Julian Crowley
The online world is made up of women, be it moms sharing tips, too-good-to-be true Russian brides or barely legal women acting badly for men’s entertainment. The one place women are not is on the boards of big online firms — or so the unenlightened think.
In fact, women are often the brains behind the entire operation in e-commerce and can bring with them a degree of beauty that your average balding Joe in a pinstriped suit simply cannot, as we shall demonstrate. Without further ado, then, here are ten tech-savvy temptresses who have made it big in online business.
10. Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss
Two for the price of one. Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss founded RentTheRunway.com in 2009. Their New York City based online business allows women experiencing wardrobe malfunctions to rent the latest in designer fashion wear for black tie events, weddings, dates or just a night on the town.
With over 450,000 members and growing fast, the two Jennys are enjoying the wealth that comes with a successful online business model. The pair of Harvard Business School educated fashionistas are hoping to further tap into the student market and expand their range, giving them a whole new host of outfits in which to look good — a skill they excel at naturally.
9. Rachelle Hruska
“Queen Bee” of the new wave of web writers Rachelle Hruska was given her nickname by a New York Post article that chartered the rise of GuestofaGuest.com, the website she co-founded with Cameron Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer in The Social Network). The site chronicles the culture, lives and partying of young people in New York.
Since its inception in May 2007, GuestofGuest.com has expanded to feature the lives of young socialites in other cultural hubs, such as Los Angeles and the Hamptons. It boasts daily traffic of around 50,000 views. Rachelle hopes the website will grow nationwide as a social diary for young, hip Americans. She is more than just a pretty face and a fine pair of legs; this is an online entrepreneur with business acumen and a sting in her tail.
8. Kim Polese
Would you believe that this queen of online business is almost 50? Kim Polese is the former CEO of software firm SpikeSource. She now serves on the executive councils at TechNet and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Kim spent several years with Sun Microsystems as their Java product manager before co-founding Java business Marimba, which was later sold for $239 million in 2004.
Time magazine named Kim in its list of 25 most influential Americans in 1997. She makes our list for maintaining youthful good looks while working in the cutthroat world of commerce.
7. Gina Bianchini
Gina Bianchini is the co-founder and former CEO of Ning, an online platform allowing people to create social networks. Since leaving Ning, Gina has taken up the role of executive in residence at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm co-founded by her Ning partner Marc Andreessen. The company invests in leading social networking sites. In February 2011, it invested $80 million in Twitter, and it also holds stock in Digg, Zynga and Foursquare.
The holder of an M.B.A from Stanford University, Gina has also held positions at Goldman Sachs and CKS Group, which together with her more recent roles have made this brilliant brunette a made woman.
6. Chloe Sladden
Chloe Sladden is a key part of the Media Partnerships team at social networking giant Twitter. Fast Company has named her as one of the most influential women in technology this year. It was Sladden who realized the potential of @replies and hash tags, and she also helped harness the power of Twitter to cover live events, such as the 2008 Presidential Election Debate and the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Chloe has established partnerships with leading news organization, such as the Washington Post, enhancing the immediacy of news and helping to stimulate debate. She hopes to tap into TV and the world of moving images to boost Twitter’s range of services. And, as you can see, Chloe’s a pretty attractive prospect herself.
5. Heather Harde
Heather Harde is CEO of technology superblog TechCrunch. It was Heather’s leadership and corporate strategy that helped boost the profile of TechCrunch, leading to AOL acquiring the business for a reported $50 million.
Before joining Techcrunch in 2007, Heather was another powerful woman who plied her trade at Harvard Business School. She also spent ten years with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp before joining TechCrunch. As the figurehead of a major online company, she has the brains and beauty to take up a rightful place in our top ten women in online business.
4. Marissa Mayer
Marissa Mayer is Vice President of Location and Local Services at search engine behemoth Google. Mayer joined the company in 1999 as its first female engineer. She now has the final say before a product is released to users and has become a very beautiful public face for the company.
Marissa is the youngest woman ever to make Fortune magazine’s top 50 most powerful women in the world and can be credited for the successes of Google Search and Gmail. At 35, Mayer has a lot left in the tank and can take inspiration from being named one of BusinessPundit.com’s hottest woman in online business.
3. Hilary Rowland
Hilary Rowland is a one-woman army and a giant of the online world. In 1995, aged 15, she created the first online women’s magazine, Hilary.com, later renamed Urbanette.com. In the same year she founded NewFaces.com, an online portfolio site for models. She remains CEO of the two sites as well as President of the holding company eClick Interactive.
The sites Hilary created as a teenager continue to enjoy commercial success, but this hasn’t stopped the tenacious blonde, a model herself. Since 2009, she has devoted her time and savings to ProjectMigration.org, a social enterprise selling fashion to support single moms and children in the slums of Africa. A truly inspirational young woman with looks that kill plus ideas that can save lives.
2. Shira Lazar
Shira Lazaar is a 28-year-old web personality, journalist and online entrepreneur. She follows digital trends and viral videos on her blog, OnTheScene, on CBSNews.com, and hosts a live stream for CBS on Saturday mornings, as well as acting as a regular contributor to CNN, The Huffington Post and Fox News Channel.
This media empress is also co-founder of online production company DISRUPT/GROUP, which works to develop corporate online strategies. LA Weekly called the brainy brunette: “The human manifestation of the convergence of technology and entertainment.” We call her exceedingly hot and talented. Long may she continue to grace our computer screens.
1. Justine Ezarik
Blonde bombshell and internet personality Justine Ezarik is the founder of viral video blog and popular YouTube channel iJustine. The idea was conceived in 2007 when Justine began lifecasting on Justin.tv when the site was at its beta stage.
Justine invited viewers to witness her everyday life and gained widespread notoriety for a video about her 300 page iPhone bill, which questioned the environmental commitment of AT&T, the service provider for iPhone. Her web stardom has helped her land cameo roles in popular crime dramas, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, while her YouTube channel has had over 200 million views and currently has over a million subscribers. Do we need to add that she’s clearly smoking hot?
