Startups are a risky business. Sacrifice, exhaustion and the threat of both financial ruin and public failure are constant companions.

But when it comes to women in technology, risk has a new dimension.

When a woman decides to start her own company, she faces not only letting her self down, but her family as well.

“Family responsibilities are often on our shoulders. So when we take that kind of risk, we feel [doubly] responsible,” says Tara Hunt, cofounder of Citizen Agency, an Internet consultancy.

Hunt has been working in the technology industry for years, both in Toronto and in San Francisco. Being a woman was sometimes frustrating, she says, because her accomplishments often went unnoticed.

That’s why she started Women Who Risk, a list that recognizes female founders of successful start-up companies.

Maggie Fox, a founding partner of the Social Media Group, was recently included on this list for her contributions to the tech industry.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re the only one. [Women who Risk] is a great way of letting people know that you’re not,” says Fox.

Tara Hunt and Maggie Fox are prime examples of women who put it all on the line to succeed in the technology sector.

Tara Hunt is the co-founder of Citizen Agency and the creator of Women Who Risk

A SHOCKING IMBALANCE IN THE PRESS

Hunt started her own company as a partnership with Chris Messina. She says that because her co-founder was a man, the media would overlook her role.

Feeling discouraged and in need of support, Hunt started to look at the number of successful startups that had women co-founders. She found dozens of respected businesses, including Blogger and Cisco.

“These sorts of things were absolutely shocking to me. And it shouldn’t be shocking,” she says. “It should be commonplace.”

“People say, ’’Maybe women are just not interested in technology.’ And this is perpetuated unfortunately, by the lack of mention,” she says. “I thought, ‘Everybody should know about these women who are out there making a difference.’”

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WOMAN WHO RISKS

When Fox made the decision to start her own company, she had many hesitations.

“There’s the risk of failure, the fact that it might not work, financially devastation, professional embarrassment,” Fox says.

Despite this, she took the plunge and founded the Social Media Group in 2006. Already, SMG has created and implemented high profile social media strategies for major firms including Yamaha Motor and Harlequin Publishing.

According to Hunt, the risk that Fox took was huge – not only because she became a startup founder, but because she was a woman.

From an early age, Hunt says, girls are conditioned to believe that they should stay out of the spotlight because it’s unsafe. And women in particular, are meant to be safe keepers of the family, whose first priority is to care for their children.

“The unfortunate part is that a woman, especially a mother, is always tied to that notion of childbearing. And I don’t see why we can’t have both.”

“I don’t understand why it’s okay for a man to sacrifice a lot – time with family – to make a business work, whereas it’s not the same for a woman.” – Hunt.

Hunt herself, has faced obstacles as a result of people’s expectations of women.

“I continually today, get the question, ‘How do you do all that traveling with your son?’ That’s people’s first question to me….My son has a father…but I don’t think he gets that question,” she says.

ONE FOR ALL?

When women finally do take the risk, they also have the burden of “speaking for the entire tribe.”

“Because there are fewer of us…when you do something, you kind of speak for all women. When a man screws up, it’s just his own screw up.” – Hunt

Hunt believes that a woman who risks is one who is willing to take that burden, rupture traditional notions about women, and pursue their dream regardless of what others say.

WOMEN ARE NOT “DIFFERENT”

Maggie Fox is the Co-founder of the Social Media Group

The need for women in technology is not created by fundamental differences between the sexes. It’s not that women have “feminine” qualities to offer to the industry or that their work is somehow different. Rather, there is a need for women in technology simply because they have talent. Yet these women are either hindered from entering the field because of social barriers, or don’t have their accomplishments recognized.

Fox recalls an incident when she was at a tech event and joined a conversation with a group of men. She made a comment and caught one of the men rolling his eyes as if to say, “What a bimbo.”

Fox’s experience is just one of many that prove the unequal footing that women must face in the industry.

Either way, Hunt says that these issues must be addressed, not only for the sake of women, but for an entire industry that is losing out on potentially bright minds.

A HOPEFUL FUTURE

Despite the inequalities that women face in technology, the ongoing contributions made by amazing women such as Hunt and Fox, are helping to change the status quo.

Fox is planning ‘Girl Geek Dinners’, for Toronto. Modelled after London’s successful networking event . It would be a networking event for women in technology to get together, raise awareness, and encourage female participation in the industry.

Hunt says, “I have seen an increase of women stepping forward in the last little while, and I’m predicting that it will continue to be that way as long as we’re out there supporting one another.”