Life of a SFF (Single Female Founder)

Doing a startup is a lonely road. You start with a strong belief in yourself and move ahead. Every now and then your belief is broken, torn to pieces but still you move on. And if you are a single founder things become more difficult as you deal with all this alone. Some days there is depression you just don’t know what to do or where you are going. Some days you will be happy, feeling great about what you have been doing. And if you are a single founder and a female (I call it SFF) your life is little more harder. I know a lot of folks will say there are lot of women doing startups these days but most of them have male co-founders and believe it makes life more easier. Also it a plus these days to have a women on board ;).

SFF is till considered outcasts. People will get impressed with you. You will hear lots of nice words that “your a rare breed” and “it’s amazing to see women like you blah blah blah”. But when it comes to business you are not taken seriously. Probably because technology is a male dominated space (well which space is not male dominated!) and the people who are leading it have grown up in an environment where it is thought that women don’t know business & primary do house work. So if you happen to meet them which you will please ignore. Just focus on what you want.

• Be ready to work double hard.
• Get your numbers right.
• You should be so through with your excel sheets that it is hard to ignore you.
• You will face strange questions about your personal life your marriage, kids etc. Whenever this happens don’t get perplexed. It’s better to prepare your answers beforehand. Remember you have to milk your way through this system. You can change it only when you are on top of it. So just focus on reaching the top.
• Your family might not be very supportive. Handle it. You may get depressed about it but learn to manage you emotions.
• Stay fit.
• Get yourself a routine. Routines are very important. They get you in the grove even when you are not feeling fine. So just stick to them. Routines work.
• Read a lot and read good.
• Write if you can.
• Measure your progress every week. It help you to improve and show growth when required.
• Meet new people.

I think all these are applicable for any startups but being a SFF you will need it all the more. This is what I have been doing. And it helps me to stay focussed.

So ladies work hard, give your best. You have all the power! And i also hope that the tech community- accelerators, VC’s, incubators and people become more open to SFF’s.