AWS Startup Day
Women Founders Edition

Wednesday, September 22, 2021
9:00 AM PT - 1:15 PM PT | 12:00 PM ET - 4:15 PM ET

About the Event

Join us for AWS Startup Day, a free virtual event designed to enable and accelerate startup innovation and growth for new and existing startups. This year’s event will dive deep into the unique challenges women founders face as they build and scale disruptive tech startups. We’ll cover topics relevant to all founders, including tips on juggling your personal life while building a business, and how to find great talent that gets your MVP up and running. You’ll also discover the key AWS resources you need to architect a successful startup.


Event Agenda

Event Agenda

Speaker: Rachel ten Brink, GP and Co-Founder, Red Bike Capital
Opening & welcome keynote
Moderator: Lauren Maillian, CEO, digitalundivided
Panel: Wendy Gonzalez, CEO, Sama | Sindhu Joseph, Founder and CEO, CogniCor | Kellee James, CEO, Mercaris
The path to success for every startup is paved with hard work, perseverance, and vision. For woman founders, these stories are even more powerful, often due to the big sacrifices we have to make. Startup founders and CEOs will share their stories, from their first 100 days to the path forward as a funded, growing startup. These founders will open up on how they embraced their roles as woman founders, and will tell their stories of facing and overcoming adversity. We’ll also discuss the loneliness and seclusion that can accompany women when starting up, especially for solo-founders. And, we’ll explore the tough decisions women often face when it comes to dating, starting a family, and whether to attend the annual girl’s trip, while also prioritizing professional success. These stories are an inspiration for every woman fighting to bring her company vision to life, while maintaining her identity outside of the brand she's building.
Speaker: Nancy Wang, General Manager, AWS Backup and Data Protection Services, AWS
You might have an objective, but you can’t get there without a roadmap. You need a clear, concise, process-driven framework to scale your MVP. Learn how to channel the what, when, why, and how of your vision into a communications plan that keeps you and your team on-track to success. This session takes you on the journey of formulating your own product roadmap. Get ready to build a defensible action plan, driven by business analysis, market data, customer feedback, and other vital variables.
Speaker: Joan Westenberg, contemporary writer, angel investor, creative director, and CEO, Studio Self
Aspiring founders often look to their peers for advice as they build and grow their own startup. For LGBTQIA+ founders, especially transgender women, this can be difficult. As an underrepresented group, these entrepreneurs often lack examples— let alone peers to connect and collaborate with. Join us as award-winning creative director, writer, and founder Joan Westenberg breaks down the struggle of coming out while starting up, and how LGBTQIA+ founders can blaze their own trail without following conventional routes. She’ll share insights from her own path to prominence as a transfounder and talk about how we can all be an ally and advocate for transwomen and other underrepresented groups.
Speaker: Jackie De La Rosa Kennedy, Former Founder and Startup Business Development, AWS
Implicit bias is an unjust (but very real) part of the fundraising journey for underrepresented founders. Whether they’re out in the open or operating under the surface, founders need to combat them head-on. The best way to overcome them, is to go through them. We’ll workshop biases and show you how to turn these perceptions on their head, judo-style. Instead of contention and conflict, you’ll learn how to present your startup with unflappable confidence that defies any preconceived notions. We’ll discuss the best strategies and how to preempt headwinds when fundraising, showing investors that you’re on your game, ahead of the curve, and investible.
Moderator: Hayley Bay Barna, Partner, First Round Capital, and Co-founder, Birchbox
Panel:
Adriana Catalina Vázquez Ortiz, Co-founder and CEO, Lilu | Laura Wittig, Co-founder and CEO, Brightly | Andrea Barrica, Co-founder and CEO, O.school
If VCs can’t identify with the problem, solution, market, or value proposition, they’re less likely to back it. This session teaches you how to bridge the divide, to create empathy and understanding with a pitch that lends perspective. Woman founders—especially minority women—often face barriers in explaining their startup to investors who may not understand it. From FemTech, to eco conscious, to minority-focused products and services, learn how to deliver a meaningful message when you're the only woman in the room. You’ll get unique and inspiring insights from our panelists, as they explain what it’s like to maintain brand identity and culture through the seed stage and beyond.

