#26 How Women Entrepreneurs Can Get $300 Billion: Anne Ravanona, Founder/CEO of Global Invest Her

Anne: A key bias is that women are more risk-averse. And that is a load of rubbish. It's not that we're risk averse, it's we're more risk cautious. It means that when we make a decision, when we take risks, we're gonna take a lot more information into account before actually taking that decision. And the thing is that men can perceive that as lacking confidence, and it's not actually true.

Kelly: I'm Kelly Hoey, host of BroadMic. I speak with the most accomplished entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders about the issues that matter in building a business. You will get the inspiration as well as the picks and shovels you need to become a better entrepreneur. Be inspired. Take action. Think broad.

Sitting next to me today is Anne Ravanona. She's a TEDx speaker, Huffington Post blogger, specialist in Gender Diversity Consulting, and founder and CEO of Global Invest Her, a global community for women entrepreneurs to get them investor-ready and funded faster. Today, we're gonna chat about the need for global investor, overcoming the confidence gap, and her advice on how to deal with biases of male investors, if you're a female founder.

Anne, it is so great to have you here.

Anne: It's brilliant to be here finally, Kelly.

Kelly: Finally, we are off Twitter, we're in the same room. Absolutely fantastic. So tell us about Global Invest Her.

Anne: We're a global community, as the name suggests, but it's all about helping early stage women entrepreneurs learn about funding in a safe place. So where you can go to ask those kind of stupid questions, there's no such things as stupid question. We wanna make it easy for you to learn how to play this game so that you can get funded faster and back to building your business. So learn what you need to learn, go get the money, and grow your business.

Kelly: What was the spark that led you to say, "This is what I have to do"?

Anne: I think the spark has been in me from a very young age. When I was about eight years old, my mother gave me this book and it had a chapter by Joan of Arc, and I was like, "Wow, look at this young woman. She's like 14 and she bloomed into the 17-year-old in Medieval France and she raised an army and crowned the Prince and kicked the British out of France." And I was like, you know, being an Irish girl, I thought it was really cool. But basically, I was like, that was the first time I was ever exposed to a woman leader. And I said, "This is incredible." And so from the age of eight, I was looking for women leaders. I said, "Where are the rest of the women?" So throughout my career, I've been very passionate about women, leadership, and business, and I wanted to bring them all together. So it's been there from really, really a long time, Kelly.

Kelly: When and how did you decide, like, "Okay, this is the platform that, for me being so passionate about women and leadership, this is the right platform that's missing out there"?

Anne: I remember my "Aha" moment. It was in October, Fall 2012. I was in London. I've been invited to the Cherie Blair Foundation and she was launching a program to help women entrepreneurs in developing countries. And a fantastic woman entrepreneur from JustGiving, one of the founders, she stood up and she said that her biggest challenge had been raising capital for her business. And that made my blood boil, Kelly. I just said, "What are you telling me, that the hardest thing for you and your business was actually finding the money to grow it?" That was like a spark of the light bolt moment. I said, "Right, I have to find out. Is this a really big problem?"

So I started to read the research around the world. And beyond the research, I started to interview women entrepreneurs myself. And I asked them, "What are your challenges raising money? Is this really true?" And it was a really big problem. Now, I know all the statistics and so on. The funding gap between men and women estimate $300 billion. That's the difference between what men and women get to fund their business. And this is IFC statistics. And I just think it's purely wrong.

You know, one my core values is equality. And for me, I just said I have to do something. I turned 40, that's the other day. So I turned 40, I'm like, "Okay. You are now into a new era, so you've got to do what you're passionate about. What are you passionate about?" And I said, "Okay. It's women. It's leadership. It's business." What a big problem we need to solve. And we need to help get more women funded so they can build their businesses and grow the global economy. So I said, "That's what I'm gonna do."

Kelly: Amazing, I think, personally. So glad you have those values and this is what you're going to do and get this done. Okay. So for 20 years of your career, you're this unsung hero out there, heroine out there, woman who's just like nose down conquering your job, all that kind of stuff. Global Invest Her, there's a mentoring piece of the program. Were mentors important in your career and that's why they're part of what you're creating now?

Anne: Absolutely. For me, I've had one core mentor who's been working with me for about 12 years, and her name is Mira Ralhan Madonna [SP]. She's a British lady of Indian origin. She's now based in Hong Kong. And we'd have a professional, let's say, mentoring relationship for 12 years. And when I started, I was transitioning back in from after having my children, going back into the workplace, starting in a new sector I'd never done. I was like, "Oh my God, I need help to get into this." So we started from there. But with her help, I have learned so much about myself. I've developed so much as a person, and her guidance to...you know, it's fantastic to have that relationship with somebody that you really trust and you know is gonna give you a non-partial point of view, and point you in a certain direction. You have to take those steps.

