The HBS Association of Boston (HBSAB) recently presented a virtual panel discussion exploring the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs encounter when founding their companies.

The conversation, titled “The Realities Facing Female Founders,” featured panelists Amritha Saigal (MBA 2014), founder and CEO of Kudos, a sustainable diaper company, and Sarina Siddhanti Garg (MBA 2015), founder of the South Asian formal clothing retailer Riya Collective. The women shared their startup journeys with guest moderator Sowmya Pelluru, director of brand and communications at the Washington Area Community Investment Fund and founder of socially conscious sustainable underwear brand Manakii.

More than 50 HBS alumni tuned in to the 90-minute virtual discussion, during which the panelists touched upon a number of challenges they’ve experienced, including finding investors to get behind their ideas, going through fertility treatments while launching a company, managing investor expectations, prioritizing mental health, setting benchmarks, hiring to fill experience gaps, and even returning VC funding.

“It takes a lot of grit and wit to be a female founder,” says the event’s organizer and HBSAB board member Radha Bennett (MBA 2014), adding that only about 2 percent of VC funding goes to women founders. That doesn’t mean they won’t find VCs to back them, just that they might have to pitch their ideas to many more VCs than male founders do.

With respect to gender disparity in the start-up ecosystem, Pelluru asked Garg and Saigal what they thought of research by Harvard Business Review that found male and female entrepreneurs get asked different questions by VCs, which affects how much funding they receive. Female founders are asked questions around prevention, security, responsibility, and vigilance, while male founders are asked about scaling and the future.

“I’m very passionate about this,” said Garg. “I went to MIT, I went to a technical high school, I’ve always been in math and science, and in male-dominated fields. It wasn’t until I fundraised as a founder that I ever felt there was a big difference between men and women. I was asked for more due diligence, for more numbers, and for so much more research on competitors.”

Saigal, whose brother launched his own company, was able to compare their efforts and progress. “He had multiple friends—contacts already in the VC space. I knew one woman, that’s it,” she said. “It’s hard to start if you don’t already have the contacts to get introductions.”

Garg suggested that women founders need to get used to directly asking their networks for money or names of potential investors, but added that it’s possible that the kinds of ideas women are pitching—like diapers, clothing, and underwear—can help them stand out to VCs. “We are coming up with ideas that maybe men wouldn’t, and that’s a good thing.”

Pelluru cited another study by Boston Consulting Group that found female entrepreneurs delivered twice as much per dollar invested as male entrepreneurs, and Saigal said she felt positive that women founders will continue to attract more investors. Both panelists said finding investors who are supportive and actively engaged can go a long way to help manage their expectations.

Garg and Saigal also shared the challenges of starting a family while starting a company. “Having a baby and doing your startup at the same time is really much harder for women,” says Garg, who had a baby after IVF treatment, all while building Riya Collective.

Saigal similarly underwent IVF during the launching of Kudos. “It was very hard to go through IVF, and I chose to be open about it with my team and investors,” Saigal said. “It turned out to be positive, and I received lots of support all around. There’s never going to be a perfect time to have kids or start your company. So, if you have the idea, just start.”

Taking care of your physical and mental health while launching a company is just harder, said Garg, who advised founders to get the support of an executive coach or therapist if they can. Saigal added that she has joined a founders’ group, where she can talk about business and personal issues with people who know what it’s like.

Bennett says this panel discussion was the first in a series the HBSAB will produce specifically for alumni who are only 10 to 15 years out from HBS.

“Featuring young alumni speakers who are still in the early stages of their startups gives you the feeling that you can connect with those individuals. That can sometimes be harder when you have well-known, long-established CEOs on a panel. It’s exciting to hear about their journey, but it can tend to be more aspirational than attainable. As somebody who is 10 years out of HBS, I feel like I can act on what I hear from those younger alumni panels, given I’m at a similar life stage.”

This event was hosted by the HBS Association of Boston, with participation by the HBS Women’s Association of Greater New York, the HBS Club of Toronto, the HBS Association of Southern California, and the HBS Association of Orange County.

