Investors are still asking female founders about their future kids — even at a Gates startup
Yet even with her last name, she has had to field the same tired questions that have plagued women for decades — questions like how having kids will impact their careers.
Gates and Sophia Kianni co-founded Phia, an AI-powered app that compares fashion prices for shoppers. According to Fortune, when investors pressed her and her co-founder Sophia Kianni about their plans for starting families, Gates turned to her mother for advice.
'Get up or get out of the game,' was Melinda Gates' response.
While you may not have a Melinda Gates in your life to call on, recent studies show that gender stereotypes continue to persist far beyond the rarefied world of fundraising conversations between founders and investors. At a time when even some of the most privileged women in America are still forced to play by rules written in another era, experts say it's up to the rest of us to rewrite those rules, one uncomfortable conversation at a time.
'Despite the progress we've made, outdated assumptions about women's long-term commitment to work — particularly around motherhood — continue to surface in subtle and not-so-subtle ways,' Eloïse Eonnet, head career coach at The Muse, told Salon. 'In my work with women leaders, I still hear stories of being asked in interviews how they'll 'manage it all,' or being passed over for roles based on the possibility they might have children.'
The data backs her up: The Muse's 2024 Women's Workplace Experience Report found that 42% of women have encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during the hiring process, with C-suite women facing it at even higher rates.
'These questions aren't driven by true curiosity, they're about bias in disguise and they often stem from narrow definitions of leadership and rigid assumptions about what success looks like,' Eonnet said. 'If we want to build inclusive organizations, we have to interrogate not just what's being asked but why it's still being asked in the first place.'
The so-called 'motherhood penalty' is well documented, according to Iris Bohnet, professor and co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
'Research by sociologist Shelley Correll and colleagues shows that mothers are perceived as less competent and less committed to their jobs, less likely to be hired or promoted and paid less than women without children or men,' Bohnet said.
The broader trend is not encouraging. According to Fairygodboss's 2025 Women in the Workplace Survey, 79% of women believe that recent moves by companies and the federal government to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives will negatively impact opportunities for women, according to the data shared by the company with Salon. The same survey found that women with higher education levels are especially concerned that leadership and mentorship opportunities will dwindle.
What's the way forward? Bohnet's advice is blunt.
'First, I would give the employer advice not to ask such personal, and often illegal and discriminatory, questions,' she said. 'Our first priority has to be to build workplaces where all can thrive.'
When it comes to female students, she advises them to prepare well.
'Be aware of the stereotypes that are still out there, and come well-prepared for pitches, salary negotiations and the like. It is good to know and demonstrate one's worth through an outside offer, past accomplishments or brilliant ideas — and stay focused on what you bring to the table.'
While documenting your accomplishments is solid advice, Eonnet takes this advice a step further, encouraging women to remain committed to their values in the face of persistent bias and be discerning about where — and with whom — they choose to invest their talents.
'If you're in an environment that routinely questions your commitment or potential because of your gender or life choices, that's not a reflection of your capability — it's a reflection of that person or organization's limitations,' she noted. 'Surround yourself with spaces and people who recognize that leadership is expansive — not defined by outdated norms, but shaped by impact, integrity and vision.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Beijing officials warm to the idea of a yuan stablecoin, driven by the ‘fear of missing out'
Financial innovation has come full circle. The blockchain is bringing the U.S. back to the era of private money, when banks and companies could issue their own currencies. This time, instead of gold and silver coins, corporate America is eager to issue their own stablecoins. The U.S.'s decision to embrace cryptocurrency through legislation like the GENIUS Act doesn't just matter domestically. Washington's move is placing pressure on countries around the world to signal their own stance on stablecoins and cryptocurrency. In recent months, financial officials and academics within China have spoken up on the need to at least consider authorizing stablecoins, which Zhiguo He, a professor of finance at Stanford University, says is motivated by the 'fear of missing out.' And on Friday, the autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong—which is betting on cryptocurrencies to bolster its status as a financial center—will start accepting applications for a Hong Kong-dollar backed stablecoin, potentially opening the door for a renminbi-backed token too. With the U.S. going all-in on crypto, Beijing now faces a difficult decision: Does it match the U.S.'s risky bet on a stablecoin-centric future? Or does it play it safe, and