Two. Less than two. Used to be less than three. If you’re in Massachusetts, less than one.
What am I talking about? If you’ve been hanging around these parts long enough, you might recognize those numbers as the percentage of venture capital money that goes to female-founded startups*.
Only a small percentage of startups actively seek and get venture funding. Venture funding is typically reserved for high-growth companies with the potential to return billions to their investors. But the percentage of venture capital that goes to women-founded companies has significance beyond any specific company.
- Successfully funded and exited startups turn founders into funders. If women don’t get founder equity, they are less likely to become investors themselves. The downstream implications for other women are enormous.
- Whole categories impacting women remain underfunded: for example, women’s health.
- The lack of funding for women discourages them from starting companies that require funding. As they say, “What if THAT includes the cure for cancer (or a way to stop climate change, or any other giant global issue?”)
Appalling.
What’s even more appalling is that the numbers seem to be slipping. Much fuss has been made about various initiatives to change these numbers, but we don’t seem to be gaining. We hear the reasons and excuses, but rarely are we shown successes.
This is where “Show Her the Money” comes in. This 2023 documentary film follows four female founders, connecting them, and us, with potential investors. Each business has the potential to become a “unicorn” … a billion-dollar business, but without funding, they stand a real risk of losing it all.
Show Her the Money ranges from India to Boston, DC to LA, with a stop in Texas and a trip to Vancouver.
- Diipa Büller-Khosla, founder of indē wild, creates products to celebrate South Asian beauty.
- Marian Leitner’s company, Archer Roose, sells luxury wines in cans and partners with Elizabeth Banks for hilarious commercials.
- Jasmine Jones, founder of Myya, makes mastectomy bras empowering, convenient and sexy.
- Vicky Pasche is the founder of Dapper Boi, a gender-neutral, body-inclusive apparel line.
And on the other side of the equation are the investors. Pocket Sun started SoGal Ventures at the age of 24. SoGal is a next-gen, early-stage VC firm backing world-class diverse entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley. Sun says she “got laughed at, a lot” during those early days. Spoiler alert – later, she reveals that many of the white male VCs who refused to invest with her are no longer in business.
Investor Dawn Lafreeda owns more restaurants than any woman in the US and talks about entrepreneurship as a path to freedom. She says, “It’s my responsibility to share.”
Wendy Ryan uses her generational wealth to empower women and BIPOC entrepreneurs. She recognizes this privilege and talks about how some investors might tell a founder to “come back when you have had friends and family put money in. But unless you run in the right circles…”
In addition to the founders and angel investors, the film also (appropriately enough) features award-winning actress, Sharon Gless, one of the stars of the ground-breaking series Cagney & Lacey. Gless and Lafreeda talk about life and investing in the same breath.
An insider’s view of the founder’s life.
We shadow Büller-Khosla on launch day. We witness her first view of her billboard “in the wild”. We’re there as she launches a new campaign, watching her exuberance as orders come in. We also see her cry when her mother tells her how proud she is.
We see Jones holding an investor call with her newborn in her arms.
Leitner and actress-extraordinaire Banks have a glorious time on set creating a brand that blasts through our expectations about wine and helps make wine drinking sustainable.
Catherine Gray, award-winning producer, author, TEDx speaker, podcast host and founder of She Angel Investors, proves herself the ultimate connector, introducing a new investor to Dapper Boi just as the founders are discussing how they might sell their family home to continue funding the venture. Now Dapper Boi is headed for the Shark Tank.
You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. And you’ll envision your pitch deck. Are you ready for a new era of female founder empowerment?
Show Her the Money is currently on tour. Interested in getting inspired and educated? Or maybe hosting a screening? Visit the website.
According to the film, women will have more than 30 trillion in investable capital by the end of the decade. It’s time to invest in each other.
*If you are seeing different numbers when it comes to venture capital for female-founded companies, ask these questions:
- Does this number represent companies founded ONLY by women? (The number for venture funding that goes to startups that include a female founder or even a female member of the founding team is frequently used to obscure abysmal public facing metrics.)
- Does this number represent only venture capital dollars? (Sometimes, the metrics include all types of funding, including angel investing and grants, another tactic that can obscure the reality for female-founded companies.)
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