Lessons - Why Women Get 2% of VC Funding | Julia Boorstin - CNBC Senior Correspondent

Summary

Success Story with Scott D. Clary

Episode: Lessons – Why Women Get 2% of VC Funding
Guest: Julia Boorstin, CNBC Senior Correspondent
Date: December 26, 2025

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Brief Overview

In this “Lessons” episode, Scott D. Clary sits down with Julia Boorstin, CNBC Senior Correspondent and author, to unpack the persistent gender equity gap in the workplace, particularly focusing on why women receive only 2-3% of venture capital (VC) funding. The conversation explores systemic barriers, the “broken rung” in career advancement, unconscious bias and pattern matching in VC, and actionable strategies for change. Boorstin draws on research and real-life stories of female founders to highlight the financial and cultural advantages of embracing diversity in leadership and investment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Gender Equity in Education & Early Career Advancement ([00:43])

• Women surpass men in higher education: Women graduate from college and attend grad school at rates equal to or higher than men.
• Persistent gaps in advancement: Despite starting careers in equal numbers, women do not reach top corporate positions at the same rate as men.
• The “broken rung” phenomenon: Early-career promotion gaps, especially into first-level management, limit future advancement for women—even though performance isn’t the issue.
• Structural and societal factors: Parental leave and career interruptions contribute, but systematic issues are deeper and multifaceted.

“Women actually graduate from college in higher numbers than men... but one of the key theories... is this idea of a broken rung.”
– Julia Boorstin [00:43]

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The Venture Capital Gender Gap ([01:50])

• Tech industry as a case study: Tech has the largest gender gap in VC funding compared to any sector.
• Massive influence of tech companies: All major tech startups rely on VC funding to scale, amplifying the impact of such gaps on society and the economy.
• Startling statistics:
  • Over the past 10 years, women-founded companies have received 3% or less of all VC money; in some years, as little as 2%.
  • Women get 6% of deals, but only 3% of VC dollars, indicating they also receive smaller checks.

“If you look at billions of dollars...3% or so of that money goes to companies with female founders.”
– Julia Boorstin [01:50]

“If they're getting 6% of deals and only 3% of dollars, it means the checks are on average smaller.”
– Julia Boorstin [03:49]

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Causes: Pattern Matching & Unconscious Bias in VC ([04:12])

• Pattern matching explained: Investors tend to fund people who “look like” previous successful founders—often white men from certain backgrounds.
• Unconscious bias and cultural affinity: Decisions are shaped by comfort, personal similarities, and the tendency to invest in those they can relate to.
• Feedback loops worsen the problem: As VCs seek replicas of prior success, the lack of female role models perpetuates exclusion.
• Case study – First Round Capital:
  • Internal review revealed female-founded startups were outperforming expectations.
  • Changing hiring practices and deal assessment systems (e.g., written pitches/opinions to reduce loud voices dominating) led to increased diversity and improved results.

“Pattern matching is this idea that if you’re a VC... you should invest in someone who matches a pattern. If you’re looking at that subset of a founder, you’re going to be looking mostly at men.”
– Julia Boorstin [04:12]

“He found that the female-founded investments… tended to perform better… There are systems they could put in place to make sure they weren’t just investing in the obvious thing based on the pattern.”
– Julia Boorstin [06:15]

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Potential Solutions and the Path Forward ([12:18])

• Systemic change requires big players: The industry won’t change solely through new, small women-led VC funds; scale comes from large funds recognizing the financial upside.
• Data-driven arguments: Once major funds see that diversity equals higher returns, systemic shifts become realistic.
• Both/And approach needed: Encourage more women-led funds and push existing funds to diversify leadership and approaches.

“The only way you’re really going to see massive change… is if you have some of the biggest funds… identify the value, the financial value. This is not about helping the world. This is about—they will make more money if they invest in a more diverse set of companies.”
– Julia Boorstin [12:18]

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Why Some Women Succeed in Raising VC ([13:05] & [13:45])

• Unique leadership styles: Success isn’t about mimicking “tech bro” or traditional aggressive leadership models. Diverse leadership traits—resilience, adaptability, collaboration—are assets.
• Inspirational female founder stories: Boorstin’s research features women who outperformed during crises, reformed sectors, and led in ways undervalued by the archetype of a “leader.”
• Throw out stereotypes: The data and stories repeatedly show that leadership traits aren’t confined to a type or gender.