risk missing out on cutting-edge financial technology? A crypto-happy U.S. Stablecoins, unlike their more volatile counterparts in the cryptocurrency space, are meant to be a bit boring. These virtual assets are pegged to the value of a reference asset, such as a fiat currency. Almost all stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar, the world's reserve currency. Users can tap stablecoins to easily transfer funds between different cryptocurrencies without needing to resort to real-world money. Users trust stablecoin issuers to have enough liquid reserves to redeem coins for fiat currency at any time. But unlike banks, stablecoin issuers don't have a lender of last resort to fall back on. The 2022 collapse of TerraUSD, a so-called algorithmic stablecoin, spread concerns about other cryptocurrencies, including more well-established tokens. The potential for stablecoins to spark the cryptocurrency version of a financial panic has led governments to be wary of stablecoins. But now U.S. president Donald Trump, in his second term, wants to make the U.S. the 'crypto capital of the planet.' 'Trump has done a 180 for the United States and just said, 'deregulate, deregulate, deregulate,'' says Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff. The U.S. Congress passed the GENIUS Act on July 17th, establishing the first regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins. The Act requires issuers to maintain reserves, such as in cash or U.S. Treasury bills, to back their stablecoins on at least a 1:1 basis. China considers crypto The U.S.'s sudden crypto-happy stance could worry other nations. Dollar-backed stablecoins will be appealing in 'really poor countries where people don't trust the currency and central bank,' says Paul Blustein, journalist and author of King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World's Dominant Currency. But even countries with strong local currencies could face a future where 'citizens prefer to transact with this type of instrument.' The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is now in a frustrating position. China has banned all cryptocurrency transactions since 2021, citing the risks they could post to the country's financial system. But China doesn't want to find itself behind the curve—or behind the U.S.—if stablecoins and blockchain technology really are the future of finance. Wang Yongli, former vice president of Bank of China, wrote to WeChat in June that it 'would be a strategic risk if cross-border yuan payment is not as efficient as dollar stablecoins.' Yongli recommended a 'proactive response from other countries, particularly China' to U.S. legislation, according to the Pekinology newsletter. PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng similarly noted the rising use of stablecoins for cross-border payments at the 2025 Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on June 18. Days later, the Securities Times, a newspaper owned by state media outlet People's Daily, wrote that industry insiders 'generally believe that, as an emerging payment tool, the unique advantages and potential risks of stablecoins cannot be ignored, and that the development of [renminbi-pegged] stablecoins should be sooner rather than later.' The South China Morning Post reported on July 14 that China was exploring the feasibility of allowing the launch of stablecoins. Two local officials told the newspaper that state-owned entities including the securities firm Guotai Haitong and data infrastructure firm Shanghai Data Group were looking into a trial run of renminbi-pegged tokens. 'It's not the fact that the U.S. is going into crypto, per se, that matters,' Evan Auyang, group president of Hong Kong-based blockchain technology company Animoca Brands, says. 'It's really what started as a result of this change…Stablecoins became institutional' after gaining legitimacy from the U.S. (Animoca Brands, as part of a consortium with Standard Chartered and HKT, intends to apply for a license to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong.) De-dollarization There's a geopolitical element to the stablecoin conversation. If adoption of U.S. dollar stablecoins grows, issuers will need to hold more dollars and dollar-based assets to back the peg. Tether, which issues the world's largest stablecoin, was already the world's seventh largest purchaser of U.S. debt in 2024. After chipping away at the dollar's global dominance for decades, China does not want to give the U.S. an opportunity to regain ground. 'They're very concerned about the U.S. exercising power, expanding the use of the dollar,' says Rogoff. China has tried to promote greater use of the renminbi for cross-border trade, with limited success. Trade with isolated countries like Russia and Iran may be conducted in the renminbi, but most countries in the world still prefer using the U.S. dollar. The popularity of dollar stablecoins could 'smother' Beijing's efforts to develop its own financial networks, Rogoff says. Trump's trade war has spurred talks of 'de-dollarization,' or reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar, due to concerns about the future of the U.S. economy and fears of dollar weaponization. Even Trump himself is worried about challengers to the dollar, threatening massive tariffs against the BRICS bloc if it considered creating an alternative currency. