December 2020
Teaching Note
HBS Case Collection

Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:17

Abstract

Four diverse women entrepreneurs launched their ventures in a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that was part of a shift to a creative technology-driven economy for Miami. Although Miami was rated the #1 U.S. city for startups in 2017, the region contained structural barriers and cultural biases unfriendly to women and people of color, including lack of access to capital and relationships. The case highlights women founders’ backgrounds and experiences with an ed-tech startup, a coding school and events for Black entrepreneurs; an incubator for green businesses with a Black leadership focus; and an accelerator for social impact ventures that also runs social media campaigns for problems such as climate change. The women CEOs reveal the barriers they faced, how they overcame them, and how they attempt to enrich the ecosystem for other women and people of color. This case raises the question of what must be in place for cities to take advantage of the innovation and job-creating potential of a wider population of entrepreneurs and gain the benefits of diversity, and for women founders to thrive.

Keywords

Women; Racism; Black Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Gender; Race; Prejudice And Bias; Innovation And Invention; City; Culture; Miami

Citation

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Joyce J. Kim. "Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 321-103, December 2020.