Gillian Fleming Of Mint Ventures On How We Should Increase Female Representation in Investment Decision-Making

An interview with Vanessa Ogle

The Investing in Women Code needs to made mandatory for all Angel Investment Groups and Venture Capital firms to enable true diversity in investment to take place. This is currently a voluntary code which many traditional long standing groups have not yet signed up to. Highlighting this code outwith the closed investment industry will also be a catalyst to encourage more women to get involved.

Despite progress in many industries, women remain significantly underrepresented in investment decision making roles. This lack of diversity can lead to missed opportunities and less inclusive financial strategies. How can we increase female representation in these critical positions? What impact would this have on the investment landscape? I had the pleasure of interviewing Gillian Fleming.

Gillian is Co — Founder, Director and CEO of Mint Ventures (Syndicate) Ltd, a women-led angel group making angel investment more accessible to women for both founders and potential investors. As Commercial Advisor, non-exec director and angel investor she has 25 years’ experience advising and nurturing early-stage ideas and projects to successfully transition through to company creation and raise investment. As a Saltire Fellow and entrepreneur in residence at the University of Stirling, she supports women to consider entrepreneurship and investment as a career.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

After many years of supporting new start-up companies helping them source C suite staff, attract investment and then waving them off into the sunset, I questioned why I was not investing in this. I then realised with my investment experience I could qualify to be an angel investor. I looked for an angel group to join, which at that time were more than 90% men. I found the language used was daunting. This led to seeds being planted for the crafting of Mint Ventures, with fellow co-founders’ expertise, to provide a friendly place where women could learn about angel investing in appropriate language and develop a toolkit to make educated investment decisions in early stage companies.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Gosh there are so many stories, but probably the most topical is that its funny in life how things come full circle. As a child I spent a lot of time at the University of Stirling as my father taught there and when I was recently approached to become an entrepreneur in residence I Initially thought that my expertise would not qualify. This is typical of women thinking that their experience is not sufficient or not relevant. Then I realised that my investment experience and start up experience was exactly what they were looking for to support more women start their own businesses. I am delighted to be giving back to an institution that helped shape me and my family.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

While trialing a new bespoke CRM system I sent a test message to what I thought was to myself and it went to the entire organisation with the title “Bollocks!”

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Jenny Tooth at UK Business Angels Association has been instrumental in the developing of the value proposition for Mint Ventures and supporting more women to consider becoming angels. Her unwavering support through the Mint Ventures journey and leading the UK Business Angels’ Women backing Women campaign, of which we are proud to be part of, has really helped to put Mint Ventures on the map.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Thrive by Arianna Huffington, made it realistic to think I could start up a company and make the best use of my knowledge and life skills. This is where women often underestimate the power of the knowledge they have developed during their careers and how it can be utilised in other ways. Supporting early stage companies taps into both your professional and personal lived in experience and it was a revelation to realise that I could support others on their journeys too.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

By educating and encouraging more women and male allies to spread the word to back and support other women. Finding that tipping point for each individual to help them realise that they too can give back both human and financial capital to support other women and invest in products or services that align with their values. Having recognition is a privilege and being able to act as a conductor giving advice and feedback to women founders looking for funding is always a pleasure.

In your opinion, what are the key benefits of having a more gender-diverse team making investment decisions?

Diversity of thought in decision making has proven that companies are more innovative and sustainable. If we have more than the current 15% of Women angels and 10% of VC partners in the UK making investment decisions we will see a world that better reflects the population; with more investment in the over looked sectors such as retail, health and wellbeing. In particular women’s health, food & drink and creative industries to name a few. These are sectors where women are more likely to start companies. Investment traditionally goes to companies that emulate previous successful companies and are more likely to be in the science and technology sectors with mainly white male leadership teams.

What barriers do women typically face when trying to enter and advance in investment roles, and how can these be overcome?

There needs to be education at a grassroots schools level to encourage more women to consider a career in finance and investment, coupled with University curriculum that is gender inclusive and supports more women to choose this as a career. Promotion to partner level with VC’s is often hampered by women taking career breaks to have a family or care for elderly parents. This ingrained culture of overlooking women for promotion is a cultural issue that needs to be changed.

What strategies or initiatives have you found effective in increasing female representation in investment decision-making roles?

The Investing in Women Code, which many angel groups and VC’s have now signed up to, provides necessary data on the breakdown of entrepreneurs making funding requests and we are starting to see more transparency in the data to understand where the pinch points are. This could be expanded to ensure more transparency on the Investment Committees and processes to make investment decisions.

Can you please share your “5 Things We Must Do To Have More Women Direct Investment Dollars”?

1.We need to move away from angel investing being seen as a sport for the wealthy. To do this we need more Independent Financial Advisors to mention angel investing as an option when they are speaking to their clients. This could be relayed simply in a one page overview to summarise what is involved and the risks of investing in early stage companies This also applies to wealth managers who are crippled by FCA regulation not to advise angel investing, although they are able to signpost.

2.The FCA have based their regulation for decades on angel investing being a product of wealth, in that those with more money can afford to lose it. This is archaic and as a result most angel groups’ memberships are predominantly High Net Worths. I believe education is key here. Education should be added to the FCA regulation rather than the current criteria of being a member of an angel group for six months to qualify. Education would allow the risk element to be addressed in a more appropriate way. A relaunch of these criteria would enable more women to self-identify that perhaps they could actually become an angel investor. At Mint Ventures what we are doing differently is that we bring women on initially as associate investors and provide 6 x 1 hour online training modules which enables them to certify as angels on completion of the training and start investing, making it as accessible as possible from business women from all different back grounds.

3.The Investing in Women Code needs to made mandatory for all Angel Investment Groups and Venture Capital firms to enable true diversity in investment to take place. This is currently a voluntary code which many traditional long standing groups have not yet signed up to. Highlighting this code outwith the closed investment industry will also be a catalyst to encourage more women to get involved.

4.More educational funding from the UK Government to enable outreach to younger people to understand angel investing. During lockdown crowd funding took off which is on a par in terms of risk as angel investing and there is much misunderstanding around what is involved. A clear government backed campaign as to how we can become a nation of shareholders, and understanding the risks involved, would benefit the economy as a whole. It would provide new sources of capital to support the early stage companies that are the back bone of the economy.

5.The excellent educational US based documentary Show Her the Money has recently been launched in 50 cities around the world, backed by Well Fargo. We need a version of this that is focused on angel investing in the UK. If this was available on mainstream media with relatable and achievable stories of women’s journeys into angel investing we would see more uptake.

How can companies and investment firms create a more inclusive culture that supports and encourages women in leadership positions?

Bringing women into the decision making investment committees at early stages in their careers. A secondment or shadowing role would initially give them the opportunity to develop their skill sets and progress up the career ladder quicker. Secondments from other financial organisations into VC’s and angel groups would enable more women to develop their career in this direction.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Mint Ventures is part of the UK Business Angels’ Women Backing Women campaign and we have been instrumental in launching women angel education roadshows and events in Scotland and liaising with partners across the UK. If we could join up with women across the world who are aligned with supporting this cause we could roll this out as a global movement to normalise women becoming shareholders.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to have lunch with Debra Meaden to gather her insights as to how we can use mainstream media to educate more women to consider becoming angels.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Through my linkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-fleming-4081909/

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.

Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.