Hey SaaStr, you're forgetting someone.

Today on Twitter I saw that SaaStr recently announced their first annual Super Hero awards, to honor the achievements and innovations of emerging women in technology.

Wait. Emerging?

Closer review of the criteria confirmed that this is an award program not to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of women in SaaS but the “next generation of women leaders” in the space, with “10 years or less professional experience":

When I reached out to SaaStr via Twitter and asked about this requirement (after all, as I pointed out, there would be no Luke without Obi-Wan) they very helpfully offered that they were learning. “This will all continue to evolve, this is Phase 1.”

First and foremost, I appreciate the speedy response. And I told them I was glad to hear this, because I am glad to hear it.

But, that being said it still gets under my skin. Celebration and recognition of women’s success in technology is a great thing, and long overdue. And specifically recognizing the contribution of women in SaaS? Even better. But a couple of points of consideration.

A simple Google search for “30 under 30 awards” returns 23,700 results. The same search expanded to “40 under 40 awards” returns 76,000 results. These, of course, are not exclusive to women, or focused only on people’s professional lives, but demonstrates that an existing appreciation of the energy, enthusiasm and creativity those early in their careers bring to their roles exists.

(*Full disclosure, I was lucky enough to hire, and mentor, someone who recently earned this kind of recognition and could not be more delighted for her success.)

The increasingly important contributions of younger employees is well documented and finally being recognized in the way it deserves. Forbes recently celebrated the growing impact of those under 30 in venture capital and many publications and colleges are hosting summits dedicated to idea sharing and networking.

But there's potentially more to the story. MIT recently published research questioning the mythology of the young founder. “The mean founder age for the 1 in 1,000 fastest growing new ventures is 45.0.” Forbes offered additional perspective, interviewing women leaders to understand the their perspective on the value of mature founders and their ability to truly manage to the right levels of growth with discipline, perspective and focus.

So why, in their celebration of the contributions of women would SaaStr limit themselves, even for a phase 1 of the award? Shouldn’t an award designed to mitigate an unconscious bias against women in the field of technology not discriminate in that same award’s own criteria? Why not get submissions from all the amazing women working in SaaS and risk being so overwhelmed by all amazing responses that you're forced create categories to ensure no success is left behind, that all achievement is celebrated, that all of the good, hard-won advice from women (no matter their age or experienced) is shared for the benefit of others?  

There’s nothing here to suggest SaaStr was being intentionally exclusionary. They seem like nice people (they're certainly responsive!). And as a marketing person whose SaaS-career is now old enough to be at least a freshman in high school, I get that there is greater opportunity for buzz and awareness by limiting the scope to “emerging” talent. This is a much stronger approach for leveraging the sort of social awareness that exists as a strength of the SaaStr audience and is an incredibly media-genic narrative.

But to quote 1991’s “Thelma & Louise,” (which I recognize falls well outside SaaStr’s 10-year criteria) “You get what you settle for.” Maturity isn't just a benefit to wine and/or cheese - there's real value in learning not only from women who not only have broken through out-of-the-gate, but those who have learned not to settle for what they got, who pushed through and leaned in to blaze new paths in SaaS and beyond. Claire Evans's book Broad Band is an incredibly compelling read about the role of women in the internet; there's a similar opportunity to document, and celebrate, the role we've played in SaaS. I'm excited for that day and hope to see SaaStr carrying the flag.