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Erla Lind Guðmundsdóttir
Email: erlagumm97@gmail.com
Twitter: @erlalindgud
Women Against Male Domination
Korka is an informal society amongst females in innovation and growing companies which all want to create a forum for women who want to share tips and experience of management of these companies. Most of their contact is conducted on Korka’s facebook group, but also in their monthly meetings called “awesomeness”. In these meetings they discuss a specific matter, such as marketing and also to strengthen the groups bond.
Korka was founded in 2011 by about 30 women who all had one thing in common, having started and run growth companies in Iceland. They thought they needed an area where female entrepreneurs could get together and discuss matters that concern starting and running businesses. In the group there are about 1.100 members from several sections of innovation and management.
In the Icelandic community, males and females different styles in management has been a popular topic. Women are known to take less risks than men but still manage to perform and run their businesses better. While running a business, women still have to be the biggest part of raising their children. Because of children, women often don’t even make starting a business happen. But when they do, it often is more difficult for them to get somebody to invest in their business than it is for men.
Korka’s members come from every section of the economy and all have something to give out.
Korka- konur í nýsköpun og sprotafyrirtækjum.
Konur eru konum bestar!
Korka er óformlegur félagsskapur kvenna í nýsköpun og sprotafyrirtækjum sem hefur það að markmiði að efla tengslanet og skapa vettvang fyrir konur til að deila ráðum og reynslu af rekstri nýsköpunarfyrirtækja. Umræður fara að mestu fram í Facebook-hópi Korku, en einnig eru haldnir mánaðarlegir hittingar sem bera nafnið „Awesomeness“ þar sem ýmist er tekið fyrir sértækt málefni, svo sem markaðsmál og styrkumsóknir eða tækifærið er nýtt til að efla tengslin og ræða um almenn málefni tengd rekstri og nýsköpun.
Hvers vegna þarf félagsskap eins og Korku?
Korka var stofnuð sumarið 2011 af hópi um 30 kvenna sem allar áttu það sameiginlegt að hafa stofnað og rekið sprotafyrirtæki á Íslandi. Þeim þótti vanta einfaldan og ókeypis(!) vettvang fyrir konur í nýsköpun til að stofna til umræðna um hin ýmsu málefni sem tengjast stofnun og rekstri sprotafyrirtæki, ekki síst fyrir þær sakir að þar til í kringum 2008/2009 hafði sprotaheimurinn að miklu leyti verið samsettur af karlmönnum. Í fyrstu var hópurinn stofnaður til að halda utan um hittinga þessa litla stofnhóps, en svo sáu þær að þörfin var til staðar og opnuðu hópinn fyrir aðrar konur í nýsköpunar- og sprotageiranum.
Í Korku eru rúmlega 1.100 meðlimir úr hinum ýmsu geirum nýsköpunar og rekstrar og fer hópurinn ört stækkandi.
Eru þarfir kvenna í nýsköpun öðruvísi en þarfir karla í geiranum?
Eins og tíðrætt hefur verið í íslensku samfélagi undanfarin misseri er stjórnunar- og rekstrarstíll kvenna og karla mismunandi. Konur teljast almennt áhættufælnari en karlar en skila jafnframt almennt betri rekstri á þeim fyrirtækjum sem þær stýra. Þá bera þær enn þá stóran hluta ábyrgðar á uppeldi barna sinna, þá sérstaklega ungra barna, þó að sem betur fer hafi orðið bragarbót þar á síðustu ár. Af þessu leiðir að konur eru tregari til að stofna fyrirtæki og taka þá nauðsynlegu áhættu sem þarf til þess að taka fyrirtækið úr því að vera áhugamál yfir í alvöru rekstur. Þegar að rekstri er komið hefur það reynst konum erfiðara að sækja fjárfestingu, ekki síst vegna þess að fjárfestar horfa oft og tíðum frekar á tæknifyrirtæki sem fjárfestingartækifæri (frekar en t.d. hönnunarfyrirtæki) og hefur tækniheimurinn að einhverju leyti einkennst af svokallaðri „bro-culture“, þar sem karlmenn vinna, karlmenn stjórna og karlmenn fjárfesta, svo fara þeir allir út í bjór á eftir. Innan Korku eru konur úr öllum lögum samfélagsins og atvinnulífsins og allar hafa eitthvað til að gefa af sér. Samanlögð reynsla kvennanna í hópnum er gífurleg og því mikilvægt að virkja þann auð til að auka hlut kvenna í nýsköpun á Íslandi.
