1871, the city’s leading home for tech startups, announced Friday that its incubator for women-led companies would begin accepting applications this week under a new name, brand and logo.
But the newly christened WiSTEM 1871 still lacks what matters most: a leader.
“It just didn’t seem like there was a single person who we really thought was going to be capable of speaking for the whole initiative,” 1871 CEO Howard Tullman said of WiSTEM, formerly known as FEMtech.
Hold on. Rewind the tape. Did he really say that? No woman is “capable of speaking for” an initiative to help women in Chicago’s technology sector?
Well, why not?
Every other niche incubator has one? Isn’t lacking a high-profile leader setting up WiSTEM for failure?
“Well, they’ll be a full-time administrative person, for sure,” Tullman said. “But in terms of leadership, it’s just hard to think of a single person. Look, we’re continuing to look at it. And we certainly continue to get requests and submissions. It’s not a done deal. At the moment, I can’t really think of a single job description that’s going to work for it.”
I suggested two names.
“These people have triple full-time jobs,” Tullman said. “That would be a waste of their time. They wouldn’t be able to commit the time. And I’ve spoken to both of them, obviously.”
He later added that “obviously” there were women qualified for the job. It just wasn’t something he could ask a woman to leave her business to do.
I agree this job is a tough sell. The pool of women qualified to lead a technology incubator is smaller than the pool of available men. Many qualified women are focused on growing their businesses.
But the pool is not empty.
Tullman needs to dedicate resources to a search that goes beyond women he already knows. And if the role has to be filled by a part-time “figurehead” who has three other jobs, so be it.
Because this person’s most important role, figurehead or otherwise, will be to speak up when this city’s all-male tech leadership behaves badly. That way women CEOs — women who repeatedly have to ask men for money to grow their startups — won’t have to supply the criticism themselves.
Earlier this year, organizers of Techweek, Chicago’s largest technology conference, sent out a party invitation covered with photos of two attractive women flirting with the camera. In one image, the women were seemingly about to make out with each other.
Several male tech leaders — Makeitfor.us founder Moshe Tamssot, venture capitalist Paul Lee and Knight-Mozilla OpenNews project director Dan Sinker — protested loudly on social media.
Producers for WTTW-Ch. 11’s “Chicago Tonight” asked Sharon Schneider, the co-founder and CEO of Moxie Jean, an online resale store for upscale children’s clothing, to discuss the issue. Host Phil Ponce asked Schneider whether she was only hurting herself by withdrawing from a Techweek panel in protest.
“It’s actually more likely that I’m hurting myself by talking about it here,” Schneider said. “Women have been taught and learned the painful lesson that speaking about the sexism that we see in the industry is actually more dangerous to our likability and to our careers than … the sexist behavior is.”
I contacted two of WiSTEM’s funders for comment. Liz Lefkofsky, the wife of Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky, declined to take questions. Her spokesman said she was too “slammed.”
Another funder, Motorola Mobility’s Courtney VanLonkhuyzen, replied that, “While Motorola supports 1871’s efforts … we are not involved in day-to-day operations so I can’t comment on the structure.
“That said, we’ve been impressed with 1871’s results and trust this effort will result in similar success. As you know, it is a step in the right direction to help address a critical issue — the lack of diversity in the tech sector.”
Two other women responsible for advocating for women business leaders declined to comment. One was on vacation. The other said she wasn’t interested in commenting.
“I hope you understand,” she texted.
I do understand, just like Schneider.
Maybe the issue is pay. There’s not enough money to hire someone prominent. Well, if a funder who cares about diversity is reading this, step up. 1871 is a non-profit. Think of it like endowing a university professorship.
Because Tullman, to his credit, repeatedly said that he’s flexible.
“Part of the whole charm of this is that the resources will come to us, and people will present us with opportunities and resources,” Tullman said. “And by the way, it may turn out that someone sends in a resume or calls up and says, ‘I want to come talk about what I could add to this program as a leader or as a manager or whatever.’ And we’ll change our mind again.”
Ladies, let’s consider that a call for applicants.
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