You’ve Come a Long Way

By Nancy Hayes, NKH Group Principal, Menlo College Provost's Advisory Council Member

The 1971 advertising slogan for a “woman’s” cigarette from 1971 – the year that the first female students enrolled at Menlo College – celebrated the progress of the women’s liberation movement. Much had been accomplished, yet there was so much more that needed to be done. And there still is.

Despite significant social, economic, health, education, and legal progress, women continue to face daunting obstacles, including the lack of funding for women-led high growth startup companies. Almost 85% of venture capital (VC) funds go to all-male founding teams, and less than 3% to all-female founding teams; male/female founding teams get 12% of the funding. A recent survey found that for every $1 raised by male founders of early-stage companies, female founders raised 37 cents. The story is worse for founders of color and other “underestimated” founders. The shortfall in funding for women entrepreneurs is in marked contrast to demonstrated ability to effectively utilize capital: A study of 300 investments by a VC firm over ten years showed that teams with at least one woman founder outperformed all-male teams by 63%.

While in recent years female entrepreneurs have been somewhat more successful securing VC funding, unless the pace of change accelerates, it will take many decades before parity is achieved. In 2013, I committed to do my part to redress that inequity by focusing my energies on supporting women entrepreneurs. I’m helping women entrepreneurs secure access to the same network of investors and advisors that their male counterparts enjoy. I hope to make a real difference in the opportunity these founders have to build and grow their business.

I’ve invested in 30 women-led companies across a variety of sectors – healthcare, robotics, manufacturing, consumer products and business to-business software, along with creative solutions to social, economic or sustainability problems. I can’t invest in every company that I find deserving – there are so many – but I offer to meet any woman entrepreneur to provide pro-bono advice and mentorship. There have been many successes, as well as some failures from which we all learned valuable lessons.

It has been an honor and a privilege to work with so many talented, innovative, and brave women.