‘You’re a girl,’ and other obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur in South Africa

South Africa trails the rest of the country and continent in women entrepreneurship. Quartz Africa explores what makes the entrepreneur world so challenging for women--especially young women--and how to improve the business climate.

qz.com - “You’re a girl, you’re young.” Those words have followed Boitshoko Masetla at every turn on her journey as an entrepreneur.

At first it was her family, especially her male relatives, who believed she would be better suited to training for a stable and nonthreatening desk job. Then it was the potential investors who preferred to invest in her male colleagues’ untested technology rather than her already established bakery.

The worst was a potential mentor at an entrepreneurship skills incubator who thought the best path for her business would be to buy her out and giver her a job in the marketing department of his established confectionery.

“That’s where I learned the world of entrepreneurship is for men,” said the 23-year-old, who raised seed capital by selling ice-lollies. Today she runs a bakery from her home in Pretoria, supplying five schools in her neighborhood and supplying everything from cupcakes to bread for local events.

Her business, Sakatola Trading, employs six people and she is the sole owner after her three partners abandoned the business in the early years for more stable jobs. The only people willing to invest in her was her mother and a lecturer who realized her potential in her entrepreneurship college class.

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This One Thing Gives Women The Edge In Crowdfunding

Even though women face an uphill battle when pitching to investors, telling a compelling story to potential investors can often give them an edge in crowdfunding. Read on for the full story from Fast Company.

fastcompany.com - From glass ceilings to wage gaps, women in the workforce are often at a disadvantage. For female entrepreneurs, the challenges are sometimes even greater. But recent research has uncovered something that is working in women founders’ favor: storytelling on crowdfunding platforms.

Even though , an MIT study found that when women pitched investors for funding, they were less likely to score than a man delivering the exact same pitch. If you’re a mother or a woman of color, hurdles from biased thinking to lack of networks make it even harder to get funding.

Crowdfunding aimed to level the playing field for startups. Industry analysis from Massolution, a research firm specializing in crowdfunding, estimated that global crowdfunding raised over $34 billion in 2015, making it an increasingly popular alternative to venture capital and angel investing.

Platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter eliminated the need for pitch presentations and their potential for unconscious bias. A study from NYU and Wharton revealed that women tended to support each other in greater numbers in crowdfunding. Women-only teams had a 40% better chance of meeting fundraising goals, while in tech, the success rate for women-led Kickstarter projects was 65% as opposed to just 35% for men.

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Female founders bring much more than diversity to startups

SheThePeople, a video and digital platform dedicated to women in leadership, lays out five reasons diversity and gender equality isn't just fair in business--it's beneficial. Women and men alike can buck trends, but with statistics backing up some very real advantages among women-led startups, it's worth embracing female founders no matter how you look at it.

shethepeople.tv - The gender biases of the startup community are long-standing topics of debate but this piece is focusing on really why women make the startup community more relevant and how they matter to growth.

Diversity in founders is imperative for the ecosystem. Women founders bring elements different from male ones and often those inputs can go a mile more in determining the longevity of the enterprise. Investors are missing out by not investing in startups led by women. This is a really big problem, folks, and it’s one that we have the ability to change.

Higher return on investment: Women-led tech companies in the US achieve 35 percent higher return on investment, and, when venture-backed, bring in 12 percent more revenue than male-owned tech companies as per a survey by Kauffman Foundation. In India the number of women startup owners have increased over the year 2015 in a big way. “Now, women are more into technology than in the previous years. Digital media has also empowered them a lot more to come into entrepreneurship,” shared Swati Bhargava, co-founder of coupons website CashKaro.com at the Digital Women Awards.

Women tend to empathize more. They listen and understand. Women have a brilliant way of understanding the consumer pysche and reflect with an intuitive sense.

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9 Female Founders on How They Learned to Celebrate Failure

elle.com - Nobody likes to fail. But women take failure particularly hard—studies have shown that women are so averse to failure that they don't apply for jobs unless they feel 100 percent qualified. This hesitancy is understandable: When they do fail, women are judged more harshly than their male counterparts. Men, on the other hand, throw veritable failure parties; they're more likely to embrace "What doesn't kill you…" and plow ahead. 

 This week on ELLE.com, we've asked women to share their stories of failure. Not the kind of failure that led to some great business idea—just failure, plain and simple. We hope to shift the narrative about failure (it's okay! it happens!), or, at the very least, chip away at the idea that failure should be shameful or a secret. So here's to failing, loudly and proudly. Read more here.

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By now, we all know the uphill climb that women in tech must endure. The statistics—they're bad. And while the numbers have started to improve, the fact remains that women in tech tend to face more sexism, skepticism, and discrimination than men do.

