Brick by Brick

Exploring the intersection of innovation & inclusion

To build an equitable ecosystem, start with “the diversity problem”

11/20/2018

There is a phrase I hear ALL THE TIME that makes my brain want to explode: “Women and people of color are welcome here.” Sounds nice and inclusive o...

Olivia Barrow
— November 2018 — 72 views

How Doyenne is starting a national movement to level the playing field for all entrepreneurs

11/2/2018

Every month, the Doyenne Group equips more women entrepreneurs with the skills and resources to create sustainable businesses that can scale. After ...

, Heather Wentler
— November 2018 — 63 views

How a pivot can turn your ‘failure’ into success

10/18/2018

It’s time to bust another myth about entrepreneurship. MYTH: You only get one shot to succeed as an entrepreneur, and if you can’t hack it on your f...

Olivia Barrow
— October 2018 — 80 views

The 3 Responses you always get when you try to change an ecosystem

10/7/2018

There are several definitions of the word ‘audacious’, but one of my favorites is “taking risks and offending people by defying convention, propriet...

, Heather Wentler
— October 2018 — 69 views

Let’s Stop Blaming Women for their Fear of Failure (And help them overcome it instead)

9/24/2018

I had an entrepreneur walk into a coaching session with me recently, and the first thing she told me was that she just spent $1,000 on fabric for cu...

Amy Gannon
— September 2018 — 58 views

Let’s Talk about Depression and Entrepreneurship

8/30/2018

Kate Spade’s death was a heavy blow for me. Here was a woman — an extremely successful entrepreneur who I looked up to — who looked like she had it ...

, Heather Wentler
— August 2018 — 57 views

Working 80-hour weeks makes you a bad CEO: How to set and keep boundaries as an entrepreneur

8/14/2018

We’re not a big fan of conventional wisdom about entrepreneurship at Doyenne. That’s because most of the conventional “wisdom” is built on the assum...

Amy Gannon
— August 2018 — 53 views

An Invitation to Men in Madison’s Entrepreneurial ecosystem

7/12/2018

Checking your privilege is an inherently uncomfortable process for  all of us . To build inclusive and equitable communities, those of us with privi...

Amy Gannon
— July 2018 — 54 views

Thinking Big Means planning for success, not failure

7/1/2018

Last month I talked about our  Evergreen Fund [1]  and how we hope to see our applicants dreaming bigger and asking for more money. But let’s step b...

Doyenne Group, Heather Wentler
— July 2018 — 60 views

Women United not Divided: Three Generations of Women

6/19/2018

At Doyenne, we’re trying to transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem so that all entrepreneurs have an equal shot. Over the years, we have worked wit...

Amy Gannon
— June 2018 — 55 views

The No. 1 reason your funding application was denied

5/29/2018

We just finished our third round of the   Evergreen Fund [1] , and we’ve realized it’s time to have a hard conversation about how entrepreneurs thin...

, Heather Wentler
— May 2018 — 64 views

How to give and receive feedback

5/14/2018

In my last post, I talked about why, as a community of women, we need to have tough conversations — conversations about race and privilege and gende...

Amy Gannon
— May 2018 — 53 views

Why women aren’t at your conferences

4/26/2018

Every year, I shake my head when I see yet another women’s conference announced. In 2018 alone, there are more than 50 different national conference...

Doyenne Group, Heather Wentler
— April 2018 — 69 views

Why You're Going to Hear Things That Make You Uncomfortable From Doyenne

4/16/2018

We’ve taken a new approach to our blog since the beginning of 2018. Many of you have noticed. We’re living out our motto: Be Audacious. We’re callin...

Amy Gannon
— April 2018 — 57 views

THIS IS WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE TO PUT TOGETHER A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN

3/29/2018

Finding funding for your venture is tough no matter who you are. There is no magic bullet. Securing funding is hard, time consuming, prepare for mor...

Amy Gannon
— March 2018 — 54 views

QUALITY COACHES HELP ENTREPRENEURS NAVIGATE THE CHAOS — WITHOUT ADDING TO IT

3/20/2018

Building a business is a messy, iterative process. Coaching an entrepreneur through that process can be equally messy — and often ineffective — if t...

Amy Gannon
— March 2018 — 55 views

Stop believing this lie about women’s relationships

3/5/2018

Business is about relationships. Because of what the media puts in front of us and the experiences we witness firsthand, we spend a lot of time look...

Doyenne Group, Heather Wentler
— March 2018 — 54 views

Please Call Me On My #WhiteGirlShit

2/20/2018

Early in my career, I was working in a government office focused on women’s health that had a toxic environment. Just before I started, the departme...

Amy Gannon
— February 2018 — 177 views

Can anybody think of a good business idea for a male entrepreneur?

2/8/2018

A few weeks ago, a reporter from a small business blog sent the following request out over HARO, a listserv that connects journalists to expert sour...

Amy Gannon
— February 2018 — 47 views

INTRODUCING THE #DOYENNEMOMENT

1/18/2018

The #MeToo movement — which is now morphing into the #TimesUp movement — exposed the ubiquity of sexual harassment in the workplace, with famous abu...

Amy Gannon
— January 2018 — 61 views

About us

Brick by Brick covers the intersection of innovation & inclusion in the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

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