1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Before she became one of the world's most influential philanthropists. 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Before she even started working in the tech industry, Melinda 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: Gates was a high school student at an all girls 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: Catholic school in Dallas, Texas. One of the teachers, they're 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: the math teacher, who I really admired a lot and 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: worked with a lot. She went to a conference and 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: she saw these Apple two's had just come out, and 8 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: she was so excited about them. She came to the 9 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: hen principle, who happen to be a nun, and said, 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: we'd have to get these for the girls. The Apple 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: two was an early personal computer, is the first of 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: its kind intended for ordinary consumers instead of business professionals 13 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: or hobbyists, and it was pretty expensive. The cheapest one 14 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: retailed for about dollars back then, which is about five 15 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in today's dollars, which meant that as a teenager, 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: Melinda got a head start tinkering with technology. And so 17 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: she got several of the girls who were in math 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: class and asked us if we wanted to sign up 19 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: for her new computer class she was going to start, 20 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: and that's how I got hooked. Melinda went on to 21 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: major in computer science at Duke University, and back then 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: that actually wasn't such an unusual choice for women. In 23 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: the early eighties, women made up nearly forty of computer 24 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: science graduates. But as Melinda entered the tech industry, rose 25 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: through the ranks and then focused her attention on philanthropy, 26 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: she watched the world change. Today, the share of female 27 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: computer science grads is down to less than and tech 28 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: has become a hostile industry for many women. Hi em 29 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: Aiito and I'm Emily Chang, and this week Undecrypted, we're 30 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: asking who has the power to make Silicon Valley a 31 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: better place for women? Was a year of reckoning for 32 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: male dominated Silicon Valley, particularly for venture capitalists who have 33 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: an outside i share of power in the industry. With 34 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: their money, these investors decide which startups thrive in which die. 35 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: Several of them last year were accused of abusing their 36 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: positions of power to pursue female entrepreneurs. As I was 37 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: writing my new book ro Topia, breaking up the Boys 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: Club of Silicon Valley, I looked and looked and looked 39 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: for people who could change the status quo. And I 40 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: started thinking about one group that pulled a lot of 41 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: power over those venture capitalists, the people who give venture 42 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: capitalists the money to invest in startups in the first place. 43 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: Blinda Gates is just one of those investors funding venture 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: capital firms with the aim of getting more women into technology. 45 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: I recently sat down with Melinda for my long form 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: interview show Bloomberg Studio one point out to talk about 47 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: all of this today. You'll be hearing parts of that 48 00:02:52,280 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: conversation stay with us. After Melinda finished college, she got 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: an MBA from Duke's Business School. She joined a software 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: company called Microsoft. It was an exciting time to be 51 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: in the tech industry. The year before Microsoft had gone public, 52 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: and two years before that, on January four, Apple Computer 53 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: will introduce Macintosh and you'll see why nine Apple had 54 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: started selling its Macintosh computer at Microsoft. Melinda's computer signs 55 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: background helped her advance quickly. Soon she was managing teams 56 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: of programmers and developing products like publisher in Carter and Expedia. 57 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: But in the broader industry, Melinda could feel how alone 58 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: she was as a woman in tech. I go present 59 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: and you could tell like I would show up at 60 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: a user group that is nine Mail, and they'd be 61 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: like this woman's to present to us. What does she 62 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: what could she possibly know about this product? Computer science 63 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: wasn't always the boys club that it is now. In 64 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: the NI and fifties, women played vital roles programming computers 65 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: for NASA and the military. But actually a tech became 66 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: more male dominated over the last few decades. That's the 67 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: opposite of what's happened in other areas like lawn medicine, 68 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: which have attracted more and more women. You lived this, 69 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: what went wrong? Like? How did that happen? It looks 70 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: like when the gaming industry turned, when the prob the 71 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: games became more male games, more shoot him up. If 72 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: you think about the earlier games that I played, pac Man, 73 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: the adventure games, the Atari games, Breakout, they were pretty 74 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: gender neutral. But when you got in these very combative 75 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: games that were very male centered, it's and more and 76 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: more men got into the industry, then it's two women. 