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For the Internet to work, you need a network, right?

And when you say network, you say Cisco. This firm practically invented networks.

But did you know that a woman co-founded Cisco?

Therefore, I want you to meet Sandra Lerner. With Cisco she pioneered in building local area networks. She built the foundations for what is now standard: having a network connection everywhere we go.

Cisco developed the first commercially successful multi-protocol router. The impact of this invention can be summarized as ‘no router, no network, no internet.’

About Sandra Lerner

Sandra “Sandy” Lerner was born in 1955 and grew up in California. She wasn’t your typical girl. She was fiercely independent and showed an early interest in the sciences and technology.

Her academic career is quite impressive. She first earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in econometrics from Claremont University and a master’s degree in statistics and computer science from Stanford University in 1981.

While working for Stanford University, she met her partner and co-founder, Leonard Bosack. Together they founded Cisco in 1984.

Her contribution to the Internet

If you say Cisco, you say routers. Cisco pioneered Local Area Networks (LAN), which connected devices within a limited area. They developed the Advanced Gateway Server (AGS) router in 1986. This technology proved crucial for the development of ethernet and Wi-Fi.

It all started when Lerner and Bosack worked on a project to better connect all of Stanford’s computer systems. They later adapted Stanford software into what would become the foundation for Cisco’s operating system.

Cisco was not the first company to develop and sell dedicated network nodes. But it was one of the first to sell commercially successful routers supporting multiple network protocols.

This innovation enabled businesses, governments, and individuals to communicate more efficiently and effectively, forever changing the landscape of global communication.

No ‘happily ever after’

Despite her significant contributions, Sandy Lerner’s journey with Cisco ended abruptly in 1990. They were forced out of the company after it went public and after a power struggle with the board of directors.

Lerner and Bosack were known for their unconventional and hands-on approach, which sometimes clashed with the board’s wish for a more traditional corporate structure. The couple felt their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit was being stifled, and when Lerner was fired, Bosack resigned in solidarity,

That was a bitter end because they had built Cisco from the ground up. It became even more bitter when the couple divorced shortly after.

They set up the company well, though. Cisco would continue to thrive and become a global leader in networking technology. As of 3 August, the company is valued at US$192 Bio.

Lerner’s legacy

Today, Sandy Lerner’s influence extends far beyond the tech industry. After leaving Cisco, Lerner began managing sustainable farms in California.

She also used part of the proceeds from the sale of Cisco stock to found a start-up venture capital firm called & Capital Partners. One of the companies it funded was Urban Decay Cosmetics, which she also co-founded. Urban Decay, now a subsidiary of l’Oreal, is a cosmetics company known for its commitment to cruelty-free products.

These ventures showcase her versatility and ability to disrupt industries outside of technology.

Conclusion

Sandra Lerner is one of the women who built the Internet because, without the router that she helped to build, there would be no network connectivity. She founded multiple startups, and her impact extends beyond technology.

Sandra Lerner’s story is a powerful reminder of the challenges faced by visionaries in navigating corporate dynamics, especially in male-dominated industries. Her legacy at Cisco remains a testament to her pioneering spirit and the transformative impact of her work.

Many inventions related to the Internet have been attributed to men. However, some of the key technologies that the Internet is built on actually originated from women’s inventions.

Like the word processor. The word processor is now one of the most used applications on any computer. It makes the lives of writers, journalists, bloggers, and secretaries a lot easier.

But we would all still be using a typewriter if Evelyn Berezin, a female founder of a tech startup, had not invented the Data Secretary in 1969.

About Evelyn Berezin

Evelyn Berezin was born in 1925 in New York. She was the daughter of Russian immigrants. During her youth, she got very interested in mathematics and science, which led her to earn a degree in physics from New York University.

From 1951 to 1969, Berezin worked for several computer startup companies, learning logic design and other systems. Challenging societal norms and barriers, she was often the first or only woman technologist at these companies.

From 1957 to 1961, she worked for Teleregister, Inc. on the development of the world’s first airline reservation system.

Berezin felt that, as a woman, she could not become a senior manager at an established computer company, so she started her own, Redactron Corporation. With that, she became a female founder avant-la-lettre.

