The new podcast “Fe.male Founders” of the “Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations” from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is aimed primarily at female founders in the German digital scene. You can find the podcast at Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcast and various other podcast providers.
In particular, the podcast aims to promote female entrepreneurship in Germany and answer important questions about founding, financing, funding and developing ideas.
First Fe.male Founders episode: Does gender play a role in founding a company?
In the first 50-minute Fe.male Founders episode, hosts Kristina Peneva and Hanna Irmisch discuss with Viviane Hülsmeier, co-founder of Coplannery and venture architect at Deoitte Digital, how gender plays a role in founding a startup.
"Of course, you ask yourself, would I have it easier if I looked like you, an investor, a white man with a certain educational background from business schools like WHU? […] Sociologists speak of homophily. You like to surround yourself with people who are similar to you, and you are also more likely to support people who are similar to you."
says Viviane HülsmeierShe also shares her own experiences in starting a business and offers helpful tips:
"It's important to share your ideas. I realized early on that this isn't a risk, because an idea is essentially nothing. It takes a team to implement that idea. [...] We're sitting here at the table, and the four of us could probably generate 20 really great business ideas within ten minutes. But that hasn't achieved anything. It's all about taking that idea and building a business and a product out of it. And building it in such a way that people in the market will buy it. That's the big challenge."
“It should be clear to everyone that more women would be good for everyone.”
Also Oliver Voss is in the first episode. As a startup editor at Tagesspiegel, he reports on the German digital scene and startup activity. He also believes that the organizers of startup conferences have a responsibility for raising the visibility of female founders:
"It should be clear to everyone that more women would be good for everyone [...]. Events are a big issue. There are enough startup conferences where only men sit on the panel. Organizers should ensure that women are included. [...] This is a process that will take a very long time. When we sit together in ten years, maybe 20 or 25 percent of founders will be female, and that would be great."
