Why SaaS companies need a diverse leadership to foster innovation | SaaStock
This week’s guest on the SaaS Revolution Show is Sophia Eng, VP of Growth Marketing at Trade the Fifth and Founder of Women in Growth, a support group for female executives. In August 2017 an article she wrote in response to an internal memo that a Google engineer had written to discredit the ability of women to be in STEM careers, became viral overnight. Quoting outdated facts, the internal memo was leaked to the public and as soon as Sophia read it, she wrote a manifesto to urge women and other minorities to speak up and tell their stories so the facts can be straightened and they could be promoted to the roles they rightfully deserved. This is important because diverse leadership fosters more innovation.
On the episode, Sophia shares more about the experience and what has happened since. She talks in detail about the continued importance that people of diverse backgrounds tell their story, how vital it is not too give up on efforts to bring more diversity and inclusion in tech as we are only at the tip of the speer and one characteristic that women and other minorities possess that is essential for innovation.
A child of Vietnamese immigrants, Sophia experienced a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed from a young age. She developed a strong sense of dedication, resilience, and grit. Her upbringing helped to foster her growth-hacking mindset from a very young age, which she has applied at every job she has had. She worked harder than any of her peers but the negative part of growing up like this was that Sophia didn’t know how to speak up for herself. Consequently, she has learned to do that very well, as you will hear on the podcast.
Sophia is one of many excellent speakers we will host at SaaStock West Cost the most actionable conference for growth stage SaaS Founders & Execs, taking place in San Francisco on September 10th and 11th. There she will be joined by speakers such as Sonja Gittens Ottley, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Asana, Leela Srinivasan, CMO, Survey Monkey, Dan Adika, CEO and Co-founder of WalkMe and many others. Grab a ticket now at the best possible price.
Find out more about the initiatives we have in regards to fostering Diversity and Inclusion through the Taking Stock Program. If you have experienced any form of discrimination, which prevents you from attending SaaStock West Coast or any other of our conferences, please apply for our Taking Stock Scholarship.
You can find more about the topic of diversity and inclusion here.