Compared to the number of men with money, there sure as hell is. 95% (that number is me talking out of my ass, but, I can tell you I only met one female investing partner at a VC, and no female angels, the entire time I lived there, and countless men) of investors in Silicon Valley are men.
The whole ecosystem is hugely weighted toward men making decisions.
I responded to someone who said "There's no shortage of women with money." So, in this particular comment, I am saying exactly what I said: There is a severe shortage of women with money who are making decisions in the tech funding industry. I'll go even further to suggest that the gap is even larger in tech investing than it is in tech in the general case.
But, since you asked: I will now say that there are biases in our industry that perhaps those of us not subject to them do not see. Those biases adversely impact the ability of women (and some people of color) to rise to positions of influence in the tech industry. I don't believe this is a controversial assertion (despite all of my comments to this effect being voted down). I consider the matter well-known to anyone who's willing to listen to the people it affects.
I personally know lots of women who are multimillionaires. Maybe you should be asking them why they don't start VC funds. There is nobody to tell them they can't. Why doesn't Marissa Meyers start one? or Melinda Gates? or Chelsea Clinton? or Madonna? or Ellen Pao? or Oprah?
I can't ask them, because I don't personally know any women who are multimillionaires (except Jessica Livingston, who already does more than nearly anyone on this front). I do personally know a number of men who are multi-millionaires (even a few billionaires). All of them invest in tech; for most of them, I do not know their criteria for choosing what to invest in, but I would guess they try to avoid gender and racial bias...but, what we do not see and understand we can't necessarily address.
Talk to any stock broker. You'll find there are plenty of women with substantial investment portfolios. I don't see how it is the fault of men if those women choose not to fund women startups.
I'm trying to understand where you're coming from with "I don't see how it is the fault of men if those women choose not to fund women startups."
I can follow a chain of logic that goes something like:
- there's a lack of gender diversity in tech, in that there are disproportionately fewer women.
- this is a problem we should solve
- given that there's more men in tech, they're somehow to blame
Is this an accurate representation of how you get to "I don't see how it is the fault of men"?
I don't see (most) people blaming men as intentionally causing this problem. I see plenty of people, men and women, at trying to figure out how to understand the disproportionate lack of women and do something about it. Similarly, I don't see it as the responsibility of women to do this on their own.
If I've completely misinterpreted your comment, it wouldn't be the first time. I don't mean to put words in your mouth. Please do elaborate and correct me if and where I've misunderstood.
I see men being blamed, whether they are intentional or not. I also see men being put forward as being responsible for a solution. I.e. that women cannot succeed without the aid, approval, and encouragement of men.
I view this as an unfortunate sexist and patronizing attitude, and is ultimately a destructive one.
Women do not need the aid, approval, or encouragement from men to succeed in tech. This applies to everyone else, too. There's never been a time of more opportunity for everyone in the US.
If people need excuses for failure, there's an endless list of them. There is no fixing that (like how my coming up with a few thousand to start a business was dismissed.) Successful people don't look for excuses and don't make excuses. They go out and get things done.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. In this thread, can you provide examples of men being blamed or being held solely responsible for a solution? What percentage of the comments do so?
> The women in tech pipeline is a leaky, toxic pipeline that results in talented women being driven out of the industry.
This thread is about men being the gatekeepers of financing. The parent article says:
> Men have the power to help fix those things, but they also should have the courage to cede the stage to women more often, to fight the stupid bias that keeps women from excelling in the field. It may take proactive behavior, like choosing a women over a man when growing your team, just because, or promoting women more freely.
I guess I don't read either of those as blaming men solely or saying that it's solely men's responsibility to do something about it. It's pointing out that there are things men can do, which I think is valid, but it doesn't imply that it's only up to men.
Women are free to start a VC fund. Nobody is stopping them. As I said, there are plenty of women with money.
Furthermore, VC funds are hardly the only source of funding. Friends and family are traditional sources of startup capital, and loaning money to businesses is a traditional business for banks.
Yes. Started my tech company with a 4 figure loan from a family member. Am now independently wealthy. I was told I would fail every step of the way from just about everyone.
> bank
No. Never needed to. Never needed any other outside capital.
My aunt got a loan from a bank to start her own successful business. (She was told that women couldn't get loans to start businesses. She was quite a firecracker.)
> Yes. Started my tech company with a 4 figure loan from a family member. Am now independently wealthy. I was told I would fail every step of the way from just about everyone.
Congratulations for being born into a family that could support you economically.
> No. Never needed to. Never needed any other outside capital.
That was lucky. Banks don't loan to tech startups. Unless you have assets to put up as collateral (say, your house that you have significant equity in), you will not be able to obtain a loan from a bank to start a tech company. The SBA does enable a limited number of loans for businesses, but they are almost exclusively of the brick and mortar kinda. I have never met a software company founder who could get a loan from a bank to start their company.
If you don't already have money, your ability to get money from a bank will be extremely limited.
4 figures will buy a 5 year old car. Your idea that women cannot start companies because they cannot come up with such funds is quite a stretch. The roads are full of women driving far more expensive cars.
The barriers you are talking about are in your mind. People who want to get things done are not dissuaded by such things. People with your attitude always assume other peoples' success was a cakewalk, full of people showering them with praise and money at every turn. It's just not so. To start a business, you have to get out and hustle. If you're so easily discouraged because you can't raise $5000 or some professor dumped on you, you aren't cut out for business and have nobody to blame but yourself.
(Wasn't it Steve Jobs who sold his car to fund his startup? his company was successful before any investors would give him a nickel. I can't imagine Jobs quitting for any of the reasons you give.)
I'll make a general comment not specific to any group. When I hear a person produce a long list of excuses, blaming others or circumstance, never once taking responsibility for any decisions, adamantly denying that they had any hand in their fate, I know where the problem lies.
Just remember the story of Douglas Bader, who had both legs amputated, and was told he was going to die of his wounds, then told he'd never walk again, etc. He went on to become a fighter pilot for the RAF, even though the RAF discriminated against legless men, shot down many Luftwaffe fighters, was shot down himself, escaped from German POW camps 3 times, married the woman of his dreams, etc.
There's never been a time of greater opportunity in tech in the US.
> I'll make a general comment not specific to any group. When I hear a person produce a long list of excuses, blaming others or circumstance, never once taking responsibility for any decisions, adamantly denying that they had any hand in their fate, I know where the problem lies.
So, you believe that assertion applies to women in tech, since that is who we're talking about?
I specifically said it does not apply to any group. It applies to individuals. Individuals in this country to a very large extent choose whether they will be winners or losers. Are there bad bosses, toxic work environments, sexist men? Of course there are.
Do women need permission, encouragement, and money from men in order to succeed? Nope. Suggesting otherwise is patronizing and taints the success of those who do succeed.
Women have started companies in the US for 200+ years. The idea that somehow they can't start tech companies, and run them as they see fit, is ludicrous.