Moderator closing remarks

Session Details

  • Day 1
  • Day 2
  • Day 3
  • Day 4
  • Day 5
  • Track6 Session 1
  • Track7 Session 1
  • Track8 Session 1
  • Track9 Session 1
  • Track10 Session 1

Day 1

Tab 1 content

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Day 2

Tab 2 content

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Day 3

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Day 4

Tab 4 content

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Day 5

Tab 5 content

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Track6 Session 1

Tab 6 content

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Track7 Session 1

Tab 7 content

Organizations today are looking to free themselves from the constraints of on-premises databases and leverage the power of fully managed databases in the cloud. Amazon RDS is a fully managed relational database service that you can use to run your choice of database engines including open source engines, Oracle, and SQL Server in the cloud. Amazon RDS automates time-consuming database administration tasks and adds capabilities such as replication and Multi-AZ failover to make your database deployments more scalable, available, reliable, manageable, and cost-effective. This session covers why you should consider moving your on-premises Oracle & SQL Server deployments to Amazon RDS and the tools to get started.

Track8 Session 1

Tab 8 content

Organizations today are looking to free themselves from the constraints of on-premises databases and leverage the power of fully managed databases in the cloud. Amazon RDS is a fully managed relational database service that you can use to run your choice of database engines including open source engines, Oracle, and SQL Server in the cloud. Amazon RDS automates time-consuming database administration tasks and adds capabilities such as replication and Multi-AZ failover to make your database deployments more scalable, available, reliable, manageable, and cost-effective. This session covers why you should consider moving your on-premises Oracle & SQL Server deployments to Amazon RDS and the tools to get started.

Track9 Session 1

Tab 9 content

Organizations today are looking to free themselves from the constraints of on-premises databases and leverage the power of fully managed databases in the cloud. Amazon RDS is a fully managed relational database service that you can use to run your choice of database engines including open source engines, Oracle, and SQL Server in the cloud. Amazon RDS automates time-consuming database administration tasks and adds capabilities such as replication and Multi-AZ failover to make your database deployments more scalable, available, reliable, manageable, and cost-effective. This session covers why you should consider moving your on-premises Oracle & SQL Server deployments to Amazon RDS and the tools to get started.

Track10 Session 1

Tab 10 content

Organizations today are looking to free themselves from the constraints of on-premises databases and leverage the power of fully managed databases in the cloud. Amazon RDS is a fully managed relational database service that you can use to run your choice of database engines including open source engines, Oracle, and SQL Server in the cloud. Amazon RDS automates time-consuming database administration tasks and adds capabilities such as replication and Multi-AZ failover to make your database deployments more scalable, available, reliable, manageable, and cost-effective. This session covers why you should consider moving your on-premises Oracle & SQL Server deployments to Amazon RDS and the tools to get started.

Keynote

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Rachel Ten Brink



Rachel ten Brink,

GP and Co-Founder, Red Bike Capital

Venue



EV_aws_activate_vincentzheng_200x200_Sep-2021.png


Access Carta Launch via AWS! Get your startup fundraise ready! Through Carta, you can maintain an accurate cap table, access fundraising tools and benchmarks, and generate and track your SAFEs all in one place. Carta Launch is free for early stage founders with up to 25 equity-holders or less than $1M in total funding.

Sign up for Carta through the special offer below and receive 20% off when you purchase Carta Total Comp, an add-on product that will help you build your compensation strategy. Learn how to fundraise in an exclusive office hour with Dan Hightower, 2x founder and Director of Growth Product at Carta.

Sign up for Carta »




For nearly 40 years, SVB has helped innovators and their investors move bold ideas forward fast. Today, we provide a range of banking services to companies of all sizes in innovation centers around the world.

Join SVB experts for exclusive, themed office hours to answer all your startup banking questions. Qualifying pre-series A companies start with SVB Edge and get free checking, 1.0% interest rate on savings, and 2X unlimited reward points on card purchases. Learn more.

Get Started with SVB »

Partners



EV_aws_activate_vincentzheng_200x200_Sep-2021.png


Access Carta Launch via AWS! Get your startup fundraise ready! Through Carta, you can maintain an accurate cap table, access fundraising tools and benchmarks, and generate and track your SAFEs all in one place. Carta Launch is free for early stage founders with up to 25 equity-holders or less than $1M in total funding.

Offering
Sign up for Carta through the special offer below and receive 20% off when you purchase Carta Total Comp, an add-on product that will help you build your compensation strategy. Learn how to fundraise in an exclusive office hour with Dan Hightower, 2x founder and Director of Growth Product at Carta.


