How Men Think

In the early days of the internet the working population of most web business was largely female. Save a few early visionaries (Case, Leonsis, Filo and Yang) there were not a lot of men who were willing to forfeit the cushy jobs and big expense accounts to take a chance. At AOL alone I think most of the first 50 employees were female. And they were spectacular, smart, innovative women. Jan Brandt, Audrey Weil, Jeane Villanueva, Amy Arnold.
Once these companies started to get a little exposure and some serious Wall Street attention the men finally showed up. And the first thing they did when they got there was to install other men in leadership roles. Regardless of the fact that the women in place had laid the foundations brilliantly.
This is not righteous indignation. I don't think falling victim to a persectuion complex is productive. I just wonder if there are lessons to be learned here. The same way the internet boom/bust in 2001 has fueld pragmatism in the current frenzy over digital media, shouldn't we do a little forensics on how we let a multi-billion dollar industry slip away from the original power base? My unscientific observation is that many of our peers were too willing to step back into subservient roles once there was really big money on the table. Perhaps a fear of failure. Or maybe they just got shoved aside so the boys could take the big payday. Whatever it was, we need to learn how to accept and, more importantly, actively promote ourselves and our abilities and accomplishments. Men do it all the time, whether they deserve the credit for successes or not. It's a lesson to be learned. Think like a man, but with that feminine twist that they won't see coming. Because not only do WE not think like THEM, but they haven't a clue how our minds work. And this, in the words of Martha Stewart, is a very good thing. A very powerful thing.