lengthy experience being the only woman in the room and it really doesn’t faze me. What phases me is that women all over the world are not being given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Being a competitive indi- vidual myself, I have never looked for a handout simply because I’m a woman. I have never asked to be selected for anything because I check a box and I would certainly hope my company gets funded because it’s an amazing investment opportunity and not simply because I’m a female founder. That is not what women want. Women aren’t looking for special treatment just because they’re female. Instead, women want to be afforded the same opportunities that men are, they want to be given the same shot and they want to be con- sidered in the same way. We want to begin at the same starting line but clearly, that’s not happen- ing.
“only 2.3% of wom- en-led startups received venture capital funding in 2020. Oh and 38% of business- es are women-led so figure that one out.”
IT’S ABOUT A FAIR SHOT, NOT SPECIAL TREATMENT GENDER SHOULDN’T MATTER
“Being a competi- tive individual myself, I have never looked for a handout simply because I’m a woman.”
by Shannon Ferguson
M ore women are becoming entrepreneurs and trying to raise capital to grow their businesses to its full potential. Unfortu- nately, venture capital funding is not staying on pace with this growth in women-led companies, things are getting better but there is still a way to go. We discuss how women business owners are not looking for special treatment, just a fair shot and that doesn’t mean equal outcomes, just equal opportunities to achieve the same outcome. In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, only 2.3% of women-led startups received venture capital funding in 2020. Oh and 38% of businesses are women-led so figure that one out. But still, there’s this overwhelming trend where some people seem to get up up-in-arms when women bring this issue to the forefront.
As a startup founder and CEO who is female, I can tell you that navigating these waters and finding my voice has been tricky. Until a couple of years ago, I chose to ignore the facts as I grew my business, FanSaves, in the male-dominated sports-tech industry. I chose to look the other way, put my head down and work to prove everyone wrong. But now we’re currently in the middle of our Seed Round and it’s become relevant again. I finally realized this isn’t about me, this is about an issue bigger than I’ll ever be and it’s time to find my voice again. For most of my life, I have been the only woman on the teams I have been part of, and it has shaped me in a unique way. Since my days of playing organized hockey on an all-boys team to my time growing my career in sports marketing on a team of all men to the meetings I’m often in now-- the sole woman in a sea of men, I have
“women want to be afforded the same opportunities that men are, they want to be given the same shot and they want to be consid- ered in the same way.”
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VOL 23 ISSUE 1 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 23 ISSUE 1
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