WEBVTT - Key Moment for Women in VC

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Earlier this year,

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg News reported on how female founders raised Paul just

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<v Speaker 1>two percent of venture capital in the US last year.

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<v Speaker 1>That was the smallest share since twenties sixteen. And it's

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<v Speaker 1>really a sign that efforts to to really diversify the

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<v Speaker 1>famously male dominated industry, I mean, continues to struggle. It's

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<v Speaker 1>an old story, unfortunately, No, it's a frustrating one because

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<v Speaker 1>there has been lots of efforts over the years financial

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<v Speaker 1>services to change that narrative around and it just never

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<v Speaker 1>seen to get that real tracks and particularly in Silicon Valley.

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<v Speaker 1>All Right, So we have a great guest on this

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<v Speaker 1>and working on that gap that could persists there between

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<v Speaker 1>men and women, especially when it comes to raising BC money.

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth Fox later, she is partner at Anthemus. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>fintech venture capital firm. She's lived and worked around the globe.

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<v Speaker 1>She joins us on the phone from San Francisco. Ruth,

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<v Speaker 1>good to have you here with Paul and myself. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you? And first of all, let's just get to

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<v Speaker 1>the crux of this, why is it still so difficult

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<v Speaker 1>for women to launch companies and access capital and get

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<v Speaker 1>some help here? Yeah, I mean, I think and first

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<v Speaker 1>of all, thank you so much for having me today.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that it's a really simple answer in some

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<v Speaker 1>ways to a somewhat complex question. The answer is really discrimination.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is kind of systemic discrimination that women face

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<v Speaker 1>and also kind of bilateral day to day discrimination. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>I think where I'm really encouraged is that I have

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<v Speaker 1>a portfolio which is full of outstanding female founders. I

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<v Speaker 1>am a partner in the venture capital practice at Anthemous,

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<v Speaker 1>so a little bit against all odds, myself and I

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<v Speaker 1>have a lot of optimism, but you know also, um,

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<v Speaker 1>we have a lot of work to do. And and Ruth,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things when I think about the venture

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<v Speaker 1>capital firm, you know, you think of places like you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Sandhill Road out in Silicon Valley. It's just it feels,

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<v Speaker 1>it looks, it sounds very insular. Like if I can't

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<v Speaker 1>raise my capital from some of those people out in

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<v Speaker 1>the valley, and I know it's getting better with Austin's

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<v Speaker 1>of the world and think think things like that, but boy,

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<v Speaker 1>if I can't make it there, it's hard to make

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<v Speaker 1>it anywhere in the VC world. Is that changing at all? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>I think it is, particularly for the sector that I

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<v Speaker 1>look at, which is financial services. London and New York

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<v Speaker 1>and Singapore and places you know, where the markets UM

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<v Speaker 1>really are have always been quite vibrant venture capital scenes.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that the diversification though that you're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>of venture capital and where it lives, the geographic diversification

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<v Speaker 1>certainly has a role to play in diversifying the founders

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<v Speaker 1>that we invest in UM. There's a sort of sense

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<v Speaker 1>that venture capital came from a small group of people

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<v Speaker 1>who are looking to invest in people that look like them.

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<v Speaker 1>For me, this is just completely counterintuitive. Venture capital is

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<v Speaker 1>a game of exceptions. You're looking for exceptional companies that

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<v Speaker 1>are going to beat a lot of odds and really

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<v Speaker 1>kind of you know, strange stories, interesting founders. So how

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<v Speaker 1>would you get those exceptional outcomes if you keep investing

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<v Speaker 1>in people that you know look the same and have

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<v Speaker 1>the same kind of pedigree. It doesn't really make any sense.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. Somebody once said to me a few years

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<v Speaker 1>ago that what you need is more women to create

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<v Speaker 1>a Google or an Apple or so and so forth

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<v Speaker 1>and then the money will come. Is that what it's about?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it that simple or difficult? No, there really are

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<v Speaker 1>some exceptional female founders that have raised an enormous amount

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<v Speaker 1>of capital and and also run huge companies. So I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think that we should. You know, it's quite exceptional

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<v Speaker 1>for anyone to build a company at that scale, right, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>I think we probably need more women in venture capital.

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<v Speaker 1>This is something that I've been working on UH in

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of different places, both at Anthemous and also

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<v Speaker 1>UM in another organization that that I've been working on

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<v Speaker 1>in Europe. UM. I think that female investors tend to

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<v Speaker 1>back diverse founders, So I think this is one kind

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<v Speaker 1>of simple band aid solution. But I think it's also

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<v Speaker 1>generally just a sense that venture capital and great ideas

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<v Speaker 1>can come from anywhere and can really stem from UM

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<v Speaker 1>any background, any diverse background, and probably the more diverse,

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<v Speaker 1>the more likely people are to have outsized impact. So

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth I do a lot of work with DO universities,

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<v Speaker 1>Graduate School of Business and in their venture capital fund,

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<v Speaker 1>their private equity fund, their alternative investment funds. UH teams,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a lot of women represented. What happens where do

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<v Speaker 1>you tend to lose them. If you will, Where does

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<v Speaker 1>it not translate, because again I see a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>demand at the university level. Yeah, it's a tough question

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<v Speaker 1>for me to answer because I really do UM invest

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<v Speaker 1>in a much more diverse way than many of my peers. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that, you know, sometimes women will UM self

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<v Speaker 1>select out. You know, this is something which has been

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<v Speaker 1>studied and shown not only in venture capital but in

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<v Speaker 1>in other fields. UM that there are certain demands or

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<v Speaker 1>expectations of demands around building a startup UM where women

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<v Speaker 1>feel like it's incompatible with other choices that they might make. Uh. Similarly,

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<v Speaker 1>I've I've spoken with a lot of women on their

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<v Speaker 1>path to partner and venture capital firms who say the

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<v Speaker 1>same thing. You know, will this be compatible with having

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<v Speaker 1>a family? I think it absolutely can be. I think

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<v Speaker 1>we probably need some more support structures and and also

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<v Speaker 1>kind of deeper understanding amongst the LP and GP world

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<v Speaker 1>of what it takes and how we can create support

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<v Speaker 1>for exceptional people to bring exceptional ideas to life. It's

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<v Speaker 1>really never the founder alone who does that. So how

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<v Speaker 1>do we help founders create teams which are more sustainable

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<v Speaker 1>and allow them to achieve a lot of their different

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<v Speaker 1>goals and objectives that could be um, you know one

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<v Speaker 1>one answer. I think obviously there's also just a funding gap. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>we certainly see it continue to play out. Ruth Fox

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<v Speaker 1>later partner at Anthemus