The culture and mindset within the venture capital industry can be changed with a bottom-up approach that would empower women in tier 3 and 4 cities and ensure female participation in the workforce, according to What’s Up Wellness founder Sayantani Mandal.
“When each district of India has female founder success stories, then more women will take to entrepreneurship, ensuring a bigger pool of founders. More female success stories will also give investors more confidence in female founders – so that would work out for everyone,” said Mandal in an interview for DealStreetAsia’s latest report on the gender funding gap in India.
Co-founded by Mandal and Vaibhav Makhija in May 2021, What’s Up Wellness is a wellness brand, which offers gummy supplements. The startup secured Rs 60 lakh in funding in the latest episode of Shark Tank India Season 2.
Edited excerpts:
What led you to become an entrepreneur? How would you describe your entrepreneurship journey so far?
The desire to be able to create a positive impact in society no matter how small has always been a driving factor for me. With time, I realized solving a crucial problem and building something that actually gives back, resonated with my goals in life.
The pandemic definitely served as an accelerator for me to take the leap of faith. The journey has been exciting – always taking one day at a time and planning for the next day to be better. It never stops!
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a female founder? What challenges did you encounter while fundraising? How did you overcome them?
I am grateful for having a very supportive family who embraced this first-generation woman entrepreneur with open arms. I would say my biggest challenge was my own fears inside my own head because I was not just grazing but deep diving into unchartered territories. These fears, I realized with much introspection, are mostly figments of societal conditioning where you grow up believing you always need a strong (read male) counterpart for any kind of validation or progress.
In such cases, only you can talk yourself out of it, and can consciously make decisions that will obviously contradict societal norms, but you have to keep at it. Strongly. It feels empowering and life-changing.
Do you think having male co-founders made a difference in your fundraising journey?
It has. Also because my co-founder actually looks at the entire P&L. It is a pre-decided role that he actively looks into. However, if I were to imagine myself raising funds alone the first word that comes to my mind is intimidating and I am sure many solo female entrepreneurs will agree.
Do you think that investors tend to have different expectations or standards for female founders versus male founders?
Majorly, yes. They might be taken aback if a female founder has everything at her fingertips. I feel it’s a consequence of how our society is designed and has been functioning for ages. However, such interactions only make the drive to excel stronger.
What are some of the potential reasons for the gender gap in venture funding, and how do you think these can be addressed?
One reason is that the number of female entrepreneurs in India is lesser than the number of male entrepreneurs. Females, especially in smaller towns, have limited liberty to make major decisions in their lives. Once this gap subsides, the funding gap will subside too, but it might take 2 cycles more than the entrepreneurship gap, as people will take time to come out of their shells and break the stereotypical thought process.
To fast-track the process, we need to train more women and put them in positions of power. Once that is done, the number of women who are confident and ready to take the plunge and break the glass ceiling will automatically increase, and the gap will subside.
In the current environment, when funding will be more difficult to secure for most startups, could female founders find it tougher to raise capital?
I don’t think so as it is a normal environment for us. We female founders have already been comparatively capital scarce. Male founders might find it tougher as they are not accustomed to a tough fundraising environment.
What advice would you give other female entrepreneurs?
To be bold and be more out there. It is very important to have clarity in your purpose – what you actually set out to achieve. Be disciplined and diligent with every task and do not shy away from asking for help. You will be surprised by the kindness and learning the world has to offer!
How can we work to change the culture and mindset within the venture capital industry to be more inclusive and supportive of female founders?
It is a long process – 2 major things that need to be done are – empowering women in tier 3/4 cities and villages and ensuring female participation in the workforce increases from the grassroots level. This needs to be a bottom-up approach. If it happens top-down, then only the top layer will be the major beneficiaries.
Bottom-up, when each district of India has female founder success stories to look up to, is when the dream will become bigger, and more women will take to entrepreneurship, ensuring a bigger pool of founders. More female success stories will also give investors more confidence in female founders – so that would work out for everyone!
What are some of the most important factors that investors should consider when evaluating a startup, regardless of the founder’s gender?
I think it boils down to the potential the product segment has and how far the entrepreneur is willing to go. A good founder with a bad product will eventually understand the need to pivot and do great. A bad founder with a good product will have early success but when competition hits, they will falter. A good market + a great entrepreneur reduces the investor’s risk.
The most important thing an investor should look for is how much pain a founder is ready to take to make the product and customer experience better for the users.
How has being a female entrepreneur influenced your leadership style and approach to running a business?
A major takeaway from my upbringing would be learning to be financially independent, always having a learning attitude and not giving in to any form of bias. That’s what I bring to the office every day and it has helped me stay frugal with the business, be more empathetic and always speak my mind irrespective of who is in front of me.