And while examples of women who have triumphed over it all are still too few, it seems everyone has an opinion about female failure. If you're a white dude, congratulations! Odds are you blame failure on external factors, on bad timing, on a market that wasn't quite ready for your genius. If you're a woman, however, failure is trickier.

A 2012 study from Babson College found that fear of failure was the biggest concern of female founders. "Even though women may have more years of education, it may not relate to self-perceived confidence in their entrepreneurial capabilities," said Candida Brush, a professor at Babson and the author of the report. Brush explains that women are still more likely than men to internalize a personal sense of blame for failure, considering it a manifestation of their weaknesses or insecurities.

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Lighting the Way to Women’s Economic Empowerment

Sustainable development has to include--and encourage--the contributions of women worldwide. One company is seeing the financial and social profitability in embracing the idea. ONergy, a renewable energy venture in eastern India, is helping to introduce solar power to East and Northeast India while partnering with women in training programs that educate and empower the local entrepreneurs to promote the products throughout the region. The company plans to introduce clean, reliable energy to 1 million people by 2017 and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 100,000 tons. The company has already trained more than 5,000 women and plans to reach out to 50,000 in the next three years, training them on ONergy's technology and features as well as partnering with organizations like NGOs and microfinance institutions to help women gain knowledge to enter the entrepreneurial world and support their families and communities.

Read more about the venture below and at the link.

3blmedia.com - The women of East and Northeast India no longer need to fear the dark. ONergy, an award-winning social enterprise, has developed a number of innovative energy solutions that not only address the dearth of electricity in the region – improving safety in their communities – but also light a path toward economic empowerment for women.

ONergy’s innovative solar power solutions are providing energy to meet India’s development and social challenges. To promote solar as a clean and reliable source of energy, the company is training women entrepreneurs in its products’ technology, usability and special features. By partnering with local grassroots organizations – microfinance institutions, NGOs and women’s self-help groups – the company is imparting product know-how while also enabling these women to serve as company distributors – providing both income and empowerment.

“Lack of energy is an important bottleneck to development. And women are the central force in the development of their families and the shaping of the next generation,” says Piyush Jaju, CEO of ONergy. “ONergy’s products provide environmental benefits by reducing the use of diesel generators, kerosene and other harmful energy sources – and empower women to help shape a brighter tomorrow.”

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Four myths about women entrepreneurs

"Unicorns" aren't the only mythological terms you'll hear when discussing startups and entrepreneurs--particularly women entrepreneurs. Here are just a few preconceptions people tend to have about female founders, with responses that should equip you to understand more and bust a few myths. 

her.yourstory.com - As a woman entrepreneur, I’m sure you’ve faced more than your share of misconceptions and preconceived notions. No matter how far you’ve come or how high you’ve risen, there will always be people whose notions are grossly incorrect, sometimes downright offensive. For instance, how often have you been asked, “How are you able to manage it all?” On the flip side, we don’t often hear men being asked such questions about how they tread the fine line of work-life balance, right? So why are we, as women, subjected to such presumptions?

Myth #1: You won’t have a life outside the home or office

One of the most common (and therefore most persistent) myths out there is that you just won’t have a life outside of work. While this may be true in the early stages of your entrepreneurial journey, once you’ve established your business, it becomes easier to take a step back. The trick is to ‘prioritise and compartmentalise’ – that is, focus on the top tasks on your ‘to do’ list and devote time exclusively to each task. Leave work behind when you come home and learn to set aside time for yourself. I know scores of women, like me, who helm corporations and have a demanding family life, but still manage to squeeze in some ‘me time’ for themselves on a daily basis. Chalk out at least a half-hour every day to do something you love and then watch the magic unfold.

As for me, I always try to steal away from my packed schedule a weekend trip to Pune, every few months, to spend time with family.

Myth #2: You need to act like a man to succeed

Here’s another golden oldie – that, to be successful, you need to behave (and dress) like a man.

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Why VCs Aren’t Funding Women-led Startups - Knowledge@Wharton

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu - What’s it like to be a female entrepreneur raising money in the male-dominated venture capital industry? It’s a question Kathryn Hays, the co-founder and CEO of venture-backed Vivoom, an ad tech startup, is often asked. Hays led her first startup, Massive Incorporated, a video game advertising company, through several rounds of funding, before eventually selling the company to Microsoft for a reported $200 million-$400 million.

“I am afraid I don’t have a very satisfying answer,” she says. “Usually I am the only woman in the room, but I have no idea how much of a disadvantage that is because I don’t know what it’s like to be a male looking for funding.”

