Why Female Founders Aren’t Getting Candid Feedback?
And how to make sure you’re not one of them.
Founders are intentionally entering the fundraising and pitching process to get candid feedback. It is known that the earlier you get feedback on your product or service, and tailor it to your ideal customer, the better and more likely you are to have a successful lasting business with raving fans. It has recently become evident though that candid feedback is being saved for male founders, whereas investors are holding back on giving similarly honest feedback to female founders in fear it being misinterpreted as sexism.
How do we correct this before female founders find themselves at an unfair disadvantage in these discussions, whether early stage or beyond?
Feedback should be an integral part of everyday practice not just something that happens as part of a formal review. If people feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback on a daily basis, it becomes normal, rather than something to be feared when the next round of reviews or fundraise come up. Feedback simply gives us the insight to help us to improve and be better. It gives us self-awareness of how we are perceived, of our skills, and of our strengths and weaknesses. We can then improve by maximizing the things we are good at and building on the things we aren’t so good at. Research shows that people genuinely welcome constructive feedback, even if it can be tough to hear, if it will help them to develop and improve.
One of the most important ways to show people that they are valued and appreciated is by offering recognition and praise for when things go well. Feedback shouldn’t only be about looking at what could be improved. We need to give more positive feedback if we want people to feel motivated, engaged, and confident at work. The risk is that if people aren’t given recognition and praise, you’ll have a hard time keeping them.
So why are investors and advisors holding back on one of the most important contributions we can make to founders? Sexism. Investors, both male and female, are afraid that their feedback, or praise even, could be misconstrued as sexism, and are therefore holding back altogether and downplaying their honesty to play it safe. As highlighted in this article, Men Clamming Up, written by a female founder, investor and mom.
She continues with, “One worrying trend I’ve observed among my male investor friends is that they’re much more wary of giving candid advice to women founders than they used to be. They are afraid of saying anything that a female founder might misinterpret as sexism. So, when giving feedback to a woman they don’t know well enough to trust, they talk with less candor than they would with a male founder. When this happens, women are missing out on potentially valuable advice.”
Some investors have therefore decided they would rather say nothing than risk being accused of sexism. This withheld information often results in companies doing poorly because of the continued missed opportunity for feedback, and in turn growth and improvement. As any entrepreneur knows, getting brutally honest feedback is really important, especially early on. But often the feedback is not what a founder wants to hear, and may seem overly critical or downright harsh. And the earlier stage the investor, the more they’re likely conveying to founders what’s wrong. One of the key contributions early stage investors can make to founders, is that success leaves clues and they’ve seen similar companies go through similar stages, able to convey opportunities, learn from other companies’ lessons, and notice blindspots a first-time founder wouldn’t know to look for. Femfo writes, “It’s hard for an investor to know whether a founder will be offended by the criticism or acknowledge that it’s correct. But even if a male founder is offended, at least he isn’t going to accuse them of sexism. It’s much safer to speak honestly, so they do.”
I too often hear female founders say that they believe they’re receiving less honest and constructive investor feedback than their male counterparts. And on the other side, have heard investors say that they hesitate to give negative or corrective feedback to underrepresented founders out of fear of being perceived as biased in some way. There is well documented bias in the funding process between male and female founders overall, and feedback is only one part of the start-up success equation (see more on that broader subject here). This is not okay and a huge missed opportunity for both founders and investors, as well as the breakthrough technologies and perspective possible for the world more broadly.
My sister Kori, an entrepreneur and founder of RiseWell, advisor to many founders, and active investor says on the subject, “It’s understandable that people have to be extra cautious these days given the current environment, but founders (whether they are male or female) lose out if they don’t get constructive criticism. And investors are doing a huge disservice to female founders if they are treated differently when it comes to feedback, because feedback enables companies (and founders) to be successful and grow.”
Other successful business folks realize the importance of feedback, as Bill Gates says, “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” And Ken Blanchard, highlighting that ultimately, just like we need breakfast to fuel us through the day, we need feedback to help us to perform at our best; “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Doc Rivers stated, “Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.” And Ed Batista, executive coach and regular writer for Harvard Business Review, said “Make feedback normal. Not a performance review.” Elon Musk also highlighted, “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”
We should always be thinking about how we can evolve and grow, and this is why a culture where people practice giving and receiving feedback every day can be so powerful. It’s about having a growth mindset, where we see our skills as adaptable and believe they can be developed upon. And the good news is, we can all learn to adopt a growth mindset and share in the growth and learning together. Both in giving and receiving feedback more effectively, and ensuring no one is holding back on either side of the equation.
Aligned with Femfo and her article, I am not a proponent of men clamming up as the only solution here. I suggest female founders open the conversation early on and demand candid feedback from the get go, the first pitch or interaction. Acknowledging that they want strategic thought leaders on their side, who are willing to be as compassionate as they are candid. In these conversations, I also strongly suggest female founders proactively make male investors comfortable by explicitly acknowledging that even though they may feel nervous giving feedback, given the current environment, that they want it and would prefer a direct and honest relationship, rather than one of tiptoeing around each other and withholding.
Together, let’s acknowledge that we will not always get it right, but we will believe in good intentions and share feedback equally as candidly if something could have been conveyed more effectively or clearly for one’s psychology, personality or emotional intelligence. Let’s manage up, coach each other, and work together to give equal opportunity and feedback to all founders, not just those we’re not afraid of.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and agriculture.
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