Heads up: this episode is in Dutch!
Why is raising funds still harder for women?
In episode 73 of Women Disrupting Tech, Fleur van Leijsen and I explore why women still face more challenges raising funds than men.
In this Dutch-spoken episode, Fleur shares how she investigated the problem and came up with a practical solution: conversation starters to help founders and investors overcome these biases.
Click the play below to learn more or use one of the links to the podcast throughout this blog post to find the episode on your favorite podcast platform.
Gespreksstarters voor een gelijkwaardiger investeringsklimaat met Fleur van Leijsen | Ep. 73 – Women Disrupting Tech
- The magic you can expect in this episode 🪄
- Want to try the solution for yourself?
- Free ways to support Women Disrupting Tech
- What makes this episode magical🌟?
- About Fleur van Leijsen
- Let me know what you think!
- What’s coming up?
- More episodes like this?
The magic you can expect in this episode 🪄
How can we improve gender equality in startup funding?
Part of the answer is to change our biases about women in entrepreneurship and finance. But how to get started?
As part of her study, Fleur van Leijsen investigated this problem and developed a solution that addresses the biases head-on. Her conversation starters make investors and female founders aware of their biases.
She recently graduated and that was a great opportunity to have her on the podcast to talk about her research and her interventions.
In episode 73 of Women Disrupting Tech, Fleur and I talk about the business case for gender equality in entrepreneurship, the silly questions that female entrepreneurs get asked, and how to bring up a challenging topic like gender equality.
So, if you’re an investor or entrepreneur and want to get ahead of biases in your next funding conversation, this episode is for you. Click the button below to listen to the episode on Spotify.
Want to try the solution for yourself?
Are you female founder looking for funding? On 7 November 4Impact Capital and Women Disrupting Tech will organize a Female Founder and Investor Breakfast at ImpactFest in The Hague. There, we’ll test the conversation starters that Fleur developed. And yes, Fleur will be there too.
You can register for the breakfast here. Since we’re an official side event of ImpactFest, the breakfast is complimentary, but you do need a ticket for ImpactFest. To get your ticket for ImpactFest, use this link to qualify for a 20% discount.
Can’t join us at ImpactFest? Ask Fleur to do a creative session for your company. Simply connect on LinkedIn.
Free ways to support Women Disrupting Tech
When you’re ready to support my guests in making this podcast obsolete by the end of 2032, help out by doing these two things:
- Use the share buttons below to share the podcast with friends, family, and co-workers. This way, you give the women disrupting tech the platform they need to make it happen. Use the buttons below to share.
- Rate the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Better yet, leave a review. You can use a rating of one to five stars. This will help other people discover the podcast. And if you leave a review, it will help me improve.
What makes this episode magical🌟?
You’ll discover early on in the episode that Fleur and I have the same starting point for what we do: the statistic that in The Netherlands, 0.7% of venture capital goes to female-led teams. Both of us want to change this narrative. For me, it was magical to talk to a woman with the same passion as me. I hope you can hear this when you listen.
Another part of the magic is that Fleur developed a solution that addresses the core of the bias. Being aware of your biases changes how you deal with them. By creating conversation starters to address the biases, she allows founders and investors to work around these biases.
Perhaps not magical, but still important, I got the impression that some men are still in denial about diversity and inclusion. While this seems sad, it also means that this may be an excellent time for solutions like Fleur’s.
“Laten we gewoon luisteren naar het verhaal dat wordt verteld or de plannen die worden gemaakt, en niet gelijk een vooroordeel gaan hebben of dit gaat werken.”
Fleur van Leijsen
About Fleur van Leijsen
Fleur van Leijsen is a concept developer and futurist at her own company, FleurConcepts. She developed her interventions and conversation starter as part of her study concept creation & trend research. She interviewed both founders and investors about their views on funding inequality and possible solutions.
Her interventions help female entrepreneurs and investors to be aware of each other’s biases before entering into a conversation about funding, thereby improving the chances of a positive outcome. Learn more by connecting with her on LinkedIn. She recently also showcased her work at the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
Let me know what you think!
Please let me know your thoughts and observations in the comments below this post.
Also, if you have questions about the interventions that Fleur developed, put them in the comments and I will forward them to Fleur.
If you would like to suggest a guest that I absolutely must have on the podcast, please let me know via email or send a DM on LinkedIn.
What’s coming up?
Next week on Women Disrupting Tech, we’ll hear from Ingeborg van Harten how you can build an irresistible organization that people would love to work for.
Speaking of irresistible, in episode 75, we hear from Lieke Hölscher how she built an irresistible tribe of financial crime fighters at Rabobank from scratch. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the EWPN Annual Conference in Amsterdam. And I can tell you: it’s magical.
So stay tuned for two inspiring women disrupting tech in the last two episodes of season three of Women Disrupting Tech!
More episodes like this?
It’s always difficult to compare, but if there are two episodes that I’d like you to listen to it’s these:
– In episode 1, Wendy Broersen shares her views on the ideal startup. In that episode, we also cover examples from her own funding journey.
– In episode 25, I hosted a panel about Career Advancement for Women in Tech. In that episode, we cover biases too.
Women Disrupting Tech | The Podcast 
Hi,
The discussion with Fleur van Leijsen about creating a more equitable investment climate is really thought-provoking! I’m curious—what do you think are the biggest barriers to achieving gender equality in the investment world, and what practical steps can both investors and entrepreneurs take to break down these barriers?
Regards,
Complete Connection
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