Transcriber: Aitana Soler C Reviewer: Mujtaba bakhet
We have a big problem. Only 12% of global fintech founders
and co-founders are women.
Financial technology,
otherwise known as fintech is an industry notorious for being a boys club.
Whether it’s men in suits with money or startup founders in black t-shirts,
men have always had the power.
It’s an industry where gender disparity is embedded in its culture
and the numbers prove it.
Numbers are very powerful,
and they often tell us the real story.
Some might say we’ve made big strides in fintech,
and we're seeing more and more women break stereotypes.
And while, yes, we have made progress, the glass ceiling remains intact.
So let's go through some numbers.
Women today currently only hold 11% of fintech board seats.
Women today only account for 6% of female CEOs,
and women today only receive 1.9% of VC funding.
1.9.
Yes, I know it is bad, but I saved the most shocking stat for last.
According to the World Economic Forum,
it will take us 169 years
for women to catch up to men and reach economic parity.
When we talk about economic parity, we mean equal wages,
ownership of assets and equal access to opportunities.
So we're talking about another 169 years of women having
an inherent disadvantage when it comes to finances just because of their gender.
So why is this a big deal?
Why is it so important for women to reach economic parity?
And to those I say: “Money makes the world go around.”
And when women don't have financial power or control,
it also means they don't have a voice in shaping our world
or making choices that really matter.
So yes, we do have a big problem.
And a good place to start unpacking this
would be for us to look back at our Middle Eastern history in society,
to try to understand: “Was this always the case?
And what we will generally find is that while yes,
men did have more financial power,
but we've also had very strong role models that attempted to break the cycle.
We've had Hatshepsut, one of the first female pharaohs who made
an enormous fortune for herself.
She made $2 billion in today’s economy.
We’ve had, say Khadījah bint Khuwaylid.
She was one of the most successful and wealthiest merchants of her time.
She, in fact, invested a lot of her wealth and her money
into the mission of Islam.
So, yes, we’ve had great risk takers,
the mother of all entrepreneurs and queens ruling countries.
But what happened?
Why are we not seeing enough women follow their footsteps?
What made us settle for the safe choice?
One reason is how women are brought up for failure. Controversial, I know.
Women in our societies, in our Middle Eastern societies are so loved,
and so cherished.
But it also means we’re overprotected.
Because of that love,
we’re taught to be careful: “Don’t go out too late,” “Don’t go out too far.”
“Always be nice,” “Always be polite,” “Don’t cross anyone.”
But men, on the other hand, they’re taught to be fearless.
“Punch back If you ever get punched,”
or “You don’t need help, you can just figure it out.”
So naturally, in the fintech world and the financial world,
where returns are fueled by risks, daring to dream big,
and your ability to navigate challenges,
women are just not trained to ride that wave.
That's if we even get in this boys club.
I decided to humor myself with a quick exercise.
I went on LinkedIn and I searched for a bunch of different job descriptions.
What do they look for when hiring for the industry? This is what I found.
Analytical. Decisive. Assertive.
Sounded familiar to me.
So I went on and searched: “What are masculine traits?”
And lo and behold, this is what I found:
Funny isn’t it?
So basically, we’re saying the skills that you get chosen and rewarded for
within the sector is what society perceives as masculine traits.
No wonder why we don't see enough women in fintech,
let alone at the top making decisions.
We are born into a global society that repeatedly tells us we are not good
enough to make financial decisions.
And again, the numbers prove it.
Only 13% of women in Mena control wealth,
and only 15% of check writers and investment firms are women,
which can explain why only 1.9% of VC funding
ends up getting to women.
Obviously, that is not the only reason. The issue is multifaceted,
but unfortunately I don’t have ten hours to talk about it,
I only have ten minutes.
So I’ll be focusing on one key area in today’s discussion.
And that is: there is not enough women investors at the top that can advocate
for the rest of us in the chain.
And for us to really understand that,
let's take a moment to go through how power and money flows through
the startup world.
My world.
What you generally have is you have high net worth individuals,
also known as limited partners.
They give their money to venture capitalist firms
or VCs to invest their money for them.
VCs use that money to invest money into startups.
Startups use that money to grow exponentially,
and then returns go back to the VCs and back to these limited partners.
That’s how money flows.
That’s how power flows.
But on what basis do they pick these startups?
What’s important to note is that in early stage startups,
VCs bet their money not necessarily so much on the business,
but more on the people behind it.
They need to have very strong conviction
that these founders can grow and scale the company.
They need to resonate with these founders.
They need to relate to them.
They need to think they’re visionaries, they can change the world!
And when most of these VCs are middle aged men.
Let’s be honest, it’s much harder for them to relate to a Gen Z female entrepreneur.
In fact, a lot of studies have shown how similarity breeds connection,
which can explain why male VCs
are more likely to forge relationships with male founders,
which perpetuates this never ending cycle of gender inequality.
And being in a male dominated space, I've experienced that first hand.
It's so much harder for me to build these relationships,
nurture these relationships, in comparison to my male colleagues.
And the reality is I just don't fit in their boys club.
And honestly, sometimes I don’t blame them.
Because I never laugh at their lame wife jokes, that are never funny.
I don't talk about football. I know nothing about cars.
You know all the stuff that men are expected to talk about in a social setting
But what can we do?
What can we do to make this sector more inclusive?
And before anyone says anything, one seat at the table isn't enough.
What will 1 or 2 seats at the table do if our voice isn't going to be heard?
But here's what we can actually do to have more decision making power.
Starting off with: Global policies and incentives.
We need global policies and incentives that ensure that there is
a level playing field in this VC world.
Gender bias training needs to be mandated,
and there needs to be mandates that ensure that there is enough female fund managers
Keyword here is enough, not just 1 or 2, you know,
to check the boxes for diversity.
They often say that seeing is believing.
And while I do believe in that,
the message I want to drive home tonight is:
the more we see, the more we believe.
The more we have women investors,
the more likely we are to break the cycle.
And this is a big cause, which is why we need men's involvement in the case.
Which brings me to my second point: Change starts at home.
This is a whole different topic and I'm not going to do it justice.
But what I can say is we need to teach our boys that gender inequality
isn’t a women issue.
It’s a human one.
And we need to teach our girls to take risks
and take things into their own hands,
because women as well really need to step up as active investors.
Traditionally, we as women always go for the safer investments,
but we need to hop on the driver seat, guys.
We need to teach our girls to take risks
and fail over and over and over again,
because the biggest risk of all is not taking any.
Thank you.