DWEN 2017: An International Outlook

This week I had the privilege of attending the 8th annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) Summit in San Francisco with over 150 female business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs from around the world. Since 2010, the summit has enabled female founders to gather and discuss the critical issues and opportunities in front of them as they scale and grow their business in cities around the globe including Shanghai, Istanbul, Austin, Berlin, and Cape Town.

Over the course of the three days of the conference, I had the chance to meet with many of these impressive entrepreneurs, learning about their business successes and their challenges. I also had the opportunity to speak on a panel entitled “An International Outlook: Political Trends and the Macroeconomic Climate” with Nicola Blackwood, Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Innovation & Former Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee, Amit Midha, President for Asia-Pacific Japan for Dell EMC, Cris Turner, VP Americas Government Affairs, Dell and Connie Guglielmo, the Editor in Chief of CNET News. The discussion focused on global economic trends, their regional impact, the political environment and what it all means for the entrepreneurs as they look to scale their business globally, and I wanted to share some of the insights from this session here:

Global disruption brings great opportunity – entrepreneurs should not freeze in times of political change. While it is incredibly important to stay informed on changing political landscapes, legislation and regulations to safeguard and make informed decisions for the future of your business, do not let it distract you from the end goal. Keep focused on your purpose, what key need your business is addressing for your customers, and keep driving to make that a better, faster, easier experience.

In other words…

Concentrate on what you can influence. Look at the aspects of the business that you want to grow and change and focus in on those areas. In a session with Elizabeth Gore, our Entrepreneur in Residence, she gave some great examples. If you want to grow your brand’s profile, leverage technology as it is gender blind, over index on social media and other areas of digital marketing. If you feel intimidated or invisible in a predominantly male event, do your research before you go into the room – an online search can be the key to identifying potential advocates and allies (never underestimate the power of Google!) and when you get there, show up prepared to be better than anyone else in the room. To increase your leverage and credibility, (metaphorically) bring your most impressive customers or partners into the room with you – if you are doing great things with a well-known brand, talk about it as often (and as loud) as you can.

Make sure digital and technology are part of your story. Believing that your industry won't be impacted by technology is a mistake – the world today is brimming with amazing new possibilities and every company needs to embrace technology to be successful. Emerging technologies, underpinned by developments in software and processing power are driving change and will accelerate and augment the digital direction we’re headed in. After all, technology goes far beyond hardware, it’s the driving force behind fast and intelligent applications, amazing advances in embedded devices and creating intelligent IoT solutions. It is this insight and understanding that will drive business ideas forward and offer competitive advantages.

This year’s event was incredibly inspiring. Never before have entrepreneurs had so much power and influence, and this group of founders are paving the way with businesses that have purpose, create huge opportunities for diversity and disrupting industries. I encourage anyone who wants to get engaged and find out more to visit www.dell.com/women and follow the conversation on Twitter by searching #DWEN.