She admits, though, she has given the matter some thought. “Male VCs — and obviously most are — are very comfortable now giving female entrepreneurs capital for ‘girl stuff,’” she says. “Want to rent dresses or sell baby wipes as a subscription? No problem. The VCs ask their wives or girlfriends if the idea is cool, and they’re good to go.”

But female founders pitching hard-core, proprietary technologies — Vivoom’s platform, for instance, renders Hollywood-quality video in the cloud for millions of mobile users at a time — face an altogether different dynamic, she says. “Sometimes I believe if I were a 21-year-old male in a hoodie, Vivoom would be even more appealing to VCs,” she notes.

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10 Things Every Woman Should Know About Financial Planning

cosmopolitan.com - 1. You're in charge of your own income. Some financial planners will take on a commission-based role, where they're paid a percentage for each client they see. Other financial planners work on a flat fee, which earns a flat rate for each client. It's also pretty common for financial planners to start their own businesses — which is what I did. There are more risks associated with running your own business, but it's also incredibly flexible. Depending on how much you want to work, you can make well into the six figures.

2. You'll spend half your time just finding new clients. Your success in this field depends entirely on your ability to find clients. In the beginning, I took every coffee meeting I could and networked like crazy, trying to get clients who would pay me for my expertise. Now, after about 10 years of doing this, I have relationships with people who refer clients and I use online marketing to get more, but I'm still always looking for new clients to grow my business. Plus, about half of my clients only visit me one time to create a basic money management plan, so I need a constant influx of new people.

3. It's a good idea to specialize in a certain kind of client, like a doctor does.Otherwise, it can get overwhelming to try to know everything. My clients are all professional women in their 30s and 40s — a demographic I chose for both personal reasons (I'm an entrepreneurial woman in my 30s) and because market research shows women are still underserved by the financial services industry. As more women started to become breadwinners, it seemed like there was a huge need to serve women, so I wanted to become that person. I don't stray from that niche: I don't work with retired women; I don't work with women straight out of college; I don't work with men. Being so particular and becoming an expert in their particular financial concerns has actually helped me to become successful.

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Current Data is 'Sexist,' So Bill and Melinda Gates Are Funding Research to Help Women

huffingtonpost.com - Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks at the Advancing Asia Conference in New Delhi, India.

Data is “sexist,” and will remain so until we get accurate statistics on women and girls, according to Melinda Gates. Because there’s a lack of data on such issues as intimate partner violence and women’s economic contributions, governments and groups can’t identify where services are needed or assess which initiatives are working. To ensure that women are properly counted, and get appropriate services and recognition, The Gates Foundation is committing $80 million over the next three years to gathering robust and reliable data, Gates announced at the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday. “The hard reality is that in too many areas, data still doesn’t exist. And often, where it does exist, it’s sexist,” the humanitarian said during her address. “It misses women and girls entirely, or undercounts and undervalues their economic and social contributions.” The ambitious plan will involve collecting the data that was neglected in the past, improving the collection process and equipping decision makers with clearer evidence about programs that are effective.

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Only 1 woman among top 10 highest-paid CEOs — and she took a pay cut last year

nytlive.nytimes.com - The list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the U.S. was released on Wednesday, and only one woman ranked among the chief executives pulling in the largest compensation packages: Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer ranked ninth on the list. In 2015, Mayer earned $36 million in compensation, a 15 percent decline from the previous year, The Associated Press reports. That may be attributable to the fact that, as the AP notes, the internet giant’s stock was down a whopping 34 percent in 2015. It was a busy year for Mayer in her personal life as well — she gave birth to twins in December, and was criticized by some for only taking a two-week maternity leave, even though the company offers up to 16 weeks for new moms. Also, Yahoo had to increase Mayer’s personal security detail after she and her family were the subjects of what the company described as a “credible” threat, CNN Money reported. Though a recent report indicated that the pay gap is actually reversed near the very top of the highest-earning CEOs — the best-performing women chief execs actually out-earn men — at the very top of the top, it’s still largely a boys club.

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US opens enterprise hub in Nairobi for women

businessdailyafrica.com - Women now have a new avenue through which to start and expand their businesses after the United States government kept its word to establish a tailor-made entrepreneurial center in the country.

The U.S.-funded business center situated in Lavington, Nairobi, will provide mentoring, business connections, specialized training, access to market and capital for budding women entrepreneurs.

A number of highly practical programs aimed at accelerating growth of businesses will also be implemented at the center.

This is the brainchild of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Centers of Resources, Education, Access and Training for Economic Empowerment (WACREATE), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) and StartUp Cup.