“Leadership doesn’t have to just be one thing. This archetype of male, aggressive, top-down, hierarchical management… that is really not the way things work—certainly not anymore.”
– Julia Boorstin [13:54]

“It’s amazing what business school professors have been up to, but also to learn that some of these traits... that maybe we don’t associate with leadership or business success are actually hugely valuable. And we should just throw out the stereotypes of what a leader looks like.”
– Julia Boorstin [14:55]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Women get promoted at the lower levels, but then there's... a leap to more management level where often women just don't get those promotions.”
  – Julia Boorstin [00:43]
• “I wanted to look at this sector because this is the sector with the craziest gender gap.”
  – Julia Boorstin [01:32]
• “There’s a huge opportunity to break the pattern. There’s financial opportunity in breaking the pattern.”
  – Julia Boorstin [06:56]
• “We should just throw out the stereotypes of what a leader looks like because it has nothing to do with what in reality actually works.”
  – Julia Boorstin [14:55]

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------| | 00:43 | The “broken rung” and educational parity vs. workplace inequity | | 01:50 | Shocking VC funding gap for women in tech | | 03:49 | Women receive smaller checks when they do get venture funding | | 04:12 | Pattern matching and unconscious bias in venture capital | | 06:15 | First Round Capital’s internal audit and new anti-bias systems | | 12:18 | What’s needed for real systemic change in VC allocation | | 13:45 | Traits of successful female founders; dismantling stereotypes | | 14:55 | Why diverse leadership styles work and are needed |

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a clear-eyed exploration into the gender funding gap in tech and venture capital, surfacing both the deeply rooted biases and the powerful case for change—not as an act of charity, but as a business imperative. Through both data and the stories of exceptional women founders, Julia Boorstin and Scott D. Clary encourage listeners to recognize, challenge, and transform outdated systems for a more equitable and profitable future.

Transcript

[A]

In this lessons episode, explore why gender equity in the workplace remains elusive despite higher educational attainment among women. Discover how the broken rung limits early career advancement. Understand how pattern matching and unconscious bias shape venture capital decisions, and uncover how diversified leadership and investment approaches drive stronger outcomes. So where are we at in terms of equity? So what is the reality for somebody going into the workforce now and then trying to move up? What are the problems and the struggles that perhaps we think are gone but are still there? What do we have to deal with?

[B]

So what's interesting is that women actually graduate from college in higher numbers than men do. Women go to more grad school than men do. I think the numbers are pretty close to equal when it comes to business school. These numbers change all the time. No, it's not like men are getting more education than women do. But there have been a lot of studies trying to figure out why women may start in jobs at the same numbers as men, but don't end up at the top of companies in the same numbers as men. And one of the key theories, and this was something that was sort of articulated by Alina and McKinsey study, is this idea of a broken rung. Women get promoted at the lower levels, but then there's a sort of a leap to more of a management level where often women just don't get those promotions. And interestingly, it doesn't necessarily seem to have anything to do with performance. It can have to do with how much women are pushing for promotions, or maybe they are. Are sort of inadvertently penalized for taking time off from work for, you know, for maternity leave, et cetera. So there are so many different reasons. But one thing that I really focus on in this book is I look at the tech industry in particular, because the tech industry has more of a gap in venture capital funding than in any other industry you'll see in terms of representation. So we all know that tech companies are incredibly powerful. They impact the way we live our lives, the way we travel with companies like Uber, the way we, you know, order every product to our house with Amazon. Like, there's no. Tech companies have massive influence over everything. And tech companies are funded by venture capital, whether it's Facebook or Airbnb. All these companies, Google, all these companies exist because venture capital fueled them and allowed them to grow massively while they were still losing money. So I wanted to look at this sector because this is the sector with the craziest gender gap. Women, on average female founders have gotten 3% or less of all venture capital funding in the past 10 years. So if you look at billions of dollars in venture capital, like $30 billion last year, 3% of it, actually 20, 21, it was 2%. 3% or so of that money goes to companies with female founders.