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that stablecoins can help keep the U.S. dollar as the dominant reserve currency. Some Chinese officials agree with Bessent: former vice minister of finance Zhu Guangyao argued in June that 'the strategic purpose behind the United States' promotion of stablecoins—closely tied to U.S. dollar liquidity—is to preserve dollar supremacy,' as translated by the East is Read newsletter, Can China launch a stablecoin? But even if Beijing is open to launching a stablecoin, it must overcome another hurdle: its closed capital account, which means officials can't authorize a Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY)-pegged stablecoin. There are 'still a lot of concerns over capital flight issues' that make the liberalization of China's capital account unlikely, Auyang says. China could authorize a stablecoin pegged to the offshore renminbi (CNH). And since over 70% of offshore renminbi payments are processed in Hong Kong, Huang Yiping, an advisor for the PBOC, suggested using the city as a testing ground for China's stablecoin launch. Chinese tech giant reportedly proposed a similar scheme in its discussions with the PBOC. Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance, due to go into effect on August 1st, already establishes a legal framework for leveraging the city's offshore renminbi pool, if the PBOC chooses to go in that direction and provide sufficient liquidity for offshore renminbi-pegged stablecoin issuers. Although the law requires issuers to hold reserves in their stablecoin's reference currency, since the Hong Kong dollar itself is pegged to the U.S. dollar, HKD-pegged stablecoin issuers can hold U.S. dollar reserves. 'Hong Kong is pegging to the USD. So, in some sense, they are basically helping the U.S.,' He, from Stanford, explained. 'This is perhaps why Beijing [could say], when you do the HKD [stablecoin], I want you to do the CNH as well.' 'Rein in the euphoria' Currency experts are worried about how stablecoins could end up posing a threat to the economy—whether in the U.S. or in China. Blustein points to the risk of 'currency substitution.' If the appeal of stablecoins outweighs the appeal of the local currency, it 'screws up the central bank's ability to control the economy,' he argues, as everyone is engaging in transactions in an instrument outside the bank's control. And without a central bank or lender of last resort, stablecoins are vulnerable to runs—users rushing to redeem their tokens for fiat currency all at once. The possibility of a stablecoin crisis is 'very parallel to the U.S.'s free banking era in the 1800s,' says Rogoff. 'The risk of a financial crisis is high,' he says. Blustein, for his part, is less worried about stablecoins messing things up—in part because they make up 'a tiny part of international payments.' 'Stablecoins cannot possibly buy that many short-term treasuries' to compete with central banks and multinational companies, he suggests. Another person expressing some skepticism about stablecoins? Eddie Yue, the head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the city's de facto central banker. In a press conference last week, Yue told the public to 'rein in the euphoria' over stablecoins, pointing to 'overly idealistic' discussions on how they might 'disrupt the mainstream financial system.' Clarification, July 31, 2025: This article has been updated to clarify that Animoca Brands is applying for a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin as part of a consortium. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Meta just revealed a new XR display prototype — and it may be the biggest leap in smart glasses since Google Glass
Smart glasses are evolving at a rapid pace — incredible display tech coming to AR specs and AI breakthroughs making the likes of the Oakley Meta HSTN's incredibly intelligent. But we all know the end goal is a pair of glasses that brings these two worlds together. And researchers at Meta Reality Labs and Stanford University may have just given us the clearest glimpse yet of this future. Yes, I know the researcher pictured above kind of looks like a Cyberpunk pirate, but that eyepatch is a prototype holographic XR display — creating full 3D holograms on a screen thin enough to be used in a standard-sized pair of glasses. This is the holy grail that companies have been chasing down, and Meta just took one giant step closer to it. So let's get into the details of this mixed reality tech. Basically, it's a combination of custom glass and silicon along with AI-driven algorithms to render 'perceptually realistic 3D images,' as the researchers say in their paper. To make this happen, there's a custom ultra-thin waveguide display driving the visuals — using a laser to project onto a uniquely-textured part of the lens glass for picture clarity. After this, it goes through a polarizer so we can see it, and a custom-designed Spatial Light Modulator that will (you guessed it) modulate light — the special thing being that it will do so on an individual pixel-by-pixel basis to render a 'full-resolution holographic' image we can see. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. That's right. Holograms. Unlike your standard VR headsets and AR glasses that use eye-confusion techniques to simulate depth, this system can produce true holograms by reconstructing them entirely through light. There's both a wide field of view and a large eyebox to accommodate all possible pupil positions for accessibility. 'The world has never seen a display like this with a large field of view, a large eyebox, and such image quality in a holographic display,' Gordon Wetzstein, Stanford electrical engineering professor told the Stanford Report. 