APRIL 2024 MAGAZINE

​Gender bias in startup funding is pervasive and persistent. For a lot of budding female entrepreneurs looking to establish their own businesses or launch a startup, securing capital or funding is a challenging and sometimes very unfair activity as there is still a lot of gender bias from investors. Many investors view women as new to business and entrepreneurship as women were only able to get access to business credit beginning in the early 1970’s. After nearly 50 years, you might think that things have changed but, sadly, they’ve changed much. Today, as we move well into the 21st century, gender bias in startup funding is alive and well.

Who are you going to call when the garbage disposal backs-up on Thanksgiving or the electricity goes off over the weekend? Needing affordable help quickly is something we all experience. An emergency call to a plumber or an electrician could cost you that chunk of the money you have been budgeting to go away on vacation. Contractors might be everywhere, and yet…Are they dependable? Are they affordable? Can they get to your home quickly? Miami-based Abylay Ospan has come up with a solution. His new company, AbsMap features a mobile app that allows end users and contractors to connect with one another in real time. 

On my trip across America, one of my favorite stops was in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Coming fresh from the streets of New York City, I think I used to say R-Can-Zas, like Kansas with an R in front. Rocks and boulders lay strewn all over the sides of the road. Every so often a huge gaping canyon had been dug into the earth to excavate limestone, sandstone, granite or marble. There was a lot of rock quarrying going on. Some canyons were full of fresh, clear water, looked like small lakes, and were tempting enough to invite summer frolicking under the hot sun. The air is so dry that it will rob the moisture from your skin. Arkansas may be rock country, but it’s not barren of books.