Wouldn’t it be grand if we lived in a world without ceilings or gaps? Glass and gender ones, I mean.
The reality is we don’t. Women entrepreneurs are one-third less likely to own a million-dollar-plus businesses and they raise a lot less money than their male counterparts. There are many reasons for this but chief among them are lower levels of human, social and financial capital. However, there is another — lack of mentors, according to the Kauffman Foundation. This one could, of course, improve access to the other three.
In an era of heightened awareness of sexual harassment, your instinct might be to limit yourself to female mentors. Or, if you're a man, not to be a mentor. With fewer women in power positions in large corporations and few as owners of successful companies and few as angel and venture investors, the pool of mentors for women entrepreneurs will be shallow.
I spoke with two sets of male-female mentor-mentee relationships to better understand the benefits to both men and women. All have a fundamental belief in the power and bottom-line benefits of diversity.
Anu Duggal and Nihal Mehta
Anu Duggal and Nihal Mehta followed similar trajectories. Both are successful tech entrepreneurs who also founded venture capital firms. Duggal is a founding Partner at Female Founders Fund (F3), which has invested in female-run companies like Rent The Runway, Shine, Tala, and Zola. It recently closed its second fund for $27 million.
Mehta is a founding general partner at Eniac. The firm is named after the world’s first programmable computer, which made its debut at the University of Pennsylvania (the founding partners’ alma mater). Six women were part of the team that programmed that computer. Last year, Eniac closed ts fourth fund for $100 million.
“We [Eniac] firmly believe that innovation comes from diversity and, if you look at our best teams, they’re the most diverse in terms of race and gender,” said Mehta. “When you have diverse perspectives, you end up with better decisions and more innovative outcomes.”
Mehta and his team actively seek out diverse founders. Mentoring isn’t just the right thing to do, it has strategic and monetary benefits. Despite getting less funding, high potential companies started by women, generate more revenue, according to research by The Boston Consulting Group. Duggal's network provides a pipeline of vetted female founders in which Eniac might invest.
Mehta meets with at least four female founders a month. While his mentoring relationship with Duggal is a long-term one, some interactions are short-term. Sometimes it’s just a matter of listening, pointing someone in the right direction, providing a little advice or making an introduction.
Ask someone to be your mentor who has a vested interest in your success, who is willing to learn from you as well as to teach you, recommends Duggal. As an investor, Mehta views mentoring as his responsibility, obligation and privilege.
Kate Brodock and Wade Davis
When Kate Brodock’s colleague heard Wade Davis speak at a conference, she thought Davis would be a fit for Women 2.0’s male ally program. Women 2.0 is a diversity and inclusion consulting company with a focus on closing the gap for female-founded early-stage companies in the tech space. The colleague approached Davis to see if he was willing to connect with Brodock. Davis’ company, Wade Davis, consults with numerous professional sports leagues on issues at the intersection sexism, racism and homophobia. His clients include the NFL, Google, Netflix and IBM. The answer was a resounding “yes!”
Whether they are learning from each other, being a sounding board or providing referrals, it’s a two-way relationship. “We’re really educating each other.” said Davis. “There's no way Kate would understand how men are struggling with issues surrounding equality.” Mentoring and training programs that just focus on women aren’t going to be a success. Men have to be part of the equation. Programs need to understand the male perspective.
Saying you support equality isn’t enough. You need to be proactive. “The term ‘ally’ isn’t just a noun, it’s an action word,” said Davis. “Men know very little about women’s experiences in the workplace.” He recommends that all men — not just those with daughters — read about and speak to women about their experiences.
“Men are 50% of the population and represent a much, much higher proportion of power positions,” said Brodock. “I think [mentoring] feels much more like peer-to-peer joint learning and supporting, and I suppose, to put a label on, it could be two-way mentorship.”
So don’t limit yourself to women when looking for a mentor. Who will you ask to be your mentor? What support and learning can you give your mentor?
