Insights from She Hacks 2019: Innovation & Incubation

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to speak at She Hacks 2019 in Sydney, Australia where I was able to share my perspective on innovation and incubation. Walking into the event, I was immediately struck by the energy and passion around creating solutions to problems we currently face in our society. This room of 120 women were focusing on the possibility of what technology could accomplish with their coding. They were looking at solving problems like reducing food waste at restaurants and changing power consumption.

I was asked to speak to the group about my experience in taking an idea from conception through to shipping. I spoke about how important it is to get laser focused around what problem they were trying to solve and who would benefit from their solutions. The world didn’t know that we needed Canva or AirBnB but now we can’t imagine life without them. The founders of these companies had a clear vision and found success through their laser focus. From innovation to incubation to ship, I have 3 important insights:

1. Think through the journey and milestones. You don’t need to have every detail but a vision for what the big steps are to reach your goal. This means to me, have a rough plan on the first few steps, but be prepared to alter it along the way as you learn.
2. Once you have laid out your journey milestones, step back and start to let others fill in the details. It is important to listen and be curious. It's about having an end game in mind with an openness to the possibilities for learning along the way. You must have the notion of that journey but it's incredibly important to give the team the opportunity to create their story and steps for the innovation.
3. Don't be overly committed to your own idea of what the path and outcome will be – I’ve learned along the way that what I thought was going to be the “biggest” idea turns out not be nearly as impactful as the ideas that emerge from the team. Their creativity and inspiration make the story and innovation come to life.

One of my favorite parts of She Hacks was the conversations and connections I made. In our industry, the challenge isn’t just attracting more women to enter the tech profession; it’s retaining them.  Some years back I had a conversation with a woman that I was mentoring. She was pointing out to me that women often don’t use their networks in ways that help them grow in their careers. Not only was she right but she was talking about me, I had always been reluctant to reach out to people in my network when looking for new opportunities. 

SheHacks is a great example of a positive networking environment for women in tech. I’m proud to have Azadeh, a leader of @GirlGeekSydney as a member of my team, helping to organize events like #SheHacks. No matter where you are in your career stage, I encourage you to leverage your local tech communities. For those more senior women, become a mentor. What you learn and the energy you get out of working with earlier-in-career professionals is amazing. It is always a positive experience to pay it forward.