Startup founder, entrepreneur and family woman, Felecia Hatcher shares about her own journey from a guidance counselor's low expectations for her future, to founding multiple startups and now empowering youth to achieve their tech and startup goals.

Since 1997 African American women-owned businesses have grown almost 300% AND those same businesses have generated over $50 billion dollars in revenue--creating jobs and more!

Kathey Porter has just co-authored a new book chronicling the stories of a sampling of African American women entrepreneurs and she stops by to talk about what she's found about mentorship, growth and the general grit of Black women entrepreneurs.

“When people ask me what I think about their business idea I say, ‘It doesn’t matter what I think. What do your customers think?'” 

As part of a continuing series of interviews with various entrepreneurs at the tops of their industries, I sat down with 500 Startups Founder, Dave McClure, to talk about what else, money and diversity in Silicon Valley.

Dave McClure is a venture capitalist & founding partner at 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, CA. He likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally invest in startups foolish enough to let him. He has been an investor in over 250 companies including Mint.com, Twilio, Wildfire Interactive, SendGrid, TaskRabbit, SlideShare, Mashery, CreditKarma, KISSmetrics, and MakerBot, among others.

Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twilio, Mint.com, Simply Hired, O’Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.

He barely graduated from Johns Hopkins University and also likes to play ultimate frisbee when his knees don’t hurt.

Never one to hold back, Dave waxes poetic (not really) on:

• His own journey from Johns Hopkins engineering student to being one of the original PayPal employees to angel to juggernaut
• The lack of diversity in Silicon Valley
• His ‘Why’ for founding 500 Startups
• What companies need to do to position themselves for venture capital
• What he looks for in an investment
• Where’s he’s looking to invest next
• The BIGGEST mistakes startups make
• And most importantly…Why the hell he curses so much!!!!????!!!

We're all about how can we help young women build these high growth ventures...those are the businesses that are really able to impact and shape the economics of a country.

Afua Osei is the co-founder of She Leads Africa, a dynamic organization that is empowering professional and entrepreneurial women across the Globe. We sit down to chat about how women of the African Diaspora can soar!

Our last day! It is my truest hope that you and your business succeed beyond your wildest imagination. I love hearing from my readers/listeners, so if I may be of any assistance or you have any follow-up questions to these ten tips, please do reach out to me.

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success!

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success!

We can't make an impact unless people implement what we share with them. Wendy walks us through the 10 steps to create massive impact. We also talk about knowing our value.

This is good standalone advice, but it also supports #HerPower Biz Tips #2 - You Need to Know Other People and Build Lasting Connections and #6 - You Need To Know How and What to Delegate. Good mentors and peers can help you by sharing industry-specific knowledge and information, as well as general business advice. This is also where joining a formal mastermind or networking group can really add value and educate you as you grow. Additionally, if you’re spending six hours on your WordPress plugin to capture email addresses or change the font on your website’s welcome page, then you clearly don’t know WordPress and should therefore delegate that task to someone else.

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here’s to your success!

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success!

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success!

Since 1997, women entrepreneurs have been the fastest growing segment of new business owners. We also have the lowest rates of access to capital and often feel isolated.

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can feel less isolated, more informed and more successful. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here’s to your success!

Do you have to be in Silicon Valley to succeed as a tech entrepreneur? How can women and diverse aspiring tech startup founders combat pattern recognition--white men investors investing in companies led by people who look like them--other white men?

Nora Poggi is the co-producer and director of the upcoming documentary, She Started It, which follows the lives of 5 women as they build their own tech startups. Nora, now an entrepreneur herself, gives us insight on:

• the importance of creating images of new role models, not just for other women, but for men--especially investors--too

• the interplay of sex and race on women in tech

• her thoughts on the reasons why we don't see more women tech startup founders

• lessons from watching the journeys of the film's subjects, even if you don't want to launch a tech startup

• and so much more

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can implement it. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success! #weallwin

Earlier this year I was asked for my top 10 things every woman entrepreneur needs to know. Over the next 10 days on the podcast, each day I will share 1 tip and how you can implement it. Feel free to share your own tips too! Here's to your success! #weallwin

Got Confidence? Whether you do or whether you don't, you won't want to miss this conversation with Confidence Factor for Women in Business and TEDx Talks Speaker, Carol Sankar.

Carol Sankar is my secret weapon. As a business strategist, best-selling author, international speaker with a successful real estate portfolio, Carol has seen first-hand how women self-sabotage our own success. In her typical no holds barred fashion, Carol tells us:

• why it's important for women to have confidence in business

• how women are self-sabotaging in business

• how we can rethink mentorship

• where women are confident as juxtaposed to where we ALL have confidence issues

• steps that even confident women can take to move to their next levels

• where she herself is struggling to go to her own next level

• why she doesn't believe that we are the sum total of our 5 closest friends

• and so much more