I didn’t go to the “right” schools or worked at the right companies. Not because I am not smart but because I didn’t have the right opportunities. I am also a woman constantly dealing with people underestimating me.

Remember this when you make it. It'll feel real good to prove the haters wrong. Stay strong. Push on.

The best thing is to be underestimated. They'll never see you coming. It's just as rewarding as creeping up on a bad ass kid on Halloween and scaring the piss out of him. Makes you laugh everytime and has them red faced and flustered...

What is the reason for your post ?

Preaching to the quire, sister. Most of us, male or female, are unprivileged.

Show the world and yourself what you're made out of. You don't need their fucking permission to thrive, nor their support.

Hey, I feel the same way about myself. What I have learned is that people like us represent an overwhelming majority of people who are just like us and feel the same way about the goals they are trying to achieve. The best part about that is that your success impacts those millions and disrupts the status quo. Where others see failure waiting to happen, I see a success story that encourages, inspires and impacts lives.

behappy -justmy2cents

I'm unclear about what your comment is about.

Is it a rant, or is it a call for help?

If it is a rant, so be it.

If a call for help - sure, it sucks not being an ex-Google/Apple/Microsoft VP or first 10 in Amazon/Twitter/Facebook/whatever. But that is the way of the world.

All you can do about it is get that first success. One successful exit is all it takes - obviously it isn't so easy as it sounds. Luck plays a huge factor, but so does understanding how the world really works and figuring out how to make your way through it.

I hear you OP. I'm also used to people underestimating or dismissing me as a minority female founder. Worse are the grinf^ckers that offer no real help or give useless tips with a smile and think you can't tell the difference.

wah

You make your own opportunities. Your post is whiney and self-centered. The #1 reason people underestimate you is not because you're a woman, but because you don't represent yourself in a way that says "damn, that person is awesomely unstoppable."

No successful founder I know (and I know many) feels sorry for themselves. They're too busy taking charge of their lives.

Get a grip.

I'm an immigrant. I speak with an asian accent. I get the feeling people take me less seriously than my native born counterparts partially from my speech and partially from my lack of ease when it comes to small talk. But tough shit. I'm lucky to be here and doing the entrepreneurial game. Sometimes you just have to take what you're given and make the best out of it.

I'm a guy though if that matters.

I doubt it is about your gender, I would opine it's more about the way you present yourself.