Guest blogger: Sarah Young, CEO of Rock Your Block

I get this question so often it’s almost annoying: “What is it like being a woman trying to start a technology company?”

Knowing that the individual asking probably wants an edgy reaction from me, I will always genuinely answer in the same way: “I love it. It’s a great community to be a part of, and I feel that being a minority in the industry can be a huge advantage.”

Although I don’t have a hefty number of experienced years tucked into my black pumps, I still face two prominent stereotypes: being female and being just 23 years old. Some may see these two factors as major roadblocks challenging my ability to build a successful technology company and my ability to lead a team of three men and one other woman.

Let’s address the female in tech issue first. I don’t identify with some who may feel discriminated against as a female in technology, and I certainly don’t feel singled out or uncomfortable at tech conferences or entrepreneur networking events. As in any situation where others may feel they “stick out”—being in a foreign country, being a freshman in college, or being one of the 4 women at a nerd convention with 200 guys—I do my best to fit it. If this means I am “one of the guys,” then fine, I’ll go with that and focus on what’s important. I never let it bother me. In fact, I actually feel a huge sense of achievement being able to show success as a female in a male-dominated industry. If I were to get caught up in the idea that I don’t belong here or I can’t compete with the men in my field, I would be making myself the victim, or at the very least making an assumption that people should adapt to make me more comfortable. This would be ignorant “You don’t alter Vera Wang to fit you. You alter yourself to fit Vera Wang.”

From a startup team standpoint, I find that working in environments with mixed teams versus all-women teams creates a natural balance and reduces the overall amount of conflict. In my experience working with all-women teams—and I’ve heard the same is true for all-men teams—there is often a sense of one-ups-manship and competition that impedes progress. The mix of men and women has shown to create an environment of sharing, professional dialog, and appreciation of different perspectives.

In efforts to disprove another stereotype of young women unable to communicate with nerds, I work hard at learning their language. I don’t want someone to “dumb down” something for me, so I do my best to “smart up” and speak on the same level. This has proven time and time again to help people respect me as an intelligent individual and perhaps disregard any immediate assumptions they had about me because of my age or appearance. This perspective should be true for anyone in technology, regardless of gender. For example, my developers are building Rock Your Block in PHP. I have spent countless hours learning and understanding the core technology on which my product is being built. My team loves the fact that I am interested in understanding their work and their strategy for building the application. And they love the fact they don’t need to “dumb things down” for the CEO.

At the end of the day, building a successful team comes down to placing high priority on learning to compromise and work with others that may have different perspectives, personalities, and working styles. Does this person have the right skills for my company? Will he or she work well with my team’s culture?

Fact: Technology entrepreneurs are primarily male…Why spend time being upset that there aren’t more women involved in the field? Ladies, just go out and become a proud and remarkable female entrepreneur…Your impact will be noticed.