Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

by Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth J. Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene, Myra M. Hart
Released May 2004
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 0131112015

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Book description

Women Building High-Growth Businesses

“Even in the 21st century, much of the world still systematically excludes 50 percent of the smartest people from full responsibility. Entrepreneurship rewards excellence and results, not gender, and this book is a wonderful gift to women who would like to respond to corporate America by saying, ‘Thanks, I’ll do it myself’.”

--Jim Collins, Author, Good to Great, and Co-author, Built to Last

“Savvy and inspirational, Clearing the Hurdles is an important book for women intent on growing new businesses. The team of talented authors provides information, insights, and advice that will educate, motivate, and challenge women aspiring to become successful entrepreneurs.”

--Laura Tyson, Dean, London Business School

“With women creating new businesses at a faster rate than males, it is imperative that today’s venture capitalists take an active role in mentoring and recruiting women to become venture capitalists, business owners, technologists, entrepreneurs, and government leaders. Clearing the Hurdles is not only a wake up call; it is a roadmap to start this long overdue project.”

--Mark Heesen, President, National Venture Capital Association

“Clearing the Hurdles examines all elements behind the lack of access to capital for women entrepreneurs who want to build high-growth companies. If you are a woman who has a vision for a high-potential business, this book was written for you.”

--Connie Duckworth, Kathy Elliott, Sharon Whiteley, Founders, 8Wings Enterprises, and Co-authors, The Old Girls Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World

“Clearing the Hurdles debunks the myths and defines the barriers that entrepreneurs confront--a perfect roadmap for women embarking on the entrepreneurial journey.”

--Kay Koplovitz, Founder, USA Networks, and former Chair, National Women’s Business Council

Starting, funding, and growing a new venture are significant challenges for every entrepreneur. For women, the hurdles are even higher, due to widely held perceptions about them, their capabilities, and their businesses. Now, five leading experts on women entrepreneurs offer systematic solutions to the challenges, offering timely advice to women dedicated to achieving success and claiming the rewards.

Clearing the Hurdles draws on five years of original research, performed as part of the Diana Project--a major initiative that explores ways women grow businesses.

The authors identify key factors associated with funding, growth, and success: the founder’s goals, expertise, and commitment; strategic direction; team building; effective use of networks; and access to capital. Most important, they offer concrete strategies for overcoming obstacles: strategies proven in the marketplace by women entrepreneurs.

Wealth creation: Don’t get left out!

Learn what it takes to build your high-growth business

Get credible

Fill the technical and management gaps in your expertise

Get strategic

Choose the right business, build the right plan

Get connected

Link yourself to the right resources, networks, and people

Get over the funding hurdles. This book is a training manual for women who want to claim their place as winners in the entrepreneurial challenge.

