May 4, 2016, 7:39 PM ETConference Presentation, Panel

Women Entrepreneurs: A Dynamic Force in Global Growth

Founder Demographics & Funding Gap: Research indicates women start companies at twice the rate of men, yet only 1 out of 12 Series A deals last year involved female founders.
Panel Credentials: The five panelists (Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Alexandra Wilcox Wilson, Jessica Alba, Susan Lyne, and Debbie Millman) have collectively raised hundreds of millions in venture capital; one founder (Care.com) has taken their company public.
Market Opportunity: Care.com's total addressable market (TAM) for care services is estimated at $280 billion annually.
Economic Impact Data: A McKinsey study cited suggests that achieving gender parity in the workplace could add $28 trillion to the global economy, equating to the combined GDP of the US and China.
Perception of Parity: Survey data reveals 42% of women enter the workforce believing there is no equal parity in opportunity, compared to only 11% of men who believe gender parity issues exist.

Care.com (Sheila Lirio Marcelo): Founded out of personal necessity when the founder's father suffered a heart attack while she was using Yellow Pages to find care; serves 18 million members in 16 countries and became publicly traded.
Glam Squad (Alexandra Wilcox Wilson): Launched to provide high-quality beauty services (hair, makeup, nails) delivered to consumers; generated $200 million in funding (venture and public) and operates in NY, LA, and Miami.
The Honest Company (Jessica Alba): Addressed the lack of safety testing for chemicals in US products compared to Europe; focuses on affordable, non-toxic home and baby products with a built-in community giving model.
One Kings Lane (Susan Lyne): Evolved from a 2009 flash sale site during the recession into a comprehensive online home goods destination featuring new, designer, and vintage items; bootstrapped initially before raising Series A.
Love Home Swap (Debbie Millman): A global home-sharing platform leveraging the "sharing economy" with over 100,000 homes; addresses the desire for authentic travel experiences over hotel stays, particularly for families.

The "Old Boys' Network": The venture capital community is identified as an "old boys' network" where investors often lack familiarity with female-centric products, making it harder to secure funding for women-led businesses.
Pain vs. Pleasure Framing: Female founders face difficulty convincing investors that their businesses solve "pain" problems (e.g., childcare, safety) rather than "pleasure" problems, despite the massive market size.
Cognitive Bias Examples:
- One VC claimed "women don't spend $500 on shoes" before admitting his wife owned that specific pair.
- Another VC could not comprehend how a woman could multitask (e.g., getting a blowout while working on a laptop).
Term Sheet Challenges: One Kings Lane received a non-negotiable, unfavorable term sheet from a lead investor who later regretted the decision after his wife used the service.
Early-Stage Funding Gap: In the UK and elsewhere, the primary hurdle for women is accessing seed finance due to a lack of networks and contacts, rather than a lack of later-stage capital.
Valuation Disparity: Analysts compared Care.com's metrics to OpenTable's successful IPO, noting that male analysts understood OpenTable's model but struggled to value Care's, highlighting a gap in understanding female-centric markets.

Mentorship & "Championing": Successful founders emphasize the critical role of having mentors who have navigated board meetings and fundraising; panelists advocate for active "championing" by existing leaders to pull others up.
Role of Male Allies: Panelists assert that true gender parity requires more men to act as mentors and champions, as men currently hold the majority of leadership positions and investment power.
Investment Thesis Shift: Some investors suggest that backing female-led companies can be a competitive advantage if they target demographics (e.g., households where women control 70% of income) that male founders may overlook.
Dedicated Funds: There is a forward-looking call to create more funds specifically focused on hiring female partners and investing solely in women-led startups.
STEM Advocacy: Jessica Alba highlights efforts to integrate coding and tech skills into school curricula, specifically supporting organizations like Girls Who Code to increase female representation in technology.
Overcoming the "Three Ps": Sheila Marcelo identifies three self-imposed barriers for women:
- Perception: Fear of being judged in male-dominated industries.
- Perfectionism: Waiting for all qualifications to be met before launching.
- Passivity: Hesitation to voice opinions in meetings, often resulting in men repeating the same ideas.

Grit Over Inspiration: Panelists cite "grit" and persistence during negative news cycles as more critical to success than initial inspiration or idea novelty.
Early Rising Habits: Susan Lyne emphasizes the practical necessity of training oneself to be an early riser to manage the demands of founding a company while raising a family.
Friendship Dynamics: Alexandra Wilcox Wilson advises ensuring that the business does not "business-ify" friendships, maintaining trust and support among co-founders.
Authenticity & Intuition: Founders urge women to trust their intuition (cited as correct 10 out of 10 times) and to remain authentic to their vision rather than conforming to external expectations.
Speed vs. Perfection: Susan Lyne advises moving quickly and iterating rather than waiting for a perfect product, as markets change rapidly.
Redefining Leadership: Sheila Marcelo encourages women to "over-project" their voices in meetings to establish leadership, even if it risks being labeled "pushy," noting that confidence is often mistaken for incompetence in women.
Reframing Failure: Jessica Alba advises that failures prepare founders for the next step; she was rejected three times before her co-founder joined the company 18 months later.
The "Katniss Moment": Marcelo encourages founders to find an "inner strength" moment to overcome being underestimated, asserting that women can be nurturing at home and ferocious in business simultaneously.