The Last Thing We Need Are Companies Specifically Designed To Exclude Women

The day before Junkee published a story of Brisbane based “male-only” co-working space Nomadic Thinkers, I wrote a Facebook post expressing my frustration about being a woman in the startup world:

Friday night: I go to a business awards night (where every award winner is a man) and I am seated next to a total douche who keeps touching my arms, shoulder and leg when he speaks to me. Discover from colleague that douche actually has a new baby at home and thus presumably a partner that he never mentions.

Monday morning: I go into the office to discover that said douche and his all male team are moving in until January. And because they need extra space, we have been moved to another location. Without being asked or consulted. Up until about a week ago we have been the only female led startup working out of this space. When I challenge this and ask why did it happen, I am told that it is because “I am nice”.

This situation mostly focuses on one douche, but it also speaks to bigger issues. It is so fucking hard being a woman in the startup space sometimes. I often feel so outnumbered. I am tired of having to fight for space, of being the only woman on a panel or in a room. I am tired of having explain WHY this is a problem to men. I am tired of having to worry about approaching these issues in a way that gets my point across but is also not too threatening or aggressive, thus potentially having negative consequences for my business. I am tired of having to figure out if a man is asking to have coffee with me because he wants to do business or because he wants to have sex.

I know this is rant like and confronting but today I am tired. I am sharing because I know lots of women are tired.

I received a pretty resounding response, mainly from women also in the startup space. They reached out to me via private message and email to say “Thank you, I am tired too”.

The Bondi Hipsters Have Ridiculed That Men Only Co-Working Space And Threatened To Sue

To give you some background, I run a Brisbane based startup called Words With Heart — it’s a sustainable print and stationery company that funds education projects for women and girls in the developing world. I launched the social enterprise on my own almost two years ago, and now have a team of five talented women working alongside me. We count Macquarie Group, ING Direct, and Hudson as clients, and we partner with some of Australia’s leading NGOs empowering women and girls. We have just undertaken our first funding round and are on the road to building a new digital platform. I’m proud of the success we’ve achieved so far, but at times persisting in a male-dominated space has been incredibly hard.

–

The Business World Is Already Dominated By Men

The startup ecosystem is well and truly driven by testosterone. Seventy-five percent of startups in Australia are founded by men, and when you get into the big leagues, only four percent of Australian high growth technology startup founders are women. Far and away, the vast majority of investors are dudes, and so perhaps it is unsurprising to learn that less than 15 per cent of female founders are successful in seeking venture capital. Spotting another female face at a networking event is often like a game of ‘Where’s Wally’ in a sea of suits (case in point — see the image below taken by a colleague just last night). And as was the case at that fateful awards evening, it’s not unusual to be one of the only women at a table.

The problem with all male work environments, like the one proposed by Nomadic Thinkers, is that they perpetuate the gender discrimination that already exists. When women are not visible in a startup space, to the point that they are actually barred from entry, they are not viewed as equal peers. It reinforces the existing entrepreneur stereotypes, the bold male risk takers. The likes of Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg and Bill Gates. It subconsciously encourages the false notion that women don’t have the skills, or to quote Donald Trump, the stamina to be leaders. Male privilege becomes even more invisible. The predominately male investors connect directly with the predominately male startups. The work to enable women founders to be seen in the ecosystem completely falls away.

Nomadic Thinkers, the men-only coworking space, should have been called Actually Comma

— Jamie Hall (@jamie_hall) November 1, 2016

I can only see a male-only co-working space contributing to the predatory behaviour that already lingers. Just about every female founder I know has a sexual harassment story. The senior executive that commented ‘Don’t you have a sexy voice!’ following the completion of a pitch. The venture capitalist that set up a meeting with a friend over LinkedIn, only to greet her with a lingering hug. The developer that sent another friend lewd texts and photos. The frat-house like culture of male saturated tech startups is well documented, and it frightens me to think how that might escalate if women were intentionally removed from that work environment altogether. An all-male co-working space is going to have interactions with women at some point.

Perhaps the most distressing thing about the gender gap in the startup space is that it’s often difficult for women to talk about. I was nervous to write this article, because there is the genuine worry that might affect the future of my business. I’m often wary of calling out every instance of sexism I experience, because if I’m seen to be too difficult or too aggressive I might alienate investors, partners or collaborators. And because my business funds education for women and girls, I feel an added weight of responsibility. My success means their success. And when women in our society succeed, so does everybody else.

–

Lauren Shuttleworth is the Founder and Director of social enterprise Words With Heart, a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum and a gender equality activist and speaker.