• Anita Curry hit upon a way of combining two monster sectors—online social networking and business women's networks. Curry worked with creative agency Profission Partnership to create a "next generation" social networking application, Influence, which launches formally later this month. It runs as a freestanding social networking site for women, called Influence Club.
• She's creating a network of networks. The application can also be white labelled for use within a company's network. Influence Corporate, the white label product, links women within very large companies, such as Lehman's bank, which is helping Curry fine-tune the product. Companies can also link back to the wider social network Curry has formed with Influence Club.
• She is part geek—an early career in telecoms shows as she gallops through the techy features available to users—and part glamour. She understands the importance of women meeting "offline" and has developed a USP in buzzy events focusing on arts and cultural one-offs.
• She's lived the market research. Curry's career flew high and fast while she was in her 20s. By just 26, the Canadian native had to lie about her age to get a shipping company role—she said she was in her 30s. She was living well, but, she says: "It was a male-dominated environment and deals were often made when socialising. But socialising often revolved around 'guy things', mostly men's clubs."
• At a subsequent job, and by then a mother, Curry faced criticism for failing to stay late and socialise with her (child-free) colleagues. It ended badly, but Curry took a pragmatic view: "Deals are made through social networks. These opportunities may be closed to women because they are either not enjoyable or not feasible. Women have children. It's just a fact."
• She is direct about past errors. Once before, "with an inflated ego and more money than sense", she made a grand attempt to create "the" club, a global affair for high-flying women. She rallied some big names, including superchef Jean Christophe Novelli, and tried to raise £20m. The idea didn't take—she faced near-bankruptcy and went back to the drawing board.
• A big arts supporter—her husband is an opera singer—she's creating the Influence Arts Fund with Coutts and sees the club's one-off events as an essential differentiator, as well as a way of showcasing new talent. "Instead of artists having to pimp themselves for corporate entertainment, we work on one-offs with them."