[A]

That's absolutely insane. So that's the reason why that's.

[B]

It doesn't really make sense. So I really want to focus on that world just because the gap was so crazy that I wanted to understand A, why that was happening and B, how the women who had defied the odds and had managed to get that tiny piece of venture capital funding, how they had done it. I wanted to know their secrets because I thought these women are by definition exceptional and I really want to learn from them.

[A]

So. So we'll unpack why some women did receive VC funding. But that's a really interesting stat. So I would have actually assumed that in. Yeah, of course you think of tech as like, oh, there's, you know, the tech bros and whatnot. And there's this like sort of like a negative connotation with the tech bro SF startup. But the numbers. That tech is worse than some other legacy industries is absolutely insane. So if 3% of 3% of female founders are getting VC money, it's very obvious why there's not a lot of money.

[B]

And it's actually, it's actually slightly more complicated. 3% of VC dollars go to companies with female founders, but it's 6% of deals. And what's interesting is cause, you know, each deal is like the check that's written.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What that means is that women's checks are smaller than the checks that men are getting. If they're getting 6% of deals and only 3% of dollars, it means the checks are on average smaller.

[A]

So why is that? That's a huge solve for right there.

[B]

It's another problem too. So there's so much in here. And I just want to be clear, I'm not pointing fingers at anyone. I think what's really interesting about this is I don't think there's one group, one person, no one group or organization is to blame for any of this. This is layers upon layers of structural, historical, societal patterns that have established this system. And it's very hard to break them. What I was most interested and impressed to learn in my research is just this concept of pattern matching is hugely powerful. Pattern matching is this idea that if you're a VC and you want to make an investment in a founder, your instinct and the data would indicate that you should invest in someone who matches a Pattern, you should invest in someone whose company is similar to another company you founded. Maybe you have a habit or a pattern of investing in people who were engineers at an Ivy League school and then founded an enterprise software company which they sold. And now you want to invest in these as second time founders. If you're looking at that subset of a founder, you're going to be looking mostly at men. So it becomes this feedback loop where people just invest in more and more of the same types of people. Part of it is that if you're a venture investor, you're making some big bets and you want to control every factor you can control. So if someone reminds you of Mark Zuckerberg, that could influence you. There's some crazy quotes in my book, I've heard this before saying I'll invest in anyone who reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg. But I think that it's just this instinct to go with the familiar. And also when you're an investor, you're going to be spending a lot of time with these companies you're writing big checks to. And so you want to make sure this is someone you like and don't mind spending hours upon hours with. So there's also this instinct to invest in people who feel like your friends, maybe they went to your same fraternity, you know, same college or in your same fraternity. So I think a lot of that is this sort of, it's pattern matching which is a symptom of unconscious bias. And the more we could just recognize it, the more there's a huge opportunity to break the pattern. And there's financial opportunity in breaking the pattern. There's a VC I interviewed for the book named Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital. It's a fund in Philadelphia. He had a very successful fund and after 10 years he said, let's do a study and let's find out like what has been working with our companies. They invested in early stage companies and early stage is when there's the most opportunity for bias because you're not investing in a company based on a five year track record, you're investing in a company based on the idea and the founder. So he went back and looked at the results of his investments over the years and he found that the female founded investments which weren't, there weren't very many of them. They tended to perform better. He thought, this is crazy, if the female founders, their companies are doing better, why aren't we investing in more of them? So he sort of took a step back and realized that there were systems they could put in place to make sure they weren't just, you know, investing in the obvious thing based on the pattern. So they before used to only have investors who had had a successful company that they had invested in that limited the pool. And they said, why do we only have to hire people we've invested in their company? Let's, you know, let's broaden the pool. So they started hiring different kinds of investors. More women and women are twice as likely to invest in a female founded start up than men are. So they all of a sudden got this different pool of companies who are coming to them with their ideas because they diversified who their venture partners were basically. And then interestingly, they put these systems in place in their meetings to make sure that they were getting rid of bias. They'd hear a pitch and then instead of just opening, you know, having the founder leave and they'd open the floor for conversation. This is something that happens in meetings no matter what type of company you're in. They would have hear a pitch like you could hear a presentation. But they'd have everyone write down what they thought the company, then they'd have a conversation. That way you didn't have one very loud, charismatic person railroad everyone else into listening to their opinion. And then everyone would be like, okay, fine, this guy's loud, we should do what he wants to do. This way you could get people who are maybe more introverted, maybe, maybe more women who are less likely to want to go out on a limb in a male dominated room. And you could just let everyone share their opinion without, you know, without it having to be a public performance. And he found that the outcomes of implementing this system were really, really powerful. So I think there's so much upside to recognizing and stripping out the pattern matching and the unconscious bias.

