“The most succinct way I can describe it is: I have noticed that men receive what I call a ‘presumption of competence’ that women don’t get.”
That’s what one female founder told us in a survey of 279 women entrepreneurs conducted by Fast Company and Inc. We asked founders about their businesses, employee demographics, fundraising efforts—even their political leanings. Funding, in particular, was a source of frustration for many women, which comes as little surprise: In 2017, just over 2% of venture capital funding went to companies founded by only women. (Founding teams with both men and women received about 12% of the $85 billion raised overall.)
