Authors: Melissa Sua RODRIGUEZ [Senior Product Manager – Digital innovation ]

I was raised to wait. Born in France, I learned that hierarchy often speaks in low voices. In Colombia, I learned to smile before speaking, courtesy came first. Then came Germany, where trust is earned through precision. I moved, I adapted. I followed rules and earned praise. Most of all: I waited, always, for my turn.

Then, I met the rebels

Later in my life, somewhere in Europe, mid-career. Not the ones with big catchphrases and loud voices. The ones who showed up to work and observed. The ones who spoke in meetings to contribute (not just to show off). Then went back to their desks to build a future nobody asked for.

I stumbled into them for a short period. Four women, one man. Small team, massive spirit. While everyone else was just working on their personal agendas, they’d listen in and brainstorm on possible solutions to problems that weren’t “their job”. Inevitable success: One of the solutions they built made it easier for teams to keep track of physical assets across daily operations. The tool gained official funding from stakeholders and scaled up.

Coincidence that this was a mostly female team? I don’t think so.

Eventually, I took the courage to approach one of them with an idea I couldn’t shake. I did not know where to start: who should I talk to first, what’s the approval process, which committee needs to weigh in… She listened to my very polite explanation of why I was stuck.

Then she leaned back and gave me the best advice I have ever received: “Act like a white cis hetero man would”. “Don´t ask for permission,” she continued, “Stop mapping out the approval process. Just try it. Show them what’s possible. Then make them figure out how to greenlight what’s already working.”

“But, what if it fails?” I asked, like the drama queen I am. “That’s okay”, he said, “It’s always worth trying. Even when it’s scary”.

She does not know it, but her voice pops up when I start editing myself down, worried I might sound too proud, or even (god forbid!) haughty.

“Act like a white cis hetero man would”. Would he be humble? Would he downplay his idea? Would he worry about sounding too confident?

The answer, unsurprisingly, is always no. Why the gap? Now, I’m no sociologist, but here’s my best guess: boys got high-fives for bold moves, girls got gold stars for keeping it gentle. So by adulthood, taking risks feels like a lighter lift to him than to her.

The paradox

Breaking things is the only way innovation happens. This isn’t a radical idea, nature has been running the “fail-to-evolve” mantra ever since. Think of childbirth, your body literally tears to create new life. Same with products: you rip apart processes, tools, stale assumptions. Progress begins the moment you swing the hammer and learn from the pieces. This is the pure fail-fast product mindset we learn from the leading figures behind the Lean Startup (Eric Ries) or Pirates in the Navy (Tendayi Viki), amonst other (men).

The facts

Only around 5% of startups globally have a woman founder. In Asia-Pacific, this number is even lower, with female-founded startups receiving less than 1% of early-stage capital (World Economic Forum, 2024). So it’s rare. But it is possible. The rebels have taught me by example. I had small moments too, like building a virtual knowledge hub for the things we kept relearning the hard way. Or creating a living glossary, because half our internal guides were made of acronyms. Each quiet build made the next one easier. So now, I’m going bigger, I’m doing it solo, and in a new country (Nihao from China). I’m building things no one asked for: things I’d want to use myself. Despite the cold fear of failure.

Am I scared of wasting time, having a huge gap on my CV and looking back thinking: WTF was I doing? Yes. But I have also seen rebels build success from scratch. And, most importantly, I have witnessed that we do not need a seal of approval or to be invited to the big boys table to get started.

I don’t know where those rebels are today. But I hope they’re still dreaming. Still building. Still bending the rules gently toward something better. So this article is for them. And for you, if you’ve ever hesitated because you thought you needed to be chosen first: You don’t.

In case of doubt, you can always ask yourself: What would most white cis hetero man do? Start small if you need to, but start. What’s one thing you could build today, without asking for permission?

Let’s rebel.

References:

World Economic Forum. (2024, March 8). https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/03/women-startups-vc-funding/