Women, Data and Venture Capital in Washington DC: Letter from the Road

This past week I had the honor of participating in the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington DC, with the specific purpose of mentoring international women in technology as they honed their pitches to investors in the audience.

It was an exceptional experience to hear about the ideas and innovations that these women bring to the table. Even moreso, it was fascinating to glimpse the motivations behind their ideas, and why they do what they do.

I was particularly moved by a young woman from Morocco, who spoke about "thermo-intelligence" (a word I'd never heard before) and the surprisingly long time it takes for new and unfamiliar technology to be adopted, regardless of how well-developed, helpful or even necessary the technology is. There are variables and obstacles that have nothing whatsoever to do with the technology itself, yet they must be engaged en route to the successful implementation of the technology.

It sounded familiar, and it was a moment of learning for me as the roles were reversed and now I stood well within the role of mentee instead of mentor.

We see a similar trajectory, and a similar life span, happening over time with Enolytics as well. The technology is proven, and we know it helps wineries sell more wine. Yet there are variables that must be engaged en route to successful implementation and increased adoption of the technology.

One of those variables is how quickly, or not, people in wine and agriculture adopt a different system. Even before that is a "pre-variable" of how comfortable those people are with software and similar tools, generally speaking.

Since three out of every four of Enolytics' users is a woman, I had a keen interest in the "women in technology" track of this past week's investment summit. I'm even more alert now to the challenges, possible solutions and especially the successes that can be seen and repeated.

Because we can be what we can see. And this week, I was deeply inspired by all that I saw. I look forward to spreading that throughout Enolytics and our community as we move forward.

Please be in touch with any questions or ideas. I'm always open to hearing them all. Drop me a note via email or just give me a call at +1.702.528.3717.

Thank you, as always, for reading —

Cathy