Silicon Valley tech businesses give unfair advantages to men — and it's bad for the economy

I co-founded the first fully gender-equal tech company. It wasn't easy but I'm proud to add something positive to the 'gender' story

Silicon Valley success stories often end up failing to give their female staff members equal opportunities (Bloomberg)

I’m an anomaly. I’m a woman and I co-founded a software company.

Earlier this week, my co-founder and I announced that having raised financing for our business to the tune of $12m, we are the world’s first technology company with gender-balanced share ownership. The founders, the shareholders, the decision-making, the investors are all 50 per cent male and 50 per cent female. This is a first in Silicon Valley and indeed the world - so it’s something we’re very proud of.

Why did we do this? We wanted to do something meaningful to radically change the diversity narrative; to create something positive and to mark a point in time where the “gender” story finally produced a statistic of which we could all be proud… that just happened to coincide with celebrating International Women’s Day.

I firmly believe business is about talent not gender — but the statistics don’t reflect a world that supports that. Even though 13 per cent of cofounders are women, they only hold 6 per cent of founder equity. Even when they are on founding teams and assigned equity, it’s far less than their male counterparts.

Women are missing out consistently and persistently – on ownership, equity, voting and opportunity.

Fundraising for a tech company and finding the right investors is hard. Think of it like dating: you have to find someone who likes what they see, sees potential, wants to discuss almost everything at length and wants to spend time on a journey with you. Then you have to negotiate the terms and finally agree a deal that everyone is happy with. Getting to the end of that process successfully is time-consuming and emotionally exhausting.

Our own goals only made it harder because the pool of people was narrowed by seeking gender equality. We had to hunt down those people who shared our mission as opposed to taking one big venture capital cheque (which is customary for a company of our size and scale). We raised investment from funds, syndicates, family offices and individuals but the pool of people who regularly invest is male-dominated, and locating the women was arduous. Two per cent of venture capital funding is allocated to women, 75 per cent of venture funds in Silicon Valley have no female leaders and 5 to 15 per cent of women are angel investors depending on which side of the Atlantic you live. It’s depressing. Whereas negativity begets negativity, we were focused on our goal, hoping that an optimistic statistic and positive energy is contagious.

We know the problems. How can the world help fix this gaping void and make business a fairer playground for female founders?

First of all, consumers have choices. Use your money to buy products and services from companies with diverse teams and ethics that resonate. That can be anything from your weekly food shop to your choice of savings account. Your decisions matter to the businesses you are supporting.

Corporates have a choice too – and a huge amount of power. They can help reduce the pain points for growing businesses selling to large companies. There’s a big advantage for corporations when they choose to support gender equality as well: it is the disruptive and agile businesses that often give you solutions to problems and a competitive edge.

Supplier diversity and inclusive procurement – the deliberate decision to purchase goods and services from diverse teams – should therefore go on the corporate agenda. The US Federal Government has a supplier diversity board led by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to ensure women and minority-owned businesses are awarded a fair share of contracts https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/procurement/supplier-diversity.htm. Business should look to create a similar framework.

Much is said about the benefit of networks and mentoring for female founders but this must never be one way. Reverse mentoring for senior leadership – ensuring senior leaders get advice and insights from the very female founders who need and want their help – can make for more empathy and understanding between both parties while enhancing senior and junior networks.

There is a natural symbiosis between large companies and growing businesses. It should be nurtured it better. If we can achieve 50/50 in all areas of our ownership structure, I know we can do it anywhere – on boards, on panels and in buying decisions.

We wanted to be one small part of creating a model for the future and contributing to the positive narrative around female founders. What I want is business to be meritocratic. The numbers don’t lie: at the moment, less talented men are being given advantages over women with more to give. If Silicon Valley doesn’t change that — and whether or not you care about the feelings or successes of individual women — the economy will suffer.

Emma Sinclair MBE is a tech entrepreneur and the youngest person in the world to IPO