Katherine Olives
“The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed.” Minerva Tantoco opened last week's “Women Investing in Women” Panel with this William Gibson quote, reminding us of the gender gap that still exists within entrepreneurship and investing. A gap that in 2016 is rather maddening. According to Entrepreneur magazine, women entrepreneurs control 30 percent of all small business and are responsible for $1.4 trillion in sales. However, female founders receive only 7 percent of available venture capital. For black women-led startups, these statistics are even worse. digitalundivided's #ProjectDiane found that although black women founders are the fatest growing group of entrepreneurs in the US, only 0.2% of venture capital went to this group.
Why the gap? Some argue that VCs are just more likely to invest in male-led companies, plain and simple. Or, some point out that VCs are more likely to invest in founders that they connect with, founders that look like them. And when most VCs are men, the majority of investments go to men.
Some women look to change this. Last Wednesday, we invited two female venture capitalists–Emily Susskind of Golden Seeds and Minerva Tantoco of Future Perfect Ventures–to share their secrets with an audience of women founders, students, teachers, investors, and coaches. They talked about what makes an investor interested in a venture, they discussed what they're interested in right now, and shared resources for founders and investors alike. The discussion was moderated by Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, a fierce advocate of building the technology sector in New York City. She revealed the challenges New York City believes can be solved with tech.
Susskind and Tantoco revealed that now, more than ever, there is a ton of capital available to entrepreneurs. Founders need to know what investors are looking for to access it. One of the first things a VC looks for is a solid founding team. “A founding team is more preferable than a founding individual,” says Susskind. She also stressed the importance of showing your investor that his/her investment is going to help the startup meet an important milestone. Investors don't want to hear that their money is going to pay for a salary, but that it's going to expand the business. After sharing some of her experiences as an entrepreneur, Tantoco discussed the importance of understanding how to manage up. “As a founder, especially a young founder, you're going to need to manage people older and more experienced than you,” says Tantoco. She believes this is an important skill to show to investors as well.
Tantoco went on to talk about how being a female entrepreneur is “a recognition now.” She encourages female founders to take advantage of the fact that being a female founder is “hot right now,” meaning that it's becoming popular to invest in under-represented sectors. Both Susskind and Tantoco also spoke about some of the industries that are trending right now, including Edtech, VR, and the intersection of fashion and technology. Gale A. Brewer believes that tech could be the answer to a lot of the city's civic and social issues, including mental health. But while each panelist excitedly spoke about popular trends in the startup world, they stressed that all entrepreneurs shouldn't get distracted. “Instead of being obsessed with what's hot right now, show VCs what's unique about you. Show them that this is the right time for your idea.”
And don't worry, women venture capitalists are out there to hear your ideas. Amongst this growing network are our panelists hailing from Golden Seeds and Future Perfect Ventures. Here's a little bit about these organizations and the startups they support:
Since 2005, Golden Seeds members €“ today over 275 strong €“ along with its venture funds, have invested over $70 million in more than 65 exciting women-led enterprises€¦and counting. Headquartered in New York City, Golden Seeds also has chapters in Boston, Silicon Valley, Southern California (SoCal) and Texas €“ and active members throughout the country.
Future Perfect Ventures partners with entrepreneurs who share our core values and passion to create a better world. They invest early, working closely with founding teams and our network to help build the next generation of impactful technology companies. Some of their prior companies include SeatGeek, Grameen America, and TicketFly.
At the Zahn Center, we're doing our part to support female founders. In 2015, the Standard Chartered Bank Women in Technology Incubator was established to provide specific resources for women entrepreneurs including mentorship and $30,000 in seed funding.