Kay Koplovitz: A Springboard for Advancing Diversity. To Be Honored During CES.

What people may not know is that she has followed her illustrious cable career with an equally impressive one amp160Koplovitz pictured below has parlayed her pioneering efforts as a woman in the maledominated nascent cable industryamp160to helping women entrepreneurs achieve parity in both the opportunity and investment needed to launch their own businesses amp160As Chairman and Cofounder of Springboard Enterprises and Managing Partner of Springboard Growth Capitalamp160Koplovitzamp160is being honored at the upcomingamp160Advancing Diversity Honorsamp160in January for her tireless work in support of women in business joined byamp160IPGamp160Nielsen the Advertising Councilamp160EYamp160IABamp160and others as inaugural inductees into theamp160Diversity Hall of Honors amp160In a recent interview she described her own path to success and suggestions on paving the way for othersamp8220While thereamp8217s been an evolution toward more gender equality over timeamp160the evolution isnamp8217t finishedquot Koplovitz saidamp160amp160The inspiration for Springboard Enterprises struck in the late amp821690s when she observed that women werenamp8217t getting a fair share of the 104 billion in venture capital flowing to startups amp160amp8220Itamp8217s important for women to know the value of having equity and ownership amp160If they did start these companies and they did raise the capital and they did produce scalable and sustainable companies that DNA would flow to other people working with them and thatamp8217s how weamp8217d be able to grow womenamp8217s presence in the marketplaceamp8221One Springboard success story is Zipcar founded by Robin Chase in 2000 amp160Chase saw cars sitting around unused most of the time in garages and thought there must be a better way to utilize them amp160An early entry in the quotsharing economyquot Zipcar grew and went public amp160Chase became a serial entrepreneur and is the author ofamp160Peers Inc How People and Platforms Are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing CapitalismThe road to Springboard started with backpacking and then boxing amp160amp8220On a backpacking trip to Europe as a student I attended a lecture by Arthur C Clarke who was talking about geosynchronous orbiting satellites and the power they could have during the Cold Waramp8221 Koplovitz shared amp160amp8220Why did I find that exciting amp160Behind the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China was this vast population amp160I thought if we could communicate with the people behind these walls it could really be a force in changing people39s perspective and have a real impact on the geopolitical worldamp8221 amp160That foresight and passion led to work in satellite communications and even to her master39s thesis on the concept before she handed a job in the early stage cable industryamp8220I realized that cable really needed new programming or it was just going be an antenna system for rural areasamp8221 amp160Koplovitz said amp160That prescient observation may have been sparked by skills she had honed working as a producer at her college TV station amp160amp8220Timing is always so important Are you ready at the right time with the right goods to be able to do somethingamp8221 amp160Koplovitz recalled the excitement of September 30 1975amp160amp8220I worked with HBO and Bob Rosencransamp8217 UAColumbia Cablevision to bring the exhibition of theamp160Thrilla in Manilaamp160liveamp160via satelliteamp160around the globe and demonstrated the viability of using satellite and cable to provide content to a new television industry amp160That really launched my careeramp8221Koplovitz didnamp8217t dwell on being the only woman at the negotiating table and instead focused on the negotiating itself and skills sharpened as early as grade school when she nailed the position of publisher for her fifthgrade newspaper amp160That focus applied when pitching distribution deals for USA Network then one of only 12 channels on early cable systems amp160She moved the existing subscriber count from 750000 to 12 million with her very first sale to Cox amp160Today USA Network owned by Comcastamp160NBCUniversal is available in over 94 million homes amp160She also focused on the need for the product she was selling feeling thatamp8217s what helped her circumvent the amp8220old boysamp8217 clubamp8221 and securing their respect by being prepared and confidentAlthough Koplovitz felt welcomed in the media business she acknowledges that women faced some overt discrimination amp160amp8220It was a very different timequot she recalled amp160quotThere were places that women werenamp8217t allowed to go amp160There were cultural things in place that created barriers amp160In 1982 the first year we were televising at Augusta National I started going up the stairs to lunch amp160Augusta National Golf Club Chairmanamp160Hord Hardinamp160turned around and said amp8216Kay weamp8217ve got a problem amp160We donamp8217t allow women on the second flooramp8217 amp160I said amp8216What are we going to do about itamp8217 amp160I wasnamp8217t going to eat lunch by myself amp160So for ten years we ate lunch in the Trophy Room where women were allowedamp8221Springboard trains women entrepreneurs in technology and life sciences to find the human and financial capital that can accelerate their growth amp160The entrepreneurs learn how to speak the language of VCs and have access to Springboardamp8217s network of 5000 expertsamp160 Participants are selected for their vision executional skillsamp160and agility in thinkingamp160amp160amp8220Itamp8217s a vision of growing an entire sector of the economy powered by womenamp8221 Koplovitz saidThe results have been astounding amp160On Springboardamp8217s first demo day in January 2000 26 companies presented to 300 venture capitalists many of whom had never seen a pitch by a woman amp160Twentytwo were funded two were merged one was sold and one wasnamp8217t funded amp160In the pastamp16017amp160yearsamp160Springboardamp160has helped launch almost 700 companies which have raised 8 billion of capital investment with 175 liquidity events and 15 IPOsFrom an inventor of needlefree injections inspired by her missionary work in Africa to a leader in 3D printing who escaped the Cultural Revolution in China these entrepreneurs are changing the world amp160With Kay Koplovitz as a role model weamp8217d expect nothing lessTheamp160Advancing Diversity Honorsamp160event will reflect the advertising and media communityamp8217s commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives amp160The event being held during CES at Caesars Palace on January 10amp160from 48 pm will spotlight eight honorees who will share personal stories and best practices for advancing diversity and inclusion amp160Visitamp160ces18comamp160to learn moreClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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