Highlights from Lightspeed’s first Negotiation Summit with #ANGELS: Demystifying Power & Wealth in the Valley
Pictured: A packed house at Lightspeed and #ANGELS’ Negotiation Summit this week at Twitter in SF.
A few months ago, I proudly joined Lightspeed as a Partner. And I did this because the team is a great complement to my strengths, interests and values; one that’s helping me be the most effective, impactful investor I can be. But beyond investing, I’m grateful my partners support my passion for hosting events and conversations to build community, diversify networks, and include and promote women in frontier fields shaping the industry.
Which brings me to Lightspeed’s first Negotiation Summit that took place this week in partnership with #ANGELS and #TwitterWomen.
So, why did we choose to focus on Negotiation? Because according to #TheGapTable, a study by #ANGELS and Carta, women hold just 9% of the equity value in tech companies, despite making up 33% of the workforce.
That is totally unacceptable. If we want to foster an inclusive and equitable industry, women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) need to be included in the wealth creation of successful companies. And it’s imperative they know how to negotiate in order to get there.
Our Negotiation Summit brought together over 100 distinguished and diverse women to hear from an impressive group of founders and experts in Negotiation, with the ultimate goal of helping to narrow #TheGapTable.
Henry Ward, Founder & CEO of Carta, kicked off the day with a fun whiteboarding session that went deep into how to understand your equity package. For more details on Equity 101, check out this helpful blog series from the Carta team.
Pictured: Henry Ward, Founder & CEO of Carta.
Maggie Neale, the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business, fired everyone up as she broke down how the secrets of economics and psychology can help you negotiate anything, in business and in life. She was also gracious enough to sign her latest book on Negotiation (and an absolute must-read!), “Getting More of What You Want,” for attendees.
Pictured: Maggie Neale, the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Jana Rich, networker extraordinaire and Founder and CEO of Rich Talent Group, sat down with Lightspeed Marketing Partner Meredith Kendall Maines to discuss best practices for networking and interviewing.
Pictured: Jana Rich, Founder & CEO of Rich Talent Group, and Meredith Kendall Maines, Lightspeed Marketing Partner.
And last but not least, Max Levchin, Co-Founder & CEO of Affirm — who’s had to negotiate venture capital raises, sales of companies, partnerships, and more throughout his career — talked with me about his top negotiation tips. And man did he have some good stories.
Pictured: Max Levchin, Co-founder & CEO of Affirm, and Jana Messerschmidt, Lightspeed Partner and Co-founder of #ANGELS.
Equity isn’t just about who gets to be rich. Equity in Silicon Valley funds the next generation of founders and products — it funds innovation and shapes our industry. It also allows people to take on political and philanthropic efforts that shape our communities. If women and URMs aren’t part of the start-up industry’s wealth-creation and its underlying power structure, then they don’t have a seat at the table. They don’t get to shape our future.
Bottom line: We need more women as founders, as funders, as early employees, as engineers and leaders. But we also need to make sure that when women are in these roles, they know how to negotiate for their true value and their fair share, even while on a playing field that is biased against women who negotiate.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, to our Negotiation Summit speakers and attendees for taking the time to show up this week and discuss such an important topic. And thank you to our friends at Twitter Women for allowing us to take over your beautiful office space.
Update: Most of the Negotiation Summit sessions mentioned above are now available on Lightspeed’s podcast, Tomorrow, Built Today. Be sure to give them a listen.
Pictured: Maggie Neale’s latest book on Negotiation, titled “Getting More of What You Want.”
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