From New Zealand To Silicon Valley: Victoria Ransom’s Wildfire Journey (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Victoria has been an entrepreneur since her early twenties and has developed three companies. As founder and CEO of Wildfire (www.wildfireapp.com), Victoria led the company to profitability in just one year and has built the company to tens of thousands of customers, over 250 employees, and eight offices worldwide. Clients include major brands and agencies such as Facebook, Pepsi, Unilever, Sony, AT&T, Ogilvy, Publicis, and Digitas. Wildfire is a two-time winner of the fbFund; investors include Summit, Facebook, Accel Partners, and the Founder’s Fund. Victoria has been featured in several publications including The New York Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. She was named one of the ’25 Women to Watch in Tech’ for 2011 and 2010 and was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for New Zealand. Victoria has spoken at numerous events, including Le Web, SXSW, OMMA, AlwaysOn, Ad:tech, and Web 2.0.

Sramana: Victoria, let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where do you come from?

Victoria Ransom: I grew up on a farm in New Zealand in the middle of nowhere. There were 25 students in my primary school. It was a wonderful upbringing, and it was very beautiful. It was a very supportive environment and a small environment. I felt I could do anything. >>>

March 3rd: Sramana Mitra At Berkeley Haas’ Women In Leadership Conference

Do you dream of starting a business? Have an idea but not sure what to do next?

Sramana Mitra will be moderating a panel, Entrepreneurship: The Real Stories of Getting Started, during the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business’ Women In Leadership Conference on Saturday, March 3, 2012, at 10:30 a.m.

This panel will share the real, honest stories of successful women entrepreneurs. Whether they got venture funding, participated in an incubator, or bootstrapped their venture, they’ve all had exciting successes and tough challenges. Hear about both, and learn how to find your own unique path to entrepreneurship. You can find more details and REGISTER HERE.

Women And Entrepreneurship: My Statement

The topic of women and entrepreneurship has been getting a lot of attention of late. Vivek Wadhwa has been leading the charge from TechCrunch. Yesterday, I read an article by Penelope Trunk on TechCrunch that argues that you cannot be an entrepreneur and bear and raise children, have a successful relationship, and have a balanced life.

I generally avoid commenting on this issue, but Vivek has often egged me on to say things, at least in private discussions. Vivek is a good friend, and I believe that he is trying to do something meaningful to help move this debate forward.

So, today, I am going to say a few things on the topic. >>>

A Video Interview For Women Entrepreneurs

Check this out on YouTube. Especially for my readers who are women entrepreneurs, this may be an interesting clip to watch.

Women & Web 3.0 (Part 1)

Overview

Women have made their presence felt on the Internet and if you don’t believe it then check the numbers below. Today, 51.7% of Internet users are women and they are growing. In 2006 the total number of women online in the US was 93.9 million compared to 88 million males. According to eMarketer, currently there are around 97.2 million female Internet users and the numbers are expected to rise up to 109.7 million in 2011, constituting 51.9% of the total online population.

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