PR for People Monthly November 2013 The Entrepreneurial Mindset | Page 19

A major angel investor in high tech companies, who
is a woman, told me she didn’t like to invest in ventures led by women because they didn’t have
the vision of male entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos,
Larry Ellison or Steve Jobs. Some women build large
businesses, she explained, but they’re usually based
on girly products. Women don’t build companies that
are based on disruptive technologies and have the
power to change the world. Even Amazon, a name
associated with ancient women warriors, took the
efforts of a man to build it.

There is one woman in history who might
have built a company that changed the world if she
had lived in the twenty-first century instead of AD
60. Boudica*, Queen of a Celtic tribe in Britain, was
married to Prasutagus, who had ruled the Iceni as an
independent kingdom and ally of Rome. He willed
his kingdom jointly to his daughters and the Roman
Empire, but when he died, the Romans took full control. Boudica was reportedly flogged, her daughters
were raped, Roman financiers called in their loans,
and the kingdom as annexed as if it had been conquered in battle.

Boudica, who reportedly had long flowing
hair, a loud voice, an intense glare and wore a torc—
the equivalent of 40 pound neck ring, usually worn
by male warriors of high rank—was chosen to lead
her people in an assault against the Romans. Reports estimate 80,000 were left dead and the city of
Camulodunum (Colchester) was destroyed. Roman
historian Tacitus said that the Britons had no desire
to take prisoners – they simply slaughtered everyone
in their path.

The most famous women entrepreneurs of
our times are strong, powerfully intelligent women,
and yet their empires are based on girly things.
Diane von Furstenberg sells dresses.Estee Lauder
sold make up. Martha Stewart sells house wares.
Sara Blakely built an empire on the body shaping

undergarment Spanx. And Oprah Winfrey sells hope.
These women didn’t change the world, unless you
count wearing Spanx under your suit the same as
wearing game-changing armor in battle or the boardroom.

There is no indication that any of these
women would ride bare breasted while they charged
heroically into battle to defeat the Romans. Being
Boudica in today’s business world means women
have the power to raise capital for girly things like
dresses, makeup, duvet covers, and of course, hope.
Oprah Winfrey made a career out of making women
feel good about being fat and still wearing gorgeous
clothes and makeup, gushing about loving themselves for just the way they are—with Spanx. Note
that Spanx skyrocketed to overnight success when it
was featured as one of Oprah’s favorite new products.

In the next ten years as women are educated
in the STEM disciplines that form the thinking for
innovative technology, it will be interesting to see
if more women create companies that change the
world. It could be argued that Spanx, with revenues
of $250 million a year, has already changed the
world. So long as a premium is placed on women
looking good instead of being powerful, then major
investors will bet on men. The question is would
Boudica wear Spanx? The answer is: with all of
her warrior activity, Boudica was probably in great
shape and didn’t need to wear spandex. Truth be
told: in battle, Boudica wore blue body paint to look
awesome, fierce, and truly powerful.
*There are many spelling variations. She is also
known as Boudicca and Boadicea.