StyleSeat co-founder and CEO Melody McCloskey talks about the growth of her company, as well as the lack of women in Silicon Valley boardrooms. StyleSeat allows users to find spas and salons and book appointments, while also allowing those businesses to grow.
McCloskey says the StyleSeat platform empowers beauty professionals, which in turn means it empowers women since 75% of workers in the industry are female. The CEO says fundraising was very hard in the beginning since it was nothing VCs had ever seen before.
McCloskey addresses the accusations of sexism and harassment surrounding Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who was an early investor in StyleSeat. McCloskey explains all of her interactions with Kalanick have been "very supportive." McCloskey can't talk about revenue goals but says StyleSeat has been profitable for a while now.
The trial of a Fugees rapper, who was convicted this year in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies, stretched across the worlds of politics and entertainment — and now the case is touching on the tech world with arguments that his defense attorney bungled the case, in part, by using an artificial intelligence program to write his closing arguments.
