Female Founders Conference 2017

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Hi everyone, I can't see you, but I'm so excited to see you. Um, this is actually my first time back in the Bay Area in more than a year. Um, I've been living in England for the past year with my family, and I just could not miss this day. So here I am, back for 24 hours, jet lag and all. So hopefully I can deliver this okay in one piece.

Um, before I get started, I just would love to just take a moment to thank the women who've recently come forward, um, so bravely on the record to speak out about the sexual harassment they've faced working in Silicon Valley. Um, I just cannot thank them enough; they're my heroes. Um, hopefully their actions will cause more women to speak up and help put an end to the discrimination and the harassment that we as women can face working in the startup community. So one more round of applause—so, so awesome.

All right, where am I here? All right, here we go. So last year, if you were here, you'll remember that I spoke about all the problems that can arise in a startup and how to avoid them. And to be honest, I think last year's talk was the best general startup advice I could give you. Uh, so if you haven't read it, please go to this link and read it, and even if you have read it, it's worth a reread because these are the type of problems that can get you even when you think you're already watching out for them. So there's the link.

Uh, last year I ended by saying that I want there to be more women founders of the big companies, um, of the so-called unicorns. And these are the founders who make the most influential role models, and role models are what we need most if you want to encourage more women to start their own companies. Um, in recent years, there's been an increase in the number of women who are starting startups and in the number of women who've raised significant seed and series A rounds, and this is good.

Uh, but now we've got to focus on the next target. We need to have more women who are founding billion-dollar startups, so that's what I'm going to talk about today. Um, what it takes to start a startup that's not merely successful but is massively successful.

Um, and I'm not saying everyone has to do this—you don't have to start a startup. And if you do, you don't have to start a Google. But if you do want to start a Google, what does it take? What's the difference between a successful startup and a massively successful startup?

And fortunately, I've seen enough of both types up close that I can see patterns of differences. So I've made a list of things that I think are different about the unicorns, and there are nine of them. I want to get this one out of the way from the very start.

Um, in addition to having everything else that they need, the unicorns are lucky, and one of the most important kinds of luck is timing. The most successful founders have the right idea at the right time, and you have less control over that than you might think, actually, because the best ideas are not deliberate. They tend to grow organically out of the founders' lives.

Uh, however, while the most successful founders are all lucky, they're not merely lucky. It's never like they have this great idea and then boom, a few years later they're a billionaire—far, far from that. One of the most noticeable differences between founders of the super successful startups and the moderately successful startups is their motives.

And in particular, the founders of the super successful startups never are in it mainly to get rich or to seem cool. They're always fanatically interested in what the company is doing. Incidentally, it's perfectly fine to start a startup mainly for the money, but, uh, unless your motives change throughout the course of it, it probably won't wind up being one of the big ones.

There are multiple reasons why startups do better when the founders are truly interested in the idea. Um, they work harder because they love the work, and their enthusiasm is infectious. They think longer term, and they're much harder for another...