{"id":464733,"date":"2022-06-17T22:14:13","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/tips-for-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story\/"},"modified":"2022-06-17T22:14:13","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:14:13","slug":"tips-for-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tips-for-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story\/","title":{"rendered":"#Tips for navigating Silicon Valley as a queer founder: \u2018Own your story\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25548513fe1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25548513fe1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tips-for-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story\/#%E2%80%9CTips_for_navigating_Silicon_Valley_as_a_queer_founder_%E2%80%98Own_your_story%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Tips for navigating Silicon Valley as a queer founder: \u2018Own your story\u2019&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tips-for-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story\/#Thank_you_for_joining\" >Thank you for joining!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CTips_for_navigating_Silicon_Valley_as_a_queer_founder_%E2%80%98Own_your_story%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Tips for navigating Silicon Valley as a queer founder: \u2018Own your story\u2019&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2022%2F06%2Ftracybenson.jpg&amp;signature=a62ed6b041d4e81ff62376e26870c288\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            Navigating Silicon Valley can be a daunting task for any entrepreneur. And queer founders face an even greater uphill challenge. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for those who\u2019ve blazed a path to share the secrets of their success with the rest of the community.<\/p>\n<p>Tracy Benson, former professional athlete and the CEO and co-founder of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.obsesh.com\/\">sports technology startup Obsesh<\/a>, did just that when she took to the Growth Quarters stage at TNW Conference 2022 this Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Her talk, entitled \u201cHow to navigate Silicon Valley as a queer person,\u201d was a frank and spirited jaunt through the founder experience from a severely underrepresented point of view.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Thank_you_for_joining\"><\/span>Thank you for joining!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Check out the highlights from TNW Conference 2022 \u2192<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Benson essentially broke the challenge down to two simple concepts, \u201cVCs want to make money,\u201d and \u201cless than one percent \u2026 have outwardly identified as queer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYet,\u201d as she puts it, \u201cmost of the venture community still invest in people just like them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The conversation around diversity in STEM is far too often focused solely on semantics and metrics. But diversity and inclusion start at the top. That\u2019s why we need more queer founders, CEOs, and executives.<\/p>\n<p>According to Benson, that begins by understanding the reality of the situation. While she gave several tips at the conference \u2014 making it another can\u2019t miss talk! \u2014 the following advice stood out the most:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOwn your story.\u201d This is <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly good advice for any entrepreneur, as Benson explains, you should be ready to explain your backstory (why are you the person who should be doing this?) and your company\u2019s\u00a0reason for being.<\/p>\n<p>But, for queer executives, the invisible margins of error can be even slimmer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFocus your energy on the right outcomes.\u201d Benson explains that there are myriad resources available but, when you\u2019re the one in charge, there\u2019s nobody to tell you exactly which choices to make at any given time. Per her experience, successful startup leaders will prioritize where they invest time pitching and networking in order to maximize the potential to land the right VCs at the right time.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most direct and poignant advice Benson had for queer entrepreneurs was to find the right accelerator. \u201cWe\u2019ve done two,\u201d she told the audience, \u201cand I\u2019m seriously considering a third.\u201d For queer founders, this means seeking out queer accelerators or those that are explicitly LGBTQPIA-friendly.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s obvious that times are changing in Silicon Valley. As Benson told the crowd: \u201cthe future is non-binary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, for those still trying to bushwhack a path to that future, there are challenges that need to be overcome today before we can achieve a better tomorrow. And the only way to do that is to disturb the status quo to such a degree that queer representation in STEM becomes more than just a distant hope.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/tips-navigating-silicon-valley-as-a-queer-founder-own-your-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Tips for navigating Silicon Valley as a queer founder: \u2018Own your story\u2019&#8221; Navigating Silicon Valley can be a daunting task for any entrepreneur. And queer founders face an even greater uphill challenge. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for those who\u2019ve blazed a path to share the secrets of their success with the rest of the community&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":464734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/06\/tracybenson.jpg&signature=c618f5b7d245559b13febe8019d85c05","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}