Transcript: TechCrunch Disrupt “Women In Tech” Panel [From The Archives]
SARAH (cont’d): Ok, I just want to point out I think that mentoring is great because I do think there are unique challenges women face in every industry. That’s totally different to me than doing another blog post saying the exact same problem to drive comments.
SARAH CHIPPS: Right, and I don’t think sexism is an issue. I don’t know about you ladies, but as a developer I have gotten so much assistance from the men out there. They are so welcoming. Everyone wants this to be changed. I have never been in a situation where I have been like, “Gosh, it would be so much easier if I wasn’t a woman.” Everyone out there is championing the idea.
RACHEL: I have noticed that being a woman has made a difference, both sometimes beneficially but also—I have spoken to a lot of women but I’m not sure how many men in the audience have been told to watch their tone when they’re speaking authoritatively on something. I mean, there are little things—I don’t want to dwell on the negative. You talked about how you think a woman can come in with a great idea to a VC company and present it. I’ve been talking to people. I am now a lightning rod for women that want to tell me their stories. I have a ton of anecdotal stories about how a woman will be presenting to a room full of dudes and then they’ll be like, “Well, if that was such a good idea then my wife would have thought that.” And that is a true story, of a company that ended up being funded and is one of the hot female-started startups.
SARAH: Maybe that guy was a pig? Maybe that’s not a problem with the industry.
RACHEL: I’ve heard “the wife” as the example story in a few different ways.
SARAH: I guess it’s totally different in New York. I’ve been in Silicon Valley more than 10 years. I know lots of women who’ve started companies. I know women who’ve pitched companies that haven’t gotten funded. I’ve heard about inappropriate times where VCs wanted to take the founders to a strip club. I’ve heard weird things like that. I’ve never once heard an anecdote from someone who said, “My wife should have thought of this idea because—“ Have you ever heard that?
LAUREN: Sometimes maybe they use that to frame the demographic though? Maybe they’re saying, “I can’t see my wife using this” or something.
SARAH: Do you guys think it’s possible that this is a New York/San Francisco thing?
RACHEL: It was actually a story about coming back from a trip to the Valley.
OFF-CAMERA: It’s tough for guys to. This isn’t an easy industry. When they walk into—
SARAH: I guarantee you I can point out a bunch of people who would say—
I do this show on TechCrunch TV called Ask A VC where I get letters from viewers to ask a different VC and I announce the VC ahead of time and every time I get letters that say, “We pitched him this awesome idea and he didn’t take us because he doesn’t like us because of this.” I mean, maybe it wasn’t a great idea? That is possible.
NEXT: Is it possible? And could that explain the ratio?
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
