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Ladyada interview with Paul Horowitz - The Art of Electronics
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EEVblog:

--- Quote from: mojo-chan on June 04, 2015, 01:24:01 pm ---
--- Quote from: EEVblog on June 04, 2015, 09:38:49 am ---And the joke is on them, because her " fairly uncontroversial unconventional appearance" is a part of what has gotten her far.

--- End quote ---
Can you point to a specific instance of when she has traded on her looks? As far as I am aware, it's always only been about her work.

--- End quote ---

I'm not biting on your feminist hook.
zapta:

--- Quote from: rolycat on June 04, 2015, 02:20:05 pm ---As Tandy observes, Ladyada is a businesswoman, and her unconventional image gives her a competitive advantage - just as does Dave's image as "That Crazy Aussie Bloke". Neither has anything to do with their competence in their chosen field, but they make them more interesting to us as human beings.

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I am looking forward for the "That Crazy Aussie Bloke With The Pink Hair" look.
rolycat:

--- Quote from: mojo-chan on June 04, 2015, 02:25:42 pm ---... there are lots of men with unconventional looks running businesses and people don't comment.

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So nobody has ever mentioned, say, Donald Trump's hair, or Steve Jobs' black turtleneck and jeans, or Richard Branson's beard?
EEVblog:

--- Quote from: Tandy on June 04, 2015, 01:39:57 pm ---I'm not sure it is fair to say she has traded on her looks. More that the pink hair etc has had a good upside in that it may have generated more interest in Adafruit than a more conventional formal business look would. Lots of articles have commented on her pink hair along the lines of "wow look at this successful businesswoman and how she stands out with her pink hair". So it turns out that her choices have seemingly not hindered her if anything they have created publicity that has helped.

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Bingo.
The media loves angles, without it a story is boring. Female founding a tech company is always a good angle. Female with pink hair and piercings who founded a successful tech company, that's a great angle.
Would she have been as successful in business without her "look"? of course, I have no doubt.
Would she have been as widely covered in the media without her "look"? perhaps not.
Welcome to the world of media.
Excavatoree:
Limor Fried's business is successful for what she has done.   Not only are her "pre-engineered solutions"  good for artists and other maker types who don't know much about electrical engineering, they are useful even for engineers willing to trade money for time by purchasing pre-engineered modules to get a particular job done.

In addition to her pre-engineered modules, she does a good job of procuring and stocking useful purchased items.

Her appearance may appeal to some, it may be neutral to many, and discourage some, but I'd say any influence on her business is down in the noise.    She's very successful because she has so well met the needs of a significant group of people.  Her appearance has nothing to do with that. 
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