As a woman and as a business owner, I want to dedicate this post to the celebration of some really amazing achievements in the business world. I often employ equal parts optimism — for what can and should be — and realism — for what is and has been. But today, I want to talk optimistically about what it means for more women to be obtaining higher levels of education and heights in corporate America. It means women are acquiring the skills and building the networks necessary to take on the next frontier: entrepreneurship.

Today I’d like to introduce you to the woman is responsible for guiding MTV through the ever changing landscapes of TV, web, social and mobile: Kristin Frank.

As fearless women go, Tara Hunt is hard to beat. Years ago, at the end of a relationship and after losing her job, Tara chose not to see anguish and defeat, but instead saw an opportunity to create her own future.

A flurry of articles have been written on the “women and startups” problem. The same issues are brought up again and again, but one issue that hasn’t been given much attention and scrutiny is the significance of the fact that there are practically no female VC’s.

One result of this, in my opinion, is that women are not good at bragging or shamelessly “selling themselves” like men are.

This Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the first foursquare check-in from space. Not only did it knock Antarctica out of the running for the coolest check-in ever made, but it also made my personal list for the ‘coolest project I’ve worked on in my entire career… ever.’

Today, we take the issue of female-founded start-ups head on with Nestio’s CEO and Co-Founder, Caren Maio. On the heels of the much tweeted about and commented on article by Mark Suster (“Why Aren’t There More Female Entrepreneurs?”), Caren’s background and approach provide a window on the solution to the imbalance.

If ever there was a more important battle cry to hear in life and in work, it would be Cory’s own personal mantra: “[approach life as] passionate and always in beta.” Inherent in her words, and in her own background, is the idea that taking risks should be the rule and not the exception.

There are few people I’ve met in my career that have more energy and endurance than I do. Ekaterina Walter is one of those rare people.

As Cindy Gallop reminded us, quoting Kathy Matsui, one of the most important things we need to do in order to gain more leadership seats at the table is to break through not the “glass ceiling,” but “through the thick layer of men.”