hello there, i'm Nettra (pronounced according to spelling: net + tra = nettra).
i'm a global nomad and digital native currently based in Paris. i was born in California, raised in Phnom Penh and loved my three years in New York City.
i am a recovering political scientist keen on helping diverse stakeholders work together towards sustainable solutions to poverty. learning about the impact of technology, entrepreneurship and creativity on society is what gives me energy.
this tumblr helps me keep track of things which have happened to me, as well as the interesting, funny, inspiring and beautiful links i find this on this internet odyssey (read more).
for something more focused and structured (i.e., without photos of cute animals), you may like to browse my online art portfolio or visit my website. you can also find me on twitter, ask me a question or feed my fish.
Kant Help Me by Nettra Pan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Material posted here is my own, unless otherwise stated.
If you find your content here and would like me to remove or attribute it to you, please let me know and I would be happy to oblige.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Really enjoyed this 22 min. video with @dearkates founder @juliesygiel was on @yfentrepreneur! #yfechat #women #startup
Battle of the Neotribes: Intrapreneurship vs. Entrepreneurship
Bummed I missed this debate!
Ashoka Changemakers and Sandbox Network hosted a panel online on how networks of entrepreneurs and employees in “established” organizations and companies, overlap and collaborate to create social change.
The recorded video is above (and on YouTube). Watched part of it, putting the rest on hold.
Martin Montero: Essential tools to start a social enterprise.
Extremely comprehensive list. What are they missing?
In business, impulsivity translates to a bias to action.
Monica Mehta, Managing Principal at Seventh Capital
Business gurus and philanthropists […] project their own enthusiasm for Promethean entrepreneurship onto the poor. Yes, the poor are more likely to run their own business than the rest of us. But that is because they have no other choice. When asked, most of them aspire to a government post or a factory job. Developing countries are not full of billions of budding entrepreneurs; they are full of billions of budding salarymen.
Poverty: Untying the knot | The Economist
Entrepreneurship is important for sustainable, inclusive growth around the world, but as this quote shows, there is a diversity of opinions.
Not everyone is a startup enthusiast. Whether you are in Paris or Phnom Penh, you’ll easily find people who will never be convinced that a job outside of an office, where you don’t need a cleanly pressed uniform, or have a regular salary or stable benefits is not the ideal position.
Don’t be an entrepreneur. Be a maker with a vision who doesn’t accept no for an answer, and the rest comes free.
When you blame someone else for keeping you back, you are accepting your powerlessness.
Sheryl Sandberg, as quoted in a great article I recommend to all interested in tech, entrepreneurship, leadership and the role of women leaders: Sheryl Sandberg & Male-Dominated Silicon Valley : The New Yorker
To those who feel that they have no choice but to create, thank you.
Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog (via @CindyGallop)
I second this.
Profile on Phillipa of What Took You So Long Foundation | Young Female Entrepreneurs
Love what the organization What Took You So Long does! Nice feature, Phillipa! Hope we can enjoy some camel milk together in the near future!
Some excerpts:
What have been the advantages of being young and female while building your business?
There are huge advantages to being young and female as a journalist or film maker. The most important for me is communication: you can talk to women, children and even men in cultures that usually segregate women (foreign women are considered honorary men). Even better – as a woman I’m not expected to drink the most in Uzbekistan or eat a sheep’s eyeball in South Africa!
What are the disadvantages you’ve faced, if any?
Occasionally you might come across people who underestimate you based on outward appearances. This, you can turn to be another advantage when you shock them out of their first impressions and win them over. But it remains a sad fact that there are still groups of people who don’t grasp the potential of Generation Y’s enthusiasm for breaking molds and doing good.
What is your advice for a young, female entrepreneur just starting out or in the research stage?
Whatever business you engage in, make sure you assess the wider of your actions and your business’s actions on the planet and global community. Imagine what would happen if your organisation was as big as it could be. Thinking big while working small allows you to make sure what you’re doing is truly helpful and not harmful.
I know that it’s a matter of time before we forget we ever talked about women in tech as if they’re an anomaly.
Great feature in Mashable Soraya!
(via Startup Success: How Soraya Darabi Put Foodspotting on the Map)