'It's the best 3D display created so far and a great step forward – but there are lots of open challenges yet to solve.' And even better? All of this is crammed into a panel just 3mm thin! That is significant for the future progress of stuffing displays into glasses without needing bird bath optics. One challenge to note, though, is this is mixed reality and not augmented. The wording is critical here, as the mixed reality reference means the optics are not transparent. But that being said, with this being the second of three projects to bring this to life in a commercial project, there's no doubt that what we're looking at here is a breakthrough. Don't expect this tech to come to glasses you can buy for another few years, but if this mixed reality display can become augmented, that's the dream I've been having over the past four years of testing and writing about smart glasses! My apologies to the phones team, but the clock has just started ticking on a new frontier of personal devices. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Women Are Inheriting Trillions. This Is A Seismic Power Shift
Alice Walton just built a novel medical school that, in addition to the traditional medical school curriculum, promises a 'whole-person approach' that is 'rooted in art & wellness.' Mackenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) quietly invested her billions in education, arts, organizations that support and serve women, public health, immigration, diversity and affordable housing, as the Chronicle of Philanthropy and Levers for Change have reported. Joan Kroc donated $200 million to NPR (in 2003). Melinda French Gates is investing her billions in helping women and social impact, 'to accelerate the pace of social progress using high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy to get more power in the hands of more people — especially women — in the U.S. and around the world,' according to her Pivotal Ventures website, She announced that 'Decades of research on economics, wellbeing, and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone." The rise of women's sports reflects this premise too. Women's sports is now 'a burgeoning investment category from both seasoned sports investors to newcomers,' Sports Litigation Report declared recently. Female athletes, teams and their fans have a 'values-first mindset, and prioritize brands that demonstrate integrity and social responsibility,' as my fellow Forbes contributor Claire Poole reported. 'An estimated $124tn is expected to change hands (globally) under the so-called 'great wealth transfer', with women set to inherit nearly 70% of that amount. Combined with rising educational attainment, stronger diversity and inclusion efforts, and ongoing progress in closing the gender pay gap, this moment signals a transformative rise in global female affluence.' Those are the words of Silvia Bastante de Unverhau – global philanthropy expert and Senior Advisor at LGT in Private Banker International. Citing the Bank of America Institute's report on women and wealth, CNBC said, 'About $47 trillion is expected to be passed down to women in younger generations as inherited wealth,' as a result, 'women will soon control more money than ever before.' McKinsey reports US women will have a $30 trillion opportunity by 2030. No matter what the final amount is, this is a seismic shift in the economy. If wealth is power, which it seems to be in this economy, women are about to have a lot more financial, geopolitical, economic and cultural power. Experts say this massive shift in wealth is mostly due to demographics, because baby boomers (born 1946 to 1964) and 'the silent generation' (born 1928 to 1945) will pass on their wealth. Since women tend to live longer than men, surviving wives will inherit the majority. That's 'a potential wealth transfer of such magnitude that it approaches the annual GDP of the United States. After years of playing second fiddle to men, women are poised to take center stage,' according to McKinsey.[1] It's also because women are taking center stage in the executive suites, earning more, starting and selling more companies, and investing more. McKinsey's 2024 Women in the Workplace analysis (of over 1,000 companies and 480,000 people) found that 29% of the C-suite is now women, 29% of senior management is now women, and 34% of Vice Presidents are now women, up from up from 17%, 23% and 27% in 2015, respectively. If the current economy is ruled by the Golden Rule – ye who has the most gold rules – and that's been why the ultra-rich bro boys have wielded so much power, then we are in for an economic earthquake when the wealth tables turn. It's already happening, subtly – see French Gates, Walton, Kroc and Scott's examples. Women are more educated than ever before, more accomplished than ever before, have wider networks than ever before, are more independent thinkers and more assertive leaders than ever before, are more influential than ever before, have more resources – financial and nonfinancial – than ever before, and wield more power than ever before. More women are also supporting other women more, either via who they choose to do business with, or by donating to their nonprofits or to nonprofits that serve women's needs. There are more self-made women billionaires than ever too, as Forbes reported. As French Gates said, 'Investing in women and girls benefits everyone.' 'Combined with rising educational attainment, stronger diversity and inclusion efforts, and ongoing progress in closing the gender pay gap, this moment signals a transformative rise in global female affluence,' as Unverhau put it.
