Victoria R. Montgomery Brown - Digital Goddess

2020 Victoria Montgomery Brown

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Published by HarperCollins.

Book design by Maria Fernandez for Neuwirth & Associates

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ISBN 978-1-4002-2062-5 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-4002-2061-8 (HC)

Epub Edition July 2020 9781400220625

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940456

Printed in the United States of America

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For Dad

CONTENTS

Getting an EKG, an MRI, and two CAT scans of the brain was not my plan for a Tuesday in June. My calendar had contained the kind of appointments any CEO might expectmeetings with staff, a sponsor lunch, a call with one of our investors, a strategy session with my cofounder. Instead, Id rushed to the ER, convinced I was having a stroke. Turned out it was a panic attack.

In my twelve years as a founder and CEO, time after time there have been setbacks, challenges, and real personal issues that could have quashed me, let alone the business. But I keep getting back up! Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, but its satisfying as hell.

Ive worked at many different organizations in the course of my career. None has been so challenging and yet rewarding as building and working at my own company. Time and again, I think Im done with the stress and anxiety, but every time, I rally and find new motivation to continue. Fact is, as writer Jesse Itzler points out, when you think you are done, tapped out, you are generally only 40 percent done. Thats the attitude it takes to be an entrepreneurwhether the business thrives, survives, or diesits about staying in the game. And its worth it, no matter the outcome.

How about you? Do you like what you do, or do you hate your job? Do you wish you were building something that had more meaning to you and to others? Are you okay with the status quo of your professional life? Maybe youre content but not exactly excited about the day-to-day? If business-as-usual has become business-as-boring for you, you may want to consider being an entrepreneur and starting your own company. There will neverI guarantee, neverbe a dull day, and each and every day will matter. Especially in the early stages.

Digital Goddess is a book for entrepreneurial women at any stage of life who want to know what it actually takes to build a business, in a world thats not always fair, predictable, or politically correct. It is one womans storyby no means universal, but common enough to be instructive. Its about how Ive dealt with the way things are, not the way I hoped things would be or the way I think they should be. Its about sucking it up, making the hard choices, and dealing with the consequences.

Today, women are starting businesses at an unprecedented rate. In 2017, 40 percent of entrepreneurs were female, and in the decade prior, the number of women-owned businesses increased by 58 percent (compared to businesses overall, which increased by 12 percent). Today, women are slightly more likely to start a business than men. So, now more than ever, we need to have real conversations about issues that matter to us, both at work and at home.

I want to help catalyze those conversations and inspire more women to take the leap. In the pages ahead, youll find a real-life account of my journeysomeone whos started and run her own business and set her own culture. Theres the good stuff about being a woman in business and the not-so-pretty. This is not an idealistic vision of how business should be; its an honest reflection on how it is, and how it was in the not-so-distant past. Im going to take you on a tour of the start-up world before anyone knew what woke was. Buckle up! Ive built and run a business for more than a decade, dealt with every facet of it including investors, employees, and hell, even making payroll. That last thing? Turns out, thats actually the most daunting.

Our company, Big Think, isnt a venture-funded tech darling, born and raised in a Silicon Valley incubator. Its a scrappy, creative, labor of love that was born in a New York City bar and raised in a rented closet in someone elses office. It has had to fight for its existence most of the time. This book is not a story of eventual, massive, financial success and the building of a unicorn. Its also not one of the oft-heard stories of a companys near-demise and phoenix-like rise. (What is it with the mythical beasts in these metaphors? Or maybe thats the pointtheyre myths.) Anyway, thats not this story either. And yet, its been worth it.

What Big Think has done, to my great pride, is make a real impact on peoples lives and in particular on the way people think. And Im not just talking a handful of peoplewe recently passed one billion views. Weve featured thousands of the brightest minds in the world; partnered with elite institutions and leading-edge companies; and reached viewers and readers all over the world. Along the way, the company has dealt with all the things an average entrepreneurial venture deals with. As such, I hope its story is relatable to entrepreneurs in many different fields.

In the pages ahead, Ill talk frankly about things like getting investors, keeping them happy, hiring and firing, creating a healthy workplace culture, dealing with crises, working with a business partner, and more. Ill get personal and share the ups and downs of my romantic life while running a business; my strategies for dealing with powerful and sometimes predatory men; and the steps Ive taken to better understand and manage my own mental health and well-being. And for what theyre worth, Ill share some conclusions Ive come to and lessons Ive learned. For example, its a mistake to think we canor shouldentirely banish sexual dynamics from the workplace. And that, since the power and the money still lie largely with men, pretending its not that way, or being angry that it is, wont lead to success. Also, best not to wear a minidress and high heels to meet your arresting officer. Above all, that transparency is always necessary, even when it may cost you everything youve built.

The best stories are honest stories, and that is what this book offerseven when its uncomfortable or unflattering. If theres one thing I can say about my time in business, its that Ive always been myself, even when it seemed like a total drawback. This is my raw, unfiltered story (which is pretty hilarious at times, if I do say so myself), and I hope it will challenge everything you thought you knew about being a digital goddess.

Imagine that youre a first-time entrepreneur about to launch a new business. Youve got notable investors backing you; and in the coming weeks, theres going to be a major article in the