Joshua (JT) Taylor’s Post

A few thoughts, now that I have been in the #startup and #entrepreneurship space for a bit. Speaking as a #scientist, I always want to know more about the #data prior to drawing conclusions from the way the data are presented. I'd love, for instance, to see a double-blind study of the pitch decks, market size, IRR. Are these apples to apples companies where the only difference is gender? Is there collinearity or confounding where another factor is the true driver? Personally, I have ended up with a lot of men on my team, though I did not go out looking for that. Apparently, per the stats below, that is good for funding. I'd like to reflect on my own journey to put the stats below into context. It is a reflection of what I have both needed to learn and unlearn coming from all-women spaces. The intent here is to ask questions that can spur all-women teams to be prepared to gain more success. What are the problems these teams are trying to solve and how robust was the business case, market size, GTM? Personally, I find my personal story and credentials get me through the door then I get grilled on business specifics. Are other women getting misled by a very robust response to an evocative personal story and founder-problem fit then get to the VC pitches and do not have the numbers? Colleague Mark Gannott is someone who does a great service to many #femalefounders by generating robust Excel sheets, white papers, and analyses that women can take to #investors to have both the engaging personal story and the attractive #ROI and opportunity. Is the solution better support and coaching on the business case and pitching? How well do these all-women teams communicate teamwork and decision-making? One common cause for teams to break up is poor team dynamic or inability to identify who is the final decision maker or a process for decisions. There can be avoidance of difficult conversations or conflict avoidance. Speaking as a woman who has worked in all-women spaces, I can say definitively that that is more common among women. The same conversations I have that can seem "too direct" for some women, can be acceptable for many more men. In general, men are socialized to see disagreement or conflict as not "personal." Is the solution better support and coaching on team building, conflict resolution, and equity splits? What is the denominator? Are there fewer women pitching to #VC in the first place? If so, why? Is this because they need to stay in steady jobs with benefits and cannot afford the risk? Is it risk appetite or tolerance? Are all the warnings of "lower funding" overall turning off more women from trying? Is the longer runway required to prove both proof of concept and sufficient paying customers more than women, who experience a gender wage gap, too much for women to afford before they need to take a job? Also, many founders rely on financial support from a partner/spouse or family. Do women have less such support?

There's much to despise about female-focused startup incubators but my favourite? The yawning chasm between women in startup incubators (who are often 5+ or 10+ years in self-employment) and funding given to startup founders. (The Blackbird-Kiki story being only the latest.) Don't misunderstand me:- ⚡️ I LOVE education and training (I'm a business trainer and coach!) ⚡️ I LOVE empowering women in business (95% of my clients are female owners) ⚡️ I KNOW the value of confidence in business (it has a massive effect on what you do, don't do, and how you feel while doing it!) But, where female startup incubators are oftentimes harmful rather than helpful is keeping female founders in that 'less than' headspace, told (often by men) that they need more confidence, that it's their fault (not their socialisation and culture), and the dangling carrot of investor funding (which adds up to 0.7% of the early-stage funding secured by female startups, according to a recent Deloitte report, or 3% of total VC capital to all-women-founded startups in 2022, according to the latest State of Australian Startup Funding report). Something is deeply wrong here. This is why, over the last 16 years of business, I've largely opted out or ignored the startup sector. Instead, my focus has been vocational colleges (where I'm often employed to give a crash course in how to use new qualifications to start a business quickly and cheaply) and my own business programs, where the focus is on IMPLEMENTING as we learn. The future of business education is 'just in time' learning. Which means NO super long, overly theoretical lectures, NO reinforcement of bad attitudes taught in school (please the teacher, listen and accept, don't debate, wait to be chosen), and NO complicated teachings. One of the ways weird power hierarchies are reinforced is by making simple things sound overly complicated, thereby encouraging a reliance on the teacher or institution. NO MORE! As Einstein said, “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”

The data doesn’t lie. Since 2020 women-only teams are continuing to see less of the share of total funding, especially in Pre-Seed convertible and SAFE rounds, with 2023 being the most significant drop-off yet. I remain hopeful as Peter Walker states that 2024 brings us two steps forward! It will take us as funders though to put collective effort into fixing this problem by funding and supporting the many amazing women-led startups in our ecosystems. BOLD Ventures

