaid.”
Tommason and “The Little Mermaid” images by Erik Tomasson.
In case you need an excuse to head to the Exploratorium before next month’s “Rods & Mods: The Kustom Kulture of Radical Computer Modification,” Wednesday night’s “Science of Cocktails” program promises to include “hands-on science experiments about alcohol, inebriation, hangovers,” and more. (One wonders if it’s possible to learn the lessons without the pain, ever.) Mixologists from Orson, Alemic, 83 Proof, and other local establishments will be on hand to prepare cocktails and discuss the chemistry and physics behind them. My only remaining question–how does one become honorary chair of such an educational excuse for libations?
This brief post about successful women mountain bikers really needs no further title details, and I’m very much looking forward to the California premier in February. The documentary is the first in a series to feature projects deemed “awesome” by the Bones Over Metal video blog publishers. The International Mountain Biking Association and the Cycle Component Network are sponsoring the West Coast screenings of the film, which the creators call “a unique look into the world of Downhill Racing, Dirt Jumping and Freeriding” that “celebrates the mountain bike while celebrating the women who love them.”
I’m excited about an upcoming collaboration between my alma mater and most recent travel destination, especially since it’s being run by Ann Feldman, the founder of artistic circles, an arts organization that invites notable women to tell their stories in their own words. Feldman is the person who first got me interested in community engagement and outreach, and she’ll be accompanying a group of students this spring on the Rajasthan Exchange: Water, Health & Development. Northwestern students in engineering, global health, religion, economics, and film will be documenting water needs in the Indian state in an effort to encourage conservation. They’re joined by NYU, IIT, and other campuses that are supporting the broadcast of the Water Pressures documentary on American public television stations on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22.
I was only one third of the way through IDEO CEO Tim Brown’s recently released book “Change by Design” by the time of his lecture on design thinking methodology at the California College of Arts. But the talk and the organization innovation tome–which I’ve enjoyed more, even given the beauty of the school’s Timken Hall–both have me thinking about the role of design in the lives and work of “non-designers.”
As a design enthusiast and observer, I sometimes wonder if I’ve missed out on formal design education, art theory and hands-on creation with the time I’ve spent writing on the web. Torn-out descriptions of design appreciation classes at UC Berkeley Extention and product modeling courses at the SFAI aren’t hard to find in my apartment, but my hesitation in taking them seems to reflect a sense that I can enjoy and take part in design without working specifically in graphic arts or another role that indicates design proficiency.
Bay Area native and designer Emily Pilloton was underwhelmed with the home product decision-making that made up much of her working life when she started Project H, an organization of volunteer designers who work to connect design with communities most in need. Her work encouraging local Project H chapters to bring better products to schools, hospitals and shelters led to the book “Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People.”
I’ve now bought several copies of the book as gifts and am looking forward to hearing about the Design Revolution Road Show, a traveling exhibition and lecture series that will visit 25 high schools and university design programs nationwide across the nation via an Airstream trailer that highlights 40 humanitarian design solutions highlighted in the book. You can follow the cross-country tour, which will take Pilloton and partner Matthew Miller to schools from Austin to Baltimore, on the site’s itinerary and @DesRevRoadShow. They’ll be kicking off their trip with a benefit and mobile show-and-tell at Stable Cafe on Folsom St. on January 30.
SF: What your initial motivation for starting Project H? EP: I started Project H mostly out of frustration, but the kind of frustration that is laced with optimism: where you wake up one day and realize that you don’t like the way things are, but you think you know how to fix it. I’m trained as an architect and a product designer, and grew up always taking things apart and putting things together, and came to design believing that it would be a great skill set for solving problems in a physical, creative, and critical manner.
The promise of “no oil | no gears | no bullshit” had me intrigued by nada bikes (if only they could share that promise with vintage Vespa dealers). Marc O’Brien and his team construct unpainted fixed gear and single speed frames in Half Moon Bay, then offer them in three sizes at $100 a pop to inspire cyclists to add the wheels and components they prefer. San Francisco designer Ashley Ciecka put decals and gears on hers, the 11th frame released, and I asked O’Brien what inspired the idea:
SF: How did you conceive of such a low-priced solution? MO: Our intention is to introduce as many young people as possible to the joys of cycling as everyday transportation. In addition, we were interested in having members go through the process of building their bikes from scratch, rather than buying them off the shelf. Kind of a “Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance” thing. We felt the cost of membership should be as low as possible to include the greatest number of riders. [It's] empowerment through self-mobility.
What have customers told you about your using your frames? We shipped them out to our charter members right before Christmas. We’ve got great responses from the members–everyone can’t wait to get started on building their frames. We’ve seen some Facebook and Twitter (@nadabike) excitement as well.
Jazmin Hupp filmed this interview with compensation tracking site Jobnob COE Julie Greenberg recently, and the information about salary comparison as a way to encourage people to seek more fair pay is intriguing. I’ll let her do the talking about not stalling your career or startup by over-planning, and more talks are available on the Women 2.0 In Conversation series page.
Jessica Alter had long observed that the process of meeting a partner to start a company with was frustrating. Identifying a person who brought a killer combination–say, good at coding and possessed skills that would make a strong co-founder–was challenging, especially for people without her connections from working in business development for Bebo or going to business school. So in partnering with venture capitalist Saar Gur last year, she co-founded an event series that works to bring people passionate about starting their own endeavors together with other entrepreneurs with complimentary skill sets.
Now the Chief Connector at FounderDating, she recommends that the invite-only attendees of the regular events approach them not just to “find the one,” but to connect with people who are also eager to launch a full or part-time project (and who may be able to put them in touch with others they know). Not that’s it’s come one, come all–Alter and Gur’s site says that participants should only recommend that people tell friends to apply who “you would join…in a startup or write a check out of your bank account to fund their next company.” The events are currently hosted in SF with Seattle and other cities to come–and not just the usual suspects (Boulder, Tel Aviv, et al).