So for me, Mira has been a guiding light in my life. And we've become friends apart from anything else. I still have those calls. And so I said, "Okay. I've seen how important it is for me when I was developing my career." And now, I can see it as a key tool. And a key thing for a woman entrepreneur is I think we need to have mentors. Yes, you need advisors. Yes, you need friends. But you need somebody who's gonna push you in the right way and in that safe space.

Kelly: And in the meantime, you've got this amazing bank of interviews that you have done, which, in them and among themselves, those interviews are mentoring.

Anne: They are. There's two different types of interviews. I've got interviews I published on the Huff Post who are fantastic women role models, some from corporate, from women entrepreneurs, women investors. So I've been sharing those stories now for the past year or so, two years actually, and I really, really wanted to put a spotlight on these amazing role models because I really believe you cannot be what you cannot see. So we have to see these role models and see it's possible. That's the first thing.

But the second thing is I am also, as part of Global Invest Her, we will have an interview bank, if you will. In this few hub of interviews with women entrepreneurs who have raised money, how they did it, what were their challenges, exactly the steps they took and their practical key tips to you as a first-time woman founder going through the journey. And on the other side of the table, we also have interviews with investors about how do they like to be approached? What are they looking for at that first meeting and subsequent meetings before they invest? And then, what are the key do's and don'ts? That's absolutely vital to know.

The purpose of this is, why are we creating this interview hub? It's because when I spoke to those preliminary women entrepreneurs a few years ago, when I was doing my market research, I said to them, "If you had a magic paintbrush, what would be the solution? What's the best thing that would help you on your journey to get funded?" And they said to me those two things. They said, "Anne, I wanna learn from the women who have the teacher. I wanna learn from the women who have raised the money because they've broken all the barriers and they've done it. And I also wanna learn from the investors. What are they looking for? I wanna be able to ask them my questions." And so that's what we are building. And so we've currently done 40 interviews with amazing women entrepreneurs. And again, another 40 interviews with investors. So we're very excited. That will be coming out in the summer this year.

And I know it's gonna be crucial to basically help the female founders to prepare because it's absolutely critical. Before you get to an investor, you have to do your homework. And I know this is something you're very vocal about in all of your blogs, and I know I've interviewed you. I just shout out to everybody, "Kelly is one of those investors and she's on the interview hub so you can hear her really good advice and you better be prepared if you go to talk to her. I know she gives really good advice."

So it's all about what are they key things I need to know, the do's, the don'ts? What are the practical things I need to do so that I can build a relationship, I can find the right investor for my business?

Kelly: And, you know, of course, if we were recording this with video, people would have been seeing the face. Maybe it's a good thing there's not because yeah, better than Donald Trump in making faces, with things like, "Drive me crazy."

This, for me, having all of those resources in one place and being able to say to people, "Here is valuable role models and guidance to help you." Whether or not a founder takes advantage of all of that is also a sign to me as an investor whether or not they are coachable, which is that elusive word we hear. Are you coachable? We want someone who's coachable. And if you are providing this incredible information in one place and someone's not taking advantage of it, that's like a warning sign to me as an investor.

Anne: Yeah, I hear you. I mean, this is really key. At the end of the day, when it comes to investing, it's supply and demand. We have on the one side a person who needs investment but not just money. They need smart money. They need advice. They need introductions to other investors, introductions to markets. And on the other side, we have investors who want to get a return on investment but also want to give back. They wanna learn stuff. They wanna have fun as well. Okay. If it's VC, it's a different run, but fun at a very different level. But fundamentally, it's about building a relationship between those two groups. And I see us and myself as being a catalyst and a bridge, how can we build a bridge between women entrepreneurs and investors because they're not enough women investors out there, Kelly. We need more of you and all of the fantastic ladies you've had on this show like Jalak and so on. So we need more women investors. Until we have the critical mass, we gotta convince the guys to invest on us too. We gotta be ready.

Kelly: I think that's where we're gonna go next. But I was gonna say, you know, one of the reasons and you know the data as well as I do. One of the reasons we need more women investors is that's where the, I wanna say, the wealth transfer is happening. And if we as women aren't active investors, that's a whole lot of money sitting on the sidelines. And not a little bit. We're talking the vast majority of wealth, particularly in this country, will be in the hands of women 50 and over in the next decade. And if we aren't active in influencing the world as we wanna see it with our investment dollars, well, it's, you know. There's a special place in hell, I think.

