Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurial Women Then and Now
by Miki Saxon
How much has really changed for entrepreneurial women in the last 50 years?
Not as much as you might think or as much as meritocracy hype might lead you to believe.
In the actual world of advertising in 1966, when the current season [of Mad Men] began, the most talked-about figure on Madison Avenue was the trim and determined Mary Wells, who hopscotched over the era’s endemic prejudices to develop Wells Rich Greene, the iconic agency she would run for more than two decades.
One reason stories like Mary Wells are so startling is that there are so few of them.
Yet even these successful women entrepreneurs are disappointing when you consider that most are in fashion, cosmetics/beauty products, advertising, retail, media, etc.
Although funding a tech company is almost as difficult for women as it always has been they are having more luck getting web startups funded—but it’s still an uphill battle.
Would you expect anything different when high profile experts in the entrepreneurial community are still making stupid comments more suited to the 1950s.
One advantage startups have over established companies is that there are no discrimination laws about starting businesses. For example, I would be reluctant to start a startup with a woman who had small children, or was likely to have them soon. [emphasis added] But you’re not allowed to ask prospective employees if they plan to have kids soon…Whereas when you’re starting a company, you can discriminate on any basis you want about who you start it with. –Paul Graham, prominent investor and co-founder of Y Combinator
Sex is a long way from being out of the picture as Candace Fleming, founder or Crimson Hexagon, learned.
Another potential backer invited her for a weekend yachting excursion by showing her a picture of himself on the boat — without clothes.
(And I doubt that he looked like a Chippendale.:)
The point of all this is that women aren’t going to slink back to the kitchen anytime soon.
They will keep overcoming obstacles to have babies.
Some of which will grow up to be IPOs, while others will be entrepreneurs.
(If you are hung up regarding women entrepreneurs next week’s post will show you why your attitude is sure to hang you out to dry.)
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FYI
The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) is conducting a survey that looks at social media regulation within organizations, such as how companies are embracing new platforms as a productivity tool as well as restricting access – or even asking for Facebook passwords.
Participants completing this survey will receive a free copy of the preliminary results, which will be sent to you once all responses are collected and analyzed. Privacy is important to us; your responses will be combined with others, and your personal information will remain confidential.
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Flickr image credit: Search Engine People Blog
February 4th, 2016 at 1:16 am
[…] Graham says he won’t fund people with strong accents or women with young kids or who are planning on having kids, whereas Altman believes that eliminating gender bias is very important. […]