• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Farm groups saved Bayer in court over RoundUp cancer claims. Five days later, Bayer called for tariffs on the ingredient farmers rely on

2

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott just donated $20 million to support America’s youth mental health, as a fifth of teens struggle with suicidal thoughts

3

Self-made multimillionaire says Canadians 'give no money away' compared with Americans—research shows U.S. giving is more than twice as high

1

Farm groups saved Bayer in court over RoundUp cancer claims. Five days later, Bayer called for tariffs on the ingredient farmers rely on

2

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott just donated $20 million to support America’s youth mental health, as a fifth of teens struggle with suicidal thoughts

3

Self-made multimillionaire says Canadians 'give no money away' compared with Americans—research shows U.S. giving is more than twice as high
MPWLeadership

Why Caterina Fake has no problem finding female engineers

By
Colleen Leahey
Colleen Leahey
and
Andrew Zaleski
Andrew Zaleski
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Colleen Leahey
Colleen Leahey
and
Andrew Zaleski
Andrew Zaleski
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 20, 2014, 4:57 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Caterina Fake often finds herself in a position that, at least anecdotally, other Silicon Valley execs don’t experience. Findery, the social discovery app she launched in 2011, attracts lots of prospective female employees.

“You’d be amazed at how many women engineer applicants that we’ve had that we haven’t hired,” says Fake, 46, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded Flickr, a photo sharing site now owned by Yahoo (YHOO), and Hunch, online recommendation technology now owned by eBay (EBAY). Her latest company enables users to tag their favorite destinations worldwide with notes and photos.

Findery now has close to $10 million in funding and 13 full-time staffers, seven of whom—including Fake—are women. On the software engineering side of the operation, men outnumber women on the team by one (there are eight full-time engineers in total and one contractor—who’s a woman).

The number of women employed by tech companies has been a hot topic since the end of May when Google released the demographic makeup of its workforce. Yahoo and Facebook (FB) followed suite—then Twitter (TWTR) and several others also got transparent, revealing that women made up no more than 17% of each company’s workforce.

So the fact that Fake has no problem finding qualified female applicants seems important. How does she do it? “It’s all about women knowing women, and deliberately recruiting women,” Fake says.

From the start of Findery, Fake says she made sure her early hiring included women.

“Any women that you can bring on at the get-go almost guarantees that you’ll have more women at your company,” she says. “At Findery, we have the good fortune of starting with a lot of women, having a woman founder, having a very women-friendly culture—and a general natural outcome of those things is that you have an inordinate number of women applying for jobs both in engineering and other areas.”

Fake believes this network effect is central when it comes to hiring. As she told Fortune.com earlier this summer: “It’s very clear to me that the social networks are really what determine the people you end up working with, the people that venture capitalists end up funding.”

Fake is, no doubt, in a privileged position. Having been a co-founder of two successful companies, Hitch and Flickr, she already has an extensive social network. “Most of the people that we know … come through references, recommendations, and referrals from other people on the team,” says Fake. And she notes that increasing workplace diversity isn’t something for which there’s a template to follow.

Still, if one were to sum up Fake’s practices in maintaining a gender balance at a tech company, it comes down to two principles: Prioritize workforce diversity and meet more people—or at least give prospective, minority employees the opportunity to meet leaders at tech companies they have not met before.

“We didn’t search out women engineers,” Fake says. “We would put out [regular employment] ads. We would talk to our friends. We would get referrals.”

And, of course, hiring with gender diversity in mind doesn’t mean shunning the best candidates. “Make no mistake,” Fake says. “We love men too.”

About the Authors
By Colleen Leahey
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Andrew Zaleski
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

Around 2.6 million fewer Americans have affordable healthcare access plan as affordability becomes top issue ahead of midterms
North AmericaAmerican Politics
Around 2.6 million fewer Americans have affordable healthcare access plan as affordability becomes top issue ahead of midterms
By The Associated Press and Ali SwensonJuly 7, 2026
3 days ago
bernie
PoliticsBook Excerpt
Bernie Sanders told me exactly why he had to run. The Democratic Party still isn’t listening
By Tad DevineJuly 7, 2026
3 days ago
Indra Nooyi sitting in a chair behind a red background.
SuccessCareers
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
By Preston ForeJuly 6, 2026
4 days ago
p
PoliticsPope
Pope Leo marks July 4 at migrant graves, not U.S. celebrations
By Nicole Winfield, Andrea Rosa and The Associated PressJuly 4, 2026
6 days ago
How a third-generation Texas oilman transformed an organic farming company into a leading advanced nuclear startup at a small Christian college
EnergyNuclear
How a third-generation Texas oilman transformed an organic farming company into a leading advanced nuclear startup at a small Christian college
By Jordan BlumJuly 4, 2026
6 days ago
JPMorgan built a pipeline of female CEO candidates that was the envy of Wall Street. How did it fall apart?
MPWMost Powerful Women
JPMorgan built a pipeline of female CEO candidates that was the envy of Wall Street. How did it fall apart?
By Emma HinchliffeJuly 4, 2026
6 days ago

Most Popular

Farm groups saved Bayer in court over RoundUp cancer claims. Five days later, Bayer called for tariffs on the ingredient farmers rely on
Economy
Farm groups saved Bayer in court over RoundUp cancer claims. Five days later, Bayer called for tariffs on the ingredient farmers rely on
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 9, 2026
19 hours ago
Billionaire MacKenzie Scott just donated $20 million to support America’s youth mental health, as a fifth of teens struggle with suicidal thoughts
Success
Billionaire MacKenzie Scott just donated $20 million to support America’s youth mental health, as a fifth of teens struggle with suicidal thoughts
By Emma BurleighJuly 9, 2026
19 hours ago
Self-made multimillionaire says Canadians 'give no money away' compared with Americans—research shows U.S. giving is more than twice as high
Success
Self-made multimillionaire says Canadians 'give no money away' compared with Americans—research shows U.S. giving is more than twice as high
By Preston ForeJuly 9, 2026
20 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 9, 2026
23 hours ago
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
Success
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
By Preston ForeJuly 6, 2026
4 days ago
Investment firm's cofounder sues after being fired for neglecting the in-person work mandate he signed, saying it applies to employees not owners
Law
Investment firm's cofounder sues after being fired for neglecting the in-person work mandate he signed, saying it applies to employees not owners
By Jason MaJuly 5, 2026
5 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.