Anne: Yes, Madeleine. Yes, Madeleine Albright, we love you for that phrase and I quote her a lot. "There is a special place in hell."

We do need more investors and we need more wealthy, fabulous ladies to move some of their money from philanthropy into investing in businesses for today and for tomorrow, for their daughters, for their grand daughters. And for older women, we have to...this is coming back to my deep value of equality. You know, how can you leave half the population behind? You can't. We can literally re-ignite the global economy if we start to have everybody at the table. And so that means create more seats around the table, create more places, and come on, women. We can do it. I really believe that we could create a huge revolution if we all came together on this.

Kelly: You know it. You know it. All right. Let's talk about the boys for a minute here. Let's talk about biases of male investors. What's your practical guidance for female founders of how they manage this in the pitch process?

Anne: So let's talk about the biases first. What do I hear coming up the most? I'd say the number one bias is that male investors could think and feel that women are not in there for the long haul and they're always gonna put family first. So this is a double-edged sword. Whether you are a female founder with children already, they're gonna say, "Oh, is she gonna give her full attention to business? Can we count on her to really grow the business?" And if you happen to be a young female founder who has not yet got a family, it's double-edged sword, "Okay. When is she gonna start a family? What if she gets pregnant? Can she run the business as well?" And that is just crazy because, you know, from the beginning of time, we women have managed to multi-task. And that's part of things we share on our webinar series called "Own the moment." How can you own that moment when you're pitching?

So one of the key things is this bias around, first of all, are women in it for the long run? Are they gonna put the family first or not? So can I count on them? Yes, you can. That's the first thing I would say. Yes, we can.

The second one, I think is, a key bias is that women are more risk averse. And that is a load of rubbish. You know, if you're starting a business and all the women entrepreneurs who are out there and they have built their businesses, if you're starting a business, you have to take risk. It's not that we're risk averse. We're more risk cautious. It means that when we make a decision, when we take risks, we're gonna take a lot more information into account before actually taking that decision. And the thing is that men can perceive that as lacking confidence and it's not actually true.

There is a fantastic economist here in the U.S. who actually analyzed the research on risk and the differences between men and women on how we take risks. And she looked at all the kind of key papers, research papers on it. And she found that actually, there was very little difference in the way that men and women take risks. It's all about perceptions. And this is the thing about unconscious bias. It's something we believe to be true but is actually not. It's these filters, these glasses we're putting on. So we're not risk averse. We are just more risk cautious. That means we're gonna take more things into perspective and we do think about our community, our families, the wider impact before we make decisions. That's the second thing, I think.

And you know, again, linked to that is that women are not ambitious, and that we're not gonna grow the company. Yeah, there's so many amazing ambitious women there and read them in my Huff Post series. They're there. You know, it's just simply not true. So what we need is that the male investors just hear us out. Just a common complaint is that women entrepreneurs really feel they're not being taken seriously. And it's not just a perception on their heads, okay. There is this filter going on.

And I want to make sure that we say...so we cut to the practical key tips here. It's like, first of all, ladies, don't think and believe that all the guys have it against you. That's simply not true, okay? It's not intentional. They're not out to get you. They're just not out there to not want to fund you. That's not true. So a practical piece of advice is first of all, take that idea out of your head. And when you are pitching in front of investors, see yourselves as peers for them. It's about, "I wanna build a relationship with this person. I wanna see how we're gonna work well together."

When we're in the pitch situation, what can tend to happen is because we women multi-task, multi-think, our brains are actually wired differently to men. This is a fascinating research that we share on our webinar. And we know there's a left brain and left side and left hemisphere, right hemisphere. And there's a thing in between that's like jelly and it's called the corpus callosum. And that we have more jelly between the two hemispheres than men, which mean the two hemispheres actually talk to each other much more. So when you look at brain scans of a woman's brain and a man's brain, our two hemispheres are talking.

What that means is that when we're developing a point in a pitch, we do tend to give lots and lots of information and details that the male investors can perceive as, "Oh, she's going off-point. She's not going from A to B." They're more linear. They want to go from A to B. And we're going to A, B, C, D, E, F, G. That's just the difference on how we're made and wired. So if you know that men's brain is wired differently and it thinks that way, you can adapt your pitch, your content, what you say, and how you deliver it so it gets to them in a different way.

Kelly: So much of success in communications is not, I wanna say, not knowing yourself. It's knowing how you are heard and therefore, changing your banter and your delivery so that you are heard.

