Pemo TheodoreThe estimated reading time for this post is 3 seconds
The free ebook “Why are Women Funded Less than Men? a crowdsourced conversation” available @Scribd, as with the year long video interview project from which it arises is an attempt to bring human faces & voices to the issue of the lack of female entrepreneurs that are successful raising venture or angel capital & also the lack of women venture capitalists & angel investors in comparison with men. There are a few organizations that have done some research & provided data which is the backdrop some of which I have included in the book. You can download the ebook for free on Scribd http://bit.ly/1JT4LiW
I spent 5 years in London trying to raise funding for my online matchmaking business & in the end had to admit failure. My story is only one of many. Very early on in that journey I had committed to help women source venture, when I was successful. As it turned out I have been doing just that for the last year, not because I was successful but because I failed. Possibly if I had been successful I would never have had the time to accomplish a project like this. I have been video interviewing venture capitalists, angel investors & women founders on the shortfall in funding for women. My goal has been to listen to as many people as I could from both sides of the table, so I could hopefully determine where all these conversations intersected.
Whilst I have been doing these interviews, many people have said to me that no problem exists & that women can be as easily funded as men if they have a great idea, team, plan & advisors. However the statistics, some of which have been mentioned at the beginning of this book, show another story. The percentages of women in technology, female entrepreneurs & female venture capitalists are extremely low compared to men. The reasons are multifold & complex and cannot be answered or resolved quickly or easily. Â Many wonderful people & organizations are working to change the ratio & I am sure that this situation will slowly shift due to their efforts. When I started this project a year ago, the conversation & debate was hot & heavy & continues to carry a lot of emotional response from both genders. So I surmise that it is timely to showcase these conversations about the lack of women being funded compared to men, to shed further light & awareness on the subject.
Some of the questions that were addressed Is there a Problem? Is there Overt Discrimination? Does Bias Keep Women Disadvantaged for Investment? Are there Advantages of Diversity? Should we Generalize about Gender? Are there differences between Men & Women? How does the Female Market Impact Investment? What do Female Entrepreneurs have Going for Them? Other issues: Risk & Failure, Thinking Big, Children, Sex & Power & Helping Other Women.
Just when you thought you couldn’t go back in the water or get funded, “Why are Women Funded Less than Men” the free ebook is available @Scribd. With a cast of thousands, well a lot anyway, 120 embedded video conversations with 26 venture capitalists, 19 female founders & 7 others – a truly crowd sourced conversation.This was reposted on i7 Summit Blog , Girls in Tech, TheNextWomen, Ogunte: Global Tribal Network & Women2.0
Review of the ebook done by Penny Herscher on her blog The Grassy Road & FirstRain
The video was mentioned by Mark Suster on his blog Both Sides of the Table Why Aren’t There More Female Entrepreneurs? & reposted on Fast Company & mentioned on Startup America Partnership BlogÂ
