Actually, there are women ready to invest in startups.
My name is Salomé Taïeb. I’m 23, I grew up in Paris and studied Business in the UK before moving to New York, where I worked in the fashion industry. It was an experience full of hierarchy, fragmented work and a lack of purpose. I came across The Family when looking for something meaningful to me, where I could “have an impact” (I know it might sound a bit naïve or overdone, but it’s true ;)) My mission here is to manage our growing pool of investors by connecting them with all the areas where they can be relevant! Basically, I organise events and make as many smart connections as I can between our team, startups and investors.
After 3 weeks working at The Family, I started to have a clearer view of the community of investors. They were involved, hands-on, often serial entrepreneurs turned investors, from all kinds of industries… And, whoops, they were 99% men.
I remember then being at my mom’s birthday party when I realised that she was born the same year French women were allowed to open their own bank account. Was that a random fact picked up on the job? I don’t think so. Angel investing is undeniably male-dominated, and I knew that was something I wanted to help change.
Still, at the beginning, I knew NOTHING about angel investing, so I listened A LOT. I read the articles Mathias & Nicolas recommended, I watched some of The Family’s videos on fundraising, and most importantly, I spoke with 60 angels. I saw that, first and foremost, it isn’t all about money, it’s about understanding the importance of being a good angel — responsive, supportive, not intrusive. Secondly, their networks were precious sources of deal flow. Finally, they come from all different backgrounds, with one big similarity: they’d learned about investing by just doing it.
In those first 2 months, I talked to only 3 women. Again, maybe that makes sense? After all, contrary to women, men have always had the freedom to be financial decision makers. Having money and managing it is nothing new for men. But it’s really new for the vast majority of women. I mean, The Rolling Stones have been touring for longer than French women have been able to open a bank account without a man’s consent. LOL.
It was a sign.
My grandma didn’t work, my mum works but she doesn’t have the responsibility of being the only “breadwinner”, which is pretty much like most of the mums I know. And here I am, in front of a bunch of male investors and I can’t help thinking that the universe is giving me a clear challenge, my “to do list” seems obvious…
So I called lots of different women.
Some had invested as business angels, some invested in other asset classes, some didn’t invest at all… even though they could. I learned that they would ALL love to gather together, learn from each other and share their experiences. The future is in the hands of those who act today, and startups are reshaping society. We women can take on a new responsibility: choosing the entrepreneurs we want to see building our tomorrow.
The question is, how?
With Alice, CEO of The Family, we started Madrinas. Our hypothesis is pretty simple: women who could invest don’t dare to start. Because, just like in the rest of the tech industry, as a clear minority they feel uncomfortable, rejected and illegitimate. So Madrinas is a community of women willing to learn together how to invest in startups. Every month, we organise a workshop where women are given access to theoretical background, practical knowledge, and recurring deal flow. Not judgmental, not pretentious, it’s the way we like it: pragmatic, accessible, and welcoming.
Madrinas’ 1st Workshop.
On Monday January 20th, we gathered 30 diverse and exceptional women around the topic of investing in startups. What did we learn?
“Learning to invest in startups really only happens by doing it.”
Paloma Castro Martinez told us about her early experiences as a business angel.
The most important thing for her is cultivating curiosity and learning from everything around you. Her own story is very interesting: Paloma started as a lawyer, and then worked in the public affairs department of big corps like LVMH, Ebay and Lime. She uses that background and her understanding of social and political dynamics to estimate the potential of startups.
To give you an example, prior to the rise of e-scooters in our cities, she knew that throughout Europe the regulations surrounding alternative means of transport were changing: bike lanes were getting bigger, public bike sharing schemes were becoming more numerous, and people were becoming more and more environmentally conscious. She felt that this opportunity would keep on growing, and thus invested in a helmet startup. Of course, I’m not saying that you need to have knowledge of public affairs or law to be able to invest in startups. I’m saying that whatever your background is, you can use it to read through an investment opportunity.
Angel investing is about defining the future you want with the money you have. For Paloma, it’s not only a question of reaching financial independence by making financial decisions on your own, it’s also about taking charge and asserting your opinion. Money is a key part of determining tomorrow’s world. But only 2% of women invest as business angels — shouldn’t we be taking a bigger part in defining this future? As women we need to be a big part of the discussion of where the economy is going.
