Don’t Miss Out on the Next Women-Founded Unicorns
And nine ways VCs can attract and retain women founders early on
Before they approach VCs, most women founders know how slim their chances are: they’ve seen the data that less than 3% of capital goes to women-founded startups, they’ve read the discouraging press, and they’ve heard countless war stories from impressive women who got burned by VCs.
Women know the cards are stacked heavily against them, yet some believe so strongly in their startup and team that they still try. Relative to their male counterparts, women need much more grit and conviction to pursue VC funding in the first place, given their much lower odds.
When they approach VCs at the earliest stages, founders are usually looking not for funding quite yet, but for advice, early relationships with prospective investors, and validation.
It’s these earliest interactions I’ll focus on in this article, because they are points in the pipeline where first-time founders are vulnerable to dropping out of the VC pipeline prematurely.
Here are nine ways VCs can attract and retain more women founders early in the startup lifecycle:
