'We Need Less Ally Theater': Little Has Changed for Women in Tech Since the #MeToo Movement
Sep 15 2020
One woman reported being locked in a conference room while a coworker masturbated between her and the exit. Another 50-year-old female tech professional, with a PhD in engineering, said her entire professional life has been "filled with harassment, sexual or otherwise." Then there was the founder who was invited to join an investor in a hot tub to help close a deal.
<p>It seems that the era of #MeToo hasn't significantly changed things for women in tech, according to <a href="https://womenwhotech.com/sites/default/files/2020-09/WomenWhoTech_StartupAndTechSurvey2020.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a new report</a> released Tuesday by Women Who Tech, a nonprofit founded to draw attention to gender bias in VC funding and support women in tech.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDMzNTc5Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMTY4NzUzM30.5pqmcD-C3aS4NksMLEpDOA4ydJkvE74jr1bMUkWy4HA/image.png?width=980" id="a54bb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dc928a21700b40258a73f813de555fdf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Women Who Tech</small></p><p>Nearly 50% of female founders and workers in technology have experienced harassment, roughly the same three years later. When female employees reported harassment to human resources, 85% said their harasser faced zero repercussions at work.<br/></p><p>For female employees, harassing behaviors ranged from offensive "jokes" (75%) to unwanted physical contact (54%) to sexual slurs directed at them (51%) to being propositioned for sex (35%). Eighteen percent of female employees said they were propositioned for sex in exchange for a promotion, an increase of 5% from 2017.</p><p>Among the surveyed female founders, 65% reported being propositioned for sex (up 9% from 2017), 59% reported unwanted physical contact (down 3%), 32% were groped (up 7%), and 24% sent graphic photos (up 14%).</p><p>The report was the result of 1,003 interviews conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies over more than a month via an online survey.</p><p>Tech founders who are women of color reported being harassed 46% of the time by a potential investor, while 38% of white women founders had the same experience.</p><p>"We were invited to an opulent private club (with hot tubs, which the investor kept inviting one of our female founders to use with him after we finished — implying we could close sooner if she'd agree to go)," a female founder anonymously reported during the survey.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDMzNTgyOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjIwMzMwMn0.nm_t_2Q4Dm9KZeXPHofC3S_VIyEq3c1qHzGSFi9GItI/image.png?width=980" id="f7205" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f3ffcc902dd5d9dea7f6cd2b7f00c4c9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Women Who Tech</small></p><p>Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies and a member of Women Who Tech's advisory board, called the data "disturbing" and added that "we need less ally theater and more people in positions of power to recognize that power, not abuse it, and support women in tech."<br/></p><p>A smaller percentage of women said they trust their companies to handle harassment allegations over time in 2020 compared to 2017.</p><p>Women who didn't report the harassment said they were scared to lose their job, or had "seen what happens when people do report and I don't want my life made harder." Another woman said she was embarrassed and worried it would impact her job with her supervisor and coworkers.</p><p>The report also dealt with the ability to raise money, with nearly 50% of female founders saying they <a href="https://dot.la/women-in-tech-los-angeles-2645374356.html" target="_self">would raise more money if they were a man</a>.</p><p>___</p><p><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.</em></p>
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Natasha Case is the cofounder and CEO of Coolhaus, a women-founded and led ice cream brand serving premium cookie sandwiches, pints and bars.
After earning her masters in architecture from UCLA and landing her dream job at Walt Disney Imagineering, she left her corporate job and risked everything she had on an idea and an old postal van she purchased on Craigslist.
<p>At the time, her partner and cofounder, Freya, decided to take the barely drivable van to Coachella to see if their passion for making the first architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwiches could be a viable business.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="0" height="110px" src="https://player.acast.com/5ec36ea336d6206cc46e0b35/episodes/natasha-case?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" width="100%"></iframe></div><p>Coachella was a big hit, and since 2008, Coolhaus has become a multimillion dollar business growing 2-3x per year. Natasha has been named on both Forbes and Zagat's 30 under 30 list and has helped expand the business to over 7,500 grocery stores nationwide, from Safeway to Whole Foods.</p><p><em>Want more? Subscribe to Behind Her Empire on <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/behind-her-empire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-her-empire/id1514068478" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6hn08EnS8Vh3RLMZVqpjyM?si=XTfbhXDkS3mnoJourSTk4g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a> <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-behind-her-empire-63368006/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">iHeart Radio</a> or wherever you get your podcasts.</em></p>
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UNest, a mobile app that helps parents build college nest eggs for their kids, announced Wednesday it has acquired Littlefund, a similar app that will double UNest's user base to over 60,000 people. The integration will also make it so extended family members and friends can contribute directly to a UNest account on behalf of a child.
"Both are applying a modern, technology-driven approach to making financial solutions more affordable, accessible and user-friendly for a new generation of parents," said Ksenia Yudina, chief executive officer and founder of UNest, in a written statement. "Our teams share the same values and there is a lot of synergy in terms of vision and demographics."
Yudina, who was previously a senior executive at Capital Group, said she got the idea for UNest after seeing that her millennial friends having babies did not know how to invest in college savings plans and were put off by the stacks of paperwork that traditionally have been required.
UNest makes the investing simpler. It charges users a $3 monthly advisory fee for the service that funnels cash into 529 plans, an investment tool that provides tax breaks for college savings. It also offers trust accounts for minors.
The deal comes after UNest closed an oversubscribed $9 million Series A financing in June at a $25 million, post money valuation, according to Pitchbook data. The round was led by Anthos Capital, which also made an introduction to NBA All-Star Baron Davis, who ended up becoming an investor in the company and a brand representative.
UNest, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, launched in February and says it has seen "rapid growth" in users during the pandemic as the savings rate increased and families focused on long-term savings goals.
Following the completion of the acquisition, Littlefund founders Mimi Chan and Isaac Dressman will join UNest as head of experience and head of research and development, respectively. They are currently based in San Francisco but are planning to relocate to L.A. when employees can go back into the office.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.