For over a year I have been video interviewing venture capitalists, angel investors and women founders trying to investigate the apparent shortfall in funding for women led technology startups. My goal has been to listen to as many people as I could from both sides of the table, in order to get a diversity of opinions on this controversial subject. Whilst I have been doing these interviews, many people have said to me that no problem exists and that women can be as easily funded as men if they have a great idea, team, plan and advisors. However the statistics show another story. The percentages of women in technology, female entrepreneurs and female venture capitalists are extremely low compared to men. But the reasons are multifold and complex and cannot be resolved quickly or easily. With this post I hope to shed some light on the intricacies of this issue. Everyone that I interviewed was inspiring and added a different voice and view to the puzzle.
Leila Chirayath Janah
Leila Chirayath Janah, Samasource: Being Female in a Male World
Video Interview with Leila Chirayath Janah, CEO & Founder Samasource. Leila first developed the idea behind Samasource while working as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co.), where her clients included global leaders in the outsourcing and telecom sectors and a number of prominent non-profits. Along with Professors Thomas Pogge and Aidan Hollis, she founded Incentives for Global Health and helped produce a plan for incentivizing the development of new drugs for neglected diseases. As an undergraduate, Leila authored background papers for the World Bank’s Development Research Group and Ashoka on equity and social rights. You can find Leila on Twitter @leila_c & blogging @Social Edge
Leila Chirayath Janah, Samasource: Being Female in a Male World
Video Interview with Leila Chirayath Janah, CEO & Founder Samasource. Leila first developed the idea behind Samasource while working as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co.), where her clients included global leaders in the outsourcing and telecom sectors and a number of prominent non-profits. Along with Professors Thomas Pogge and Aidan Hollis, she founded Incentives for Global Health and helped produce a plan for incentivizing the development of new drugs for neglected diseases. As an undergraduate, Leila authored background papers for the World Bank’s Development Research Group and Ashoka on equity and social rights. You can find Leila on her website on Twitter @leila_c & blogging @Social Edge