In the first of five features on women in technology businesses, Erica Ehm is featured. The former host of video-based MuchMusic founded mom-oriented website YummyMummyClub.ca and now manages a staff of 10 writers and 25 bloggers. Along the way, she learned a little about the importance of marketing and creating a brand to which her readers could identify. She also bootstrapped her way into technology, teaching herself how to build a website and realizing the necessity of incorporating Twitter into her business.

QUESTIONS:

1. Review the definition for entrepreneurship. Does being the first female VJ at MuchMusic (consider the timeframe) or the founder of YummyMummyClub.ca make Erica Ehm an entrepreneur? Why or why not?
2. Review the characteristics of entrepreneurs. Given what Ms. Ehm says about her early days at YMC (and even recent developments), why are high energy level, high need for achievement, tolerance for ambiguity, self-confidence, and self-reliance important for success? Do these factors correlate with business survival and longetivity?
3. Do Ms. Ehm’s forays into entertainment and internet reflect necessity-based entrepreneurship? Why or why not?
4. Is starting an internet business a guarantee of success? Talk about the reasons why YMC is succeeding in this environment (and why other startups might not succeed).

SOURCE: A. MacArthur, “Wired Women of Canada: Erica Ehm, ‘Mompreneur’,” Globe and Mail (Retrievable online at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/digital-culture/trending-tech/wired-women-of-canada-erica-ehm-mompreneur/article1998982/)