I got off the train at Union Square because I was running a little early, maybe a lot early. That gave me more walking distance. I take joy in walking. Right by Union Square on the sidewalk I got randomly stopped by an Ethiopian woman with a Masters from New York University who worked for a children's organization. It was a nice talk. I sent her a Facebook email the following day.
My plan was to show up for the event half an hour early. And I did. Hunch has a 10th floor office. The first person I saw was Elena who sat right next to me at the David Kirkpatrick event the week before at Edelman. She was sitting in front of a computer.
"You work here?"
"No."
I guess she does not work at Hunch but shares office space. She has a fashion startup: Clothia. She later gave me her card. Her startup became quite relevant to the talk later although people did not know.
"I wear the same thing every day," Fred Wilson said as one of his reasons to not think in terms of investing in fashion startups. He was saying many good things, and the right things on gender from the stage, but that statement on fashion might not have been one of them. Well, there was no elevated stage, but he had the microphone.
Image by Nic*Rad via FlickrI think that is precisely where change the ratio message comes in. A venture capital firm with a 50-50 ratio of men and women partners might give a look to fashion startups, or so seems to be the suggestion. Just when I was saying hello to Elena, Chris Dixon walked over from another part of the office. I recognized him immediately. I visit his blog often.
"Hi Chris. I read your blog," I said. It was a good, first small talk.
Two guys - the first two guys - were sitting on a sofa. I introduced myself. One of the guys said his name was James. Ends up he is from Turkey, and his name is Cem, pronounced Zem. We learn their names, they should learn ours, I said to him. The following morning I had a Facebook friend request from him. I gladly accepted. That was the only social media overture the morning after.
I walked around. I did not recognize Rachel Sklar right away. She was hunkered down taking care of something on her laptop. She was perhaps preparing. I walked over some more. There I saw someone I thought worked for Hunch. So I asked her which way to the restroom.
"You are early," she said. Ends up she was not a Hunch worker. She was a co-organizer of the event. Emily Gannett.
Decision Lounge: that is what a tech startup calls a room when it is the only room in their office, the rest of the office is one big open pit.
Fred Wilson: "My mother thinks I started Facebook."
Eric works at Hunch.
"You look like Mark Cuban," I said to him. He quite liked that. He does.
Event At Hunch: Gender Talk (2)
Event At Hunch: Gender Talk (1)
Event At Hunch: Angel, Super Angel, VC
Change The Ratio: Fred Wilson, Rachel Sklar
Gender Talks
An Apologetic Mike Arrington
Aliza Sherman Takes Mike Arrington To Task
Tech, Women, Diversity
Mike Arrington Is A Sexist Pig: Say PeeeeG!
Women Are Better
Women In Tech: The Debate Rages On
Call Out The Sexism
Women In Tech-Media Event At JP Morgan: Internet Week
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