Latest news with #womenfounders
Forbes
22-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Follow The Money Or Get Left Behind, Women Are The Future Of Wealth
Follow The Money Or Get Left Behind, Women Are The Future Of Wealth Follow the money. It's a sentence that is often tossed around in boardrooms, investment pitches, and economic forecasts. But here's the twist, if you want to truly follow the money, you need to invest in women. The data shows that women-led businesses are more profitable, generate more revenue per dollar invested, and outperform across multiple key performance indicators (KPIs). But despite the data, women only receive a tiny fraction of global investment capital. The Funding Gap Despite the evidence that supports women outperforming, women receive less than two percent of venture capital funding. Women are underfunded, and it's because the system is skewed. Pitch meetings often reward familiarity and pattern matching over innovation and data, meaning investors invest in who they can relate with and what they know. This leaves qualified women founders shut out of the funding opportunities they need to grow their businesses. Women are launching businesses at record rates yet remain severely undercapitalized. This disconnect between business growth and financial backing isn't just unfair, economically it just doesn't make sense. We're not just holding women back; we are holding back the economy by not investing more in women led businesses. Proving that Women Outperform When They Get Capital A study by the Boston Consulting Group found that startups founded or co-founded by women generate 78 cents of revenue per dollar invested, compared to just 31 cents for male-founded startups. Although women receive less funding, these women-led startups delivered 10 percent more cumulative revenue over a five-year period. This highlights that women often lead with resilience, operational efficiency, and long-term vision, likely a result of the need to bootstrap and get things done on a shoestring budget. They grow their businesses with fewer resources and more strategy, resulting in stronger margins and higher returns. Why Every Investor Should Care It's not just venture capital firms that need to pay attention; every type of investor should care. From angel investors and crowdfunding platforms to corporate boards and banks, the opportunity to generate outsized returns by backing women-led businesses is available to everyone. Whether you're investing $1,000 or $1 million, where you invest your money matters. Even small shifts in funding can create massive ripple effects. It has been noted that when women have more money, they reinvest that money in their communities, create jobs, and scale more sustainable businesses. This isn't just about profit; it's about building stronger, more inclusive economies at every level, from local neighborhoods to global markets. The under-investment in women isn't just an equity issue; it's a missed financial opportunity. By continuing to overlook women entrepreneurs, investors are ignoring an entire market segment with proven potential to deliver high ROI. The Call to Action Investing in women isn't charity. It's an economic imperative. The data is in, and the results are undeniable: women-led businesses are high-performing, high-return opportunities. It's time to stop treating this as a feel-good initiative and start recognizing it for what it is which is a smart, strategic move for anyone serious about profit. If you're an investor, a fund manager, a board member, or even someone supporting businesses through crowdfunding, now is the time to audit your funding patterns. Are you putting your money where the growth is? Support funds and platforms that actively prioritize women-led ventures. Challenge the outdated biases still shaping financial decisions because building wealth with purpose means investing where the returns are strongest: in women. The bottom line is that diverse teams are more innovative, better at problem-solving, and more in tune with emerging market needs. When you exclude women from funding conversations, you're not playing it safe. You are leaving money on the table. If you want to follow the money, invest in women.
