The Story Goes: Two Entrepreneurs, a Man and a Woman, Co-found a Startup and Raise Venture Capital

Let’s say that two entrepreneurs, a man and a woman, co-found a startup and raise venture capital. But the business struggles, and they shut it down and go their separate ways. Eventually, each of them independently forms a new business. Do these entrepreneurs have the same chance of getting venture capital funding for a second time?

The answer is ... 

Gender bias shapes the world of entrepreneurial financing.

Women Entrepreneurs Hit a Funding Wall

When Oriana Papin-Zoghbi was looking for venture capital funding to develop a new type of test for ovarian cancer, she found her pitch did best with women investors. “They were able to resonate with the problem we are trying to solve,” she said.

Avestria Ventures, a fund focused on women-founded start-ups, led an early investment of $5 million in Ms. Papin-Zoghbi’s company, AOA Dx. And two years later, Good Growth Capital, a firm founded by women, led an additional $17 million investment.

Raising the next round of funds is expected to be difficult.  It's not the first time that women entrepreneurs hit a funding wall.

Read the entire article at The New York Times (might require subscription).

Reshaping Early-Stage Venture Capital (VC) to Better Serve Women Entrepreneurs

Melinda Gates is trying to change the face of power in venture capital (VC) to better serve women entrepreneurs.

Given that VCs cater to a select few, fail on about 80%, and need home runs to pay for the failures, the question looms: can Gates make a dent and leave a legacy?

Discover the five challenges and potential solutions.

Never Satisfied Working For Someone Else

Chandell Stone, founder of Chany Ventures, came to Mexico's capital from New York City, and had a plan to center her business on women, especially women from marginalized groups who have less access to opportunities to start a business.

Stone has one of those personalities that is never satisfied working for someone else. Already experienced in securing venture capital, it seemed natural to start a business to help others do the same — hence Chany Ventures.  

The most important service that Chany Ventures provides is to support the kind of women who themselves would doubt their own ability to start a business. Often she finds it best not even to push the goal of attracting venture capital, rather use the term “medium-sized business.” At least until such women get more confident, she says. 

Learn more about Stone's goal of growing Chany Ventures throughout Mexico – Mexico City (as shown), Guadalajara, Monterrey and online. 

If You Want to Get Something Done, Use Your Ecosystem

Interest rates are rising, banks are failing, there’s high inflation, and a dynamic of low unemployment and layoffs. The economy is different than a couple of years ago, and venture capital firms are slowing their funding. 

Companies solely founded by women receive less than 3% of all venture capital investments, and women account for less than 15% of checkwriters, according to PitchBook. 

Yet there is still a glimmer of hope.  The key is having a business that can scale and is durable, one that could survive a recession if it happens.  And, it helps to access and use your ecosystem.  Some examples are the Women Presidents Organization, Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® and Women Elevating Women.

Learn more about how you can get one step closer to your entrepreneurial goals.  Spoiler alert:  It's not easy.

What You Can Do to Attract Funding

Inspired Capital co-founder Alexa von Tobel talks about three ways (below) the entrepreneur turned investor suggests getting the attention of VCs.

1. Communicate your passion.
2. Prove that you're ready to learn.
3. Don't focus only on the money.

Read all her comments here.

Why Is Israel the Best Country for Female Entrepreneurs?

The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) tracks the global progress of women entrepreneurs and business owners across 58 economies. The US, Switzerland and New Zealand ranked second, third and fourth, with the UK sixth. So what enabled Israel to take the top spot?

Find out from the founders of an Israeli venture capital firm as they tell how they have made it in a man’s world and the ways they feel the status quo could be changed.

To Play the Venture-Capital Game, Watch Sports

I've always lived my life by not playing by the rules but according to Fiona Murray's article below, you should do the opposite.  That is, to get in the venture-capital game, you must play by the rules.  Here are a couple of them:

1. WEAR A UNIFORM

2. USE A CONFIDENT VOICE AND ASSERTIVE LANGUAGE

3. NETWORK AS IF IT’S YOUR JOB

4. WATCH SPORTS

Counter-intuitive advice, eh?

Read more  How female entrepreneurs can get in the venture-capital game

Photo credit:  Ed Yourdon 

To Bootstrap or Not to Bootstrap?

To bootstrap or not to bootstrap?  It is the difference between slowly gaining ground in growing a business versus giving up equity and rapidly growing by going after VC funds.

Cindy Padnos (pictured) is the founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures.

Padnos cites a statistic that women made up just 7 percent of partners in the tech sector among the 100 most active venture capital firms from 2009-2011. A white paper she published shows that women-operated, venture-backed high-tech companies average 12 percent higher annual revenues, using an average one-third less capital than male counterparts.

Read the entire article:  To pitch or not to pitch:  Silicon Valley women founders weight venture capital versus bootstrapping

Photo courtesy:  Steve Wilhelm

Woman's Entrepreneurial Sweet Spot?

According to this roundup of the latest venture capital news and analysis across the Web, a woman's entrepreneurial sweet spot age is 40. Anyone wish to challenge that?

Does the world need a Y Combinator for women? New York-based entrepreneur Tereza Nemessanyi proposes the XX Combinator, a start-up accelerator focused on women in their 40s. The problem with Y Combinator, Nemessayni says, is that only seven of the 250 founders participating in the program have been female. She argues that Y Combinator participants are mostly in there early 20s but that a woman’s “entrepreneurial sweet spot” is around age 40. Venture capitalists Fred Wilson weighs in, saying that while there certainly is a shortage of women entrepreneurs, “a different model is required if this were to work” (though he’s not sure what that is.).

Original source on passage above can be found here.

Looking For Funding?

Try this new site, The Funded, for entrepreneurs and see what people say about their experience working with VCs.

Check out its media coverage.
Must be a need in the marketplace.