To pitch or not to pitch? Women startup founders weigh VC funds vs. bootstrapping
CIndy Padnos/Stefania Pomponi
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Cindy Padnos (upper left)
startup co-founder and president Stefania Pomponi (upper right) and startup
co-founders Patti Lee-Hoffman (lower left) and Gayle Haworth (lower right) weigh
in on the gender gap in the Silicon Valley VC and startup world.
- Lauren Hepler
- Economic Development Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Email | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+
A new report shows that women
startup founders are slowly gaining ground on their male peers when it comes
to attracting venture capital investment but a huge gender gap remains.
That has led some female entrepreneurs to employ alternative financing
structures to circumvent the enduring gender gap in VC funding. Meanwhile, other
female founders and funders are focused on investing in women-led and adding to
research in the field that illustrates why the gender gap matters.
Stefania Pomponi is
co-founder and president of Clever Girls Collective, a technology-driven content
and social media agency with offices in San Jose and San Francisco. She is
projecting $4 million in revenue during 2013 after forgoing venture capital when
the company was founded in 2009.
"Women run companies conservatively," Pomponi said in an interview, noting a
direct contradiction with Silicon Valley's reputation for (mostly male)
risk-taking entrepreneurs and a culture accepting of failure.When considering options to finance the company's launch, Pomponi said the founders weighed whether they wanted to give up equity in the company, and whether they would be able to get a VC's attention. She recalled one female Silicon Valley adviser who told her to attach a picture of herself to applications for funding.
"You don't need venture capital," she said.
Pomponi explained the founders of Clever Girls — who have recruited a network of 8,000 bloggers to generate marketing content in women-focused verticals — had to be "scrappier" and "more resourceful" after opting to self-fund their company. They later received angel investment.
Lauren Hepler covers economic development, sports, and hospitality for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She can be reached at 408.299.1820
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