Understanding the Venture Capital Gender Gap

HBR IdeaCast

• Episode: Understanding the Venture Capital Gender Gap
• Website: HBR IdeaCast
• Feed URL: http://feeds.harvardbusiness.org/harvardbusiness/ideacast
• Duration: 00:23:14
• Published: 2021-05-18 16:00

Jenny Lefcourt, partner at Freestyle VC and cofounder of All Raise, says that even as a serial entrepreneur herself, she long underestimated how little venture capital funding goes to female startup founders compared to the money men get. She believes unconscious biases, an industry built on intuition, and historical dynamics all contribute to this inequity. They also affect the low numbers of women in decision-making roles at VC firms. Lefcourt explains the ways the industry can actively reduce this gap.