 A Computer in Every
Purse — Technology By and For Women—By Janet Rhodes
Published: October, 2005 
Limelife staff: Stacy Henderson, Senior Producer; Kristin Asleson McDonnell, CEO; Alex Kramar, Executive Assistant; Maria Toepher-Foss, Director of Operations; and Nicky Robinson, Technical Director. "In the palm of your hand, you’ll be able to readany website out there in the near future,” said Candice Brown Elliott, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Clairvoyante, Inc., who started her first business, After School Science Enterprises, when she was 15 years old. Like other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Brown Elliott used the garage in her parents’ home to launch her business venture. “I used an old wooden lab bench my father brought home from work,” she recalled. “It’s been my dream since high school to participate in the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial world.” Over many years, she would pursue her dream and became one of the leaders to shape technology. Like the other women interviewed for this article, Brown Elliott was not only a visionary, she was also a doer. She has turned her dream into a tangible reality by taking one step at a time. After building her first crystal radio when she was 8 years old, people in her neighborhood began bringing her broken phonographs and radios. “I’d fix it. If I couldn’t fix it, I’d tear it apart and study it,” said Brown Elliott, who is now one of the estimated 6 percent of electrical engineers in the U.S. who are women. She also began studying the lenses in binoculars and telescopes and became interested in optics, a pursuit that would eventually lead her to raise $14 million in venture capital and develop the PenTile Matrix™ subpixel architecture, which dramatically increases the resolution and brightness of “almost any flat-panel display,” such as a TV, computer, or cell phone. After noting that she has focused on cells because they need better resolution, she added that the typical cell phone today has 150 dpi. Clairvoyante is now developing a display for Samsung at 400 dpi. Brown Elliott recently previewed it at the Silicon Valley Women in Technology showcase where she received an award for female leadership and innovative technology. She has also been nominated for a 2005 World Technology Award in communications technology. “The resolution will knock your socks off,” she promised, and added, “smart phones already are pocket computers. Someday your laptop will be in your smart phone. Why go to your desk?” That was the same question Kristin McDonnell, CEO and cofounder of Limelife, kept asking herself during workouts at the gym. McDonnell, who had served as an executive for several Silicon Valley telecommunications and entertainment software companies, was trying to lose 25 pounds after her third pregnancy. Although she had researched information on weight loss on the Internet, she repeatedly became frustrated during workouts, because the information was not where she needed it — at her fingertips while she was exercising. So she began to use the extra features of her cell phone to record specifications for her workout routine where she could access it without stepping off the treadmill. Limelife was born soon after. It is the only mobile content publisher of phone games and lifestyle applications that focuses exclusively on the women’s market. Through focus groups, McDonnell learned that women depend more on their cell phones than men do. “Women said, ‘I feel naked, as if I’ve lost a body part, when I don’t have my cell.’ Women are connectors more than men,” McDonnell added. “Our company puts women more in control with tools, information, and fun.” |
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