Postcards

Rx for Silicon Valley success: VC advice

Guest Post by Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, managing partner, Accel Partners

During a recent television interview, I was asked by a reporter, "Which industry is more sexist, Wall Street or Silicon Valley?"

That question is of great interest and relevance to me. I've spent over a decade as a female partner of one of the largest venture capital firms. I was an entrepreneur at a start-up here in Silicon MORE

Billie Jean King sweats it out again

One of the regulars at Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women Summit is Billie Jean King. Going strong at 66, she and Ilana Kloss, who heads World TeamTennis (Billie Jean's baby), put on a tennis clinic at the Summit each year. Let's just say, it's amusing to see type-A super-competitors of the business world sweating and struggling to ace it on the court.

I thought of King this weekend when I read MORE

Where women don't rule, globally: A scarcity of board seats

by Patricia Sellers

Where in the world are the fewest women on major corporate boards?

Japan, according to a study, out today, by Corporate Women Directors International. The Washington-based group, known as CWDI, counted women directors at the 200 largest companies on Fortune's Global 500 list.

As of year-end, Japan has the most companies with no women directors: 19. The all-male boards include Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANF), Panasonic (PC), and Toshiba MORE

Lehman's ex-CFO Callan on short seller Einhorn

by Patricia Sellers

The latest on the probes into Lehman Brothers (BCS): Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino reports that the House Financial Services Committee is weighing the idea of calling short seller David Einhorn as a public witness or to a private meeting to talk about accounting gimmickry that led to Lehman's bankruptcy. I reached Einhorn's spokesman, who declines to comment.

Lehman's Erin Callan

Whether or not Einhorn, who was Lehman's MORE

Women execs rising, moving, struggling

by Patricia Sellers

I'm back from Brazil. Looking forward to filling you in on my whirlwind adventure, where I saw a booming middle-class and lots of opportunity.

But right now, a catch-up on well-known women who moved up and down and over while I was away. Christiane Amanpour's leap to ABC News is big. For perspective, last year at a Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner in New York, Amanpour gave a tribute MORE

Gina Bianchini's surprise exit from Ning

by Patricia Sellers

Today's news that Ning CEO Gina Bianchini is leaving the company is a surprise to many in Silicon Valley. Even to those who know her.

I've been surveying tech folks about the announcement that she's handing her CEO role to Jason Rosenthal, Ning's COO and head of business operations since late 2007. And although Ning, which Bianchini founded with Marc Andreessen, has had churn and reported discontent among staffers MORE

Lehman ex-CFO Callan under new scrutiny

by Patricia Sellers

"The fall of a Wall Street highflier," in the latest issue of Fortune, portrays Erin Callan as a star banker at Lehman Brothers who is catapulted to CFO, finds herself in a maelstrom, and flames out--all the while maintaining a fierce determination to perform for her bosses.

Ever since Lehman (BCS) died in September 2008, one key question has been: Was Callan so eager to please CEO Dick MORE

Xerox chief charts her new path

by Patricia Sellers

Ursula Burns

While ideal partners at the top of Xerox (XRX), Anne Mulcahy and Ursula Burns stand apart in terms of strengths and style. Mulcahy, who was CEO and is now chairman, is a sales ace and strategist who brought Xerox back from the brink a decade ago. Burns, who rose from intern to president of the company, is a brass-tacks engineer who embraces execution and always got the job MORE

Lehman ex-CFO Erin Callan: She's back!

"Whatever happened to Erin Callan?" has been a Wall Street mystery ever since early last year, when she walked out of her post-Lehman place of employment, Credit Suisse (CS). Callan cut off contact with practically everyone she knew. Rumors abounded about her fate.

I found her. Well, at least I found out what the former CFO of Lehman Brothers (BCS) is doing now. (It's fascinating and not exactly tragic.) To learn MORE

Cisco CTO's tips for a top career

Guest Post by Padmasree Warrior, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Systems

Today is International Women's Day. While we're celebrating the achievements of women, we also need to recognize that in many fields, there are way too few women. This is the case in my domain: engineering and technology. And so, I'm spending today thinking about the future--and asking, How can we use this day to help the next generations of women charge MORE