SWF Seeking Distinguished WM Cofounder
Surprise: I am a female founder in a male-dominated field
My industry is unglamorous. I often trek, quite happily, to the outskirts of town, meandering dusty potholed roads for client visits. Heaps of discarded scrap, flake, and dust from once-coveted materials are the lifeblood of my business. I daydream of warehouses stacked ceiling-high with pallets of paper, plastic, and metal sorted to varying degrees of entropy. This is a land where transactions are measured in shipping containers, semi trucks, and short tons.
Two Perspectives, Same Gender Bias
Selling to clients is a dream. Selling my vision to investors, on the other hand, has been uniquely challenging. To amend this, my most trusted mentors have advised me to seek a male business partner to assist with “identifying” with investor groups. In the Midwest where I live and work, men predominantly manage early stage funds.
A tenured professional with a few years of experience and connections could add tremendous value — I agree. It is also incredibly important to find the right person. In the interim, I defer to my advisory board for insight and wisdom on strategic direction, and I feel grateful to have found the right balance with a tremendously talented team, and that’s what matters. However, I still feel a great deal of pressure to secure a partner before fundraising.
Behind closed doors, a trusted mentor (also a female founder) confided that as women in business, we are measured to a higher standard than our male counterparts. To gain admittance into the club, being equal is unacceptable — we must be exceptional.
For women, the bar is higher.
Acknowledging this bias, she recommended finding a certain “type” of business partner, a type I have since playfully dubbed, “A Distinguished Caucasian Gentleman.”
I find myself conflicted. My generally wild ambition is at odds with my equally willful pragmatism. The well-meaning advice of advisors lingers on my mind, and has created a mental block.
Unknowingly, I have internalized their bias.
Reprogramming Ingrained Bias
Full disclosure: Today I am raising growth capital, without a gentlemanly cohort. I am confident in my team, product execution, and market opportunity. I am equally confident that I will find the right investment partner.
I am done holding back. I refuse to allow my own bias to keep me from moving forward.
Finding the right business partner will take time, but I am confident it will happen when the time is right. I even have a few people on my wish list that I am already working collaboratively with. Because early stage companies have fewer employees, each team member has a greater impact on the overall success of the organization, and it’s important to find a good culture fit. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work with a truly exceptional team. And we’re going to nail it — we are already halfway there.
If a “Distinguished Caucasian Gentleman” is a requirement, then the investment fit is not right.
Brag time: I am confident in my ability as a leader, and I understand my market. It is a huge space with tons of opportunity. My strategy is data driven, implementation is lean, and we have growth hacking to a science. I am learning from my clients and advisors every day, and am genuinely passionate about building the most powerful resource for scrap commodity pricing. I will continue to work tirelessly to make it a reality because there is nothing I would rather be doing, this is my dream.
Focusing on What Really Matters
I speak with my clients every day to make sure I am building an invaluable product they love to use.
I admire my customers for their engrained resourcefulness, “no nonsense” accounting, and endearingly friendly business etiquette. Site visits are a favorite part of my job. I always leave feeling energized and inspired by their passion for finding value in what others have left behind. On occasion, I am asked how I happened upon this industry, but the topic of my gender is neither a hindrance nor a focal point.
Among the heaps of garbage, our talk is strictly trash. I am evaluated for my knowledge and respected as an equal — it’s a wonderful feeling.
Alli Carmen is a Principal of FEW, and CEO of Material Mix, an easy-to-use materials exchange for recycling professionals with built-in tools for inventory management, networking, and best practices. @Alli_Carmen @MaterialMixLLC