More than 120 HBS alumni from across the UK gathered in London on January 10 for a candid conversation on “Building and Scaling Tech Ventures in Turbulent Times,” presented as a panel discussion at the Physicians College of London and cohosted by the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at HBS, the HBS Alumni Angels of London, and the HBS Club of London.

The conversation was led by Jeffrey Rayport, senior lecturer in the Entrepreneur Management Unit at HBS, and entrepreneur and HBS Executive Fellow Greg Marsh (MBA 2006) who were leading a class of 32 HBS students in an Immersive Field Course (IFC) on the Tech Startup Ecosystem in the UK and Europe.

The featured panel of UK-based HBS alumni entrepreneurs, who shared actionable insights on how to overcome challenges amid market uncertainty, included Will Dean (MBA 2009), CEO, Immersive Gamebox; Aron Gelbard (MBA 2009), cofounder and CEO, Bloom & Wild; Asha Haji (MBA 2011), cofounder, Framework; Jon Rudoe (MBA 2006), cofounder and CCO, Nous.co.uk; and Romi Savova (MBA 2012), founder and CEO, Pension Bee.

According to London club president Julie Mulcahy (GMP 24, 2018), the event came together when the Rock Center’s director, Jodi Gernon (MBA 1991), suggested the club seize the chance to connect with and learn from the HBS faculty and senior staff while they were in London.

“Obviously, to have the opportunity to welcome Jeffrey Rayport, Greg Marsh, and Jodi Gernon together with the first-ever MBA IFC cohort in the UK was a delight and a pleasure,” says Mulcahy, adding that the HBS Alumni Angels, London were quick to get on board to support the event.

Mindful of the launch of the 2023 Alumni New Venture Competition, Mulcahy says the panel event not only highlighted the successes of many UK entrepreneurs, it also provided inspiration for aspiring founders among UK alumni.

Gernon opened the evening’s conversation with a reminder of the many programs and services the Rock Center offers for alumni entrepreneurs. Then Rayport, whose research focuses on tech startups, led the panelists through a meaningful discussion that touched on their various experiences with building and scaling a tech company during the pandemic and now, during a time of great economic uncertainty and creeping inflation.

“They all spoke with great authenticity and pride on how embarking on the founder’s journey takes you on an intense emotional rollercoaster,” says Mulcahy. “You have to be ready and have to reflect and design your own way to deal with a constant level of pressure. These last years, with the differing ups and downs, certainly amplified this phenomenon.”

The panelists said the ability to anticipate is critical, as is recognizing the need to adopt different management styles as you are scaling your company. Careful attention to hiring—and authentic empathy in letting early team members go—are crucial at this stage as well.

Mulcahy adds that the panelists reminded potential founders that in the most challenging moments “they should never forget their North Star—the deep reason why you founded your company and what you want to achieve with it. Remember to always go back to that fundamental when you face hard and important decisions,” she says.

Panelist Asha Haji, who was a global finalist for the 2022 Alumni New Venture Competition with her company Framework, an on-demand business school for professionals in the startup space, gave her insight on how turbulence has affected the funding equation for founders.

“Startups are built on promise, hope, and ambitious visions for a better world,” she says. “This VC model is inherently built on making big bets. VCs are after mega-hits who can return the fund with their stratospheric valuations that are calculated primarily on top-line growth. Now we startups are being advised from all sides to abandon that thesis and focus on operational efficiencies and profitability. This runs counter to the model and doesn’t seem like it’s a narrative that will last forever. However, we know it’s here to stay at least through the next 12-24 months as we weather this storm.”

Following the discussion, Mulcahy says the conversation continued at an informal reception with cocktails and light refreshments. Feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. “Everyone commented on the outstanding hosts, panelists, and audience, combined with authenticity, passion, and real desire to share made for a really great event and evening,” she says.

“It was a unique opportunity to bring together and share relevant and timely experiences among the alumni community of the UK, HBS, the Rock Center, HBS founders, and current students,” says Simon Greenman (MBA 1999), copresident of the HBS Alumni Angels, London.

Mulcahy added that Rayport, as moderator, “asked meaningful questions, and skillfully summarized the learnings from the impressive panelists, whose humble attitude and commendable desire to authentically share their passion and acquired knowledge to the benefits of the audience were remarkable.”

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