A VC who just raised $22 million to invest in startups reveals one thing you should never say to a female investor
July 25, 2018 by Melia Robinson
“Hey, girls.”
It’s a simple email greeting.
Clara Brenner sees those two words land in her inbox at least once a week.
She and Julie Lein founded a venture-capital firm, Urban Innovation Fund, that puts money into startups building the future of cities. The firm has only the two partners, and Brenner said that means they get addressed as “girls” a lot.
Brenner and Lein are both 33 years old. Neither of them is a girl.
“Don’t call women investors ‘girls,'” Brenner told Business Insider. “We get called ‘girls’ a lot, which just grinds my gears. They’ll be like, ‘Thanks, girls, for having us,’ because it’s me, my cofounder, Julie, and our associate, who’s also a woman.”
As Bustle , a news site aimed at millennial women, once put it: “A girl is a person under the age of 18 who still lives with their parents. So when you use that term in reference to a successful woman who has worked hard to get where she is today, you’re ignoring her accomplishments and diminishing her maturity.”
Five years ago, Brenner and Lein set out to help companies that are solving important challenges for cities to raise funding. These startups are a tough sell for venture capitalists because their products often require a lot of money to launch and they face regulatory hurdles from local authorities who prefer the status quo.
Brenner and Lein launched an accelerator program called Tumml that works with early-stage startups on urban innovation. The two are widening their impact with Urban Innovation Fund, which closed a $22.5 million seed-stage fund in June.
While calling women “girls” may not be intended to be patronizing, Brenner said, words matter in the workplace, where women have historically earned less than their male peers and have fewer opportunities to advance to the top ranks.
Founders should think twice about how they address female investors in an email.
“It’s not going to kill your chances, but it’s just sort of alienating,” Brenner said. “You’re asking us for money. At least act like you take us seriously.”
