Let's skip the feelings and stick to the facts. We all like money. Founders, investors, boards. Nobody in this conversation is in it for the warm glow.
So here's the money case.
Women founders do more with less
In 2024, startups with female founders burned about $270,000 a month on average. US startups overall burned $320,000. That's from Female Founders Fund's 2025 report, which found female-founded companies "consistently" burn 15% less capital.1
Lean isn't a lack of ambition. It's discipline, and it's exactly what boards ask for when money gets expensive.
The exits and the profits follow
Female-founded companies made up 18.2% of US exit value in 2022, up from 9.5% the year before.2 By 2025, female founders accounted for nearly 25% of US venture exits by count.5
Over the decade to 2024, women-led companies filing for an IPO went from 2 to 14.1
And at the top of the house, McKinsey studied 1,265 companies across 23 countries in 2023. Companies in the top quarter for gender-diverse executive teams had a 39% greater likelihood of beating their peers on profitability than those in the bottom quarter.3
And yet: 1.1%
In 2025, startups founded only by women got 1.1% of US venture capital dollars, down from 2.1% in 2024.4, 1 All-female teams raised $3.2 billion across 794 deals. All-male teams raised $191.1 billion across 10,048 deals.5
If women spend less to build companies that exit, that's not a fairness problem first. It's money left on the table.
So why am I asking male allies for help?
Because of the first point. We all like money.
As a founder, my job is to make my board money. As an investor, yours is to make your LPs money. Same job, same scoreboard.
And today, 82% of decision-makers at US VC firms with at least $50 million under management are men.6 Most of the checks are signed by men. If you want profit, and you hold the pen, you need women in your portfolio.
I'm not asking for a favor. I'm pointing at a return.
What I'm asking for
Three things, all of them good business. First, look at the data. Pull your own portfolio numbers on burn, revenue per dollar raised and exits, split by founder gender. Second, take the meeting. You can't invest in founders you never see. Third, fund on the same terms. Same questions, same check sizes, same follow-on.
Equality for all founders isn't charity. It's the efficient market finally doing its job.
You want profit? You need women.
Hear the women doing the work on Women [In] with Sondra Connor. And if you're building a company and need a sharp, honest partner on go-to-market, The Cheeky Rooster is here for it.