If we want more women in tech, then we need more role models they can aspire to. This sounds relatively simple, but try and name 10 women who are leading technology businesses in Australia – and the problem is obvious.



It’s not because these women don’t exist. Most of the business community know about Flamingo, which trades under the name CR8 and was listed on the ASX in November last year. Flamingo offers a customer support solution for financial services. It was founded by chief executive Catriona Wallace in 2014 and is among the first fintech startups to list on the ASX that is “led, founded and chaired by women”.

Then there’s the likes of Melanie Perkins, the co-founder and ​chief executive of the design software company Canva, which raised $19.8m​ last year and has a valuation of close to $500m​, and Cyan Ta’eed, founder and director of the digital marketplace Envato. While a valuation for Envato hasn’t been made public, over the past 10 years the business has reportedly paid designers more than $400m​.

These women are among the superstars of the entrepreneurial ​world in Australia, but their stories rarely permeate beyond business communities to become role models for women who look at what they’re achieving and start to ​think, ​“if she can, I can​”.

For women who have few technology skills, and who aren’t opting to start businesses or have careers in this field, success stories ​ aren’t pervasive enough to inspire ​change. And with fewer than 5%​ of women founders achieving a qualification in information technology, engineering or related technologies​solutions ​are sorely needed.

Technology skills give all entrepreneurs an advantage in the global marketplace because they can choose to build businesses that ​operate at low cost and scale up rapidly​. Technology also gives them the competitive edge over incumbents.



We need more women in technology because the corporate and startup ecosystem in Australia as a whole needs more of this talent to thrive. If we want to develop technology products, services and software solutions that also genuinely address the needs of all users, we need more women to help create them. A more even gender balance would bring greater diversity to the whole industry, which in turn would also drive success.

When it comes to ​female-owned businesses in Australia, ​almost half of all women entrepreneurs​ launch their businesses between the ages of 40 and 54. If the skills they need to start and grow technology enterprises haven’t been learnt in their journeys in the workforce, then building a website, an e-commerce platform or understanding how to brief an agency to do it for them will be an additional challenge on top of keeping their businesses afloat.

They’re likely to lack understanding around what technology they need and the feasibility and potential of what they’re trying to build. If they try to find a tech co-founder who could invest money into their business, the problem may become even more acute, because you can’t build a vision for a business when its core functionality is something you don’t understand.

To increase their chances of success, non-tech founders, aspiring entrepreneurs and women working in private enterprises especially need to see other women doing exactly what they’re trying to do – who look like them and sound like them – founding and leading successful technology businesses. Technology isn’t just about coding, it’s also about learning through the action of trying to build technology and making mistakes in the process. It’s about exposing these mistakes to other similar individuals, in a safe face-to-face or online environment where experiences can be shared.

To overcome the challenge of making these women’s success stories more accessible, what is needed are communities of practice where entrepreneurs can immerse themselves in the journeys of their role models. These need to be places where they can also network and share in the knowledge and learning of their peers.

These communities aren’t just only vital for women starting businesses. With fewer girls taking Stem subjects in schools, younger women need these collectives, too.

At Inspiring Rare Birds we champion the stories and experience of women in technologyby providing a mentoring platform that connects entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs globally.

On the global platform they ask each other questions, collaborate and find mentors, who can help them to solve their business challenges. These relationships can span one year or many years, with mentors and mentees usually meeting once a month. They discuss business and personal issues; how to grow as leaders, and how to access people they couldn’t otherwise reach out to without the help of their mentor.

We also espouse the benefits of communities of practice like this at any opportunity. Of course, we want women to join ours, but what’s more important is that they find these deep wells of learning and draw on this kind of support to bridge gaps in their knowledge.

Through these communities, women interested in careers in technology or in starting a tech-based business can find others who share their passion for innovation and who understand, on a deep level, the opportunities and challenges they face every day. These are the kind of role models who will inspire them to greatness.