The Venture Capitalist Old Boys’ Club Is Still Alive, But Women May Be Shutting Themselves Out

“Packs of men are surrounded by golf clubs, cigar smoke and scotch glasses with animal heads adorning the walls around the bar,” said one woman. This sounds like the set description for a scene on Mad Men but actually this is how many women would describe the venture capitalist networking events they are invited to. Female venture capitalists and entrepreneurs attend these events with the intention of making connections in the business world and possibly get funding for their projects but the feeling of exclusion and just basic feeling out of place can be too much of a hindrance for them. Apparently, the old boys club is very much still alive and thriving in the world of venture capitalism networking events, an area in which women are already playing major catch up.

According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, data shows that while about 41% of private companies in the U.S. are owned by women, only 3-5% of them get venture capital. The U.S. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor says that women start ventures with eight times less funding than their male counterparts. According to The Diana Project, only 10% of VCs are female. Even the ones who successfully break into the industry are three times more likely than their male counterparts to be employed in entry and mid-level positions. Few are able to rise to a position where they make a material impact on investment decisions. Monica Murphy, co-founder of Solemates.com, spoke to us on one of the many common challenges women VCs face.

“After a few weeks of back and forth [when speaking with a potential investor who had been very enthusiastic about the company], he told us that he’d spoken with his financial adviser at Morgan Stanley  (from whom he’d be taking the cash to invest with us) who cautioned against investing in two “young girls” (we were 29). He continued to say, “My financial advisor is concerned that if one of you gets married or has a baby, the company will get pushed to the sidelines.”

It was certainly insulting and eye-opening. But in some ways, he probably just lacked the tact to say what a lot of people (men and women, maybe) may have initially been thinking at the time.”

But networking events are supposed to be more of a casual setting where the playing field should be more leveled or at least opportunities should be up for everyone to grab. Apparently that is not the case in this environment. Marie Hale Ramos, founder and owner of Lipstock Logic, a sales and marketing company, felt like an outsider at networking events:

“When I launched my career in 2002 I was shuffled between networking events that literally left me staring up at clinking scotch glasses and dodging between the back slapping boys club members – and that wasn’t just because I am only five feet tall! The make up and the “men”tality of networking has always been to empower the way men connect.”

The majority of events always seem to take place at bars or are in conjunction with an activity that most men tend to have more experience with like golfing or hunting. Lea Richards, the owner and founder of a nationwide mail order barbeque company, Pig of the Month, said when she tried to reach out to the entrepreneur community she felt it was definitely more male friendly.

“I joined a bunch of local networking groups and associations and quickly
realized that most are more skewed for the males. Golf outings
tend to be the norm in the summer and boys club bars (the ones with wood
paneling and 25 kinds of whiskey) in the winter.”

Apparently, events where standing is required for long periods of time, like crowded bars, literally puts more petite women at a disadvantage. Dr. Janice Presser, the CEO of an emerging growth tech company, felt belittled at one of these ‘stand up and drink’ style events.

“I was once the recipient of the kind of double shoulder pat one gives to a child one wants to get out of one’s way. The gentleman who did it while passing behind me still sings bass, but only because my elbow hit his side.”

Many women also said these events were difficult for them to get to because they were in the evening when many women need to be home with their children and families. But isn’t that a little unfair for women to complain that networking events should fit perfectly in to their schedules? The whole point of many of these networking events is showing that the person wants to go above and beyond the normal workday and make connections. Male venture capitalists and entrepreneurs don’t feel bad about it because they look at is part of their job but if women don’t look at it that way, and sees it as a burden of their time, then they will approach it with a poor attitude. Jaime Palmucci, of the startup Debutante Media, said “I’d never look at these situations as the women being shut out – they often shut themselves out.

Larry Stybel, of Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire, works with many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. He said:

I do find it is harder to network with women. They are often pulled by
taking care of parents/children that men outsource to spouses or other
professionals. During the initial discussions, I do find that with men I am more likely to discuss common “events” or “things:” sports teams, golf, etc. With women,
the discussion is often first focused on people we know in common. These
are just ice breakers. And I do feel men are a bit more comfortable
discussing “events” that are impersonal and women are more comfortable
discussing people.

But he noted that once those initial icebreakers are over, women tend to give less superficial responses to his questions about challenges they expect to face over the next 12 months. “Women often do reflect and think about the questions and the implications,” he said.

But some women look at these more male-skewed events as just another game we have to adapt to. If it is a golf event, take some lessons and get out there on the course so you can talk shop. Patty DeDominic, a private investor, past president of both the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, did just that.

“The good old boys network is still alive and thriving. I think this is due to a variety of reasons including hyper competitiveness and the fact that many of them just don’t want their old ways challenged or modified by “mom or sister figures”.

The Welcome Mat is not really out for women, but we need to walk in anyway. My presence was welcomed in socially conscious venture funds, at social functions and at sporting events where I was a major sponsor or where I was an appreciative audience for the players. Any golf outings I attended were always initiated by me. Money is a great equalizer but women still must find ways to add value to their networks and like Ginger Rogers, it seems they must do it in high heels and backwards just to get equal billing.”

Many women have formed their own networking groups to help with this issue. Some women, like Karen Miller of DK Pictures, who sold her first company in 2002, said she has seen a vast improvement in networking events for women in this field since the 1990s.

But many of the events are still of the more traditional male variety and this contributes to women’s poor performance in the field of venture capitalism. As Lindsay Meyer, a healthcare venture capitalist and contributor for Forbes noted, these events are unintentionally catering to men which is not going to help women anymore. Meyer and most women are not asking that every event should be a yoga session or day at the spa, but to be at least more gender balanced. At the same time though, women need to not hesitate and just go to the event and shoot birds or play poker. Bonnie Russell of PersonalPublicRelations.com said:

“In a perfect world, female capitalists and entrepreneurs wouldn’t need  to play golf – because that’s where deals are done. But it ain’t a perfect world.”

 

 

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