FemStreet22 Issue #22 - February 11, 2018
Your weekly newsletter on women in VC & Tech
Issue #22
"At the end of the day, female founders shouldn't be constrained to work with only female VCs. If we invested only in people who look like us, we would be in trouble as an industry. That's really one of the reasons why we are in trouble as an industry."
Stephanie Palmeri of Uncork Capital
Happy Sunday everyone! To celebrate the 22nd issue of Femstreet22, I gave the newsletter a little retouch. Thanks to your feedback, I will be implementing more changes over the next weeks.
Here is what people were talking about in the Fem-universe last week:
From the investor 💸
- Lightspeed is asking its portfolio companies to implement a version of the NFL's Rooney Rule when hiring executives. But should the same standard apply to VC firms themselves?~ Why a New Memo on Diversity Should Make Venture Capitalists Look in the Mirror
- Paul Murphy, Partner at Northzone on How to join the best VC firm
- What is it that drives female entrepreneurs? Kamilla Rexestrand and Camilla Bergström talk with Aurore Belfrage of EQT Ventures about the tech scene "It's a circus that you can direct" (podcast in Swedish)
- The Australian startup scene fares much better than the global average, with a recent Fairfax study estimating 26% of the companies invested in by nine of Australia’s top investment funds had female founders or co-founders. Some of Australia’s most prominent venture capital associations have banded together to show their support for female founders through a series of one-on-one coaching sessions on March 8, International Women’s Day. ~ Australian VC firms band together to support female founders as local diversity stats beat out global average
- Angel investor Joanne Wilson on The Realities of Angel Investing – Gotham Gal
- Greylock Partner developed a template anti-harassment and discrimination policy to help the companies in their portfolio, and they felt it would have positive impact if they opened this document up to the broader tech community. ~ Anti-Harassment Policy Template for Startups - Greylock Partners
- Venture capitalists share the dos and don’ts of pitching for this type of business funding. ~ How to prepare for a successful venture capital pitch
- 🎉 Marta Sjögren, Principal at Northzone has been promoted to Partner. She joined Northzone in 2012. Her primary areas of focus are consumer internet, digital health, edtech, gaming, and SaaS. Her portfolio includes HappyOrNot, Labster, Sqore, Seriously, Zervant, BehavioSec, and Aevy.
From the operator 👩🏽 💻
- Let go of the idea that hiring women VCs is the be-all, end-all solution: "That's kind of been the silver bullet that people have been holding on to: the more women hired at venture capital funds, the better it's going to be for female entrepreneurs, and that hasn't necessarily been the case. At the end of the day, female founders shouldn't be constrained to work with only female VCs." ~ When it comes to closing the gender funding gap, there's no silver bullet
- So you want to be a PM, but you aren’t sure what it is or how to get there? Fear not, Shelby Stewart got you covered! ~ Breaking into Product Management
- Finery is the world's first automated online operating system for wardrobes. Finery CEO Whitney Casey explains why including women investors in the round was such a priority. She looks back on the difficulties of preparing presentations for male-dominated VC firms about a female-focused tech product. ~ Finery CEO: Having Women in the C-Suite Can Effect Change, Closing the VC Funding Gap on Cheddar
- Carol Sankar, Founder of The Confidence Factor for Women in Leadership shares four factors that will help you prepare your pitch and secure an investment. ~ 4 Things Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Approaching Angel Investors and VCs
- Kathryn Minshew is the co-founder and CEO of career platform The Muse, which aims to help millennials and women early in their careers navigate the ever-intimidating, often-confusing world of job hunting and professional development. She encourages young people to put a premium on their personal value by setting concrete goals and then identifying the pathways to achieve them. ~ The Muse CEO Kathryn Minshew on women in tech: "Fund them, back them, pay them"
- The statistics appear to show that women still have a long way to go in the tech industry. A leading blockchain firm, ConsenSys, wants to change this trajectory through an informal set of initiatives promoting leadership, networking and other forward-thinking activities. ~ Women in Tech: Is Blockchain Setting a New Standard?
Startups 🦄
- Los Altos, CA based startup Univfy raises $6 million to better predict IVF success rates using machine learning.
- The two years old London startup Wisp develops a collection of wearables for women which encourages foreplay and a natural build up of intimacy with a partner.
- Syrona Women from Cambridge, UK is developing a product which can help women take control of their health by alerting you of potential sexually transmitted diseases, endometriosis and gynecological cancers in the privacy of their own home.
- Ivary is an Austrian femtech startup that has developed a home-test-kit for hormone measurement that works with just a few drops of blood. Their USP is a software that interprets the anti-mullerian hormone in combination with women's lifestyle, method of contraception and medical history. The test-result is a detailed fertility report assessing women's current and future fertility potential.
Events 📆
- February 12 in London: Courier Issue 21 - Female Founders - Launch Event
- February 13 in London: Taking the Plunge: How to Change Lanes + Follow Your Passion
- February 13 (Webinar): Women in Venture Capital: Challenges and Opportunities
- February 15 in London: Blooms Masterclass - Money Makeover (presented by She's on the Money)
- February 19 in Berlin: Global Digital Women After Work
- February 21 in Berlin: GTEC Open Lecture: Ida Tin, CEO and Co-Founder of period tracking app Clue
- February 22 ( Webinar): Investor Insights, Find Out What Investors Want to Know before Investing, Ask your Questions LIVE with Anya Navidski, Founder & VC Voulez Capital
- February 23 in London: Female Founders Accelerator Hatch Enterprise at Blooms
- April 17 in Stockholm but you better Sign up now for the DiDigital Female Founders Conference
#GOODREADS before you head out for Sunday Brunch
- Women drive slower than men, and for fewer hours - a study shows female Uber drivers earn $1.24 per hour less than men
- Glossier CEO Emily Weiss doesn't have time for excuses: "Just do your job"
You know that there is a small but meaningful thing you can do this Sunday. Pleas share Femstreet22 with friends on Twitter or Linked or forward this by 📧
Sarah