Women Entrepreneurs — Can being underestimated be an advantage?
I recently came across this comment by a Quora reader:
Why does only 4.4% of US business loans go to female entrepreneurs? Because 98% of women-owned businesses fail.
When I first saw this comment by this VC investor, my first reaction was one of anger. I thought to myself, this is another common retort made by privileged, white men who think positive discrimination has gone too far. Or that race/gender/sexual privilege does not exist.
Here is what he said:
I am all about data. And the data shows that the national average rate of US business failure is 92%, For women, it is 98%. As for minority women? It is close to 99%.
He went on to argue that many women have two masters, rather than a masters and a PhD, because they couldn’t cut it at the PhD level and dropped back to a second masters. Women taking on hyphenated last names after marriage do not play well in the business world because it shows a lack of commitment (to either her own last name or her husband’s). Attractive women feel a sense of entitlement in the business world. Women are enslaved to the domestic process, having to juggle career, life and family while men do not. And finally, women tend to undermine each other, destroying each other in business in ways men do not.
It was incredibly frustrating reading his comments because I spent a large proportion of my working life in meeting rooms where I was the only women in the room and I can see that this is a common viewpoint of men. I could see so many things wrong with this comment but here is one in particular — that it is all about data.
A case of a young woman entrepreneur
Often we are quick to point to data to reaffirm our decisions. The data quoted was a generalised, average rate of business failures, so let me put forth an equally generalised hypothetical scenario.
Imagine that this young, black, woman entrepreneur goes on to successfully receive funding from the investors. She then goes to meetings with potential customers and finds herself presenting in a room full of men (the typical decision makers). The same goes for suppliers. Investors. Conferences. What are her chances of convincing these men to give her a chance, if the world of decision makers judges her in the same way as this VC investor? If she fails, is it because she is lacking in credentials and abilities, or is it because of prejudice? If it is the latter, shouldn’t we (society as a whole) try and do something about this rather than let data and status quo predict the paths of future women entrepreneurs?
I was about to respond to this comment when I hit pause and thought to myself:
Why is being a female such a big deal in entrepreneurship? In what ways is entrepreneurship different for a woman than a man anyway? I decided to do a bit of research and started digging through internet forums. After a while, I found some answers:
What is it like to be a female entrepreneur, as opposed to a (male) entrepreneur?
Expectations of having to do it all. If you fail to balance life and business, you should go back to *just be a mum.
Lack of credibility and not being taken seriously.
Not being able to escape the word “aggressive”.
And by far the most common reason given by successful women entrepreneurs?
Being underestimated.
Many women found themselves being underestimated by peers and family alike when they first started their entrepreneurship journeys. They were frequently being discounted so they found themselves having to over-prepare and over-compensate. It also took longer be seen as being reasonable when negotiating better deals and terms for their businesses.
But then I also found a growing number of successful women who attributed their success to being underestimated. They are saying that, rather than becoming successful in spite of being underestimated, they are successful because they were underestimated.
Use being underestimated as a source of motivation
At an invitation-only conference for entrepreneurs and executives, Sara Blakely, founder of Spandx said “People have often asked me what’s the best thing about being a girl in business, and what’s been the hardest? My answer is the same… being underestimated.”
In the beginning of founding Spanx, Blakely shared that being underestimated made starting her business more challenging, but that it also worked to her advantage.
The competition didn’t take me seriously for a long time. And I think it’s really fun to prove people wrong.
She wasn’t the only one. Alicia Castillo, PhD, founder of 9 startups, 2 non-profits and an angel Investor in 15 said, “Investors know subconsciously that it takes more effort for a woman to be successful. One way to overcompensate is to be very well prepared (which actually is great because people DO remember driven women more than driven men). Clear, focused, and data driven.”
“The potential to outperform and shock people out of their biases and prejudices has been just as potent for me.” said Jigyasa Makkar, co-founder and CTO @ Halfbake & Motorpaneer.com
Perhaps it is time for female entrepreneurs to stop feeling disheartened when we feel underestimated. Accept that the world IS going to be unfair. We will HAVE to work harder to achieve the same results. However, we also get the opportunity to work unscrutinised relative to competition in our marketplace. And by the time we emerge, we already ARE a legitimate player in the market because of the capital we spent time building up.
And finally
Most problems can be resolved with more success stories and collaborative sharing of networks and learnings. As more and more success stories of women entrepreneurs emerge, perception towards being a woman in the business world will gradually change. Perhaps in the near future, we will no longer even need to have a conversation about “women entrepreneurs”. That’s the goal.
In any case, the last thing we need is for the world to feel sorry for us.
Happy International Women’s Day!!
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Originally published at www.foundingseries.com on March 8, 2019.
