March 30, 2022
— Malene Platt (Director of Delivery and Support)
Why aren’t there more women in tech?
Before you ask yourself why there aren’t more women who work in tech, ask yourself if you can name 5 influential women who work in tech? If not, you should probably read this.
Sheryl Sandberg
When we talk about Meta and Facebook most of us usually think of Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) and Steve Wozniak (Co-Founder), but I think many of us skip Sheryl Sandberg, and I think that’s a big mistake – not just because she’s a woman.
Sandberg is the COO of Meta, which puts her second in command of one of the world’s biggest social media platforms. Not only that, but she was also the first woman to be elected a member of the Facebook board of directors back in 2012.
Her tenure at Facebook isn’t her first big position in a tech company either. Before joining Meta, Sandberg was the Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, and in 2012 Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. *
Susan Wojcicki
We can’t talk about influential woman in tech without mentioning Susan Wojcicki, who has been in the tech industry since 1999.
Just like Sandberg, Wojcicki spent time at Google. A lot of time. In fact, Wojcicki was involved in the founding of Google, and in 1999 she became the search engine’s first marketing manager.
She spearheaded the company’s advertising business and Google Video. Further, she was the person to suggest that the search engine acquire YouTube, which happened in 2006. Since 2014 Wojcicki has served as CEO of what is likely the world’s second most important search engine. *
Whitney Wolfe Herd
In 2017 Wolfe Herd was named one of Forbes’s “30 under 30” and in 2021 she became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. *
Whitney Wolfe Herd was part of the development team for the popular dating app Tinder, where she held the position of vice president of marketing. She has even been credited with naming the app.
In 2014 she left Tinder and later filed a lawsuit against them for sexual harassment in the workplace. Following online hate and an out of court settlement Wolfe Herd began sketching a female only social network centered around compliments. This would later turn into the dating app Bumble, where she is currently the CEO.
Mette Lykke
In 2007 Mette Lykke co-founded the Danish social fitness network Endomondo, and she served as the company CEO until 2015, when it was acquired by Under Armour for no less than $85 million. *
Leaving Endomondo didn’t mean leaving the world of tech, however. She currently holds the position of CEO at To Good To Go, an app that connects users with restaurants and stores that are looking to get rid of surplus food in a way that doesn’t add to their food waste.
Emilie Choi
Having worked at notable companies such as Yahoo (back in the early millennium), Myspace (in 2006) and LinkedIn (2009-2018) Emilie Choi was no stranger to the field when she joined the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase.
Within the first three months of being hired, Choi led the acquisition of three companies: Cipher Browser, Earn.com and Paradex.
Today Choi holds the position of President and COO at Coinbase Global Inc.
