Danielle Tate's entrepreneurial story is very much a classic tale of discovering something that is unnecessarily complicated and difficult, changing your name, and figuring out a way to streamline it for profit. A 13-hour ordeal trying to change her name after getting married inspired MissNowMrs.com (and companion sites like GetYourNameBack.com), but it was far from an easy journey. Now, Tate is sharing some of the lessons she learned in Elegant Entrepreneur, a book she authored specifically for women without business experience looking for a guide to all the steps of building a business.
"I wanted to write the book I wish was available when I started my first company," Tate said in an interview with DC Inno. "Most business books you can read the first two chapters for the crux and then the rest is just fine-tuning. I go into more detail with more examples, it's a whole course of entrepreneurship. It's not just the steps, it's about how you feel when it's happening, the experiences to look out for."
"Everyone's entrepreneur curious."
The book has been in the works for a long time. Tate had an offer from a publisher at one point that she turned down, but ended up deciding to write the book, partly inspired by a fortune cookie she opened that held the phrase, "share your wisdom with the world," inside. A year of hard work later and the book hit shelves.
The book, a combination memoir and how-to guide covers how Tate, at 25 years old in 2006, bootstrapped her company with $15,000, a third of it her own money, and what did and didn't work as she navigated her way as an entrepreneur through the business world. She describes herself as an "accidental entrepreneur," who had previously sold medical diagnostic equipment. Her book offers a way for those who don't want to rely on serendipity.
"Everyone's entrepreneur curious," Tate said. "Everyone has ideas, but don't what what the steps are to grow it and if they're capable. I tried mapping it out in a simplistic but detailed way to make that easier."
The book includes not just Tate's insights but comments from a wide range of entrepreneurial types, including notable names like WeddingWire founder Tim Chi, 1776 co-founder Donna Harris, Finepoint founder Meredith Fineman, WebMethods founder Caren Merrick and Julie Lenzer Kirk, the director of the innovation and entrepreneurship office at the Commerce Department.
"I originally just meant to interview three people but it turned into 28 because people were so willing to open their Rolodex," Tate said.
Though Tate said the book could be useful to everyone, it is aimed specifically at women, who face extra challenges in the business world. Sometimes, it's that women are less likely to take risks, Tate said, but they are also more likely to have trouble finding mentors or asking questions. And that's before the issues that can arise when pitching to potential investors, who statistically are more likely to be older white men, who don't necessarily grasp the audience for a business pitch.
"They may not understand the value of an idea for your segment," Tate said. "They'll say things like they have to ask their wives or daughters."
"It's an amazing time to be a female founder."
As for the lessons Tate would impart to other women, she said that a lot can come down to market research and going into a business plan with eyes open and owning the status as a female entrepreneur.
"It's an amazing time to be a female founder," Tate said. "The whole mean girl myth isn't true. I was taken aback by how helpful other women were. D.C. is incredibly female founder friendly."
