In May, one of the world’s most prominent venture capital firms, Sequoia, issued a 52-page memo titled Adapting to Endure. The message was clear: RIP the good times. The days of cheap cash are in the past and profitability, rather than growth, is now the focus. Costs must be cut, the note stressed, or a death spiral will ensue. And even after these changes, the recovery will be long.
The memo sent a chill through the tech world. Venture capitalists closed their cheque books and start-up folk began dusting off survival skills acquired during the 2009 downturn. But on Twitter, the town square of tech, one group has since appeared largely unfazed: female founders. Brittany Fuller, co-founder of data analytics start-up, Notably, summed up the mood: “Female founders who were raising before the corrections aren’t shook. This is funding climate as usual for us.”
Female entrepreneurs may cope better in harsh investing climate as these founders have always had to fight harder for capital, an issue that many in finance have still not addressed.
Encouraging more women to start businesses and not providing them with adequate capital for growth is like sending talented novice mountain climbers up Everest without oxygen, a guide and a tent. Few will make it to base camp, and for those that do, the odds of survival are even lower.
