So many male founders shouting at VC's to invest in women. Not many male founders investing in women.
If you announce to the public as an all male founding team, and you've said diversity matters to you. You're lying. What you're actually saying is diversity matters provided it doesn't cost you, provided it isn't your problem to solve.
I gave half my equity to a woman. HALF. I gifted it to her years after the company was started.
Because she's amazing, and because I trust her, sure.
But there's SO MUCH MORE to it. And I'm sick of the fucking hypocrisy.
Not having equality at the top means I'll never have it below.
It means I'll lose the perspective of half my customers, partners and team.
I'll never have it in my product, in my design, in my press releases, in my meetings, in my planning, in my comms, in my relationship with my customers.
It means I'll never have equality in my hiring policies, in the leave policies I create for my team, or the flexibility I create in our workplace to allow for the best candidates.
Not having equality at the top means I don't care enough about it to act on it at the top.
Caring comes with a cost. Beliefs cost you. They are't free. People die for beliefs. They aren't a hollow statement, or a like, or a thumbs up. You have to live them, breathe them, and yes, in a modern age, you have to expend for them.
If you don't care enough about your beliefs to pay for them, they aren't your beliefs, and nothing will change just because you tell people you have them.
If you're in an all male founding team YOU are the problem.
The VC didn't choose YOUR team. YOU did.
Grow up, men.