Ladies, bring us your business plans

In eight years in venture capital, my partners and I have met only a handful of female applicants for capital. Yet we receive 500 to 600 business plans every year. It seems remarkable when you consider that women figure prominently in almost all walks of life — over 50 per cent of medical-school graduates, for example. Indeed, there have been so few that each encounter stands out.

Our firm had been going for about a year when we were approached by a very imposing lady with plans for a software company. She was introduced by our accountant, but a little background digging revealed a history of bad debts — including a debt to our accountant, who clearly saw a venture-capital refinancing as the solution — and an insolvency. When we summoned the courage to tell her we were not going to back her, she rose to her full height, blocking the only exit from our modestly proportioned meeting room and even physically threatening our marathon-running, mountain-climbing six-footer of a junior associate.

Not long after that, we were approached by another woman looking for funding. This time the entrepreneur was a pint-sized pop star who had enjoyed several hits in the 1970s. We were keen to learn about her business, and not just because we might have been a little star-struck. In fact, she had an interesting concept for a website that would showcase bands, known and unknown, and allow consumers to sample their product and buy their music or book them for weddings and parties. Venture capitalists are cautious optimists, a bit like serial husbands (we’re a male-dominated profession): we learn enough from experience to require pre-nuptial agreements, but not so much as to lose our enthusiasm. So we are always curious to know how much cash the entrepreneur has personally at risk in the business.