Anne: Yes. So there's that but I would also say what John Fayed, who's the gentleman I've developed this webinar with, he's a gender intelligence specialist. "What we say is we don't ask women to give up their part of authenticity. We're not saying, 'Change yourself, become a man, or don't be yourself.' No. We're saying, 'Be the best version of yourself and learn the language of men in the pitch.'" That 10-minute pitch is not designed to help women because we think differently and we're much more relational. We wanna build a relationship so we want to talk more to build that relation. We want that eye contact. Guys are just not wired that way. They're like, "This is what I want, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. You know, A, B, C. Off you go. Give it to me now, and give me my $2 million and off we go."

So there are lots of key tips that you get on the webinar. But I really think it's about we have a fantastic confidence. So be confident when you go into that situation. Leave that doubt outside the door. And just when you're in that moment, own that moment entirely.

Kelly: Amazing key and terms. Let's go back to "Own the Moment." What is this initiative, "Own the Moment"?

Anne: So it's a webinar training where we share with early stage women entrepreneurs. What are the key limiting beliefs in the heads of male investors? What are the limiting beliefs inside our heads as women that we could be holding ourselves back? And then what are those gender differences between men and women, how we're wired differently? But also, how we make decisions, which is crucial in the investment process. How we process information, okay? So we learned all of that and we say, "Hmm, now you know this. Now, let's apply it to the pitch situation. What do you need to be doing differently?"

So on the webinar training, you've one-hour live webinar with us. And then afterwards, there's this 16-page workbook, so you can actually go through your pitch and adapt with information you've learned, practical key tips on the webinar. And you have also access to our Facebook groups so you can continue the knowledge. So really, it's for those women entrepreneurs who are learning about funding for the first time, you can learn about these gender differences, you can't ignore them. We're gonna have to pitch in front of men, mostly. So you might as well learn their game, learn their language, and just give yourself an edge.

Kelly: So the more that you know, you can know about yourself and then how you need to flex that in different situations so that you are able to achieve what you want to achieve? I mean, that's what keeps kind of racing through my head. And then I also think when we had Susan Lyne of BBG Ventures as one of our guests, and you know, it's one of those things I celebrate, you know, in the year or so that BBG's been around, they've seen 900 pitches. But that's also, when you say to yourself as a founder, how do I break through that crowd and deliver the information in a way that it is seen and heard by Susan and her very small team? Because 900 pitches, they're not meeting all of those face to face. There are those who are getting a quick cursory glance so they get down to the next several hundred. You know, maybe some of those who are getting a pre-screen, like how are you communicating so that Susan and her team instantly go, "Got it"? They've got it. This is someone I wanna continue the conversation with.

Anne: And a lot of that is about building rapport, for sure, in your communication skill. It is about "Can you trust me?" When I analyze what a lot of investors have said to me, they wanna know who you are as a founder. "What is your motivation? Why are you doing this? Why are you choosing this problem to solve? And can I trust you, not just to build a business, but can I trust you with my money, to give me a return? That's a very important thing. And so in order to understand that trust, I wanna see how you execute. I wanna see the size of your vision. I wanna see the quality of your team. And I want to see if you're coachable." That's a key thing that does come up and you know this only too well. "How do you take feedback?" So that's very important.

One key tip I would say to the women entrepreneurs listening is make sure to ask for feedback. No matter how many no's you get, you're gonna get loads of no's and in fact, as a sales person myself, you had to get through those 99 no's to get that one yes. Just you say, "Another no, brilliant. Now, what did I learn from this and then how am I gonna apply that to the next time I'm gonna pitch so that it's even better?" And ask them because some of the investors, they say, "Well, how many entrepreneurs asked you for feedback?" And they said, "You'd be surprised, not enough, and I'd be willing to give them feedback. I'd be willing to give them intros to other investors who might be more adapted to their sector, or whatever, if they only ask me." So this is a key thing that we women entrepreneurs need to do is to be able to ask effectively, and I know that's something that you'll be talking about a lot in your upcoming vocal networking as well. It's how to make that "ask."

Kelly: All right. And I'm gonna back to you. As you said, as a sales person, when do you know a "No" is a "No" as opposed to a "No, not right now"?

Anne: That's a hard question.

Kelly: Yeah, because I've given you such easy ones up to now.

Anne: Just I'm trying to think now. When do you know a "No" is a "No." I think, look, we women have a fantastic intuition and I think you need to listen to it. If you are hearing "no" in several four, five different ways, that's definitely a "no." Also, if the person giving you the no is not the decision-maker, then that's...you need to be getting to the person who can make the decision. So that's also a "No." I think it depends on the situation, and the problem is that a lot of...some investors can lead entrepreneurs down the garden path and they can go on and on and on because they're curious, they wanna learn about it. So in order to get to find out "Is this a real no?" ask. Say, "Look, are you interested or not? And if you're not, great. Give me a feedback and recommend me to your friends. And if not, well, great, let's go and I'll keep in touch. You never know, you might be interested later."

