Gender Diversity Equals Dollars
Gender diversity is a smart business strategy (as well as socially responsible). Starting right from the top, with gender diverse co-founders.
Now, I am sure there are war stories where it doesn’t work out. And, I’m sure some married co-founders would think twice if they were to do it again.
The Facts
But when it does work, these companies perform better. Studies from McKinsey and Bank of America have shown that companies with a higher percentage of women in leadership have better financial results. Founder teams with at least one female founder generate 78 cents for every dollar of venture capital invested while all-male teams generate 31 cents.
A Bloomberg report found successful tech startups have twice as many women in senior positions then those that are unsuccessful.
Diverse co-founder teams receive about 13% of capital invested. Teams with at least one female founder raise more money at similar stages and that difference grows as the company raises later rounds. Women are a good bet.
Leadership
At the co-founder level women bring a different set of soft skills and traits. For example, empathy, communication and listening.
Women’s style of communication tends to encourage collaboration; they are better listeners; they respond to verbal, emotional and visual factors more than men. Women bring a certain intuition and sensitivity to situations and may detect conflicts before they erupt. They tend to bring less ego to the table. They focus on relationships and take time to develop teams.
Culture & Teams
When leadership makes diversity and inclusion a priority from the outset it sets the tone for the company’s culture. This will play itself out in the people they hire. We know that people tend to hire people that look like them or come from similar backgrounds.
Startups with at least one female founder hire 1.5x more women. If you have a female founder and a female executive, they will hire 6x more women.
A diverse team enhances creativity, innovation, and problem-solving and it gives you greater access to talent.
In some sectors and industries, it is even more important. Having a team that understands what your customer wants, how they think, what’s important to them, what motivates them, etc. will allow you to build a better product and service.
Startups are the business of the future. Startups create jobs and change the way we live day-to-day. We need teams that represent the population of tomorrow (or let’s start with today!). Today, woman represent more than half the population. Women in the U.S. control more than half the personal wealth and are responsible for making 70-80% of consumer purchasing decisions.
