Bias in pitching

The VC investment procedure has four phases: deal sourcing, pitching, research, and closing. So just why are we singling out of the pitch phase? The last two phases are much more numbers-oriented and technical, so they’re less hospitable to bias. Contract sourcing, that is extremely determined by individual sites, is vunerable to bias however in an even more way that is overt in case the community of startup founders is all male, it is hard to argue you’re providing ladies possibilities. But, it is during pitching, that gender bias can influence decision-making without loudly announcing itself as we currently know it.

Numerous academic research reports have shown that there’s a strong sex bias in a variety of aspects of the pitch process.

For example, one research from 2014 utilized slides that are identical scripts, voiced by both women and men, with or without pictures of this ‘presenter’, then asked study individuals to speed the investment. Pitches voiced by males somewhat outperformed individuals with a lady narrator, and pitches where in fact the picture that is narrator’s a good-looking man performed most useful of most. Outcomes had been exactly the same if the individuals (‘judges’) had been female or male. The scientists concluded, “Investors choose pitches presented by male business owners in contrast to pitches produced by feminine business owners, even though this content regarding the pitch may be the exact exact same. ”

Bias also seems in exactly how business owners are questioned. Analysis from 2017 discovered that women can be expected questions that are different guys whenever pitching to VCs.