Why Today’s ‘Mentorship Programs’ Mostly Fail Women in Tech (and How to Improve Them)

Ellen DaSilva’s Journey, from Banking to Twitter to Hims and Now, Her Own NewCo!

Like many relationships these days, mine and Ellen’s began online. But we successfully converted it to an NYC IRL coffee this past summer. I really enjoyed that chat so wanted to learn a bit more about my new friend, as well as share her story with you all. Thanks Ellen for answering Five Questions.

Hunter Walk: During my childhood I went through phases where I thought I’d be a writer, or a lawyer. Were there professions you recall thinking about when you were a kid? How connected are they to what you’ve ended up doing in this first phase of your career?

Ellen DaSilva: When I was 5, we had career day in my first grade class. Each student had to say what they wanted to be when they grew up — a pretty cliche exercise given I didn’t really know much about the professional world. I thought about it, and announced to my class that I wanted to be the CEO of Coca Cola. Not a soda drinker myself, but when my teacher asked why, I said I knew I’d be the leader of an iconic American company.

In reality, I had limited visibility into the world of tech and entrepreneurship until after college. It seemed to…