“At that time the idea that a person who was a manager might give up his secretary because he could do it himself did not exist. The men did not want to buy those machines because they were afraid they would lose their secretary, which would mean some diminution of status for them.” – Evelyn Berezin

Her contribution to the Internet

Evelyn Berezin is best known for inventing the word processor. The machine was called Data Secretary. She did so in 1969, a time when computers were in their infancy.

The initial model was the size of a small refrigerator and had no screen. Later versions of Redactron came with monitor screens for text, smaller consoles, and more programmed features to smoothen the writing and editing tasks.

Even though the technology was groundbreaking and the business case was clear, selling the machine turned out to be challenging. As she recalls, “At that time, the idea that a person who was a manager might give up his secretary because he could do it himself did not exist. The men did not want to buy those machines because they were afraid they would lose their secretary, which would mean some diminution of status for them.”

What goes up…

The Data Secretary was good business for quite a while. Her company was the only one that manufactured and sold these revolutionary machines for $8,000 a piece. Her clients were mostly law firms and corporate offices. By 1974, her company already had a revenue of $16,2 million per year.

However, staggering inflation and high interest rates ultimately forced her to sell her company to the Burroughs Corporation in 1976. She stayed on until 1979.

From 1980 to 1987, she was a General Partner at Greenhouse, a venture capital group dedicated to early-stage high-technology companies.

A lasting legacy

Evelyn Berezin’s work laid the foundation for modern word processing and had a lasting impact on the evolution of computer technology. She was an extraordinary female pioneer during the first three decades of an overwhelmingly male computer industry

As the New York Times pointed out in her obituary, Evelyn Berezin “liberated secretaries from the shackles of the typewriter” with her invention.

As one of the first electronic word processors aimed at simplifying secretarial work, the Data Secretary helped open up new career growth opportunities for women in business and technology.

And, without her, as Gwyn Headley aptly put it, “there would be no Bill Gates, no Steve Jobs, no internet, no word processors, no spreadsheets; nothing that remotely connects business with the 21st century.”

She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2022, and her legacy as a trailblazing female entrepreneur in a male-dominated field continues to inspire future generations of women in tech.

What do you do when you’re working as a nurse, and you’re frustrated by the lack of response from the local police to crime?

Write your member of Congress? Start a protest rally at 1 Police Plaza? Invent a home security system?

Meet Marie Van Brittan Brown. In 1966, she and her husband took option number 3 and invented the home security system, including CCTV. Therefore, I invite you to discover more about her below.

About Marie Van Brittan Brown

Marie van Brittan Brown was born on 30 October 1922 in Jamaica, Queens, New York, and lived there until her death on 2 February 1999. Little is known about her early life.

At the time she invented the home security system, she worked as a nurse, and her husband, Albert Brown, was an electronics technician.

In the neighborhood where they lived, Jamaica, the crime rate shot up in the early 1960s by 35%. But the police weren’t doing much about it. When coming home late at night, Marie often felt unsafe, even at home.

Her contribution to the Internet

Frustrated by the lack of police response, she and her husband developed a system with cameras, closed-circuit televisions, wirelessly controlled locks, and a button that could send an alarm signal to police or security.

Her invention was patented in 1969 and received a decent amount of press attention. Marie was quoted in the New York Times saying that with her invention, “A woman alone could set off an alarm immediately by pressing a button, or if the system were installed in a doctor’s office, it might prevent holdups by drug addicts.”

No profit, but a lasting legacy

The female black inventor and her husband were far ahead of her time and never saw a dollar of proceeds from their invention. At the time, the cost of equipment was too high to make the technology attractive to manufacturers and home builders.

Even though the Browns never profited from their invention and patent, Marie’s home security system was the first in a long string of home security inventions. It laid the foundation for other versions of various security systems that are used today in homes, businesses, and some private and public places.

As of July 2024, Brown’s patent had been cited in 38 patent applications, and she received an award from the National Science Committee for her invention.

Role model for Women In Tech

Like a true role model, Marie inspired her daughter, Norma Brown, to follow in her footsteps. Norma became a nurse and an inventor with more than ten inventions to her name. 

So, the next time you answer the doorbell on your phone from the convenience of your couch, thank Marie Van Brittan Brown.