I chose this article because it really shows why women have to stand by each other in this man-dominated business world. Because women are not less-capable than men. I thought it was a great article and wanted it to be on my website. I rephrased the article and took out the most important stuff to translate. I used ordabok.is to help me with the vocabulary.
Richard Bransons words of wisdom
Í gegnum árin, hefur frumkvöðullinn Richard Branson viðhaldið ungum anda í rekstraraðferðum sínum. Sá eiginleiki gerir hann einstaklega áhugaverðann fyrir þá sem vilja byrja ungir á fyrirtækjarekstri.
Flest ungmenni með stórar hugmyndir munu komast að því að 99% fólks mun koma með margar ástæður hvers vegna hugmyndin sé ekki góð eða hvernig hún mun mistakast, sagði Branson í viðtali við Eric Schurenberg.
Aðeins 15 ára gamall, hætti Branson í skóla til að stofna sitt fyrsta fyrirtæki, tímarit fyrir unga aðgerðasinna kallað Student. Nokkrum árum seinna, stofnaði hann hljómplötuverslun, síðan stofnaði hann hljóðver og árið 1973 var hann búinn að stofna eigið plötumerki. Þá byrjaði stórveldið The Virgin og Branson ekki einusinni orðinn 24 ára gamall.
Ekki hafa allar hugmyndir Bransons verið árangursríkar en hann hefur alltaf haldið einbeitingu. Ef þú ert nógu ákveðinn eru meiri líkur á árangri vegna þess sem þú hefur lært af mistökum þínum. Það sem mikilvægast er, er að láta ekki mistökin stoppa þig.
Richard Branon to young entrepreneurs: "Just do it"
Through the decades, entrepreneur Richard Branson has not lost that certain wunderkind vibe about him and the way he runs his brand. This aura makes him especially inspiring to entrepreneurs who are looking to start young.
“Most young people with good ideas … will find that 99 percent of people will give them every reason why their idea’s been done before or why it’s not a good idea or why they’re going to fall flat on their face,” Branson recently told Inc.’s president and editor in chief Eric Schurenberg during an exclusive sit-down interview. “In the end, you have to say, ‘Screw it. Just do it.’”
At the age of 15, Branson dropped out of high school to start his first business, a magazine for young activists titled Student.
Four years later, in 1970, Branson began selling records by mail. In 1971, he opened his first record store. In 1972, he opened a recording studio. In 1973, he started his own record label. The Virgin business empire had begun, and Branson had not yet turned 24.
Today, the Virgin Group is a well-regarded global conglomerate of about 350 companies, branching into the entertainment, travel, and mobile industries.
Not all of Branson’s big ideas have been successful. Virgin Airlines and Virgin Mobile are now flagship brands for Branson, but remember Virgin Cola? With big risks come big, public failures. Branson has a follow-up secret to success: determination even when failure seems inevitable.
“If you have enough determination.... It’s more likely that you will succeed because of what you learned from the occasions when you didn’t succeed," Branson said. “The most important thing is to not be put off by failure.”
To hear more from Branson about taking calculated risks, watch the video below.
“In the end you just have to say, screw it. Just do it”
I chose the text because after reading it I felt inspired and the things Richard Branson sais really got to me. He talked about how we cant let our mistake put us off and I think that is a lesson everybody should learn.
