If you’re tired of the overhyped headlines, political posturing and negative thinking in general, I have the cure for you. Spend a few days around entrepreneurs who are fighting with everything they have to make their businesses successful and I guarantee you will come away feeling better about our future and our country. I attended the FUND Conference in Austin last week and the overall environment was incredibly positive – when you get hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors together, the focus is on making things happen instead of bemoaning everything that’s wrong.

I had the privilege of attending a conference this week in Austin that focused on women and investing. The title was as expected, Women Investing in Women, and it was put on by the FUND Conference. It was not really about investing in stocks, but it definitely tied in to our focus on emerging trends and our changing world, so I wanted to talk this week about what I learned and how it could ultimately affect our investing. The conference focused on women putting money into privately owned companies led by other women. My biggest takeaway from the conference was that women-led companies are definitely the hot trend in startups.