Tessa Saraswati got the idea to establish her startup, KarirLab, after facing rejections from various companies while searching for a job during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the Yale graduate’s company seeks to help job seekers find the right opportunity and optimise their career growth.
In an interview for DealStreetAsia’s upcoming report on female founders in Southeast Asia, Saraswati says the gender funding gap could be due to women’s limited exposure to leadership positions and lack of access to the right network.
“…having more female founders and women in leadership roles is very critical so that our generation and the next could see an example of how somebody else has done it well before us,” she said.
“Being exposed to varied types of female founders and leadership role models is also important to ensure that at every step of the way, from early stage to growth, women can find their own style of leadership and management.”
Edited excerpts of an interview:
What led you to become an entrepreneur? How would you describe your entrepreneurship journey so far?
I wrote my undergrad thesis on financial literacy and inclusion, focusing on empowering others through education. Inclusion has been something I have always been drawn to. I am also fortunate to have seen entrepreneurial examples in my father and grandfather, which inspired me to start something myself. With KarirLab, we are truly solving multi-stakeholder, multi-faceted challenges at the intersection of tech and impact, which has been very rewarding since day one.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a female founder? How did you overcome them?
I believe any founder will face challenges on various fronts, whether they are male or female. For me personally, it is juggling professional and personal responsibilities. Aside from being a founder, I am also a daughter, granddaughter, partner, and sister, with expectations to fulfil. The Indonesian social construct relies on women to support the household and family, and I am not void of these responsibilities. I found having an accountable and encouraging support system to be very helpful – splitting household responsibilities and encouraging clear communication on work/personal boundaries so that I am not doing everything alone.
What challenges did you encounter while fundraising? Did you face any implicit or explicit gender bias while raising capital?
I believe everyone faces challenges during fundraising and every stage of their business growth. Whether you are male or female, matching with the right investors, communicating your vision clearly and managing the due diligence and negotiation could be very challenging. I personally learnt a ton from these experiences in terms of expanding my leadership capacity and having a clear vision towards our business growth.
Do you think that investors tend to have different expectations or standards for female founders versus male founders?
I believe that shouldn’t be the case. While maintaining a balanced focus on inclusivity and professionalism, people should be assessed based on merit as opposed to gender.
What are some of the potential reasons for the gender gap in venture funding, and how do you think these can be addressed?
Gender inequality and gap are everywhere and in many organisations.
In terms of funding, I believe the challenges might be related to the limited exposure of women to leadership positions and access to the right network. Typically we humans learn from our role models, so having more female founders and women in leadership roles is very critical so that our generation and the next could see an example of how somebody else has done it well before us. Being exposed to varied types of female founders and leadership role models is also important to ensure that at every step of the way, from early stage to growth, women can find their own style of leadership and management.
Access to relevant networks is still a challenge when the current pipeline of women leaders or investors is still narrow. I see a huge opportunity for leaders to mentor and take a chance on women to be in leadership positions and/or excel as founders.
In the current environment, when funding will be more difficult to secure for most startups, could female founders find it tougher to raise capital?
Interesting question. Though it’s tough to speculate for anyone, I believe the best thing we can do as founders – male or female – is to focus on building our moat and operating lean during these times.
What advice would you give other female entrepreneurs?
Find your inner resilience – science shows that women are more resilient than men in good and bad times. With the challenging climate this year, it is the perfect time to tap into your inner wisdom and resilience and then, hopefully, be able to lead others during these tough times.
How can we work to change the culture and mindset within the venture capital industry to be more inclusive and supportive of female founders?
Globally, gender equality is still a challenge, yet I believe we have seen progress and push for equality in the boardroom. We will need to continuously support the path to diversity and inclusion. Industry leaders can start by encouraging and promoting more qualified women in active leadership positions so that we have more role models or examples to look up to.
In your opinion, what are some of the most important factors that investors should consider when evaluating a startup, regardless of the founder’s gender?
I believe each VC/investor will have their own mandate and investment thesis, but from my experience, they look for founders who have a clear and compelling vision for their company’s future and are able to articulate that vision in a way that inspires others. They often prefer founders who have a track record of success, which could be in their previous entrepreneurial ventures or in their professional careers. Lastly, they would ideally want to see founders that are passionate about their company and are committed to seeing it through to the next stage.
How has being a female entrepreneur influenced your leadership style and approach to running a business?
It has been several months since I started embarking on this journey, and it has been tremendously rewarding. One of my deeper reflections is that I am learning to empathize even more. As a founder, you are expected to understand your customers, and the best way to start is to empathize with their problems and pain points. Now, when you can apply this mindset to other aspects of the business – as an empathetic leader – you can create a work environment that encourages open communication and collaboration and establish a strong sense of purpose for the business. With empathy as the foundation, we build stronger relationships with our employees, and in turn, employees build a deeper connection with customers.