During an interview for an upcoming magazine article, the reporter asked me what made me “unique” as an entrepreneur. I thought for a second, and said that it had to be being a female, VC-backed Founder and CEO. Then, just the other day, a friend forwarded me this intriguing blog post from FastCompany which says, “a paltry 5% of all venture capital investments in high-growth ventures went to women-owned firms from 1953-2001” (the last year data was available).

Turns out, my observation was backed by real data—women are a rarity among VC-backed startups. I forwarded the article to my friends Gail Goodman of Constant Contact, Maria Thomas at Etsy, and others. They agreed that we are certainly in the minority.

So why are there so few women technology entrepreneurs? The writer went on to explain some possible theories behind the small numbers:


Women entrepreneurs tend to have smaller social networks, and their networks often lack the kind of breadth and diversity that yields most benefits.

Is that true? Are we on the outside of some “old boys club” in our business networks, or is it that there’s a reluctance to fund women-run companies in the investment community? I do think that can be the case in the VC world, however, I am aware of some great firms investing in women-run companies: Matrix Partners (full disclosure: they funded Care.com, but also Gilt Groupe founded by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson); Union Street Ventures; and here on the east coast there’s the CWE Angel Network, Golden Seeds, and Openview Ventures to name a few.

Are VCs starting to be more open to female entrepreneurs? Perhaps, but the growth is too slow. And in 2007, the number of companies with female CEOs dropped to just 3 percent of all those that were funded by venture capitalists.


Women entrepreneurs have different motivations for starting companies than their male peers, including a need for flexibility that can lead them to choose to found lower-growth companies and therefore not seek venture capital.

Do you agree with this? Or do women strive to build high-growth companies, but find it challenging to convince VCs that they can do that and also have a family life? Friends have told me stories of investors asking how they plan to run a company while being a mom—do you think they’re asking dads the same question?


Women entrepreneurs experience bias and stereotyping and are less likely to receive funding for equal competence.

I do have to agree with the last point, which is backed by research: women do experience a prevailing bias when they’re looking for investors. The post went on to argue that one way to help eliminate possible or perceived bias is to have more female venture capitalists—something I’d wholeheartedly support!