The 20th meeting of Bay Area women working in innovative technology took place in Palo Alto last week. Slavic Sacramento brings you an exclusive report about women for whom “brainstorming,” “innovation,” and “implementation” are not just words but the essence of their profession.
These meetings are designed exclusively for women working in the high-tech industry, but Slavic Sacramento journalists were able to attend this semi-closed event. We spoke with female programmers and developers and listened to their stories of dreams, challenges, and achievements.
Russian-Speaking Women in Tech Silicon Valley
The Russian-Speaking Women in Tech Silicon Valley community was founded in 2014 by Lilia Schwarts and Julia Minkowski. The two women shared a common passion: new technologies and community service. In addition to working in the software industry, both are active entrepreneurs. Lilia has two children, and Julia has three.
They both believe in themselves, their talents, and the power of the women’s community.
After meeting with dozens of women, they discovered that the number of Russian-speaking women holding administrative and high-level positions in technology remained extremely low despite their talent, dedication, and ability to adapt to new circumstances.
Minkowski has spent many years working in the Bay Area’s high-tech industry. Two years ago, she came up with the idea of creating a Bay Area community for women with technical backgrounds like herself.
Together with Lilia Schwarts, who founded her own company, Raw Honey & More, Julia organized 20 meetings in the Palo Alto area, including the Peninsula and South San Francisco Bay regions.
This time, the meeting was held at the BootUP Accelerator in Menlo Park — a city that has become home to technology giants such as Facebook, Waze, Pinterest, Tesla, HP, Google, Skype, PayPal, and others.
The event featured group discussions and project presentations. One of the speakers was Amir Shevat, former Developer Relations Program Manager at Google and founder of Google Campus Tel Aviv. Amir shared his extensive experience working in Silicon Valley and then coached participants on how to present their projects to potential investors and “business angels.”
Solving everyday problems
The participants divided into groups and brainstormed ideas that could help people solve common everyday problems.
For example, one group worked on developing an app to help people order home-cooked meals.
“About 75% of people in the U.S. do not cook at home, and this is a huge problem,” said Lina, one of the meeting participants. “Our mission is to make home-cooked meals available in every household!”
Another group focused on the problem of elderly people getting lost in unfamiliar places. The participants developed the concept of a device that would make it easier to locate them. The gadget would not require batteries and would be powered by the person’s movement.
Another concept addressed the safe transportation of schoolchildren — an “Uber for kids.” The app would create a family-like environment for busy parents, allowing children to be picked up from school by other parents who could earn additional income.
Another idea was a virtual incubator for people who lack direct access to Silicon Valley investors and mentors.
“We had many ideas today. Amir Shevat explained step by step how to bring an idea to life,” said Julia Minkowski, co-founder of Russian-Speaking Women in Tech. “We divided into four teams, brainstormed ideas, selected one, and started developing it. We had to collect data, research competitors, analyze the market, and evaluate profitability.”
According to Minkowski, the exact number of Russian-speaking women working in Silicon Valley’s technology sector is unknown. However, the Russian-Speaking Women in Tech community already has about 1,500 members. Many of these women work as software testers and developers, while others hold positions as directors, vice presidents, entrepreneurs, and founders of innovative companies.
“We decided to help solve this problem,” Minkowski said.
During their presentations, young entrepreneurs shared their unique experiences of achieving success in Silicon Valley. They discussed ideas for revolutionary applications and startups and prepared to present their projects to potential investors.
The road to success
One of the speakers, Maria Kubyshina, is a single mother raising two children. Despite life’s challenges, she managed to achieve significant success in the technology industry. Today, Maria is developing her own application, 5per5, which helps immigrants learn English.
“Our meetings inspire people to change something for the better — and maybe even change themselves,” Minkowski said.
The team leaders were Margarita Kesselman (Invitae), Tim Raiter (Hell’o Baby), David Yang (founder of ABBYY), and Maria Kubyshina (BlueWorldAI). At the end of the meeting, they shared their expertise and presented their projects.
The highlight of the event came when team representatives had two minutes each to present their ideas to potential investors.
Amir Shevat, Head of Business Development at Slack Technologies, gave Slavic Sacramento an exclusive interview about the key components of business success. According to Shevat, the most important thing is the idea, followed by execution, marketing, and collecting as much user feedback as possible.
“By doing this, you will know that you are creating a product that the market truly needs,” Shevat said.
Russian-Speaking Women in Tech provides an excellent opportunity for experienced professionals, new entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors to establish valuable connections. Community members also help newcomers prepare competitive resumes and navigate career opportunities in the technology industry.