The checklist of a business angel…
Capital ✓, curiosity ✓, risk appetite ✓ and access to high quality deal flow ✓ are some of the ingredients you need.
Erika and Léa know what it takes to be a good business angel. Erika is in charge of The Family’s deal flow of investment opportunities and Léa handles our legal setup, doing the technical work to close fundraising rounds. They are both able to explain how it all works and to demystify the world of startup investments. Mastering the basics means zooming in on different investment strategies, reasons for investing and legal terms.
No rules are set in stone, but there are definitely a few things to look out for.
Emotionally, it can be quite hard to be a business angel, because a significant part of it is based on luck, as Mathias and Maud explained. Everyone brags about what’s going on in the companies they invested in, but it’s not always easy to separate myth from reality. Still, there are some steps you can take when looking at opportunities.
First & foremost is your impression of the founders: will she be able to bring great people on board? Does he look like he’s willing to commit the next 10 years of his life to this? Is she a missionary or a mercenary? What’s the dynamic between the co-founders?
Then look at the market: Is it growing or shrinking? Is it atomised? Monopolised? In between?
Finally, does the product make sense? Would you use it? Would you recommend it? How painful would it be to give up? There’s no exact answer to any of these questions, especially at the beginning, but they are a great starting point to build your intuition as an investor.
A great business angel really CAN make the difference.
It’s important to put yourself in the shoes of a startup founder. Jade of WeMaintain gave us a glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ of raising funds. Gone are the times when entrepreneurs were fully dependent on business angels! Money in seed rounds is becoming more and more of a commodity. And besides, founders are looking for much more than money: they need real support, relevant experience, and meaningful connections. But beware… this absolutely doesn’t mean they want to be talked down to. They are the ones in charge. They need business angels who share their values, their mission, that are available when the founders need them, at any time, for ANY kind of question.
Jade spent some time talking about Michael Benabou, the co-founder of VeePee. He’s one of her favorite business angels because he’s super available, uses his network to help her, is very honest and direct and pays attention to every single detail. She feels she can talk to him about anything — the last time they had lunch together, she told him how she was struggling to get enough sleep and he gave her some tips to lower her stress.
My own takeaway from this first edition of Madrinas?
The level of energy, enthusiasm and capital was higher than I could have ever imagined when we first thought of creating this community. To be honest, we felt like we were just putting a message in a bottle and tossing it out into the middle of the sea. But the Madrinas that day were obviously waiting just over the horizon. Sign up here for our next workshop on March 10th!
Huge thanks to our incredible entrepreneurs who joined us as special guests at our Madrinas dinner: Emna from Kazidomi, Agnès & Annabelle from Maria, Julia from RUG, Vincent & Canelle from Vybe, Aude from Plume, Antonio from Bellman, Marie from Iconoclass and Julie from Coworkees.
Still here? You want more?
Here’s a little more about the startup founders we invited to our post-workshop dinner so the Madrinas could meet the people behind the pitch decks they’ll now be receiving and analysing.
- Emna Everard founded Kazidomi, a healthy e-commerce for food lovers! Her mission? Make a healthy lifestyle easy and affordable for all. Her turnover: 4M euros per year. Her growth: 400% year after year.
- Agnès Alazard and Annabelle Bignon founded Maria, a campus of innovative schools that lets anyone adapt to the new types of jobs created by the digital revolution.
- Julia Marconnet is the founder of Rise-Up Girls, a self-coaching app empowering women through cycle thinking, based on their natural functioning. Knowledge is power, so discover yours and the support of your community.
- Vincent Jouanne & Canelle Chokron founded Vybe, the banking solution for GenZ. Their neobank offers a customisable credit card, cashback and expenditure tracking.
- Aude Guéneau founded Plume, an app that allows children to write their own stories through gamification. With her solution, she tackles illiteracy and helps children succeed at school.
- Antonio Pinto founded Bellman, a startup that wants to improve residential building management using technology and a fair amount of human interactions by focusing on two values: responsiveness and transparency.
- Marie Taquet founded Iconoclass, the one-year Sales School that trains people to become business developers. It’s an alternative training program for people who want something short and intense that lets them quickly find a job and make money.
- Julie Huguet founded Coworkees, an online recruitment platform that matches freelancers and companies using artificial intelligence.
