Intrepid Woman: Amanda Steinberg, Founder and CEO, DailyWorth

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Our mission is to transform women’s relationship to self worth and money – to empower women to increase their net worth,” said Amanda Steinberg, Founder and CEO of DailyWorth. “There is a lot of media attention around increasing savings and salary potential, but increasing net worth – you don’t hear a lot about it.”

“We want to really understand what the particular issues are around money, and provide engaging and interesting financial information,” she continued. DailyWorth is a web community for women to learn about personal finance in a more engaging, empowering way.

“It’s about freedom of choices in life,” Steinberg explained. “The endgame for many women – even successful ones – is this ideal of the ‘full scholarship.’ So many women still strive toward this husband/provider construct. It’s like some sort of princess rescue fantasy.”

She continued, “But for far too many women, it doesn’t work out that way – and it’s an antiquated idea that lives in our subconscious.”

“The next level of the women’s movement is knowing that you have a choice. You don’t necessarily have to be the breadwinner or the CEO – but you can choose to be.”

“It’s about liberation. Or it is for me, anyway,” Steinberg added.

Empowering Women, Creating Wealth

Steinberg originally wanted to go into politics – and studied Urban Planning in college. “But my senior year, I caught the computer bug, and I switched my focus to computer science,” she explained.

After graduating she ran web agencies for about ten years, working as a programmer for venture-backed startups. “I worked in the idea stage and the execution stage, and I saw what all types of business – successful and unsuccessful – looked like,” she explained.

“I was raised by a single mom, and that really instilled in me the importance of being financially independent. I became good at making money – but also good at spending all of it!” she said with a laugh.

Then, she continued, “When I turned thirty, I realized despite being a high earner, that I had not managed to save any of it, realizing I had not learned anything about managing money. But there was just no financial media that I wanted to read.”

She continued, “And I saw a real opportunity to empower women. When it comes to saving for retirement, we trend significantly below men.”

At the time, early 2009, Steinberg’s web agency Soapbxx was going strong – and she decided to launch her new project DailyWorth alongside it.

And to top it off, in the same month the site launched, Steinberg gave birth to her daughter.

She said, “Not all women dream about full-time motherhood. Many of us love building companies. We’re always mothering and always running our businesses. There’s no separation.”

“Will my kids ‘thrive in life’ having been born to such a career-driven mother? No idea. Will they ‘turn out okay?’ I think we all know the answer to that question – it’s impossible to predict or control, so enjoy the moment, which to me means being a mom and building my company at the same time.”

Steinberg says her early experience with DailyWorth is the work she’s most proud of so far. “Raising $1.1 million in venture capital as an unknown entrepreneur was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she said.

Currently the site puts out two newsletters – a daily newsletter on money management, and a weekly investor’s newsletter. And soon, the community will be launching a third newsletter on entrepreneurial finance.

“We see a huge underserved market there,” Steinberg said. “I go to so many conferences for entrepreneurs and leave full of inspiration, but there’s never enough on tactical execution.”

Lessons Learned

“What I wish I had known when I was starting out is that nothing is ever easy,” Steinberg said. “And you have to develop such unbelievably thick skin to failure.”

She continued, “DailyWorth has been very successful, and when it comes to investment we have big deals. I’m winning all the time, but I’m also losing all the time.”

“I have a rule – I give myself two hours to cry about anything, and then move on. It’s about re-sourcing your motivation and inspiration,” she explained. “If you really want to grow a business, you need to be able to do that.”

“My advice to young women is to learn how to write web code. It’s the best thing you can do for yourself. It makes me all that much more powerful in any room. And when I was first starting out, I could always get a job – it put me on the inside of so many businesses.”

As women become more successful, she said, don’t get allow yourself to get distracted. “Really understand what you’re working towards and don’t get distracted by the noise.”

For example, she explained, “I get approached by the media a lot to do interviews, and it’s very ego gratifying – but it’s also a massive distraction. You have to keep it in perspective.”

“Make sure you’re moving in the right direction,” she added. “Don’s let the spoils of success distract you,” she said with a laugh.

In Her Personal Time

Outside the office, Steinberg, who has two children, works with various children’s foundations and is currently teaching classes on personal finance to high school students at a Brooklyn charter school.

“My dream one day is to start a job training program for adults in low income areas,” she added.