Jenny Lefcourt, partner at Freestyle VC and cofounder of All Raise, says that even as a serial entrepreneur herself, she long underestimated how little venture capital funding goes to female startup founders compared to the money men get. She believes unconscious biases, an industry built on intuition, and historical dynamics all contribute to this inequity. They also affect the low numbers of women in decision-making roles at VC firms. Lefcourt explains the ways the industry can actively reduce this gap.
You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts:
- HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2021/05/understanding-the-venture-capital-gender-gap
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/understanding-the-venture-capital-gender-gap/id152022135?i=1000522181570
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4t4Kb7xK3upMUbh8g601z3
- Stitcher https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/84041693&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/84041693&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/84041693
- Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2lkZWFjYXN0/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAwNi0wNS0wODppZGVhY2FzdC4wNzk1?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwjg3ZfS-5D-AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA
Series Description:
A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.
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Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org.
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
2:05 – Lefcourt’s Path to VC Funding
4:48 – Where Are All the Women?
8:33 – Why it’s Crucial to Invest in Female Founders
10:42 – Resistance to Gender Diversity in VC
14:30 – Impacts from the Pandemic
19:23 – Progress
22:14 – Outro
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