科技界男女失衡,盖茨夫人要出手了的英语美文
It could be just another monthly partner meeting at just another “Fill in the Blank” Capital， typical Silicon Valley–based venture firm。 The fund’s top players sit around a white conference table， armed with Apple laptops and pastel—colored cans of La Croix。 A couple of startup entrepreneurs stop by to present to the partners， enthusing over upward—trending charts and touting the merits of recent hires。 Outside the expansive windows lies the not—quite—bustling heart of downtown Palo Alto—a town that， along with nearby Menlo Park and the city of San Francisco， is a mecca for Arc’teryx vest–wearing VCs。
这场月度合伙人会议跟以往没什么区别，很可能又是典型硅谷风投公司在“填补空白”资本。基金高层坐在白色会议室桌前，每人面前摆着苹果电脑和彩色灌装乐活气泡水。几位创业公司的企业家向合伙人们介绍，一边展示满是向上箭头的图表，一边吹嘘最近招到什么大牛。开阔的窗户外，是帕洛阿尔托闹市中心，但不太喧闹。帕洛阿尔托跟附近的门洛帕克和旧金山市都是那帮喜欢穿始祖鸟户外装的风投大佬云集之地。
But anyone who knows this hub of venture capital would immediately spot something unusual about this particular gathering： Four of the eight investors seated around the table are female。 And one of the two presenting portfolio company heads is also a woman。 In Silicon Valley， where unicorns are a dime a dozen， this kind of gender ratio is the real rare and magical discovery。
但如果对风投资本中心帕洛阿尔托有所了解，就会立刻发现这场会议有点异样：桌前八位投资人里有四位都是女性。两家作介绍的被投公司负责人里，有一位也是女性。硅谷的独角兽遍地，但一次会上女性占比如此之高真是罕见，堪称神奇。
“If you have more diversity you have better financial performance，” says Theresia Gouw， one—half of the founding team of Aspect Ventures， the norm—breaking VC firm at hand （the other founder is Jennifer Fonstad）。 “Our company is nearly 50/50 in an industry in which just 7% of investors are female。 And our portfolio is a reflection of our pipeline。”
“公司多元化程度越高，业绩就越好，”新派风投公司Aspect Ventures创始二人组之一特蕾西亚。格武表示（另一位创始人是珍妮佛。冯斯塔）。“行业里女性从业者只占7%，在我们公司接近50%。从投资对象也能体现出公司理念。”
Gouw and Fonstad， both longtime VCs who worked at firms like Accel and DFJ， didn’t set out to create a “female—focused” fund when they launched Aspect in 2014。 But they believed that diversity， both internally and throughout their portfolio companies， would lead to better outcomes—and they had the right Rolodex to test out their thesis。 “We have different networks than the traditional firms on Sand Hill Road，” says Fonstad， referring to the nearby street where the bulk of the most established VCs are headquartered。
格武和冯斯塔都长期从事风投行业，之前在Accel和德丰杰等公司工作。2014年创立Aspect时，她们并没打算成立“女性主义”风投基金。但二人都认为不管是内部还是投资对象公司里，多元化都可以提升业绩，而她们的关系网也很适合测试多元化理论。“跟硅谷沙丘路上传统公司相比，我们的关系网不太一样，”冯斯塔表示，沙丘路是公司附近一条聚集了多家著名风投总部的路。
The results： Over the course of their careers， Gouw and Fonstad’s investments have resulted in a collective seven public offerings， 26 acquisitions， and more than 500 financing rounds in follow—on capital。 Aspect， which is now announcing a second， larger fund with some big—name limited partners （more on that later）， began with $150 million in financing and has already made 29 Series A investments。 One of its portfolio companies， security startup ForeScout， went public last fall at a valuation of about $800 million。 Other standout investments under Aspect’s first fund include Cato Networksand Exabeam， both promising cybersecurity startups； health—tech player Vida Health； and online career source The Muse。
结果是，格武与冯斯塔合作投资的公司里，已经有七家成功上市，并购26起，还有500多起跟投交易。Aspect现在宣布新成立一只更大规模的基金，有不少著名有限合伙人加入（详见后文），初始融资规模1。5亿美元，已有29起A轮投资。证券创业公司ForeScout是被投公司之一，去年秋天成功上市，估值约8亿美元。Aspect第一轮投出的出色案例还包括Cato Networks和Exabeam，两家都是很有前景的'网络安全领域创业公司；还有医疗领域的Vida Health；提供在线求职资源的 The Muse。
Overall， women founders receive less than 3% of total VC dollars （women of color， meanwhile， get a meager 0。2%）， but Aspect’s portfolio looks strikingly different from the norm： About 40% of the firm’s companies were founded by women， and 30% were started by minorities。 Once， those numbers might have been a mere curiosity—today they are becoming a competitive advantage。 While investing for diversity is something certain industry players have been pushing for a long time， the message is finally beginning to be received by the deep—pocketed individuals and institutions that fund the Silicon Valley ecosystem。 Why？ Ignoring it can be expensive。
总体来说，女性创始人获得的风投资金不到总投资额3%（其中有色人种女性仅能获得0。2%），但Aspect的投资案例完全不一样：约40%被投公司创始人为女性，30%创始人为少数人种女性。以前这些数字还只能引起人们好奇，如今却成了竞争优势。虽然业内不少人一直在推动投资多元化，但现在硅谷风投背后的富裕个人和机构终于开始接受了。为什么？因为不接受可能代价很大。
Last summer， after six female founders accused venture capitalist Justin Caldbeck of making unwanted sexual advances， his firm， Binary Capital， spiraled downward fast。 Caldbeck quickly resigned from the all—male firm。 A new fund， then in the process of being raised by Binary， was abruptly halted。
去年夏天，六位女性创始人指控风投资本家贾斯汀。卡德贝克实施性骚扰，他的公司Binary Capital也急转直下。卡德贝克迅速从这家全为男性的公司辞职。Binary正在融资过程中的新基金也只得叫停。
In Silicon Valley， where unicorns are everywhere， gender balance is the real rare and magical entity。
硅谷的独角兽遍地都是，但实现性别平衡的公司非常罕见而且神奇。
It’s not just venture capital firms that can be impacted。 Perhaps the most high—profile example of how such misconduct can destroy value is Uber， the ride—sharing company rocked by allegations of harassment and sexism early last year。 A number of other embarrassing debacles followed—including reports that Uber had used a software tool to try to deceive authorities by “hiding” rides—and ultimately resulted in a more than 20% decrease to the once high—flying company’s valuation， from around $70 billion to an estimated $54 billion。”
受到影响的不只是风投公司。也许最能体现性别歧视可能摧毁价值的例子就是Uber了，去年初共享车辆平台Uber因被指存在性骚扰和性别歧视而大受打击。之后又出现几起丑闻，包括Uber曾使用软件工具“隐瞒”某些派单从而规避监管，最终导致估值缩水超过20%，从之前高达700亿美元降至估计540亿美元。
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