Women turning to women for networking and business advice isn’t exactly a new concept. And this New York Times story, which primarily focuses on Ladies Who Launch, doesn’t really break any new ground. But it does offer a succinct look at some recent data and organizations that may be useful for start-ups:

According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, women are at the helm of about 10.4 million private companies nationwide, and businesses owned by women are growing at twice the rate of male-dominated companies. In addition to the broad-based appeal of a group like Ladies Who Launch, or the more established National Association of Women Business Owners, options for entrepreneurial women include WomenandBiz.com, Wild Women Entrepreneurs (www.thewildwe.com), Women Business Owners (www.womenbizowners.org), eWomenNetwork (ewomennetwork.com) and Damsels in Success (damselsinsuccess.com).

There are also niche groups. For graduates or students of participating universities, there is 85 Broads, a group of more than 17,000 members founded by a former partner at Goldman Sachs, Janet Hanson. For mother/entrepreneurs there are groups like Mompreneurs Online and Home-Based Working Moms.

BlogHer,
a network of women bloggers, was started in 2005 because its three
founders were tired of hearing the same, "Where are the women?"
question in its various incarnations: "Where are the women op-ed
voices?" "Where are the women C.E.O.’s?" "Where are the women pundits
on television?"

… And in case you didn’t know, BlogHer is having its third annual conference July 27-29 in Chicago. See you there!

–Christine