77 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: It's just started to feel unwelcoming. Family and your reporting 78 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: for bro Topia, you found so causes of your own. 79 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: In the sixties and seventies, as the computer industry was 80 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: exploding in size, tech companies were desperate for new talent, 81 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: so they started doing aptitude tests and personality tests to 82 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: identify good programmers, and a software company called STC hired 83 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: two psychologists to identify people who would be good at 84 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,559 Speaker 1: this job, and they decided that good programmers quote don't 85 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: like people. Well, if you look for people who don't 86 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: like people, the research tells us, you'll hire far more 87 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: men than women. And it's more money came into the 88 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: tech industry. Working in tech became a higher profile job. Absolutely, 89 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: the jobs became more professional, higher status, so men wanted 90 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: those jobs and women essentially got pushed and profiled out. 91 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: Melinda married Microsoft co founder and then CEO Bill Gates. 92 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: She left Microsoft in to focus on her family when 93 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: their first child was born in two thousand, she co 94 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For many years, 95 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: Melinda's work with the foundation took her to remote parts 96 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: of the world, often in communities living in deep poverty. 97 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: The time she spent in the field far from home, 98 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: was part of what made her realize things still needed 99 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: to improve for women right here in the United States. Well, 100 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: I've been lucky enough now to travel for over seventeen 101 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: years in philanthropy, and I traveled all over the world. 102 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: I'm in the developing world a lot. I'm in Asia, 103 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: I'm in Africa, and who shaped my views were the 104 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: women I talked to on the ground and what I 105 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: was hearing in their conversations at the local village level, 106 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: sitting in the dirt on a mat was the same 107 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: thing I was hearing when I would hear the news 108 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: in the United States about CEO under representation on boards, 109 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: right of women on boards, or women's CEO s. So 110 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: in Melinda to I did, she would focus on making 111 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley a better place for women. In an interview 112 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: with Wired magazine, she said not having more women in 113 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: tech was quote not good for society. It was around 114 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: this time that I too was getting interested in this 115 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: question of gender in Silicon Valley. And this was at 116 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: a time when not a lot of people were talking 117 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: about this. Right. I made it a chore at a 118 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: certain point to ask investors and ask CEOs when they 119 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: came on the show, what are you doing about this? 120 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: What are you doing to fund women? What are you 121 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: doing to hire women? And I wasn't liking the answers 122 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: that I was getting, but I knew that this was 123 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: a problem. Of course, a year later came the Reckoning 124 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: first former Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post 125 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: that exposed a toxic culture of sexism and sexual harassment 126 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: at the company. Uber promises an urgent investigation into sexual 127 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: harassment claims made in a former employees blog post. She 128 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: claims upper management tried to sweep her comple lanked under 129 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: the rug, calling her supervisor a high performer. And then 130 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: female startup founders came forward with their stories about how 131 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: they got harassed by a number of male venture capital investors. 132 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: Venture capitalists are the investors who give money to startups, 133 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: which means they're the ones deciding which companies get more 134 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: funding to expand more chances to succeed. Because of that, 135 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: these investors are incredibly powerful people in Silicon Valley, this 136 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: group consists mostly of men. Only eight percent of investors 137 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: are women. After the torrent of news stories, many of 138 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: the men accused of misconduct got fired or stepped down 139 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: from their jobs. But stories of harassment are only one 140 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: symptom of a much bigger problem, which is the severe 141 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: gender imbalance in tech. So how do you fix that? 142 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: Melinda Gates search for a solution that's coming up after 143 00:08:52,040 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: this So twenty seventeen minute Clear that the tech industry 144 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: needs to get better at creating opportunities for women. But 145 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: this is a problem the industry has been aware of 146 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: for some time, and solutions have been hard to find. 147 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: That's when I started looking into one corner of the 148 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: investing world that we don't hear from very often. There's 149 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: a group of people called limited partners, and it's their 150 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: money that venture capitalists are investing. As I did more 151 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: reporting for my book, I realized there are a lot 152 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 1: of really powerful women in this community of behind the 153 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: scenes investors, Women like Lauren A. Messer, who is chief 154 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 1: investment officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts three point 155 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: one billion dollar investment portfolio. The io p A that's 156 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: the International Limited Partners Association told us that roughly one 157 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: third of their members are women. So I wanted to 158 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: understand if these female LPs, these people who invest in 159 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: the investors, were concerned about diversity in Silicon Valley. I 160 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: checked in with Joel Caden, who spent eighteen years in 161 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: investment banking before co founding her own investment company, Accolade Partners. 