If we want a more prosperous and innovative economy, we can’t leave half the population behind. This isn’t a feminist rant. Academics and economists -- most of whom are men -- are singing the same tune. Vivek Wadhwa has been leading the charge since 2009. His latest project, which he did with Farai Chideya, is a crowd-sourced and -funded book: Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology.
So if the need for women entrepreneurs is known, what’s holding them back? One problem is finding role models, which directly enhances the aspirations of women to start their own businesses, according to Gender—Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (Gender GEDI).
Other research confirms that women love real-life example to inspire them. Ideally, you know someone personally who inspires you, but books, media, film and TV play an important role in providing inspiration. Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code credits TV shows, such as LA Law and ER, for inspiring a tidal wave of women entering the law and medicine.
Inspiration can come from all sorts of places. Don’t limit yourself to the obvious -- women who have pursued exactly what you want to do. Look outside of the box. Innovating Women provides not just entrepreneurs as role models but corporate executives and venture capitalists.
Research conducted by Wadhwa finds that men and women’s educational levels, reasons for starting businesses, and their success factors are virtually the same. The only difference is that women place a higher value than men do on business partnerships and on their personal and professional network. Networks are particularly important to women, who are often marginalized and left out of internal power structures, according to Whitney Johnson, founder of Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm built on the principles of disruptive innovation who cites Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg in Innovating Women.
Women are not wallowing in self-pity about the obstacles they face. They are climbing those hurdles. “Only 10 percent of Internet entrepreneurs across the world are women,” according to Startup Compass, as referenced in the book. “And yet women innovators today, despite being underrepresented, are rising in influence and achieving transformative gains for society. They are not waiting for men to create a level playing field, although many men are supporters and allies.”
The women entrepreneurs that I found most inspiring in the book were:
- Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva, a peer-to-peer microfinance organization that connects entrepreneurs seeking funding with funders around the world.
- Mari Kuraishi, co-founder and president of Global Giving, an online marketplace, that connects those who do good work with those who want to support them.
- Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture fund that uses an entrepreneurial approach to solving poverty worldwide.
- Danae Ringelmann, founder of Indiegogo, who helped create the crowdfunding industry.
- Lynn Tilton, founder and CEO of Patriarch Partners, a holding company with investment in more than 75 companies and revenues in excess of $8 billion. She is passionate about saving American jobs by saving American companies.
Happily, women are becoming more confident, assertive and willing to help each other, according to research conducted by Wadhwa and his team at Stanford. The study was published by the Kauffman Foundation, which researches entrepreneurship.
Awareness of the problem is growing as are ideas about how to fix it. Even the venture capital sector is beginning to look at itself critically and mend its ways. Importantly, the cost to start innovative companies is dropping, new funding sources are becoming available, and men are fighting alongside women to ensure change.
Even with the environment becoming more friendly towards women entrepreneurs, starting an innovative company is scary. However, the odds of success are six times higher (up from 6% to 36%), if you start a disruptive company . You still might fail, but the odds are tilted significantly in your favor now and the revenue opportunity is 20 times greater when you pursue a disruptive course, wrote Johnson in Innovating Women.
So what disruptive idea will you pursue?