An interview with Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, Kjörís's Marketing Manager
I chose Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir because she works in my field of interest and I wanted to know more about her job. I have known her since I was little and always thought she was inspiring. Guðrún is vice president of Samtök Atvinnulífsins, president of Samtök Iðnaðarins and she is also the marketing executive in her family business, Kjörís.
Guðrún was so kind to give me a little of her time to answer a few questions I wanted to know about her career in Kjörís.
1. What is your job title?
- My title is Marketing executive.
2. What is your degree and how long did it take to get that degree?
- I have a BA degree in anthropology and a diploma in practical gender equality studies. And I am about one essay away from a masters degree in gender studies. I spent about four years in college.
3. What are the pros and cons of your job?
- The pros in my job in Kjörís is that the job is so diverse. I am responsible of the marketing on all of the companies products and our services. My time is divided between designing our products packaging and having oversight over all of the companies designs. I also take care of product development, which I find very fun. All of Kjörís’s marketing and promotion materials are under my control, such as designing advertisements and appearance. Its my job to keep an open eye for the latest trends and come up with something new for the market. I really don’t think there are any cons to my job, I’m working in my dream job.
4. Which personal qualities do you think are good to have, working in this business?
- First of all, being positive and open for any changes is a great quality. You need to have good communication skills whereas you are in constant communication with other people. Being good at analyzing behavior is also important. You have to be creative and be open for others ideas too. This job is very vivid.
5. Do you think women stand equal to men in your position?
- As marketing executives, I think women stand pretty equal to men. Though there are more men in this section, women are increasing too. But in the advertising section overall, women stand way behind men. That section is very male-dominated.
6. What do you think is the best advice for achieving something great in your life?
- My advice for a successful life would be to do something you like. Because then you don’t consider it as work. That is how I feel very often. I get a bit guilty because I feel like im not doing anything constructive but I think its because I just love my job and I never consider it encumbering. I believe that if you give 100% in whatever you do, wether its work or school, you will harvest great things from it. I picked a career that requires a lot of contact with other people because I have a great interest in people and the things they do. I think working with other people is very satisfactional.
5 Ways To Kill Your Dreams by Bel Pesce
I chose 5 ways to kill your dreams by Bel Pasce.
Pasce talks about five things not to do in the journey of chasing your dreams. She is giving tips on how to kill your dreams. These tips were; believing in overnight-success, believe someone else has the answers for you, believe that when growth is guaranteed you should settle down, believe that the fault is someone else’s and believe that only the goals themselves matter. All those tips show what not to do, you have to work for your dreams, they don’t happen over night, your dreams are a journey. You should seek all the answers for your self, don’t trust that somebody else will have the answer for you. Don’t settle down when growth is guaranteed, its never guaranteed, you should continue your journey and make it even more successful. Believing that the fault is someone elses, your dreams are your responsibilities to make happen. And believing that only the goals matter. Life is not about the goals themselves, its about the journey. You should enjoy the journey
The title got my attention at first, when I watched the video I felt really inspired by the things Pasce talked about, they made so much sense.
Why we have too few woman leaders by sheryl sandberg
The second lecture I chose was Why we have too few women leaders by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
In Sandberg’s lecture she looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their profession and gives 3 advices for women. The first advice, sit at the table(in for example a meeting); Sandberg talks about believing in yourself and reaching for your goals by not just sitting on the side of the room in for example a meeting, not at the table, just take your seat. She talks about how men believe in themselves way more than women do and how we have to teach our daughters otherwise. The second advice, make your partner a real partner; she talks about how parents should work together. And the third, don’t leave before you leave; females often start leaning backwards when they are planning to have a baby and are thinking way ahead of themselves. Work hard until the day comes that you really have to leave. Make the most of your time you can.
I saw the title and that was exactly what I was searching for. A lecture about businesswomen. Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook. She managed to talk about the subject perfectly and her lecture was very inspiring and eye-opening about the facts that women have to face in business.