{"id":2187,"date":"2013-10-15T10:26:32","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T15:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.feedthebeast.biz\/?p=2187"},"modified":"2022-07-12T15:50:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T20:50:38","slug":"where-are-all-the-women-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.feedthebeast.biz\/index.php\/where-are-all-the-women-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Are All the Women Entrepreneurs?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/h5>\n
Building a business is never easy, but do women entrepreneurs have an extra hurdle to overcome?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

By now, nearly everyone with a pulse knows the names Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Bill Gates. They\u2019re not just entrepreneurs, they\u2019re rock stars. They started their startups from the ground up, and out of their sandcastle dreams they managed to build an empire or two. But what about their female counterparts? Where are all the female rock stars?<\/p>\n

Actually, they\u2019re everywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Silicon Valley to Sydney; from Bahrain to Brazil; from Manchester to Mumbai and everywhere in between, women entrepreneurs have been starting and building multi-million dollar companies and doing so at a faster rate than men<\/a> <\/em>over the past decade. Currently, there are more than 8.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States alone, generating over $1.3 trillion in revenue. So why does the public know so little about them? And why, in spite of this rapid growth, are there still so many more male-run than female-run startups?<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a><\/p>\n

The answers are complex, so I turned to someone in a great position to help me understand. Andrea Guendelman<\/a> is a cross-border financing lawyer based in Boulder, Colorado. But more importantly, she\u2019s connected to thousands of women entrepreneurs from all over the world. Just a year ago, she co-created and produced Common Pitch Chile<\/a>, the biggest innovation and entrepreneurship event ever held in South America. \"Andrea<\/a>It attracted 10,000 participants and featured Al Gore as keynote speaker. This year she co-produced Boulder, Co.-based\u00a0Startup Phenomenon Women<\/a>\u00a0with her partner Carrie Van Heyst<\/a>, the first in a series of networking events designed to inform, encourage and inspire entrepreneur women. Over 600 high powered entrepreneurs attended.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Women are not going into computer sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrea says one of the reasons there are so few female tech entrepreneurs is that \u201cwomen are not going into the sciences and math \u2013 the tech world.\u201d Of the 120,000 computer-science graduates in the U.S. each year, only 11 per cent are women \u2013 and the numbers are declining. Another reason for the dearth of female tech entrepreneurs is limited access to capital. Most venture capitalists want to invest in high growth startups \u2013 companies that can quickly scale. But women tend to be underrepresented in those kinds of companies.<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrea also points out that women\u2019s \u201cselling skills need improving.\u201d In her experience, women entrepreneurs\u00a0tend to lack the confidence and \u201cbravado\u201d that male entrepreneurs have (some might call it chutzpah), and that can hurt them when it comes to attracting funding. They also tend to be perfectionists and sometimes need to get all their ducks in a row before plunging ahead with the business. But businesses are never perfect, and neither is timing.<\/p>\n

Women entrepreneurs have exceptional networking and leadership skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

That said, women entrepreneurs have tremendous untapped strengths in other areas. For example, Andrea notes that women are exceptionally good at building effective ecosystems and nurturing communities. In fact, women tend to have more advanced networking, leadership and nurturing skills \u2013 three of the reasons why Andrea continues to champion their cause so passionately.<\/p>\n

To broaden my perspective, Andrea suggested I talk to some of the women in her business network. One of the first women I talked to was Fran Maier<\/a>, the dynamic cofounder of Match.com, the world\u2019s first online dating service. Fran left Match.com in 1998 and went on to join TRUSTe<\/a> (pronounced \u201ctrustee\u201d), transforming it from a non-profit to a very successful for-profit, venture-backed company. TRUSTe has become one of the world\u2019s leading Data Privacy Management companies, and Fran now serves as its board Chair. Fran is not only a successful serial entrepreneur, she\u2019s currently mentoring half a dozen female startups (and some male startups as well).<\/p>\n

Women dominate social media<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNetworking used to be a male preserve,\u201d says Fran, “but the Internet has changed everything. Women already dominate many of the big social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and they\u2019re taking advantage of the ‘social web’ to build their business networks”. On the down side, she notes that the Venture Capital world is predominantly male, and men tend to relate better to male entrepreneurs. When women present their business case, VCs often say \u201cI don\u2019t get it.\u201d They\u2019ve even been known to “not get it” when the business has customers and revenue and is cash flow positive!<\/p>\n

Only 8 per cent of venture backed companies are women-owned. Only 11 per cent of venture capital partners are female. Only 15 per cent of angel investors are female. And only 9 per cent of board members are female, which is even lower than the already low percentage of women on public boards (16 per cent).<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a><\/p>\n

Fran certainly doesn\u2019t feel all the blame for these numbers can be laid at the feet of outsiders. Some of the barriers are self-inflicted. For example, women entrepreneurs tend not to be as aggressive and persistent as they could be, and they are hesitant to jump in and \u201cmake the deal\u201d the way men often do. Fran also agrees with Andrea that there simply aren\u2019t enough women going into the sciences \u2013 specifically engineering. Unfortunately, the lack of women software \u201cgeeks\u201d tends to reinforce a stereotype in the minds of many funders who unconsciously favour the unshaven young male techno-nerd in a hoodie over the well-dressed female with a credible plan and the motivation to carry it out.<\/p>\n

Fran\u2019s message: target women and the products they buy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet, some of the world\u2019s greatest entrepreneurs have come from sales and marketing, so there\u2019s no need for women to be discouraged if they don\u2019t have techie credentials. Fran\u2019s key message to women entrepreneurs is this: target women\u2019s products and the women who buy them \u201cbecause they\u2019re just like you. It\u2019s a huge market \u2013 women represent nearly three quarters of all purchasing power.\u201d At the same time, women consumers often feel misunderstood by the merchants they buy from. This is the classic \u201cunmet need\u201d that so many marketing case studies showcase. As Fran said in a recent keynote address<\/a> she gave at a Women 2.0 conference<\/a>: \u201cThe women you\u2019re targeting are very much YOU. Go out and get her!\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of my talks with Andrea and Fran, three big questions remain:<\/p>\n