Paula Sambo indicated recently at Bloomberg Online that, “Michelle Scarborough, who runs one of the world’s largest venture capital funds dedicated to female-led startups, sees one big difference between men and women in the space: men demand more money.
“Coaching women to make more forceful pitches is one of the things Scarborough does as managing director of the C$200 million ($152 million) fund she runs for the Business Development Bank of Canada.
“A man might explain how he’ll meet his sales target and ask for C$5 million to get him there, said Scarborough. A woman will tell her story and ask for help — not necessarily money.”
The Bloomberg item pointed out that, “After more than 20 years as an entrepreneur and investor, including at Toronto-based private equity firm Kensington Capital Partners, Scarborough said asking for what is necessary is serious business. She herself went back to BDC, a government-owned corporation, to ask the fund be increased from C$70 million in an effort to move the needle on gender dynamics in Canada’s tech industry.”
Ms. Sambo added, “Only 5 percent of Canadian tech companies have a solo female founder while 13 percent have a female co-founder, according to a study by #movethedial, a group dedicated to increasing women in tech.”
