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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/26/harassment-women-business-female-startup
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| Harassment is just one of the unfair obstacles we women in business face | Harassment is just one of the unfair obstacles we women in business face |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The experience of getting a new business off the ground, building a customer base, securing investment and ultimately getting yourself on a strong growth trajectory represent huge challenges for any entrepreneur. But last week, the government announced that it was launching a review, led by the head of commercial and private banking at RBS, Alison Rose, into whether there are “unfair obstacles” facing women trying to start a new enterprise in the UK. | The experience of getting a new business off the ground, building a customer base, securing investment and ultimately getting yourself on a strong growth trajectory represent huge challenges for any entrepreneur. But last week, the government announced that it was launching a review, led by the head of commercial and private banking at RBS, Alison Rose, into whether there are “unfair obstacles” facing women trying to start a new enterprise in the UK. |
| Statistically, women make up only a third of entrepreneurs in this country and are only half as likely as men to start a business in the first place. This government review seeks to understand why. | Statistically, women make up only a third of entrepreneurs in this country and are only half as likely as men to start a business in the first place. This government review seeks to understand why. |
| This very welcome news made me reflect on my own experiences as a female founder and chief executive. In my experience, there are two different sets of problems women can face as entrepreneurs: those around funding for female-centric products, and those just associated with the fact of your gender. | This very welcome news made me reflect on my own experiences as a female founder and chief executive. In my experience, there are two different sets of problems women can face as entrepreneurs: those around funding for female-centric products, and those just associated with the fact of your gender. |
| The first challenge is a fairly easy one to understand but a harder problem to address. Investors are still predominantly male (women make up only 18% of key investment decision-making roles in UK banks and venture capital), so products aimed purely at a female consumer are not as instinctively easy for male investors to understand. If an investor would not use the product, and they don’t understand the “consumer want” that the product is addressing, then you are far less likely to secure their interest. And even when you do get them to understand it, they often can’t see the scale of its appeal, and thus the potential of the startup. | The first challenge is a fairly easy one to understand but a harder problem to address. Investors are still predominantly male (women make up only 18% of key investment decision-making roles in UK banks and venture capital), so products aimed purely at a female consumer are not as instinctively easy for male investors to understand. If an investor would not use the product, and they don’t understand the “consumer want” that the product is addressing, then you are far less likely to secure their interest. And even when you do get them to understand it, they often can’t see the scale of its appeal, and thus the potential of the startup. |
| This makes pitching for female-centric products that much harder, because when investors get the problem, all you have to do is sell your solution and your team. If investors don’t understand the problem in the first place, you have to explain that it exists and sell the concept of that problem. At the very early, startup stage, that seems too risky for most investors. I’ve observed that the professionals who do understand the female consumer mindset generally work in marketing or retail. They are not in the VC sector, and rarely have enough money to become angel investors. | This makes pitching for female-centric products that much harder, because when investors get the problem, all you have to do is sell your solution and your team. If investors don’t understand the problem in the first place, you have to explain that it exists and sell the concept of that problem. At the very early, startup stage, that seems too risky for most investors. I’ve observed that the professionals who do understand the female consumer mindset generally work in marketing or retail. They are not in the VC sector, and rarely have enough money to become angel investors. |
| Enty, the platform we created, is a case in point – a fashion tech platform where women discuss what to wear and buy with stylists and a community in a safe, “troll-free” environment. The protected aspect of the service and community is central to the proposition; this aspect is not always fully understood by male investors. Women often have a very different experience online to men – they are much more likely to be bullied or receive unwanted attention. | Enty, the platform we created, is a case in point – a fashion tech platform where women discuss what to wear and buy with stylists and a community in a safe, “troll-free” environment. The protected aspect of the service and community is central to the proposition; this aspect is not always fully understood by male investors. Women often have a very different experience online to men – they are much more likely to be bullied or receive unwanted attention. |
| I knew that to set up a platform for women, we had to put the female experience at the heart of everything we do – our design, our business strategy and our marketing. We wanted to build a platform where women would feel comfortable posting photos of themselves in any context, so they could get professional stylist advice when they most need it. | I knew that to set up a platform for women, we had to put the female experience at the heart of everything we do – our design, our business strategy and our marketing. We wanted to build a platform where women would feel comfortable posting photos of themselves in any context, so they could get professional stylist advice when they most need it. |
| Given the experience women have had online, this idea would never have worked unless we had put user safety first and reassured users that they would not be bullied or harassed. And it’s far harder to understand this if you have not personally experienced it. | Given the experience women have had online, this idea would never have worked unless we had put user safety first and reassured users that they would not be bullied or harassed. And it’s far harder to understand this if you have not personally experienced it. |
| The other cluster of challenges facing female founders arises from the pure fact of their gender. There is plenty of research into unconscious bias that reveals that men are most often judged for their potential whereas women are evaluated on what they have already delivered. Startup investing is, of course, all about potential. So this is a fundamental challenge. | The other cluster of challenges facing female founders arises from the pure fact of their gender. There is plenty of research into unconscious bias that reveals that men are most often judged for their potential whereas women are evaluated on what they have already delivered. Startup investing is, of course, all about potential. So this is a fundamental challenge. |
| Another obstacle is that the market and interactions between entrepreneurs and investors are totally opaque. There are no official reporting structures, so a female founder pitching to an investor who then uses his power to harass her has no recourse. No one ever finds out, so this just goes on and on. | Another obstacle is that the market and interactions between entrepreneurs and investors are totally opaque. There are no official reporting structures, so a female founder pitching to an investor who then uses his power to harass her has no recourse. No one ever finds out, so this just goes on and on. |
| Angel investors usually work full time and want to meet outside working hours. As a female founder, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether you are being asked out on a date or to a business meeting. This means female founders may miss out on opportunities because they are afraid of taking up a dinner invitation or a weekend stay at someone’s country home – it could be uncomfortable or even dangerous. Yet I know male founders who have built strong relationships by taking up such invitations. This all creates an additional tension for female founders on top of all the risks of building a business. | Angel investors usually work full time and want to meet outside working hours. As a female founder, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether you are being asked out on a date or to a business meeting. This means female founders may miss out on opportunities because they are afraid of taking up a dinner invitation or a weekend stay at someone’s country home – it could be uncomfortable or even dangerous. Yet I know male founders who have built strong relationships by taking up such invitations. This all creates an additional tension for female founders on top of all the risks of building a business. |
| So today I am hugely encouraged that the government is undertaking this review to really examine the barriers women face on their startup journey. While I have faced some significant obstacles along the way, many of my experiences of entrepreneurship have been thrilling and rewarding. I still have many ambitions I want to realise for my own business but I’m also ambitious for the UK and our potential to be a world leader in nurturing the female business leaders of the future. | So today I am hugely encouraged that the government is undertaking this review to really examine the barriers women face on their startup journey. While I have faced some significant obstacles along the way, many of my experiences of entrepreneurship have been thrilling and rewarding. I still have many ambitions I want to realise for my own business but I’m also ambitious for the UK and our potential to be a world leader in nurturing the female business leaders of the future. |
| • Sophia Matveeva is the CEO of the styling app Enty | • Sophia Matveeva is the CEO of the styling app Enty |
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