Rei Wang, CPO & Co-founder of The Grand
In 2023, January Ventures released a report that included the shocking chart below.
“More money than ever is flowing into startups, yet our data revealed that it has never felt more lonely to be a founder, especially for founders who don't fit the traditional mold, such as Black founders and older founders.”
Loneliness is real — the majority of founders do not feel supported, and we’d argue the same is true for the majority of working professionals.
Simply stated, it has never felt more lonely to be.
Think of a bird nest. Picture a mama bird foraging the hillside to gather a bundle of twigs to create a support structure for her baby bird to develop and grow. (If you want to go further, we recommend "Invitation," a lovely Mary Oliver poem.)
Support structures are critical. An egg needs a support structure to enable it to hatch and become a bird.
As humans, we need to feel supported by our community in order to achieve our personal and professional ambitions.
Loneliness isn’t just a sad feeling, it results in greater disparity. Women-founded teams received nearly 30% less funding in 2020 than they did in 2019. (Crunchbase)
Why are we regressing? Our hunch? Because it has never felt more lonely to be a female founder.
So, what do we do?
Keep investing in founders and people outside of the Bay Area, who are women, who are Black, who are over 50, but also create support structures.
What types of support structures?
To find the answers to that, we have a creative suggestion inspired by Candy Chang.
Candy Change, Before I Die. Savannah, Georgia. Photo by Trevor Coe.
- Put up a poster board in your common area, or an anonymous Google doc with rows that says: “It has never felt more lonely to be __________.”
- Observe what your team writes.
- Share the results with your team publicly.
- Identify the themes that emerge.
- Form small discussion groups around the most prevalent themes.
We guarantee you: supportive ideas will emerge.