162 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: Your contribution to the book, I really appreciate it. Oh, well, 163 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: I'm excited for you. Joelts for manages about eight hundred 164 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: million dollars and the majority of her investments are in 165 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: the tech industry. I thought that perhaps these powerful investors 166 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: like Joel could use their vast financial might to put 167 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: pressure on tech investors to change. Maybe they could refuse 168 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: to invest with firms that don't have any female investing partners, 169 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: or maybe allegations of sexual harassment and the existence of 170 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: nondisclosure agreements, which have helped keep accusations covered up, would 171 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: become a bigger part of their due diligence process. What's 172 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: more important whether there's a woman on board or what 173 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: the returns are. Um, I don't think they should be 174 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: mutually exclusive. So I'm I'm rooting for women to get 175 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,599 Speaker 1: to that metric that everybody knows. Look, our business is 176 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: about making money. That's what we get paid to do. 177 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, my job is 178 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: to make as much money as possible for the wonderful 179 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: institutions that have, you know, hired us to invest. So 180 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: that's what gets us up in the morning. Silicon Valley 181 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: knows it has a gender imbalanced and Joel told me 182 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: she's having conversations with top venture capitalists encouraging them to 183 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: look for more women they can hire. She said, it 184 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: will happen. It just requires a lot of hard work, 185 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 1: and it will take some time because as much as 186 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: these investors would like to see change, they're worried about 187 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: making changes that could jeopardize returns. But behind the scenes, 188 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: Melinda was thinking about doing more. She was in talks 189 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: with the venture capital firm run by two women. When 190 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: Melinda announced she wanted to focus on helping more women 191 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: get into the tech industry. She had created a private 192 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: office called Pivotal Ventures. This will be different from the 193 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is a philanthropic project. 194 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: With Pivotal Ventures, Melinda would be making actual investments with 195 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: the goal of making money. I mean, the first goal 196 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: is to make money. I'm not putting my money out 197 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: as a social impact. I'm putting it out to make money. 198 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:13,079 Speaker 1: But Melinda also believed that smart investments can help drive change. 199 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: And I kept thinking there would be a woman to 200 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 1: speak out or women who would speak out more. And 201 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: there are women speaking out, But I hadn't honestly put 202 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: together my background of realizing well, I was in that space. 203 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: I've always cared about computer and tech um. But wow, 204 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: maybe I should use my voice behind this. So when 205 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: did you first believe that limited partners or the investors 206 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: that fund venture capital firms have a role to play here. Well, 207 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,719 Speaker 1: I started to look at what the barriers were in 208 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: the tech industry for women and people of color. We 209 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: don't have enough women with patents, we don't have enough 210 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: women founder c e O s who are getting funding. 211 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: So basically, less than two percent of VC funds go 212 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: to women, less than one percent go to women of color. 213 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: And so in this innovation Asian space, I said to myself, 214 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: what's the best way to use capital to move things 215 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: for women? And that's when I started to say, Okay, 216 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: I actually need to move some money into the venture 217 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: capital space. That's what led Melinda to the venture capital 218 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: firm Aspect Ventures, co founded by Teresa Go and Jennifer Fonstad. Yes, 219 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: so we met Melinda actually through a mutual friend. That's 220 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: Jennifer Fonstad, a straight shooting investor whose career I've been 221 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: following for many years. I met them, I think it 222 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: was my first time was about two and a half 223 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: years ago, and they're just they're savvy and smart investors, 224 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,839 Speaker 1: right Jennifer and Theresa both distinguished themselves as venture investors. 225 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: Jennifer spent seventeen years at a firm called d f J, 226 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: and Teresa was a partner at another top firm, Excel Ventures, 227 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: for fifteen years before they left to start their own fund. Now, 228 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: four years after its founding, Aspect Ventures has one of 229 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: the most diverse investing teams in Silicon Valley. I think 230 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: about it more along the lines of how it drives 231 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: better business outcomes, better performance, and better decisions. Where we 232 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: are building to approach a point where we can have 233 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: critical mass. We're having twenty to thirty of an organization 234 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: which has a different perspective, diversity of voice, different diversity 235 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: of experience. In the male dominated world of startup investing, 236 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: this is a pretty new approach. And when you have 237 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: that critical mass, you build in an entirely different culture 238 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: around how you incorporate those voices, and I think that's 239 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: what will drive change for us over the next couple decades. 