There's some times when the investor will say, "Look, it's really the wrong stage. You're too early." Or if you'll come and knock on the door, and they don't usually invest in your sector, that's a clear "no." I mean, you have to be doing your homework before you go. So I would say the no, you will hear it in many different ways and it's really hard, actually. That's one of the most confusing thing for women, also because they don't know what signals to look out for. There's no easy answer to that, Kelly. I wish I had the magic wand.

Kelly: If there was, well, you and I would be...

Anne: We'd be gazillionaires.

Kelly: We'd just have that one webinar on "No." But I think also, part of your answer, if you've known it for me, this is where it's really important to have mentors and peers that you can bounce off to get "What is the reputation of this investor?" Right? Sometimes, I've met people and they're like, "Hey, we're gonna be the ones who are going to break through with this person." It's like, "Everyone's failed before you." Like, "Good on you for having that..."

Anne: Gumption.

Kelly: "...that gumption." Exactly. But this is where you'd be able to say someone, "Here's how the meeting went. This is what happened with your guidance." And the other, you're absolutely, just to stress this point. If an investor says, "No, but please keep me informed," that second part is really important. These are busy people. They don't have time just to toss that out idly to be nice. If they say it, they mean it.

Anne: Yeah, totally. And that's what's frustrating because some people...that's the difference between men and women when it comes to dealing with rejection, dealing with those no's. A guy will go in like, they'll not stay. It's like guys picking up girls, right? You know, they're used to...they're gonna go through lots and lots of rejections like "Poof, it's easy. Now, I'll go for it again. I'm not going to stop now," whereas women tend to take feedback and rejection very personally. And I think that's a key lesson is don't take it personally. It's not personal. Learn from it and then move on. It's not a judgment on you as a person, okay? It's like, "What is your company? What is the opportunity?" The timing could be wrong. As I said, the sector. There's load of thing. Don't take it personally. And I think that's a key thing that we women entrepreneurs need to learn and apply.

Kelly: One of the, I would say, best lessons I ever learned. And I am so thankful to an old boss of mine, former boss of mine, for teaching me that one.

All right. Now, we get to the fun part. Not that the rest of this hasn't been fun, but now we get to the fun part. We get to the pay it forward questions. These are questions we ask and I ask every single guest, and we'll see how your short, snappy, cut through this all answers. What are your primary sources of information?

Anne: Twitter, Forbes, Inc.

Kelly: There we go. How do you discover new information?

Anne: Through Twitter, Facebook, my network.

Kelly: What book are you reading?

Anne: "The Art of Startup Fundraising" by Alejandro Cremades. He just brought it out and I was like to see what's news have come out? "The Art of Startup Fundraising."

Kelly: All right. There we go. Get that in our notes. Do you have any rituals or habits you swear by?

Anne: Yes. Do power poses. Follow Amy Cuddy, "Do the big Y, do the wonder woman works."

Kelly: And you know what, strong posture, I agree with you. Who are three entrepreneurs or leaders you admire and follow?

Anne: Okay. Richard Bronson. Michelle Mone, she's a Scottish woman entrepreneur. She's fantastic. And let me see. Who'd be the third one? Elon Musk from the breadth and depth of what he's doing, and he's taking enormous problems to go for. I know there's only one woman but we need more of us in there.

Kelly: Yeah, we will. We'll get there. What is the best advice you've ever received?

Anne: Be yourself. That was from my mom. She's been saying it to me ever since I was young and I think that's the best advice.

Kelly: Ever since she handed you a book about Joan of Arc at age eight. Are there any particular myths that you would like to dispel for our listeners?

Anne: I would say that this thing about women being less confident, don't believe it. We are just as confident so believe in yourself. I think that's really, really a big myth. We are just as confident so just go for it. You can change the world. One woman can change the world. It's not funny. It wasn't a Freudian slip. One woman can change the world.

Kelly: Joan of Arc, exactly?

Anne: Yeah.

Kelly: What words of advice would you give our listeners about taking risk and closing the confidence gap?

Anne: I would say, get yourself a great mentor. Think big. And take baby steps. Every day, take steps towards your goal. As you learn new skills, your confidence grows.

Kelly: And then I think that's important point. You know, have that big goal but be prepared to take the little steps to get there, and don't confuse little steps with little goals. And what does "Think broad" mean to you?

Anne: It's a "Be open. Be inclusive." Think women and minorities but think global. That's broad in all of those senses.

Kelly: I kinda like that definition. All right. Thank you and look forward to having you back.

Anne: Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

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