New Women in Venture Capital Podcast Hopes to Bridge the Gender Gap
by Ashley Wheeler ![]() Dekhane The venture capital (VC) industry has a big problem—a striking lack of women from the top down. According to research from All Raise, a nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate the success of female founders and funders, 68 percent of US VC firms don’t have any female partners. Without women in leadership roles, it becomes difficult for female entrepreneurs to secure funding for their ventures. Frustrated by the lack of female decision-makers, Rashveena Rajaram (MBA 2022) and Anvita Dekhane (MBA 2022) started the Women in Venture Capital podcast after meeting at the Venture Deals Summer 2020 course by Kauffman Fellows and Techstars. The podcast features candid discussions with women in VC—from interns to partners—and their male counterparts, with the goal of addressing the gender disparity in VC and providing aspiring female investors with valuable information, role models, and a strong network. We chatted with Rashveena and Anvita about the challenges faced by women in VC, how to fix the problem, and what they hope the Women in VC podcast will achieve. Why is women in VC such an important topic? What are some gender related issues in the venture space? Decision-making in funding is predominantly driven by white men. We have seen progress recently, with a 42 percent increase in the number of overall female partners and general partners at VC firms from 2018 to 2019, but 68 percent of firms still don’t have a single female partner. It is surprising that the venture industry is so behind in terms of gender representation relative to industries like banking; it might, however, be due to the smaller size of the sector and the lack of tangible efforts to raise awareness on the issue. The lack of women in VC is particularly problematic for female founders. The latest report on VC funding shows that funding to female-founded and even mixed-gender led startups hovers around 10 percent. It’s fair to attribute a lot of that to the lack of women at the decision table. This lack of funding may act as a disincentive to highly capable female founders to pursue their venture. It is imperative that we change these numbers. Additionally, there are a lot of smart, capable women out there looking to contribute actively in the venture space as investors but the lack of role models and a strong network makes the process of breaking into a network-heavy industry more challenging for them. We need to work on better representation. What is it like to be a woman in the investing ecosystem? That being said, there are numerous female investors out there doing an excellent job in a supportive environment. Collaborative, supportive investors do exist in this ecosystem, and they can lend important guidance. While it may seem daunting to be able to break into the industry, it gets smoother for women as they find their culture-fit and grow with organizations that are supportive of women. What has been your biggest learning after diving into this topic? How can HBS change the game for women in VC? What are you doing at HBS to help open venture capital as a career path for women? What is your goal for the Women in VC podcast? |
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