Female Intuition. How women are transforming FinTech innovation
Gender imbalance in FinTech is a very real problem.
Women are less likely to invest, less likely to accumulate wealth, less likely to have a seat in the boardroom and, in some countries, less likely to have a bank account.
Equal representation, female founded businesses, only make up between 1% and 2% of global FinTech investment.
But there are women at the top, blazing a trail, proving to be an inspiration to others.
So how are these founders changing the FinTech industry? What can we learn from them? And how do we empower others to take the torch and improve those numbers?
This article is taken from API Chronicles: Female Intuition - how women are transforming fintech innovation, a live stream webinar hosted by Olivia Minnock.
Our chat featured Terrie Smith, co-founder and CEO at DIGISEQ, Mara Vendramin, CEO of My-Money and Dörte Dye co-founder at Monavate and Interim Program Management Director at Paymentology.
Deep-lying roots
To start a FinTech business from scratch is a heady goal. It’s one not many ever achieve. Fewer still create one that’s a long-term success. Even if you have the luxury of a wealthy background, supportive parents and a gender deck stacked in your favour.
We live in a society however where women and men are not the same.
“In Italy,” Mara points out, “women can still be thought of as property. You can sometimes feel it in the culture. In the South of Italy, it’s traditional for many women to stay at home.”
“But even in the North, if you want to start something, it’s very hard to be taken seriously.”
Dörte agrees, recalling her mother’s quick return to work in Germany being met by confusion.
In many cases women are thought of as parents first, colleagues second. An infliction not experienced by men.
Terrie relays the story of returning from Maternity leave and finding hesitation from her employers and lack of belief she could do the job she was excelling in 2 years prior.
Adding, “Young women with children are probably more motivated because they’ve got more at stake. There’s more to prove. There’s no choice but to get things done.”
Labels like “SHE-EO”, or “Mumpreneur” are sadly too commonplace but highlight the issue in achieving equality.
Instead of celebrating the achievement of raising a child and building a business, they can belittle women by branding them parent/woman first, businesswoman second.
Call someone a “HE-EO” in a boardroom, and you’ll realise how true that is.
Throughout the webinar, three constant themes emerged. Themes which, if taken on board can make a huge difference to the plight of women in FinTech.
Firstly, education
The world’s elite have been moulded and shaped by their parents for hundreds of years. Leaders give birth to more leaders. Alumni of top, prestigious schools enrol their own children on the day they enter the world. Titans of industry pass their positions down the family.
The baton’s passed on, and so is their success.
Is it too much of a push to suggest women leading the charge in FinTech shouldn’t do the same? Shouldn’t we be employing our daughters? Giving them a helping hand, climbing an already slippery ladder?
Men do. And don’t think about it for a second.
We should want to help women in younger generations rise. Because if we don’t, who will?
We should be helping our daughters, without it being classed as nepotism.
And where it’s not helping them into business, it should be instilling in them a sense of belief they can do anything they set their minds to. Whether it’s a male dominated field or not. Women can do anything and everything.
“My husband is a computer scientist and teaches our kids to code and they love it. If they’re taught, they don’t have the differentiation it’s a male driven industry.” comments Dörte. “Channelling girls into soft subjects should be stopped at the beginning. Why can’t girls play with cars?” “Most behaviour’s learned. And we’ve seen in generations past, that some mothers even discriminate against their own daughters. They carry old standards and that can be damaging.” Challenging the status quo begins in childhood. It continues into formal education and, like the fire that exists in all of us, needs to be fed and nurtured beyond this.
Mentorship
Ask any of the world’s most powerful people, and almost every single one of them will tell you they had a mentor. It’s true of philosophers, the political elite and leaders of commerce.
99% of those people have historically been men.
It’s time women used the same tools, if they hope to achieve the same results.
Seeking out a mentor who’s achieved their dreams can be a cheat code in achieving yours. Equally, being a mentor to someone lower down the ladder is an amazing thing to do, and can be just as, if not more rewarding.
You can’t rely on your immediate manager to be this person. Because you’re leaving it to chance.
Every one of us has had a bad manager.
One who takes from you, or stifles you. One who doesn’t lift you up, or give you advice.
Sometimes, “the higher up the chain you go, the less willing you are to talk to people in the business” comments Dörte. “But that shouldn’t be the case. Especially if there are young women who would benefit.”
“In an ideal world, every woman would look after another down the chain and send the elevator back down for them” she adds.
