Female technology executives increasingly are banding together to solve what they say is a problem in their own midst: a dearth of women in top positions at emerging tech firms.
Only about 11% of U.S. firms with venture-capital backing in 2009 had current or former female CEOs or female founders, according to data from Dow Jones VentureSource. The prestigious start-up incubator Y Combinator has had just 14 female founders among the 208 firms it has funded.
Female business owners by industry according to University of Phoenix
The “where-are-all-the-women” meme is a familiar one, and not confined to the technology world. But in start-up land, where the good idea is supposed to trump social status and everything else, the lack of women in positions of authority stands out. There is no shortage of opinions about the cause, but regardless, some techie women are – in true start-up fashion – attacking the problem with meetups, money and social networking.
Top female CEO's according to the Fortune 500 for 2009
2009 executive pay among female's by field according to Forbes Magazine
Start-up executive Dina Kaplan and Gilt Groupe CEO Susan Lyne and the Paley Center for Media CEO Pat Mitchell run a group – which they call the “Breakfast Club” — of young and established tech and digital media executives who meet for professional networking, social support and swapping practical advice about running young digital companies. Start-up incubator i/o Ventures this month teamed up with Arianna Huffington, designer Donna Karan and former U.K. first lady Sarah Brown to launch a $25,000 competition for the “next female tech trailblazing entrepreneur.” This December for the first time, the influential technology conference TED is holding a women-focused conference.
“Part of the reason to form the group is to form true friendships and connections that could lead to business opportunities…but also to create pretty hardcore camaraderie,” said Ms. Kaplan, co-founder of online-television network blip.tv.
These women-power efforts aren’t without controversy. “I personally do not participate in any female tech organizations because they make more harm than good sometimes, because they [segregate] women,” said Yuli Ziv, founder of Style Coalition, a network of fashion and lifestyle digital publications. Instead, Ms. Ziv said she tries to encourage women to integrate more forcefully into male-dominated tech events such as the New York Tech Meetup.
“In our generation and in our community, I don’t believe there’s any issue or any disadvantage to women,” Ms. Ziv said. “I don’t think we have any excuses.”
The announcement of TEDWomen last month also sparked a flurry of Twitter posts and blog screeds questioning whether it is a step backward for gender equity to funnel women into a separate and perhaps unequal TED conference. Supporters say TEDWomen is an effort to focus on a topical subject of interest to men and women, and not an attempt to cobble together a TED B-team.
Rachel Sklar, the writer and Mediaite founding editor, said the women-focused conferences shouldn’t be controversial, and she said the TEDWomen event was no different than other TED functions focused on locales like India and Los Angeles. She recently co-founded a group called “Change the Ratio” to shine a light on women in entrepreneurial roles, and to address the dearth of women at start-ups.
“Part of changing the ratio is just changing awareness, so that the next time Techcrunch is planning a Techcrunch Disrupt, they won’t be able to not see the overwhelming maleness of it,” said Ms. Sklar, referring to the influential tech conference.
Technology investors Fred Wilson and John Borthwick said the industry needs catalysts to spark a virtuous circle of more successful women-led tech start-ups leading to more women in tech start-ups.
“From successes come role models and from the role models come change,” said Union Square Ventures’ Mr. Wilson, who recently called for more diversity in the start-up world.
Mr. Wilson, who said 3% of investment pitches he fields are from women, said he has become more attentive about the challenges of women tech entrepreneurs. He said he seeks to write about successful women entrepreneurs and prod conference hosts to include women on panels. “Little things like that will make a big difference,” he said.
COMMENTARY: I could be wrong about this, but there are several reasons why there are so few CEO's in tech startups:
- Female's in general have a problem breaking through the male-dominated glass ceiling and reaching the position of CEO. According to CFO Magazine, only about 5% of Fortune 500 firms are female.
- There is a shortage of females with engineering and technical education and experience. I would have to check into this, but most of the individuals with technical backgrounds are males. I just don't find a lot of females in biosciences, green technology, medical devices, software, social media and other hot industry spaces.
- Female's are less likely to start a technology startup than male's. About 95% of my clients are male. Where the heck are the females.
These are my personal observations. I could be wrong, or maybe I am just full of male machismo, but I am willing to take the flack, if you think I am wrong. I welcome your comments.
Courtesy of an article dated August 27, 2010 appearing in The Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch
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