Table of contents

  1. Contents (1/2)
  2. Contents (2/2)
  3. Preface (1/2)
  4. Preface (2/2)
  5. chapter 1 Women Becoming Entrepreneurs
    1. No Glass Ceilings Here
    2. An Entrepreneurial Venture Begins
    3. Venture Growth Is a Choice
    4. Women-Led Ventures
    5. Slow to Grow
    6. Are There Changes in the Offing?
    7. Private Equity—The Last Big Hurdle
      1. Angel Investing
      2. Venture Capital
    8. The Hurdle Analogy
    9. The Plan for This Book
    10. Notes
  6. chapter 2 Women Entrepreneurs: Pathways and Challenges
    1. The Entrepreneur
      1. Aspirations and Goals
      2. Capabilities
    2. Strategic Choices
      1. The Venture Concept
      2. Industry
    3. Resources
    4. Hurdles to Overcome
      1. Motives, Aspirations, and Commitment
      2. Human Capital
      3. Financial Knowledge and Business Savvy
      4. Growth Orientation and Strategies
      5. Social Capital and Social Networks
      6. Building a Management Team
      7. Funding Connections
    5. Higher Hurdles for Women
    6. Why Are the Hurdles Higher?
      1. Parents
      2. Peers
      3. Education
      4. Media
      5. Work Experience
    7. Winning the Race for Success
    8. Notes
  7. chapter 3 Funding Sources for Businesses on the “Grow”
    1. Money and the Start-Up Process
    2. Growth Capital versus Start-Up Funds
      1. A Strategic Approach
    3. Bootstrap Financing
      1. Credit
      2. Institutional Debt
      3. Equity
    4. Sources of Equity Capital
    5. Angel Investing
    6. Government-Supported Investments
      1. Hybrids: Government-Supported Venture Capital
    7. Venture Capital (1/2)
    8. Venture Capital (2/2)
    9. Notes
  8. chapter 4 Motives, Aspirations, and Commitment
    1. The Entrepreneurial Choice
    2. Motives for Entrepreneurship
    3. Women’s Aspirations Contrast with Entrepreneurial Reality
    4. Family Role Expectations
    5. Women’s Self-Expression Leads to Perceptions
    6. Truths and Realities
    7. Moving Beyond the Expectations
    8. Summary
    9. Notes
  9. chapter 5 Women and Human Capital
    1. What Do Resource Providers Look For?
    2. Assumptions about Women Entrepreneurs
    3. Sorting Fact from Fiction
      1. Education
      2. Experience
    4. Overcoming the Hurdle
      1. Assessing Your Education and Experience
    5. Enhancing Your Human Capital
      1. School
      2. Training
      3. Work Experience
    6. Summary
    7. Notes
  10. chapter 6 Financial Knowledge and Business Savvy
    1. Challenges Built into the System
    2. Do Women Underinvest in Their Businesses?
    3. Do Women Have the Requisite Financial Knowledge, Skills, and Experience?
    4. Separating the High Potential, High Performers from the Rest
    5. The Springboard Survey: A Study of Women Entrepreneurs Leading High-Potential Enterprises
    6. What Can Women Do to Clear the Financing Hurdles?
      1. To Overcome Any Shortfalls in Initial Funding
      2. To Demonstrate Financial Knowledge and Management Savvy
      3. To Overcome Concerns about Ability to Manage Risk
    7. Notes
  11. chapter 7 Growth Orientation and Strategies
    1. Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller?
    2. Why Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller?
    3. Why Are Women-Led Ventures Perceived Differently?
      1. Women Aren’t Serious about Growth
      2. Women Are Better at Low-Tech Service Ventures
    4. The New Generation of Women Entrepreneurs
    5. Strategies for Growth
      1. Ambitious Strategy
      2. Deliberate Strategy
      3. Variable Strategy
      4. Maintenance Strategy
    6. Overcoming High Hurdles
    7. Summary
    8. Notes
  12. chapter 8 Building Useful Networks and Cashing in on Social Capital
    1. Are Women Unplugged from the Right Networks?
    2. Formal Networks
    3. Informal Networks
    4. Benefits of Networks
    5. Network Boundaries and Barriers
    6. The Case for Homogeneous Networks
    7. The Case for Heterogeneity
    8. Social Capital—The Currency of Network Exchange
    9. Reputation and Trust
    10. Spending Social Capital within a Network
    11. Some Networks Are Like Foreign Countries
    12. Women Have Diverse Networks
    13. Women Benefit from Strategic Sponsors
    14. Creating Effective Networks
    15. Notes
  13. chapter 9 Women Building Management Teams
    1. Perceptions about Women
      1. Women Don’t Want to Share Ownership
      2. Women Don’t Recognize the Types of People Needed
      3. Women Are Outside the Networks
      4. Women Just Don’t Have What It Takes to Lead a Growth Venture
    2. Fact and Fiction about Women and Teams
    3. Building a High-Potential Team
    4. Challenges in Team Formation
    5. Summary
    6. Notes
  14. chapter 10 Networking for Venture Capital
    1. A Brief History of Venture Capital in the United States
      1. Tracing the Roots of the Industry
      2. The Context of Growth
      3. Understanding the Investment Process
      4. Risks and Rewards of Venture Capital Financing
      5. The Cultural Context for the U.S. Venture Capital Industry
      6. Venture Capital Cycles
      7. Building Partnerships, Professional Staffing
    2. The Venture Capital Community Today
    3. Women in the Venture Capital Industry
      1. The Pioneers
      2. Implications
    4. Getting Access to Venture Capital Investors
    5. A Connection or a Disconnect?
    6. Missing Links between Women Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists
      1. Do You Know the Right People?
    7. Getting Connected
      1. Do They Know You?
    8. Model Misfits
      1. Getting to Yes
      2. Can Women Venture Capitalists Change the Equation?
      3. The Research Process (1/2)
      4. The Research Process (2/2)
      5. Performance Review
      6. What Next?
    9. What Can You Do to Change Things?
      1. Investigate Organizations That Provide Support
      2. Build Entrepreneurial Connections Now
      3. Do Additional Venture Capital Research and Make Contact
    10. Notes
  15. chapter 11 In Conclusion (1/2)
  16. chapter 11 In Conclusion (2/2)
    1. Note
  17. Index
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    5. E
    6. F
    7. G
    8. H
    9. I
    10. J
    11. K
    12. L
    13. M
    14. N
    15. O
    16. P
    17. R
    18. S
    19. T
    20. V
    21. W
    22. X
    23. Z
  18. About the Authors (1/3)
  19. About the Authors (2/3)
  20. About the Authors (3/3)

Product information

  • Title: Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses
  • Author(s): Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth J. Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene, Myra M. Hart
  • Release date: May 2004
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 0131112015