By LIMOR ELKAYAM | Guest Writer
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about the lack of female founders in the tech space and some are even questioning if VCs have a gender problem.
Being a female founder of the startup iSpotaStory.com, I started wondering…Is it really any different than being a male founder?
My first reaction was no, but after thinking about it, I realized there are striking differences.
I’ve always had a lot of guy friends and even if there were girls around, I never really paid attention. I knew the tech space was dominated by guys, but I never really noticed that there were no iconic female founders; a la Mark Zuckerberg.
A lot of the current female founders I’ve met own sites that cater to the female demographic. For most this is their second career; they either write or publish content about themselves or women like them, probably because earlier in their career they were among the first women to do something. Or they are mothers, or wives, and so they created a site about what they lacked when going through their experiences.
I realize there are female founders outside of the traditional “women’s interest sphere” of fashion and weddings and children, but we’re a unique breed. The site I own doesn’t focus on fashion or being a mom; it’s a social news site that has content curators who aggregate the top trending stories of the day, and though I am physically part of the female demographic, I lean towards the male demo.
Since I launched, I started attending more meetups in NY; usually to meet other people in the space; sometimes to feed off the energy in the room. The ratio of guys to girls is about 4:1, a large percentage of who are PR girls.
Being a guys girl, this doesn’t bother me; though, what’s interesting is that the guys, whether bloggers or other entrepreneurs usually see me as a girl first. Sure, I wear makeup, do my hair and wear high heels, but I’m there because I want to network, and in those situations I’m a techie first, and a female second. Yet, when I go to meetups for and with women in the tech space, I find myself not fitting in, and there I actually am a female first, and a techie second.
Which leaves me in a weird situation; I’m either one of the only female founders among other male founders, or I’m only there because of my gender.
A friend of mine, Yuli Ziv, who founded the user generated fashion site, MyIT Things.com here in NY, put together this video back in December of 2008 of how to raise money from VCs…in style. Some tips include, wear a push up bra if you pitch media, butt fitting pants for long commitment, no highlights, don’t wear fake lashes and try to get a 2nd date. The video is made in jest but with a serious undertone. And the truth is, no matter how old or young the VC is, he will see you as a female first.
I can’t really comment much on the whole VC scene, neither NY’s nor Silicon Valley’s, because I haven’t gone out to get funding yet. I’m not sure if Vivek is accurate in saying that VCs have a gender problem, but I do know that a lot of the current female founders own sites for females. Now, that makes sense, except I think it’s hard to convince a room full of men why a woman would want to do something. In addition, I also think it’s hard to convince a room full of men that you want to own a percentage of half of the population, discounting the other half which they belong to. That can’t be an easy sell. It’s like trying to sell a roomful of non-smokers a new flavor of cigarette. Sure, I get it in concept, but why would I invest in it?
Maybe it’s not that at all and the good female founders haven’t been found or funded yet. If a female-founded start-up is the first that firm decided to back, then I’m sure it will be a story in and of itself. And for that to be a success story, well, that’s just a start-up’s dream.
And while many women have established sites, it’s been in spaces that don’t compete with the big boys leaving myself and other female founders that don’t run female-focused sites, without a role model, or path, or community.
So the question is, can a female ever become part of the boys club? I’ve always felt comfortable there, but are there more women like me? And just because I’ve broken that wall in every facet of my life, does that mean I can actually do it when it comes to getting funded or taking the site to the next level?
Growing up with two brothers, I was taught very early in life what guys like and don’t like and I’ve always found dealing with guys to be easy; no bullshit. If you’re smart and you know what you’re talking about, they won’t notice your gender. But I feel like this needs to happen in droves, not one-offs.
I can only hope that there are women out there in dorm rooms dreaming of a site that will change the way we do things.
I hope that I’m not part of the select few that wake up at 4 a.m. thinking of ways to make things better. Inherently that is a unique quality in both girls and guys, but I’m assuming there are other women like me.
Problem is, I haven’t been able to find them yet, but I use that as motivation.
If I make it big, I’ll be part of history. I could be the tech version of Kathryn Bigelow, or the female Mark Zuckerberg. Currently, I don’t have someone like that to look up to, so I could either work hard to be her for the next wave of girls, or let the guys take all the credit for the next big thing. I’ll go with working hard.
If you’re a female founder in NY, I’d love to talk to you and find out about your experiences.
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