By Dani Pascarella, Forbes
As a female entrepreneur, I’ve become accustomed to being one of the few women in a room full of men — and knowing that my odds of success aren’t just startup slim, they are near impossible. But I’ve never been one to focus on “what is” because I prefer “what could be.”
When I quit my job on Wall Street to launch Invibed, I heard every reason why my idea wasn’t going to work. Millennials don’t care about money. Really smart people have already tried to solve this problem and failed. And of course, only 3 percent of venture capital goes to female founders.
A few months ago, my co-founder and I were on a business trip when we received a call. We were one of 12 startups accepted into the NYU Steinhardt EdTech Accelerator powered by StartEd. Being accepted meant we would participate in a three-month immersive program in New York City and that we were eligible for up to $170,000 in investment, funded by Rethink Education. We had just become part of the 3 percent.
An Accelerator That Is The Exception Not The Norm
Knowing “what is,” we were prepared to be the only female founders in our cohort. But walking into the first day at StartEd, we forgot ‘what is’ and were reminded of “what could be.”
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