ATL’s Powerhouse StartupChicks

After attending Startup Weekend in February 2009, Jennifer Bonnett and Shannon Hubbell noticed a major lack of women attending these types of events (a 95% ratio of men at many of the startup and technology events in town). That’s when they were inspired to launch StartupChicks, a community of like-minded female entrepreneurs.

Meet the original two StartupChicks…


Jennifer Bonnett is a technology entrepreneur with over 25 years experience in the Information Technology field. She is currently Chief Chick of StartupChicks and Assistant Director, Education & Community Outreach at The Advanced Technology Development Center.

Shannon Hubbell is currently in program management at IMS Health. She has held other product and project leadership positions at ShortTail Media, Turner Broadcasting, Applied Biosystems, and Internet Security Systems.

So, what exactly does StartupChicks entail?

  • Volunteer-led chapters that plan educational events, networking events, develop a mentor pool and connect with community members. They currently have chapters in Seattle, Savannah, Sarasota, New York, and several in Atlanta.
    • There are  “Circles” within each chapter–small peer groups that meet regularly to learn, share and support each other.
    • Interested in joining a local circle? There’s one at ATDC and another at Atlanta Tech Village
  • Their Rockstar Chick dinners are invite-only quarterly dinners at marquis locations (restaurants/private homes/clubs). The goal is to connect Rockstar Chicks (ladies who are leading successful companies) to Early Growth Stage Chicks.
  • They have several different “Hatch” programs:
    • HATCH: a trademark 4 month intensive education & coaching program for promising entrepreneurs. (Available online as of this year)
    • FAST HATCH: an intensive 2.5 day program to get concept stage chicks accelerated focus on customer segmentation, value propositions, market and MVP.
    • FAST HATCH FINANCE: an intensive 2 day program to assist early stage chicks understand the key financial assumptions and metrics regarding their business.
    • FAST HATCH PITCH: an intensive 2 day program to prepare early stage chicks to pitch investors.

Read more about StartupChicks:
AcquityCFO
Dana Barrett
ATDC


[Photo Credit]