Women are creating companies that will transform the future of everything, from electricity infrastructure to fashion. So, this year, we're recognizing our largest class of female founders. The 200 entrepreneurs in these pages lead businesses that collectively brought in revenue of more than $5.8 billion in 2021 and raised over $5 billion and they are just getting started. Read ahead for their stories and for the advice they've picked up along the way.
NO.1 SETTING A NEW SCENE IN HOLLYWOOD
BY TENESHIA CARR
Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad (Entertainment)
Lena Waithe is a natural-born storyteller. She's known as much since she was a child, when she passed the time like most kids: in front of the TV. For her, that meant hour upon hour watching reruns of A Different World, which followed student life at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black university. "The show meant a lot to me because it featured dynamic characters who showed up in the world in their own way," says Waithe. "They were smart, proud, funny, and flawed."
If you've ever seen The Chi on Showtime or Netflix's Master of None-for which Waithe became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing-you'll know the storytelling thing stuck. Today, the 38-year-old is the founder of Hillman Grad, a full-service Los Angeles-based media and production company. Waithe named her business as an homage to the show that inspired her career, but she started it so she could produce her own material-and further her mission, as both an artist and an LGBTQ+ activist, to highlight diverse voices and perspectives.
This story is from the April 2023 edition of Inc..
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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Inc..
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ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE FEMALE FOUNERS 250
SUCCESS often breeds success-but triumphs also arise out of necessity. Consider that Airbnb, Uber, and Rent the Runway started during the Great Recession. In many ways, the past year was defined by similar tumult. While the U.S. never technically entered a recession, the retrenchment in investment and ad spending paired with the psychological-if not direct-toll of tech layoffs yielded tough times indeed. But female founders are nothing if not resilient, and their achievements defied the conditions they faced, giving us cause to expand our list to 250 of them. They're not ranked, but they are organized around themes. In the pages that follow, you'll find snapshots of courage from women who've overcome trials-such as keeping the internet running in war zones, coping with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, or facing personal crises. You'll also learn how this year's top female founders grew their collective 2023 revenue to more than $8.86 billion, raised $6.2 billion in funding to date, and kept it together not just to survive, but to thrive.
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