Elli Sharef at Female Founders Conference 2014

TL;DR

Ellie Sharif, founder of HireArt, gives three pieces of advice for female founders: start (or keep going) despite never having perfect conditions, cultivate deep internal and external confidence, and persevere through the constant feeling of near-failure. She illustrates these with personal stories (e.g.

Key insights

• The first step is the hardest; there is never a perfect time to start a company (e.g., Ellie waited from college until age 27).
• Luck plays a role, but you still have to step in and act (e.g., her cofounder quitting his job forced her to quit the next day).
• Small, continuous pivots based on customer feedback are necessary even if the core idea stays the same (Carmen San Diego analogy).