[A]

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[B]

I think you need all of the above. Ultimately, the venture capital industry is very large and very entrenched. They get money from all sorts of different sources. The only way you're really going to see massive change in terms of who is getting funding is if you have some of the biggest funds who have billions and billions of dollars. If you get them to identify the value, the financial value. This is not about helping the world. This is about, they will make more money if they invest in a more diverse set of companies. I think once you have that piece, that's when you're going to see more systemic change. Otherwise it just, you know, plenty of women are starting funds and that's great, but that alone is not going to drive meaningful change to the numbers. If you're talking about coming from a place where women founders have never drawn more than 3% of VC dollars in.

[A]

Any given year, that's, it's still, it's a sad but incredible statistics. So let's, let's break down that 3%. I mean, that's what you did, right? You broke down, you went into the 3% and you found out why, why these people got the money. What was the, what was the differentiator between all the other women founders that weren't successful? And then let's also talk about the results, because the results are also incredible. I know that some of the people that you interviewed, they're like on my list of people that like, I definitely want to interview. Like they're like fucking badass. Like they're awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So let's, let's first, we can take it whichever way. Do you want to talk about the results first or do you want to talk about why these people were successful in raising capital in the first place?

[B]

Well, what do you mean by the results?

[A]

You mean like the incredible companies they built and why there's a financial incentive to diversify your portfolio based on some of the people that you spoke to?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of powerful data. I mean, I should back up and say I started this book because I was so impressed by the female founders I was meeting and I thought their approach seemed different from this kind of stereotype of what leaders are supposed to look like and be like and lead like. And I kept on coming back to this idea that leadership doesn't have to just be one thing. This archetype of male aggressive, top down, hierarchical management. Like, that is really not the way things work. Certainly not anymore. And we are seeing women lead in so many different ways. And I think it's really empowering to realize, like all of these different things work. Maybe I have a piece of that in myself. Maybe there's something there that I can, I can try to grow in myself and it's okay that I don't look like that. Like that, bro. You know, the tech bros. You put it. Or the guy in the suit. That's our, that's our stereotype. So I first started off wanting to tell these amazing stories because you said you guys have to read my book. It's so much fun. These stories are so surprising and inspiring. But behind the stories, I thought each of these stories is driven by different characteristics. What this woman is doing, trying to reform the healthcare system. What this woman is doing trying to navigate the pandemic at the peak of the crisis with a company that by all other measures should have gone out of business and instead has gone on to magnificent heights. What they're doing is a leadership trait or strategy that we can break out and I can find research on. So I started with the stories and then I just started reading so many academic studies about management and leadership and I, I was really impressed by these studies. It's amazing what business school professors have been up to, but also to learn that some of these traits, you know, that, that maybe we don't associate with leadership or business success are actually hugely valuable. And we should just throw out the stereotypes of what a leader looks like because it has nothing to do with what in reality actually works.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in. If you found this valuable, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And if you want to dive deeper into this con conversation, check out the links in the description to watch the full episode. See you in the next one.