Sign up for Carta »




For nearly 40 years, SVB has helped innovators and their investors move bold ideas forward fast. Today, we provide a range of banking services to companies of all sizes in innovation centers around the world.

Offering
Join SVB experts for exclusive, themed office hours to answer all your startup banking questions. Qualifying pre-series A companies start with SVB Edge and get free checking, 1.0% interest rate on savings, and 2X unlimited reward points on card purchases.


Get started with SVB »

Why should I attend?

At this event, you will:
  • Listen to startup stories from top women founders, what they would tell their former selves, and the best practices they recommend to other tech-driven women entrepreneurs.
  • Get a step-by-step overview for how to build a better product roadmap—one that keeps you on track for success and scaling efficiently.
  • Discover how to be a better ally to all women, and how to champion wins and learn from losses in productive, empowering ways.

Who Should Attend?

This event is tailored for women founders and women startup employees, but we welcome anyone interested in learning about how AWS enables startups. The event will contain content relevant for any early-stage startup founder.

Speakers


  • Lauren Maillian

    Lauren Maillian,
    CEO, digitalundivided

  • Sindhu Joseph

    Sindhu Joseph,
    Founder and CEO, CogniCor

  • Wendy Gonzalez

    Wendy Gonzalez,
    CEO, Sama

  • Joan Westenberg

    Joan Westenberg,
    contemporary writer, angel investor, creative director, and CEO, Studio Self

  • Laura Wittig

    Laura Wittig,
    Co-founder and CEO, Brightly

  • Adriana Catalina Vázquez Ortiz

    Adriana Catalina Vázquez Ortiz,
    Co-founder and CEO, Lilu

  • Hayley Barna

    Hayley Bay Barna,
    Partner, First Round Capital, and Co-founder, Birchbox

  • Nancy Wang

    Nancy Wang,
    General Manager, AWS Backup and Data Protection Services, AWS

  • Jackie De La Rosa Kennedy

    Jackie De La Rosa Kennedy,
    Former Founder and Startup Business Development, AWS

  • Kellee James

    Kellee James,
    CEO, Mercaris

  • Kellee James

    Andrea Barrica,
    Co-founder and CEO, O.school

  • Richard Boyd, Cloud Data Engineer, iRobot

    Richard Boyd is a cloud data engineer with the iRobot Corporation’s Cloud Data Platform where he builds tools and services to support the world’s most beloved vacuum cleaner. Before joining iRobot, Richard built discrete event simulators for Amazon’s automated fulfillment centers in Amazon Robotics. His previous roles include cyber warfare systems analyst at MIT and research for the Center for Army Analysis. He holds advanced degrees in Applied Mathematics & Statistics.

Customer Highlights

Epic Logo Image

Epics Games’ entire analytics platform runs on AWS. Billions of game events, like player interactions on the map, their accuracy, damage taken and dealt, and what resources they are using are all sent to AWS.

Epics Games

Yelp Logo Image

Epics Games’ entire analytics platform runs on AWS. Billions of game events, like player interactions on the map, their accuracy, damage taken and dealt, and what resources they are using are all sent to AWS.

Yelp

Airbnb Logo Image
Lyft Image

Epics Games’ entire analytics platform runs on AWS. Billions of game events, like player interactions on the map, their accuracy, damage taken and dealt, and what resources they are using are all sent to AWS.

Lyft

FAQS


Q: Where is this event?

A: This a live online event, hosted by AWS.


Q: When is this event?

A: The event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22, 2021 | 9:00 AM PT - 1:15 PM PT | 12:00 PM ET - 4:15 PM ET.


Q: How much does it cost to attend?

A: There is no cost to attend this event.


Q: What if I can’t attend the live event?

A: You can still register to receive post-event, on-demand slide decks and videos via email.


Q: Should I join if I’m not a woman founder?

A: While this event is designed specifically for entrepreneurs who identify as women founders, there will be lessons that are applicable to all startups. It will also be a great opportunity for those interested in learning about allyship.


Q: Who should attend this event?

A: For this year’s AWS Startup Day, we built the content with women founders in mind. But many of the challenges faced by women founders are shared by founders from other underrepresented populations, or just founders in general. Any early-stage startup founder should attend and will be able to find relevant sessions.


Q: Why should I attend?

A: AWS has an entire team dedicated to helping startups find success. The event will tap into the wealth of expertise and serve as your introduction to the tools and resources you need to build and scale quickly on AWS.