Claudia Reuter - Yes, You Can Do This! How Women Start Up, Scale Up, and Build The Life They Want

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 4
4. Chapter 10
5. Chapter 11
6. Chapter 12

Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup, 2nd Edition by Brad Feld, David G. Cohen

No Vision All Drive: What I Learned from My First Company, 3rd Edition by David Brown

Sell More Faster: The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Startups by Amos Schwartzfarb

Yes, You Can Do This! How Women Start Up, Scale Up, and Build The Life They Want by Claudia Reuter

Claudia Reuter

Copyright 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119625605 (Hardcover)
ISBN 9781119625636 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119625629 (ePub)

Cover Design & Image: Techstars Central LLC

To my sons, Thomas and Christopher, who shined a light on the magic of each moment and taught me to rethink everything.

And to Alex, for being a true partner in this journey of life.

If work, conceptualized as a career, becomes a measured line, the line often appears to be a rising one. Very often the rising career line is also, despite a residual cynicism about power, associated with a pleasant belief in the progress of the world. Even those who have refused to fit this profile know very well that they are measured against it by others who rise to the top and, from this top-of-the-career worldview, set the prevailing standards.

Arlie Hochschild, Inside the Clockwork of Male Careers

I'm sorry, but I just can't come back. I had mulled over what to say and how to say it for days. However, having the conversation with my boss was not any easier for having thought it through. I got off the call hoping I had done the right thing, as I felt a mixed range of emotions wash over me: guilt, relief, and a touch of anxiety. I took a deep breath and walked down the hallway of my apartment and stopped to lean over the crib of my 3-month-old, who was sleeping, entirely unaware of the decision I had just made.

I had agonized over childcare options for months. I wasn't entirely sure of what the right thing to do as a new parent was, but I knew I didn't want to get it wrong. All the data I could find on early childhood development pointed to the importance of an individual caregiving experience and the critical nature of the parent-child bond. I wasn't willing to risk my baby's development, so I quit my job - putting my own career at risk in the process.

I know this sounds dramatic. But the whole experience of becoming a new mother was dramatic for me as a 27-year-old with a fledgling career, living in a fourth-floor walkup, railroad apartment in New York City. I, like many other women, thought deeply about the role I was taking on, and obsessed about getting it all right, sometimes to my own detriment. And frankly, my body was a mess of stretched skin and fluctuating hormones, so even after three months I didn't feel physically ready to return to work, either. So, I made that call to my employer to let him know that I wouldn't be coming back, and stared into the eyes of this small human, determined to take my new role seriously. A year and a half later, my husband and I went on to have another child, and I continued my responsibilities as a stay-at-home parent for years. But after some time, as my kids got a bit older, I wavered in my decision to give up my professional pursuits. I knew I wanted and needed to contribute more financially to our family.

Shortly after the birth of our second child we made the move so many make to the suburbs. In our case, we'd also taken on a complete renovation project of a historic house. But my options for workforce reentry were scarce. The gap on my resume looked like just the word soundeda gap in ambitionnot a purposeful plan I had crafted to focus on personalized learning and caregiving in partnership with my husband. My volunteer roles as a library board director, and the skills I'd developed researching, managing, and in some cases implementing renovation projects, did little to externally enhance my resume. I quickly realized that any step I took back into the workforce would likely be a step back from where I had left off and would still create logistical challenges. So, I explored other ideas, and I identified some opportunities in the low-tech environment I had entered as a parent, which contrasted sharply with the high-tech environment in which I had previously worked. I saw an opportunity for a business.

I went on to start a software company, be the CEO, raise capital, provide value to customers, sell the business, lead a division within a billion-dollar company, and be recognized as a Woman to Watch in Tech by the Boston Business Journal and as a ChangeMaker by HUBWeek