Page 3 of 7
More and rnore wornen
are abandcning big cornpanles
to strike cut cn their cwn'
By Laurel DelaneY
lrlanv \v()nen are trzrcling in
Corpol.1te Americ'.l fbr en- treprenetlrshiP Accorcling
to Cl-reskin Itesearch, theY ate
slllt'lilt!l bttsinesscs ltt l\r itc
tLe .ate of men :rnci have become a rnajor fbrce in both
t1'retrldition'.rl'.rnclthee-businessrnarketplaceTheCen- ter fttr \[omen's l]ttsiness Research estimates that' as of
2002, there are 6.'2 n-iillion \volllen-ownecl brrsincsscs'
empLo-ving 9.2 rnlllion workers ancl generating $1'15 tril- lion ir-r'lnntl'al l'eventle
In the ir-rterest of secltritv. \\r()lren usecl tc'l be rvilling
tcl clrannel their tirlre, enel.g\I, arrcl eff<lrt to tlre cilrpcl- r".rtion's neecls at the expense ol fulfilling their os'n
flof'essionai goals-llut 1-i() lllol'e In startillg their on'n
lr,.rs i,re sses, the,v' re s eekin g f}ee clom, flcxibilitl'' rec ()!l- r-ritiorL. lnort: lnoney, anci opportunities to lear''e a leg-
"rcr -ell of the thing's the\r once thought tl're-v rvoulcl f incl
rr'itl-Lirt corPorations.
I)O|othr. l'errin N{oore, ar'tthor of Ca reerpt"eneurs: I'es'
s c., t r s F t' r t t t t Le a clittg Wo rtte n Ent rep rett el trs ott B uilding
a C rt t' e t' t' \\'' i l h cn fi ts o t tn clari e s' cl ai ms \\ronlen are break- ing rn tr ilotl the constrairrts of corporate lif'e in recorcl
n,-irt',l',.t]. to seek profbsslonal fl-rlfillment in tl-reir on'n
\\-r1\-:.illclet-erstoitastheorganlzationalpusirancl
elll'r':' c'l(lLr i:rl lrtrll'
Praise, Yes. OwnershiP, No
I: t ::l,.rr'tle -\t1lerlca act:ivelv ptlshing otlt its most
ttlerr.-.l r''r rtlletli' Despite the clil'ersity lnitizrtives tl-rat
hil\-:ri'ir:ir:iteclinrecentvcers'nanyorganizations
pleasant law'sttit iletn'een Viacoll ancl MCA' ancl rvas
solclfbr$4.5llilllon.SinceKoplor.itzl.raclrroeqtlityit-t
the company. n()t .l dinie of thc sale proccecls cane
n"r. *'"y.'"u"il. u'hen I st:rrted ollt in cable in the e'lrl-v
iior, it *ort-t't jtlst male-clouinatecl lt n'as nznle"' she
says "The bovs hacl alx-a.vs treatecl nle cordiall'v' hacl
alw:\s lavishecl praise on m\r perfbrtnzrtlce But they
hacl ner,'er, n()t even temotell', been reacly ttl mzrke room
fbr rle as a ccl-otl''ner'"
Het'goal hacl been to t"rke LISA Nets''orks public to
....,l,;, 1t", investment; when that clicln't happen' she
suclclenly fbund herself looklng to buv a nes-com- panr,.. De.spite her ertensive experience' she fbr-rncl th''rt
womcn renainecl 21t a clistil-ict clisacfuantage in raising
\relltLrre capitel-2rt the time, in I9()7, onlv I 7 percent of
ventltre capital \\'as going to br-tsinesses ownecl or ru11
Lr\' ,r,otnen. This spurrecl Koplovitz, zrlong with sotle
oil-r"l. ,""r,r,'tecl ancl well-connectecl u''omen' to filrm
Bolclcap Ventr'tres LLC, anangel fund fbr higl"r-net-worth
\nromen imrestots intenclecl to help wonlen st"rrt and
gron, ltusinesses Although the firnd is in its infiincy'
loplovitz savs' "We have lundecl three compltttlcs: ltn
agiibusiness, a czlncer diagr-rostic' ancl an online secu- ritv con-rPanv."
Koplor.itz shares her experience u'ith other \voilen
entt'cprenetlrs as cl-rair of both Broadn'av Teler''ision
Nct$ork ancl t1-rc Nationai \[otren's Business Cottncil'
still unconsciottsly treat thelr
\\'cl1ren as second-class cit- izer-rs. Noboclv knou's this
hetrt't' rltlrt K:r1 Kolrlor itz'
u.l'ro fbunclecl USA Neni'orks
and rln it fbr 21 Ye'.rrs. It-t
1992 USA Net$orks became
a Llargaining chiP in an Lln- ivorce, clumPing, or
abanclctnment: Call
it r,vhat vott like, llut
\/lAFaf/APtlr 2003 39