If you care about broadening opportunity at startups - this year sucked. Only 4.6% of funding to pre-seed companies on Carta went to women-only founding teams this year. That's the lowest share in 4 years and a significant drop from the (still low) 6.3% that women-only founding teams garnered in 2022. And of course startups in general this year raised much less cash than in the prior 2. So women-only founding teams are having to make do with a smaller share of a smaller pie. Not great. Every year since 2018, Carta has combed through our own pool of aggregated, anonymized data to pick out trends in who receives equity, who receives funding, and how the opportunity in startups is distributed across race, ethnicity, and gender. You can read our full Carta Equity Report for 2023 for an in-depth review of the data (link in comments below or type the URL in graphic into your search bar). A quick tour of the data: 𝗟𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 • The share of funding, from both pre-seed convertibles and priced equity rounds, going to women-only founding teams declined. The same was true for Black and Hispanic founders.    • Women make up only 9% of engineering executives hired at startups from 2019-2023.    • The percentage of non-white hires across all startup positions, which had been gradually increasing over the past 8 years, fell in 2023.    • Women founders who are Black, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern represent only 0.6% of founders in companies started in the last 2 years. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀 • Younger founders are much more likely to be diverse than their older peers.    • Founders of Asian descent saw their relative share of funding increase gently this year.    • Share of investment into women-only and mixed gender founding teams at the Priced Seed stage hit a new high this year. Now, the obvious question to ask is Why? Why did the gradual progress we had been seeing in these metrics retreat in 2023? This is a guess, not based on any data. But it does feel as though the entire VC world retreated to "safety" this year (outside of perhaps AI). VCs focusing more on repeat founders, who are less likely to be diverse. LPs focusing more on traditional VC funds as opposed to emerging managers. On down the line. If progress towards a more inclusive startup world is “two steps forward, one step back”—2023 was the step back. Here’s to 2 steps forward next year. #cartadata #womenfounders #equity #fundraising #startups #founders  

I am part of this data. Only 13.2% of founders in 2023 are female. Lowest in the last 6 years. Only 4.6% of funding to pre-seed companies on Carta went to women-only founding teams this year. HC Systems Inc. is using Carta, and it's time to turn this around. #cartadata #womenfounders #equity #fundraising #startups #founders

The number of Australian startups being funded hit a six-year low in the first three months of the year, with 66 startups raising a total of $703.1 million in capital. That's a drop of 45% compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest figures from funding analyst firm Cut Through Venture. However, it is up $53 million compared to the same period in 2023. Startups founded by women represented 21% of the capital raised — a record high — compared with 5% in 2023, 3% in 2022 and 2% in 2021. However, the median size of the deals were significantly lower compared with all-male teams. Want to know how to get more funding for women, multicultural and under-represented founders? Register for the next skills workshop as we discuss funding with a VC investor and a government grants specialist. Open to all to attend! 💰 Register here: https://bit.ly/wmp3-ll 💰 Thursday, 18 April, 12-1pm AEST 💰 Online webinar What are your main funding challenges or questions? Let me know so we can ask the panel! #funding #investing #femalefounders #startups With Rebecca W. Donna Patane Rochelle Ritchie Folklore Ventures Launch Pad - Western Sydney University Carla Dias Wadewitz Mabel Joe Quinn Chow My Nguyen Mary Bul Mandii Carr Holden F. Jenny Noble Anna Lin Forestlyn 🖊️ With reference and thanks to Marty McCarthy, Brendan Wong and #LinkedInNewsAustralia for the startup copy, consider subscribing to their newsletter: https://lnkd.in/TechWrapUpAU 👉 Follow Lucy Lin for more funding, startups and diversity insights and events 👉 Follow Emerging Tech Unpacked to learn more about new and emerging technologies and hear stories of incredible women in STEM

Sindhya Valloppillil outlines many of the hard facts about venture right now in her Forbes article below. I would like to add other context from the data I have seen: 1. There are more startups today than there has *EVER* been in the world, for any country *EVER*... 5-10x more startups from 2018 depending on region 2. Capital available has dropped and down closer to 2018 levels, which means competition is the highest its ever been for VC (which is a good thing! because it demands quality from startups at the earliest stages) 3. Capital raises are not taking longer because of this competition its happening because of (a) biases for gender (b) decks not properly outlining the ask In DocSends report they found that investors spent more time LOOKING at female pictures in decks but actually evaluated the financials of males decks longer. To me this is no surprise--however-- one thing I find helping startups is that many inexperienced ones never mention their "use of proceeds" or do not correctly lay out how they plan to spend their fundraising ask... so this could also be an issue as we already know information is not shared evenly amongst genders. To read more of Sindy's article: https://lnkd.in/deWTMaBU