Forbes
24-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Bootstrapped Female Founders: 4 Strategies To Build Career Growth
Bootstrapped women founders are bypassing outside funding and using their own resources to fund ... More projects because of gender inequities. Just under 10% of CEO's in America's top companies are female, which can create hopelessness for young women who want to become a C-suite executive. But the fact that female CEOs outperformed their male counterparts in 2024, bringing in five percent more revenue, brightens the hope that women can thrive in the face of gender inequality in the future. Still, gender inequality--alive and well in 2025--has led to a trend of bootstrapped female founders, relying on their own resources to scale their businesses without outside funding. It's no secret that female-led companies secure between just two and three percent of Venture Capitalist funding, making it harder for their businesses to thrive. A Harvard, MIT and Wharton study reveals that Venture Capitalist pitches voiced by men are more than twice as likely to secure funding as identical pitches by women. Women have been stereotyped biologically as more risk-averse than men for generations. But research shows that's not the case. The myth stems from the outdated notion that risk-taking is inherently masculine, with traditional studies often framing risk through a narrow male-centric lens. According to Thekla Morgenroth, psychology professor at Purdue University, 'For too long, the myth has been perpetuated that women are risk-averse. However, new research and real-world examples show that women are, in fact, risk-smart and approach challenges with deep strategic foresight.' Her stance is supported by science-backed research, showing no significant gender differences in risk-taking at work between men and women. Telma Casaca, expert at VIP Grinders argrees that women are strategic risk-takers, not risk-averse. 'When women take risks, they aren't reckless,' she explains. "They carefully weigh all the variables. It's about playing the long game and creating a sustainable future, not just for themselves, but for the organizations and communities they impact. Whether in business, sports or social justice, the lessons from these trailblazing women are a testament to the power of strategic risk-taking.' Natalia Shahmetova, founder of Woofz by Nove8, decided to ditch the funding route and scale her company to 21M users and $20M in revenue, with four times annual growth. She shared with me what it takes to scale without outside funding–from facing bias to building with discipline. 'Entrepreneurship is never easy, but the challenge is greater for female founders, she acknowledges. 'Gender bias—usually subtle but often overt—is rife throughout business, shaping the kinds of questions asked, the level of scrutiny received and the likelihood of receiving a 'yes.'' Shahmetova laments that no matter how vast your experience or detailed your pitch deck, your competence will be questioned and your abilities doubted. In the meantime, she says, your male peers secure funding with little more than a good idea. She recalls suffering through one meeting with a potential investor where they avoided talking to her directly, ignoring her title and expertise and directing all questions towards the males in the room. 'But this isn't just my experience,' she told me. 'It's that of countless female entrepreneurs." Instead of tailoring yourself to biased expectations, she advises that you sharpen your pitch for people who get it. 'Seek out investors with a track record of backing diverse founders. And when the room still doesn't listen, build your own table.' When investors pass on your business unfairly, it's easy to take it personally, but Shahmetova insists that you shouldn't. 'Bias in the funding landscape isn't a reflection of your idea, skills or potential. It's a reflection of the system and the outdated views that it harbors. Being judged on your gender says far more about them than you.' Is it frustrating and will it make you want to quit? she asks. 'Absolutely. But that would only prove them right, so she says don't let it shake your confidence or curb your ambition. 'Many incredible women have walked the same road, faced the same doubt and still built world-changing businesses.' She recommends that you turn every 'no' into data. 'Ask for feedback. Refine your pitch, tighten your story and stay focused,' she advises. 'Their rejection isn't a verdict– it's a redirection.' 'I would be lying if I said I've never considered leaving my startup,' Shahmetova said to me. 'I came close when the CEO position opened up and, despite my vast knowledge of the business and track record of growing it, my fellow board members decided they wanted to bring in a male leader for their strength and ruthlessness.' She admits that it's demoralizing. Yet, she sees facing bias as a crash course in resilience. "Every dismissive remark, uninterested response and unfair rejection builds mental strength that's only learned from experience," she points out. 'That grit is a superpower, as growing a startup is a constant barrage of unforeseen setbacks and unexpected curve balls.' She has observes that many women entrepreneurs accept defeat when not a single investor shows faith in their ideas. But she also notes that those who have learned to brush off bias are stronger and more determined to succeed. 'They know their idea is strong and they trust in their abilities, so they find another way, invest their own savings and show everyone who doubted them that they were wrong.' She suggests using that resilience as a strategy. 'You've built your shock-absorbers,' she states, 'now go further. Say no faster. Protect your time. Keep moving even when the spotlight isn't on you.' 'When funding doesn't come easily, every decision counts, Shahmetova asserts. 'Bootstrapping your venture means there's no limitless venture capital fund to fall back on, so there's no room for reckless spending or rushed hires. You have to make every cent count, which makes you more disciplined." While others might grow fast, her approach is to grow smart by focusing on sustainable growth, spending only what your business can afford and prioritizing profitability over rapid growth. 'With my experiences having taught me how to play it slow and bide my time, when I became CEO, I made it clear to the team that we weren't going to sprint to the finish line, spending more money than we had in our reserves.' Shahmetova describes efficiency as your moat and that you use that discipline as a competitive edge to build sharper products, leaner teams and a business model that doesn't collapse the second funding dries up. According to Shahmetova, gender bias doesn't just harm women. It harms businesses, too. 'If you're dismissing women because they don't fit your outdated idea of what leadership looks like, you're overlooking talents who have already proven that they can achieve incredible things with limited resources and support.' When bootstrapped female founders turn up at the table, she argues that you should see them as an asset with all the skills that a great leader needs. 'She's not just a woman. She's resilient, disciplined and efficient,' Shahmetova concludes.
