Mar 19, 2015 · 36m · 20vc
20 VC 021: Gender Equality, Startup Valuations and 'Friend Raising before Fund Raising with Sharon Wienbar
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Sharon Wienbar, Partner at Scale Venture Partners, to explore gender diversity in technology, startup valuations, geographical investment trends, and effective venture governance strategies.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 12.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 1.7 Guest teaching 3.2 Guest disagreement 0.8 Harry pushing back 0.5
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 32:02 Reframing founder pitch channels
When the host asks if founders should pitch VCs on Twitter, the guest points out technical limitations with Twitter DMs and steers founders toward tailored LinkedIn outreach instead.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 16:32 Probing geographical equity penaltyThe host directly probes whether founders based outside Silicon Valley are forced to give up worse equity-to-capital ratios compared to Valley startups.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 18:40 1999 bubble versus current enterprise SaaSThe guest educates the host on true bubble dynamics by sharing her experience as an executive at a $4B market cap company with only $800k in revenue, contrasting it with revenue-backed modern B2B startups.
Harry holds his own ▶ 2:51 Citing academic research on gender performance in investingThe host showcases research by citing academic studies showing female investors perform better than male peers when questioning the causes of low gender diversity in VC.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Wienbar's Path into Venture Capital | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | The host introduces the topic with reference to scientific studies on female investor performance and gender inequality. The guest responds collaboratively with deep historical statistics regarding computer science graduates, orchestra blind auditions, and implicit bias in corporate promotion. | |
| Evaluating Geographical Bias and Startups Outside Silicon Valley | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The host asks if non-Valley startups receive worse equity terms for capital raised. The guest clarifies that early seed rounds are discounted in secondary markets due to local VC scarcity, but valuation normalizes as companies scale. | |
| Navigating Startup Valuations and Tech Bubble Dynamics | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | The host inquires how VCs generate returns amidst bubble-level valuations. The guest offers key educational context on bubble dynamics, contrasting 1999 metrics with modern B2B SaaS growth rates that quickly absorb high entry prices. | |
| VC Differentiation, Board Seat Strategy, and Friend Raising | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | The host explores VC differentiation and board selection. The guest explains that VCs are non-commodity partners who take board seats, coining the phrase 'friend raise before you fundraise' to describe relationship building. | |
| Mobile Platform Shifts and the Developer Ecosystem | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | The host prompts the guest for her favorite investment sector. The guest delivers an uninterrupted monologue detailing mobile platform shifts and how non-tech corporations like L'Oreal require developer tools. | |
| Quick Fire Round: News Sources, Time Allocation, and CloudHealth | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | In the quick fire round, the host interrupts to ask if Twitter is optimal for founder outreach. The guest gently redirects toward personalized LinkedIn messages, noting Twitter DM follower restrictions. |
Statements from this episode (14)
Wienbar: Scale Has Most Female Partners Among $200M+ US VC Funds
“Scale Venture Partners has three female partners, which is, I am sorry to say, the most in the U.S. Of any firm that has more than two hundred million dollars under management.”
Wienbar: Only 4.6% of Venture Capital General Partners Are Female
“Actually only 4.6% of general partners are female.”
Wienbar: Female CS Graduates Dropped From Over 30% to 18.8%
“In the mid-eighties, at the beginning of the computer science discipline more than 30% of the people who graduated with a computer science degree were female, and the current run rate is about 18.8%.”
Wienbar: Scale Venture Partners Strictly Funds US-Focused Companies
“So our investment strategy is purely U.S. Focused. We don't invest, you know, in local market Companies for local markets.”
Wienbar: Early-stage valuations are lower for startups outside Silicon Valley
“So in the earlier days of a startup outside of the valley, probably prices are a little bit lower for them, right? Because there's just, there aren't as many VCs in your local market, and there aren't as many VCs who are willing to fly to your local market.”
Wienbar: Startup valuations equalize across regions as companies scale
“But as the companies scale, the companies get valued on their potential market size and on their, you know, current traction and success. So I think it all become, you know, it all kind of becomes equalized as the company scales, but the, those early seed roun…”
Wienbar Was Officer at $4B Bubble Company With $800K Revenue
“I was officer of a public company in Bubble with a four billion dollar market cap in 800,000 dollars in trailing revenue.”
Scale Venture Partners Portfolio Averages 182% Growth Year After Investment
“The companies that we're investing in for the past couple of years have on average achieved a 182% growth in the year after we've invested.”
Scale Passed on $100M Valuation For Startup With Sub-$1M Revenue
“We passed on a deal last week, very early stage company, they sell to businesses, they have less than a million dollars in revenue. They're going to raise a new series of investment at about a hundred million pre.”
Scale Venture Partners Requires a Board Seat in Every Portfolio Deal
“And in fact, that's part of our strategy is that we always have a board seat with our companies. We're very flexible on price terms, amount of dollars invested, but we always have a board seat.”
Scale Venture Partners Nurtures LPs for Two to Three Fund Cycles
“So, you know, we typically know our LPs for two or three cycles before they decide to invest in us. And that's not uncommon for us and our portfolio companies.”
Wienbar: Major VC return peaks are 100% correlated with platform shifts
“Yeah, so I think the whole you know, when you think about what has caused, you know, the bubbles, the big peaks in venture capital returns are a hundred percent correlated with shifts in platform technology.”
Wienbar: Founders Should Use Customized LinkedIn Messages for Cold VC Outreach
“I think the more thoughtful place to do a sort of a cold outreach is on LinkedIn. But please don't link it, you know, ask to link to me just with the canned, you know, I'd like to connect with you, but I think a lot of deal flow both on Twitter and LinkedIn wh…”
Wienbar: Existing Portfolio Support Always Trumps Evaluating New Deals
“So the, you know, money, the rule we have in here is money in the ground trumps new deal. So if you have a portfolio company issue, you know, you owe it to them. It's your fiduciary responsibility as a board member and to your existing investors that you've go…”