On this morning’s WJR Business Beat, Jeff shares progress as it relates to women in venture capital and discusses the importance of diversity in the venture capital field.
Tune in to this morning’s Business Beat to learn more about women in venture capital:
“We all benefit when there is diversity and equal representation in leadership in any field, but arguably the venture capital field is one of the most important when it comes to having diverse leadership.”
– Jeff Sloan
Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE.
Are you an entrepreneur with a great story to share? If so, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll feature you on an upcoming segment of the WJR Business Beat!
Good morning, Paul.
We know venture capital to be a critical source of funding for startup companies, but we also know it’s sorely lacking in its diverse composition of leadership.
The good news? As it relates to women in venture capital, things are improving. In fact, the percentage of female decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms continues to climb, but unfortunately, it’s at a snail’s pace and it’s still heavily skewed male.
What are the numbers? Well a study by Axios indicates that while 243 of roughly 1,700 decision-makers in the venture capital sector are women, that’s a little over 14%, meaning approximately 86% is male leadership. Worse yet, 61% of venture firms had no female leadership whatsoever.
However, while those numbers are far from where they need to be, a closer look shows some progress. In 2016, just five years ago, venture capital leadership was made up of only 6% women, meaning the percentage of female decision-makers has nearly tripled in five years.
Now, look, we all benefit when there is diversity and equal representation in leadership in any field, but arguably the venture capital field is one of the most important when it comes to having diverse leadership.
You see, venture capitalists back the game-changing and life-changing technologies of the future. Those that will shape our lives and impact our lives in very significant ways. For example, there’d be no search online, as in Google, if venture hadn’t decided to back them early on. There wouldn’t be any Facebook either, nor would there be many of the other now everyday technologies and platforms we use in our everyday lives and lifestyles, including our chosen healthcare technologies.
These choices shape our lives and impact our lives in significant ways, they improve our lifestyles in many, and in some cases, even our very lives depend on the choices that are made. And to shape that new way of life, isn’t it critical to have the technology platforms of the future result from a diverse set of voices and choices?
I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
