As the only female on the executive team at MediaMath, you’d think I’d have heroic stories to tell about breaking into a male dominated industry. The fact is, the tech/online space is a great neutralizer for women. The need for smart people, great ideas, fresh thinking and tireless work is simply too fierce to permit random biases based on gender, race or any other factor for that matter. I think that’s why women are on the rise in tech boardroom. LinkedIn recently welcomed its fourth female executive. Other Silicon Valley “gender ratio leaders” include Google, Adobe, Salesforce, Twitter and Yahoo!
Across the board, it’s not gender, but experience, knowledge, ideas and solutions that helped these leaders rise to the top. The world of tech startups provides a fantastic environment for this natural evolution. Here’s why.
First: the media ad tech space moves at lightning speed. Those who have analytical, mathematical, financial, quantitative and tech marketing experience are valuable, period. Here at MediaMath, for instance, it’s about understanding how well our algorithm works and the technology of the day/space. Success in this business is a lot like the business itself: it’s all about metrics and performance.
Second: the tech/marketing arena doesn’t demand a lot of face time. Work is a constant, and managers are “always on,” but face time isn’t realistic with offices all over the world, placing many of us in virtual offices throughout the week. This puts a much more emphasis on quality of work instead of office politics and personalities.
Third: collaboration is the lifeblood of the startup. We are all running at a frenetic pace to get things done, but I’ve never encountered a time when another colleague wouldn’t work with me or explain something. Conversely, I help those who reach out to me. We see it as helping each other get jobs done, and we all have a common goal that we’re excited about: bringing MediaMath to the top of our space.
The ad/tech space is a great sector for women, and I’m excited and encouraged by our expanding diversity. While other industries may pay lip service to equal opportunity, it would be hard to find an industry that places a higher premium on innovation, work and ideas without regard to packaging.