I had the pleasure of attending the Womenterprise 2023 event, a celebration of women in enterprise software. It was an epic day filled with insightful talks and valuable networking opportunities. Over 250 female founders, operators, executives, and investors from pre- and post-IPO companies, fast-growth startups, and Fortune 500 companies gathered together to share their stories, experiences, and insights.

The day began with a bang! The conference was up in lights on the Nasdaq Tower, and an all-woman brass band kicked off the show. Erica Schultz , President of Field Operations at Confluent, and Claire Hughes Johnson, Corporate Officer & Advisor at Stripe, started the talks with their inspiring stories of how coping with personal tragedies taught them to lead with empathy, how leaning into uncomfortable situations was their biggest driver of professional growth, and more.

Monica Ugwi , VP, Head of Product at RudderStack, and Camilla Velasquez, Former SVP of Product at Justworks, shared their valuable insights on the needed pivots to transform a startup from early to mid to late stage. They emphasized the importance of “Don’t chase deals, chase markets” and “embrace killing products to make room for innovation.

Amy Borsetti, Head of Revenue & GM of Americas at Asana, taught us how to manifest our futures. She advised us to evaluate a new role or future opportunity by making a matrix of our priorities and values, then pursuing only what meets our chosen standards. Finally, Jessica Lin, founder of Work-Bench, sat down with her portfolio company Spring Health. CEO and Co-Founder April Koh revealed the hidden challenges and triumphs of scaling a company and becoming the youngest woman to lead a unicorn. April's inspiring message was to "Prove yourself wrong." Despite many odds against her, April continues to persist on her journey as a founder. Throughout the day, there were plenty of opportunities for networking and making new connections. 

A huge thank you to Work-Bench, the enterprise venture capital firm based in NYC that sponsored the event and provided valuable advice and support to early-stage startups. And a special shoutout to my friend and colleague Sabrina Siu for sharing this amazing event with me. 

To wrap it up, Womenterprise 2023 was an amazing experience that united brilliant and inspiring women in the field of enterprise software. I walked away feeling empowered, motivated, and optimistic about the future of women in technology.