This is a summary of the book titled “Valley Girls: Lessons From Female Founders in the Silicon Valley and Beyond” written by Kelley Steven-Waiss and published by Forbes Books in 2024. The author is an HR executive and entrepreneur who investigates why women founders tend to do more to secure investors and gain respect and recognition than their male counterparts. Having been there and faced that, she proposes an abundance mindset instead and team-oriented play which she draws from other female founders. In this book, the old playbooks and establishment myths are torn apart and women’s superpowers are tapped into. “Intrapreneurship” is recommended and suggestions are made to observe the “pattern-match” that male investors are drawn to. Women’s unique skills and women founders’ advocacy groups are not realized to their full potential. Powerful women must stand by their promises.

More women are graduating from universities in various disciplines, and their presence in the professional workforce is increasing. This means that female founders launching tech start-ups must embrace reality to dispel myths about their traits. Historically, men have dominated the field, and venture capitalists remain reluctant to invest in companies founded by women. However, women are well-suited to entrepreneurship as they are cooperative dolphins, nurture allies, are made, creative, and manage risk. Human resources executives should offer opportunities to challenge and engage their staff, such as access to assignments and projects that suit their skills and goals. Women entrepreneurs have hidden superpowers that grant them advantages, such as a collaboration mindset, leading from values and purpose, seeing value in teamwork, and identifying the win-win mindset. To persevere, women need a great team, nurture their input, share wealth, and invest in their future.

Intrapreneurship is a strategy that allows entrepreneurs to experiment with another organization's money and network, overcoming the lone-wolf stereotype among male entrepreneurs. This approach is particularly beneficial for women who struggle to attract venture capital, as it allows them to experiment with other organizations' resources and networks. For example, Steven-Waiss, a former chief human resources officer (CHRO), collaborated with HERE Technologies to launch her start-up, Hitch, which provided her with a lab, expertise, technology, and a large client base.

However, obstacles to women's success include a toxic culture and leaders who resist change. To overcome these, women should remain authentic and demonstrate a win-win abundance mindset. To pitch, women should learn how to pitch and tap into their network of friends and investors. Despite knowing the statistics, only 3% of US business owners receive venture capital, and only 17.2% have a man on their team.

Women investors often lack the experience and power to make big investment decisions in venture capital (VC) firms, as they are often junior staff members hired to fulfill diversity requirements. The top VC echelon is overwhelmingly male, and general partners often need 10 years of proven ROI success to advance within VC firms. Female VCs may not always prioritize the best interests of female founders, and companies that raise initial funding exclusively from female VCs are two times less likely to receive funding from male VC partners in the second round of financing. During the COVID pandemic, businesses struggled to adapt to volatile situations and remote work models, affecting both start-ups and female founders. Female founders may find greater success if they seek VC funding first from male investors. As women chart their course in leadership roles, their unique skills may find more appreciation and respect. Women executives have exceptional knowledge and expertise, but men tend to discount them as entrepreneurs due to their lack of a male CEO's profile.

Powerful women must stand by their promises and support one another to change the business world. Boards of directors prioritize financial skills over people skills, but change can be achieved by promoting mutual support and investment among female tech entrepreneurs. Three tech-industry female founders helped Hitch founder, Steven-Waiss, during the acquisition process, aiming to optimize workforces and earn back investment. ServiceNow hired Steven-Waiss to run Hitch, and she finds gratification in the results and the ability to earn and promote mutual support among female technology entrepreneurs.

#Codingexercise: Codingexercise-02-03-2025