“The center is a wonderful resource for empowering women from all walks of life who are interested in starting a business,” US Ambassador Robert Godec said when he presided over the opening of the center last week.

“It fulfills a promise President Barack Obama made during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in July 2015.”

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She Leads Africa to Host #SheHiveNYC for Business-Savvy African Women Next Month

okayafrica.com - She Leads Africa is a social enterprise that supports young African women and their journey towards professional success. Okayafrica is excited to be a media partner for the New York stop of their SheHive Tour, SheHive NYC, from June 2-5, 2016.

The four-day boot camp will bring together young female professionals and entrepreneurs to learn new business skills, network with their peers and connect directly with potential mentors and investors.

From looking further into starting a business or launching a career in Africa, SheHive NYC aims to reconnect participants with the continent by providing a space for them to meet and network with fellow young, ambitious African women living in the US.

“In the US and UK, men dominate the business and corporate landscape but with so many new industries being created in Africa and for communities in the diaspora, we have the opportunity to change things now,” She Leads Africa co-founder, Afua Osei, says in a statement. “Young women should be encouraged to take leadership roles in startups and corporate organizations and supported along their journey towards professional success. It doesn’t matter if you’re first generation, a recent expat or African American, we all have a shared history and opportunity to make things better.”

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4 Small Business Lending Options for Women

huffingtonpost.com - As of 2012, there are nearly 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Since 2007, that's a 26.8% increase. If you're one of those businesses, there are some small business lending options out there just for you. Beyond using credit cards, personal savings, retirement accounts, and reaching out to friends and family, there are many ways to get the capital you need to run your business.

Grants are highly sought after because they're not required to be repaid. Just because grants have limited availability doesn't mean you shouldn't consider them. The Small Business Administration (SBA) and other organizations provide a number of grants specifically to women-owned businesses including:

The Amber Grant: Founded in 1998, this program was created to honor a young woman who passed away before accomplishing her entrepreneurial dreams. The small grants, ranging from $500 to $2,500 help micro-entrepreneurs get their start in business so they can go after larger investments later.

Founded in 1998, this program was created to honor a young woman who passed away before accomplishing her entrepreneurial dreams. The small grants, ranging from $500 to $2,500 help micro-entrepreneurs get their start in business so they can go after larger investments later. Eileen Fisher Women-Owned Business Grant Program: This private organization awards five grants per year, to 100% women-owned businesses with founding principles of innovation, sustainability, and social consciousness.

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Why men earn 57% more from their investments than women

thisismoney.co.uk - Women's investment income is lagging behind men's by more than 50 per cent - far outstripping the gender pay gap and causing them to miss out on an average of £1,372 per year.

Men typically earn £3,794 annually from their investments, compared with £2,422 for women, according to research by private equity investment specialist Radius Equity.

The suggested reasons for this are a combination of women tending to have less income to put into investments because of the gender pay gap, and that the investments they take out often reflect a perceived lower appetite for risk than men.

Missing out: Women earn an average of £1,372 less than men every year on their investments

The company analysed figures from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs that show men are 20 per cent more likely than women to invest in a stocks and shares Isa.

Investing in an Isa brings a greater risk but also typically a higher return than a cash Isa.

Of the women who took up an Isa in the 2012-2013 tax year, 5.9million or 82 per cent of chose to go for a cash-only product.

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New Crowdfunding Rules Let the Small Fry Swim With Sharks

nytimes.com - If you’ve always dreamed of being Mr. Wonderful from “Shark Tank,” now is your chance.

Starting Monday, new rules will permit anyone, not just the moneyed, to risk $2,000 a year or more investing in small companies in exchange for a stake in the business. Companies can raise up to $1 million a year this way.

This change, years in the making, represents an enormous shift, one that essentially permits anyone to become a venture capitalist — with all the attendant risks of losing one’s shirt on a company that fails. Until now, only accredited investors, meaning those with an annual income of at least $200,000 or a net worth of at least $1 million, have been permitted to take equity stakes in most private companies. The wealthy “sharks” of the ABC reality television series got to risk their money, while the rest of us watched the action from the couch.

It is also an opportunity for start-ups and other small businesses, which can raise money with fairly few regulatory burdens. For instance, small companies seeking less than $500,000 and most first-time issuers will not need to provide audited financial statements, just unaudited ones.

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Money and Connections Still Hurdles for Women Entrepreneurs

businessnewsdaily.com - The business world has come a long way from the days when men dominated the scene. According to American Express OPEN's 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, 11.3 million U.S. businesses are currently owned by women, and an average of 1,072 new female-owned companies are being started every day. This number is growing five times faster than the national average for all businesses, meaning more women than ever are taking the leap into entrepreneurship.