In 2023, a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, filed by a lawyer with a track record of challenging race-conscious affirmative action in higher education, has once again brought to light the systemic challenges faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs. The lack of funding opportunities, coupled with persistent bias, has created a distressing cycle, leaving many talented individuals with untapped potential. It's high time we address this issue to foster true equality and unlock the untapped potential of diverse talent. The Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund founded by successful Black female entrepreneurs, aimed to empower other women of color by investing in their businesses. However, the lawsuit against this fund is a stark reminder that the playing field is far from level. This lawsuit has raised important questions about how we can create a fair and inclusive environment for BIPOC entrepreneurs, particularly Black women, who have historically been among the most underrepresented groups in the startup and investment ecosystem. It's clear that the venture capital world has struggled with diversity. Research consistently shows that a disproportionately low amount of venture capital funding goes to BIPOC-led startups, particularly those led by Black women. This disparity stems from a complex interplay of biases, stereotypes, and systemic inequalities that often go unchecked. A multifaceted approach can address the bias and lack of funding for BIPOC entrepreneurs that perpetuates this problem: - Increased Diversity in VC Firms: Diversifying the decision-makers within venture capital firms is essential. This can lead to more equitable funding decisions and a better understanding of the unique challenges faced by BIPOC entrepreneurs. - Education and Awareness: Promote awareness about the disparities in funding and the impact of bias. Encourage training on diversity, equity, and inclusion for investors to recognize and counteract unconscious biases. - Supportive Ecosystems: Build supportive networks and ecosystems specifically designed to nurture BIPOC entrepreneurs. These networks provide mentorship, access to resources, and a sense of belonging. - Government and Institutional Support: Advocate for government and institutional initiatives to allocate more resources to BIPOC-led startups, ensuring equitable opportunities for growth. - Transparency and Accountability: Encourage transparency in the funding process. Collect and publish data on investment decisions, which can shed light on disparities and motivate change. To harness the full potential of BIPOC entrepreneurs, we must dismantle systemic barriers, challenge biases, and actively work towards a more equitable future. By collectively addressing these disparities, fostering diversity, and creating an inclusive ecosystem, we can unlock innovation, drive economic growth, and ensure that everyone has a fair shot at success.

Here's the reason why most VCs don’t invest in women-led startups. Because they choose not to. It's that simple. And also that frustrating. "In 2022, companies with solely female founders received a paltry 2.1% of all U.S. venture capital. Mixed-gender founding teams fared slightly better, pulling in 16.3% of the total. That leaves approximately 81.6% of VC dollars that went to companies founded exclusively by men." Funding decisions made almost wholly by men for men. You may argue that maybe there are simply far fewer female founders seeking VC funding in the first place. But the data doesn’t support it.  "In 2019, women made up 28% of all U.S. entrepreneurs — a significant chunk, even if not yet at parity. And women are starting businesses at a faster rate than men, with a 16.7% growth in women-owned businesses between 2012 and 2019 compared to 5.2% growth for male-owned businesses." But here's the cruel irony of all this gender-biased VC funding: "Startups with at least one female co-founder generate 10% more revenue over a five-year period. Women-led tech companies achieve 35% higher ROI and 12% higher revenue than male-led businesses when venture-backed. Boston Consulting Group found that for every dollar of funding, female-founded startups generated 78 cents in revenue, compared to just 31 cents for male-founded companies." The evidence is pretty damn clear. And its female founders and entrepreneurs that are getting short-changed. https://lnkd.in/eVugbUhy

🔍 Very compelling study by Village Capital, funded by the Visa Foundation. Evaluating startups based on performance using a framework that is consistent, comprehensive, and data-driven can lead to high potential investments while creating pathways for economic mobility — ensuring that women-led startups get the funding they need to meet market demand. 📊 Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that women-owned businesses often yield higher returns, over 85% of global venture capital still goes to startups with only male founders. 🌍 Imagine a global startup ecosystem where gender does not define or limit success—an ecosystem where women and men not only coexist but thrive equally. A world where we are also doubling down on the vibrant ecosystem of women-led and diverse startups in emerging and frontier markets. These entrepreneurial spaces are creating a sustainable future—teeming with untapped potential, brimming with unique ideas, and creating immense value. ⚖️ The existing bias that leads to talented founders being undercapitalized isn't just their problem—it's a setback for all of us. The ability to harness diversity in thoughts, ideas, and approaches is what fuels innovation. #changethenarrative #genderequity #venturecapital #startups #economicmobility CC: Tracy Gray Cameron Rogers, CFA Emily Green Daisy Auger-Dominguez (she/her/ella) Susan McPherson Hannah Kovich Julia Wilkinson Rafia Qureshi Hector Mujica Tara Jafarmadar, P.E., PMP Naiana Miranda Eva Yazhari Emerald-Jane Hunter Lisa Witter Lauren Maillian Sylvana Q. Sinha, Esq. Gillian Marcelle, PhD Severine Balick Andres Hammer Sebastian Shehadi Cindy Jones-Nyland, MBA, PCC Ellen McGirt