Product Hunt Daily Digest
March 8th, 2020

Happy (belated) International Women’s Day! 🎉

ICYMI: IWD was yesterday, and to celebrate we’re highlighting women makers and their infinite wisdom. Every day, we see women launch their creations on Product Hunt, where they’ve shared things like how to finance an at-home reproductive testing startup, how to make your startup safe for transgender people, how to make crypto useful for young people, how to build an unconventional product for women and how parenthood can change how you think about your job.

We’ve gathered some of our favorite nuggets of advice from empowering makers and startup leaders below. Enjoy! 💪

Cynthia Huang, CEO at Altcoin Fantasy, shares how becoming a crypto founder helped her get over her imposter syndrome.

“As a new founder, you now not only have to do that thing that you have no experience in, but you have to excel at it in order to make your company a success. The downside? It can feel like you’re constantly failing. The upside? Getting over your fear of failure really fast because it slaps you in the face over and over until you either adapt or stop being a founder.” 

Sophia Amoruso, CEO at Girlboss, discusses her experience learning the new meaning of “product,” and how she set out to build a product that’s accessible to everyone.

“For women who were able to buy my book — that was a luxury. I’ve had women tell me that they couldn’t afford my book, so they checked it out from the library, then were able to get a job, and then bought the book because they could then afford it. That’s the girl I want to make sure has the opportunity to be part of this platform because she’s the person who needs it most.” 

Check Warner, Partner at Ada Ventures, talks about how privilege has led to venture capital’s lack of accessibility, and what steps we can take to address societal inequalities.

“Unless we talk about this reality and take steps to address it, I don’t believe anything will change. Some of the key drivers behind venture capital’s lack of accessibility involves the money needed to have a seat at the table or start a VC fund in the first place. These roles are preserved for the very few.“ 

Steph Smith, Maker of FeMake, Eunoia, Make Yourself Great Again and nomad (hubb), shares her experience learning how to code, and how that taught her that she was often her biggest blocker.

“For years, I told myself that others who had found success in tech were cut from a different cloth, and given different opportunities than I was given. While some of these notions may hold truth in specific scenarios, I had built a habit of making these assumptions without properly vetting their accuracy. Most of the stories I told myself were myths.“

Jenny Gyllander, founder of Thing Testing, talks about how she grew her side project to a full-time gig.

“At the beginning, I struggled to identify if I was building this more for VCs or for consumers. But what I think is a common trait among VCs and consumers who follow me is curiosity. People tell me that they’ve bought things I’ve reviewed and founders tell me that VCs contact them after being reviewed. It’s great to be a part of that.”

Allison Esposito Medina, founder of Hire Tech Ladies, shares how she bootstrapped a business rooted in community.

“Although we've been profitable from day one, being bootstrapped means having to problem solve creatively, plan carefully, and make all the right bets at the right time (pressure!). On the flip side, being bootstrapped means we've had to be laser-focused and prioritize on an almost daily basis. Those are good things for any community and any business, so it's both a blessing and a challenge.” 

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