Why SaaS companies need a diverse leadership to foster innovation

This week’s guest on the SaaS Revolution Show is Sophia Eng, VP
of Growth Marketing at Trade the Fifth and Founder of Women in
Growth, a support group for female executives. In August 2017 an
article she wrote in response to an internal memo that a Google
engineer had written to discredit the ability of women to be in
STEM careers, became viral overnight. Quoting outdated facts, the
internal memo was leaked to the public and as soon as Sophia read
it, she wrote a manifesto to urge women and other minorities to
speak up and tell their stories so the facts can be
straightened. 


On the episode, Sophia shares more about the experience and what
has happened since. She talks in detail about the continued
importance that people of diverse backgrounds tell their story,
how vital it is not too give up on efforts to bring more
diversity and inclusion in tech as we are only at the tip of the
speer and one characteristic that women and other minorities
possess that is essential for innovation.


A child of Vietnamese immigrants, Sophia experienced a tremendous
amount of pressure to succeed from a young age. She developed a
strong sense of dedication, resilience, and grit. Her upbringing
helped to foster her growth-hacking mindset from a very young
age, which she has applied at every job she has had. She worked
harder than any of her peers but the negative part of growing up
like this was that Sophia didn’t know how to speak up for
herself. Consequently, she has learned to do that very well, as
you will hear on the podcast.


Sophia is one of many excellent speakers we will host at SaaStock
West Cost the most actionable conference for growth stage SaaS
Founders & Execs, taking place in San Francisco on September
10th and 11th. There she will be joined by speakers such as Sonja
Gittens Ottley, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Asana, Leela
Srinivasan, CMO, Survey Monkey, Dan Adika, CEO and Co-founder of
WalkMe and many others. Grab a ticket now at the best possible
price.


Find out more about the initiatives we have in regards to
fostering Diversity and Inclusion through the Taking Stock
Program. If you have experienced any form of discrimination,
which prevents you from attending SaaStock West Coast or any
other of our conferences, please apply for our Taking Stock
Scholarship. 


 


 


 


Check out the other ways SaaStock is helping SaaS founders move
their business forward: 


SaaStock Europe: 14-15 October 2025 | Dublin, Ireland
Book you tickets: https://saastock-europe.com/tickets/


SaaStock USA 2025: April 2026 | Austin, Texas
Join the waitlist: https://saastock-usa.com/


SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS
founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and
helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/)


SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world,
bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the
most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home)