Episode 13: Inside Silicon Valley’s Gender Bias: Helping Female Entrepreneurs Secure Funding From Investors - Lakshmi Balachandra

Figures Of Speech

On today’s show we welcome Lakshmi Balachandra, a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and an International Diana Institute Research Fellow at Babson’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Topics include:

• Lakshmi’s early days as an associate VC and why she dedicated her career to studying the impact of trust, gender and other entrepreneurial characteristics in acquiring early-stage funding.
• Exploring Lakshmi’s research that suggests “it’s not women who have a harder time raising money from investors, it’s anyone who fits certain feminine stereotypes.”
• The Theranos scandal: how Elizabeth Holmes altered her behaviors to be more appealing to male investors.
• How women founders can benefit from having a clearer understanding of what the expectations are when they step into the pitch room and how they can present themselves most effectively.
• Are women founded venture capital firms a viable solution to Silicon Valley’s gender bias?
• The books Lakshmi is currently reading and more.