But it's not always an easy road — Keri Gohman, head of small business banking at Capital One, said that there are still numerous obstacles female entrepreneurs may have to overcome.

"Women are starting and growing businesses at a rapid rate, thanks to advances in technology and reduced barriers to entry," said Gohman, whose company recently released a report on female entrepreneurs through its Future Edge initiative, in collaboration with Center for an Urban Future. "Although women have made significant strides, continued hurdles are preventing them from scaling their business or starting one in the first place, like securing financing, acquiring financial skills, and finding and establishing professional networks."

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How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth

mckinsey.com - A new McKinsey Global Institute report finds that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. The public, private, and social sectors will need to act to close gender gaps in work and society.

Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. If women—who account for half the world’s working-age population—do not achieve their full economic potential, the global economy will suffer. While all types of inequality have economic consequences, in our new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report, The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, we focus on the economic implications of lack of parity between men and women.

A “best in region” scenario in which all countries match the rate of improvement of the fastest-improving country in their region could add as much as $12 trillion, or 11 percent, in annual 2025 GDP. In a “full potential” scenario in which women play an identical role in labor markets to that of men, as much as $28 trillion, or 26 percent, could be added to global annual GDP by 2025. MGI’s full-potential estimate is about double the average estimate of other recent studies, reflecting the fact that MGI has taken a more comprehensive view of gender inequality in work.

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Empower Women - Sexual and Reproductive Control: the Vital Underpinning of Women’s Economic Empowerment

empowerwomen.org - Women’s control of their sexual health is a vital part of their ability to live an independent and economically empowered life.

My research on sexuality – interviewing women from a wide range of different backgrounds about their sexual imagination, experiences, and desires – has convinced me that it is crucial to women’s well-being to break the silence that surrounds it. Unfortunately, for women in the 21st century, sex and sexuality are often still taboo, and taboos are where pain, difficulty, shame and preconceptions converge. Yet this area of a woman’s life can bring her both the most intense pleasure and the most intense pain, and only through open and honest conversation can women learn how to safeguard and protect themselves.

The statistics are shocking. The number one cause of death among women aged between 15 and 44 around the world is HIV and AIDS, and four in every five women infected with HIV contracted it through heterosexual sex. These statistics tell us that there is a huge need for initiatives that make preventive methods easily available to women. This is undoubtedly why women’s sexual health is given such high priority by Sustainable Development Goal 5, which calls for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Target Six of SDG5 asks the international community to honor the commitments made in the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, by making sure that all women and girls have universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

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Rollling the moneyball: Six finance-linked start-ups by women

shethepeople.tv - It’s age of the start-ups, where women are venturing into business in every industry. More so now as compared to earlier, women are converting their disruptive ideas in the finance industry to actual businesses. And they don’t just start it, they also churn great profits from them. Here are six start-ups led by women in the finance industry that have made a real impression.

A mobile wallet from which one can recharge mobile phones, pay bills and shop, Mobikwik is certainly a useful addition to have on your phone. Although when it was founded by Upasana back in 2009, she had to put in a lot of effort to make people understand her idea. But a good idea always works, and so did Mobiwik.

A Sillicon Valley return, Natasha was having a meal at a restaurant when paying the bill became a huge hindrance for her, which led to her starting her own startup- Ruplee. The app not only allows one to pay for a meal, but also divide or split the bills between people. Ruplee is very much active in metropolitan cities in India with its base set up in Gurgaon.

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The most powerful woman hedge fund manager in the world is crushing it

businessinsider.com - Leda Braga is the first woman ever to have made the cut to Institutional Investor's annual list of richest hedge fund managers.

As the head of Geneva-based Systematica Investments, Braga earned about $60 million last year and snagged the 44th spot on the ranking published today.

That puts her on par with two New York-based managers, Scott Ferguson of Sachem Head Capital Management and Mark Kingdon of Kingdon Capital Management.

Systematica is a computer-driven firm spun out from BlueCrest Capital. Her BlueTrend Fund was up 6.4% this year through April 8, nearly doubling the 3.4% return that it had last year, according to Institutional Investor, which cited the HSBC hedge fund database.

Under Braga's helm, Systematica's assets have grown to $10.2 billion as of March 1. She manages more money than any other woman in the hedge fund industry.

If this kind of perfomance goes on, Braga may soon land herself a spot on the top 25 list.

The Brazilian-born portfolio manager, who holds a Ph.D. from Imperial College, worked on JPMorgan's derivatives research team before going in to the hedge fund industry.

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