The obstacles standing in the way of female entrepreneurs

These headwinds were further compounded by the fact her father didn’t want to fund her until she got an external investor as he didn’t understand the space. 

“I had mental health issues and, actually, I therefore couldn’t afford to fail, even if could financially,” she says about setting up in the highly capital-intensive world of beauty brands. 

But in terms of being a woman, she says she feels fortunate about the industry in which she operates. “I wish more industries were like mine,” she said. “Sometimes I want to hire women only and I realise that’s not very inclusive. I don’t think make-up should be about your gender; I like to give a chance to anyone who enjoys it as feminism in my mind is about all of us being equal.” 

Anisha Singh was one of the first female internet founders and also pregnant at the time. “It was a double shock for many people. I had to ignore the ‘she’s pregnant; she’s gonna go’ comments.” 

She believes that the saying ‘Founders have to be too dumb to die’ rings true, meaning that you don’t have to listen to everything that comes your way. “As female founders, you are going to get a double dose of that!” she cautions. 

But women, she stresses, are “not a cause. I hate the word ‘empower’. Nobody needs to empower us; we are empowered.” At She capital, they are trying to change that vibe: “We gave the quickest cash exit back to our investors in one of the largest all-cash fashion deals: we are proving that women do great business.” 

Aarti Gupta explains that she faced real struggles to get where she is, despite six years of education she describes as “great” in Boston: “I married into a family [in India] with a huge media business. I joined with a ceremonious role, but I wasn’t enjoying it; given my father-in-law was struggling with money I started looking into that.” She proved herself through this work. 

“We [in India] are not wired to think beyond marriage. I came from a privileged background and had all access granted from my family, but I still faced so many biases from the bankers’ side. The game is rigged. They would pitch to me and then go to my father-in-law and ask what he had decided. He had to put his foot down and say, ‘I’ll sign where she says.’” 

Female investors as important as female entrepreneurs  

“I’m a big believer in creating not only an ecosystem of entrepreneurs but of investors,” says Gupta. 

“In life, you get what you have the courage to ask for, and lots of us women don’t have the courage to say:  ‘I want to learn start-up investing, to look after my family’s money or my own, and to be part of decision-making processes.’”