240 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: This idea that new voices will help identify new opportunities 241 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: is a concept Melinda also believes in. Some LPs have 242 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: said to me, all we care about is returns. We 243 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: care about diversity, but we really care about how much 244 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: money that we make. What do you have to say 245 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: to those people? I have to say, you're investing in 246 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: what you know. Women are of consumer dollars spent. Women 247 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: control sevent financial decisions in the house. So you're missing 248 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: an opportunity because you just don't see it. So you're 249 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: leaving money on the table. You're not in the deal flow. 250 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: So good luck ten years from now. I think what's 251 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: really critical about what Melenda is doing is that she 252 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: is She really understands and appreciates how diversity leads to 253 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: better performance. In January, they announced Melinda was investing in 254 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: Jennifer and Teresa's fund. It's encouraging to hear stories like this, 255 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: but still, Melenda is just one investor, and Aspect Ventures 256 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: is just one venture capital firm. There's a long way 257 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: to go before these ideas filter out across the whole industry, 258 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: and it's important to remember Jennifer and Teresa are the 259 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: rare example of two women who have already been in 260 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: tech for a long time. People know who they are 261 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: and trust they can deliver good returns. That won't be 262 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: true for every woman looking for someone to take a 263 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: chance on her. How much of an impact can LPs 264 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: have and should LPs have in galvanizing change, you know, 265 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: because some of these funds don't necessarily have the returns 266 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: yet you know that these investors would like to see. 267 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: But someone has to give those people a chance. But 268 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: we all care about making money, right, So how do 269 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: you balance all of those concerns. I think that you 270 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: I think we definitely need LPs who start to make 271 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: those investments. And there's gonna be some people who are 272 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: already out on the forefront of that, and I think 273 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: they not only need to make investments, they need to 274 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: open their networks because if you look at a woman, 275 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: she often doesn't have the same network into the deal flow, right, 276 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: So broader change will ultimately require more people to take 277 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: some risks. Some of that pressure may come from behind 278 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: the scenes investors like Melinda, but a lot of it 279 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: will have to come from people within the tech industry 280 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: deciding to make change as well. You know, all firms 281 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: don't need to look and act the same. But you know, 282 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: what is the burden on the rest of the industry 283 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: to to make these changes that are you know, so necessary? 284 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: I mean, I I just find it hard to believe 285 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: that some of these firms can't find a qualified woman, right. 286 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: I think that's a bit of an excuse, to be honest, 287 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: and um, so firms need to figure out, you know, 288 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,160 Speaker 1: are they really serious about this issue or the window dressing. 289 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: And it's just like the early days when we used 290 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 1: to start to talk about corporate boards, Oh, they need 291 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: to have a woman. So you had some some boards 292 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: that did it as a token, they would put a 293 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: token woman on. But eventually there was public pressure that 294 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: people started to realize, actually, companies are doing better when 295 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: they have a more diverse board. In March, hundreds of 296 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: startup founders joined the Founders for Change movement, committing to 297 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: consider the diversity of a venture capital firm before taking 298 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: a check. For now, Jennifer and Theresa have closed their 299 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: latest round of funding and are getting to work on 300 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: deploying that money. They're looking for startups to invest in, 301 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: and they're especially interested in cybersecurity, digital health, and future 302 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: of work companies. As for Melinda, she's looking for more 303 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: investments too. She says Aspect Ventures is just the first 304 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 1: of many bets she wants to make on women in tech. 305 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 1: Do you think Silicon Valley can fix this, the problem 306 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,239 Speaker 1: of not having enough women at the table. I know 307 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: Silicon Vallet can fix this. They just have to decide 308 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: they want to to be honest. Venture Capitals behind the 309 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 1: ball on this way behind and they need to catch up. 310 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: And that's it for this week's Decrypted. Thanks for listening. 311 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: We always want to know what you think of the show. 312 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,959 Speaker 1: You can write to us at Decrypted at Bloomberg dot 313 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: net and I'm on Twitter at Emily Chang TV and 314 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: I'm at Akita seven. And please consider leaving us a 315 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or any of 316 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 1: your favorite podcasts apps. It really helps us find new listeners. 317 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: My book pro Topia, Breaking Up the Boys Club of 318 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley is in bookstores and online now. And the 319 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: full interview of Melinda Gates will air as an episode 320 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: on my show Bloomberg Studio One point Out on Bloomberg 321 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: Television May second at nine pm Pacific six thirty pm Eastern. 322 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: It'll also be available in audio form on our own 323 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 1: podcast called Studio one point Out. This episode was produced 324 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: by Pia Getkary Magnus Hendrickson, and Liz Smith. A special 325 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: thanks to Candy Chang, Executive producer, of Studio one Point Oh, 326 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: Kevin Hines, who edits the show, and our managing editor, 327 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: Danielle Culperson. Francesca Leavie is head of Bloomberg Podcasts. We'll 328 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: see you next week.