What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far

Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by rdl on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:20PM (#7443837)

It would be great for YC's outreach efforts to make a difference in getting more great female founders to apply. There are other groups where outreach could help get some quality underrepresented founders too, which might help with the big ambitious science RFS: going after mid-career people in the sciences and engineering a few years in advance of founding a startup and seeding them with the idea of doing so. I know NSF has some outreach efforts like that, but it would be great for YC if YC's name were known by PIs thinking of going commercial.

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Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by square1 on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:27PM (#7443883)

Shouldn't a desirable attribute from a founder be that they seek out whatever is necessary for survival?

To me, regardless of gender, YC would only want those that were proactive and dedicated to join a YC batch. It seems pointless to encourage specific demographics that would not apply, to do so.

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Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by rdl on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:36PM (#7443933)

YC is clearly not necessary for survival, especially for someone who has already had an exit (and thus has some capital and contacts), or someone who is 50 and has run a 30 person lab, with some savings and other personal contacts. YC can probably help in both of those cases, but the company is capable of being successful without it.

I'd sure rather have an Elon Musk or a Mara Aspinall in YC than a randomly-selected person who already believes YC is the best (or only) way to do a startup.

There are two parts to this -- making YC as useful as possible to the best founders, and making sure the best founders know that and apply.

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Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by malanj on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:35PM (#7443924)

It seems pointless to encourage specific demographics that would not apply, to do so.

I think you're missing the point that there could be reasons that females (or any demographic other than white American males) do not apply to YC that are not correlated with building great companies.

For example it is plausible that woman feel alienated by the tech startup scene and avoid applying to accelerators. White males born might not have that feeling. So effectively their "bar" is lower.

If YC is trying to address that it seems like a smart business move on their part. They are reducing irrationality in the system.

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Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by amputect on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:34PM (#7443915)

"whatever is necessary for survival" might include not wasting a ton of time applying to a startup incubator with a demonstrated track-record of not funding women or minorities or southpaws or whatever. Doing -anything- to change that perception could tip the effort/reward analysis in favor of more of $MINORITY applying.

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Re:What I've Learned From Female Founders So Far by frankdenbow on Friday March 21, 2014 @02:23PM (#7443853)

Agreed. There are many other underrepresented groups that can add much needed perspective on new startups that should also be part of the conversation.

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