“It’s about being a people person. About not being anti-women, let alone gender-neutral. If you have unsupportive people in positions of power and management, you could be putting off so many future stars, it will detrimentally affect the business.” Terrie Smith
“Sometimes you meet people who become mentors, without them being officially in that position. Whether it’s inspiration or admiration, it helps to see women leading the charge and following their lead to the top.” Olivia Minnock
Resilience
The winners in life are those who stand up more times than the competition. And women are knocked back a lot. Having the resilience to face each challenge, time and time again, is tough.
Bad things happen in waves.
Finding a way to ride those waves can set the precedent for success. Make sure overcoming adversity becomes a habit. It’ll help you in the FinTech industry and even more so if you’re a woman.
There are pressures and knock backs around every corner.
The fact women are experts in adversity and overcoming challenges makes them hardwired for dealing with pressure and getting back up each time it happens.
So, advice from our panel on making it to the top?
“Keep going.”
You’ll find your way. There’s almost no recipe for success but to keep positive and carry on going.
“If you let the negativity in, you let the negativity win. And there’ll be a downward spiral following quickly after it. Because there’s a lot of negativity about.” - Terrie Smith
“Whether you talk about athletics, sport, FinTech, or any other career, positivity of the mind helps the growth of the body and staying positive is critical to this.”
Starting a company in the FinTech industry is one of the hardest challenges you’ll face, but it can also be the best and most rewarding.
You never know where your positivity can take you, until you enrich your life with it. Only then will you give yourself the best chance of winning. The beauty of this industry, and fellow women supporting one another, is that the race isn’t just won by one person.
It’s a collective. And you rising to the podium means we all rise together.
Through this collective rise, we become better supporters, better colleagues, better leaders, founders, CEOs and better at helping women get investment in their FinTech companies.
If you’re a female FinTech founder, you’re already less likely to get investment.
The stats show women don’t get investment as much as men. The landscape tends to be built on warm introductions. And while most get the chance to be introduced, women perhaps aren’t as heard as men in their search.
It’s not that men have better ideas. But they’re given more opportunity to realise their ideas and therefore the cycle continues.
Having the resilience to continue your fight will echo down generations and mean those yet to come can stand on your shoulders when they’re ready.
So, advice from the panel on succeeding in FinTech?
1. Study
Being more knowledgeable than anyone else in the room is something you can gain, often for free. It doesn’t necessarily mean attending the best university or the best private school.
Both of those help of course. But your thirst for knowledge will pay off massively as you advance in your career.
And pass on that thirst to other young women. Show them the benefits of a good education.
Those you bring into the world need to know FinTech’s an option.
They might need support. Or just to know they have options. They might lack inspiration from others and need a spark. Give them yours and it could ignite a successful career.
You can learn FinTech as a woman. You can learn how to start your own business.
You can take considerable steps to succeed in this industry if you seek it out.
Through education we become better. So read. And listen. And work hard to show other women what can be achieved through the pursuit of knowledge.
2. Don’t take no for an answer. For every single woman on our live webinar, Olivia, Terrie, Mara and Dörte, perseverance has been a mainstay of their life and career. Women are told they can’t do things throughout their life. It starts in childhood and is continually perpetuated as they get older. It becomes an accepted truth, but one that ultimately couldn’t be more wrong. You can do anything. But you’ll only accomplish your dreams if you have the tenacity to go, again and again. To hear the word no and do it anyway. It’s true of every female leader in FinTech, every woman who’s ever achieved greatness, and it’ll be true for you.
And finally 3. Find a great mentor and work with people you admire. Whatever stage of life you’re at, it’s incredibly unlikely you won’t improve by working with great people. Whether it’s other women doing great things, or men who lift women up. There are plenty who do. Work with them. If you’re studying, look at educational places with entrants into the industry. Look at where their alumni have gone. Look at what they’ve gone on to achieve. Reach out to those people and ask for their guidance. Connect with those who know about venture capitalism and the way the investment landscape works. It really helps to understand what VCs are talking about before you have those discussions. Especially if those you’re asking are women too, and have experienced the problems you’re likely to face. You’ll better represent yourself with the right people on your side. You’ll also give yourself every opportunity of making your own business a success, whether it’s tomorrow or in ten years.
Women are achieving great things in the FinTech industry.
By taking on board some of the steps talked about in this article, you’ll help yourself become one of them.
Huge thanks to Olivia, Terrie, Mara and Dörte for their valuable time.
You can watch the full webinar, right here.
