What's Up, Bitches?
That's what I jokingly titled my column I just filed for BusinessWeek. (Late, again.) The column was about women in Silicon Valley, a topic my very benevolent, smart and good looking BW overlords asked me to tackle. (Can you tell I'm trying not to get fired for so many late columns?)
My first reaction was "Sure, I can write that in my sleep!" But it wound up being incredibly hard. For one thing, I think the position of women in the Valley is really at a crossroads and I wasn't initially sure how to wrap my head around a lot of conflicting data points. And contrary to popular opinion we don't all move in lock-step making sweeping generalizations pretty hard. Anyway, read the column later this week to see how I sorted it all out.
A woman's place in this industry has been heavy on my mind lately. First, there was that whole Playboy thing that so many people freaked out about, then this odd occurrence at the TechCrunch party (more funny in its textbook "what-you-don't-say" quality than truly offensive) and the most recent visit to the Valley from the girl no one can agree on: Miss Julia Allison. As you know from reading this blog, I like Julia. Is she any kind of serious tech or business journalist? No. But she's not trying to be. After having many a late night conversation with her about business and brand, I can say she's not just a fluke or a pretty face or a girl who had her career bestowed upon her by Nick Denton's magic wand. She's a savvy business woman and she's learned a lot in the last few years. I had her come by TechTicker to share her thoughts on why companies shouldn't be afraid to brand employees. Believe it or not, it's not too different from the advice Charlene Li gives companies in Groundswell. Clip below:
I get a lot of grief for being friends with Julia. But you know what? People also probably get grief for being friends with me. If there's one thing I've learned from my life on the Internet it's not to believe everything you read about people, but to meet them and judge for yourself.
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"or a girl who had her career bestowed upon her by Nick Denton's magic wand"
really?
http://gawker.com/5025299/the-making-of-julia-allison
Posted by: Sam Purtill | July 29, 2008 at 05:28 PM
Thanks for the inspiration! I'm working on putting my personality to good use...doing it now in the real estate tech space.
It's a bit exhausting when you don't have connections...so I blog and utilize the many networks at my disposal. And supplement with offline writing and speaking gigs. Any other suggestions?
Posted by: NikNik | July 29, 2008 at 07:22 PM
@sam: look, i'm not saying denton didn't play a role. but he's also a man who knows talent when he sees it. remember: she drove a lot of traffic for him too! i know what i'm talking about -- this still is one of the top google results on my name http://valleywag.com/tech/valley-foxes/smoking-sarah-lacy-214733.php
Posted by: sarah lacy | July 29, 2008 at 10:50 PM
oh! and @niknik: glad you enjoyed! i firmly believe careers built without connections are the most rewarding and the most successful. when you have to work for something you always appreciate it and go farther because you are used to hustling. i had zero connections in journalism, and my husband geoff had none in the art world. it took us both a long time to meet our goals, but we did through sheer determination and not waiting around for anyone to hand us anything. blogging is the most important thing you can do. build an audience. think of it as concentric circles. there's no quick way to build a brand, but if you keep working hard and have interesting things to say people will listen. the most important thing is to listen to yourself and NOT GIVE UP! you have no idea how many bleak night i thought i'd never work at a national publication-- let alone EVER get a book deal! good luck! and keep me posted!! s
Posted by: sarah lacy | July 29, 2008 at 10:57 PM