VC leadership is male-dominated Gender diversity issues prevail also at the funding, or venture capital 昀椀rm, level. When looking at the gender mix of General Partners (GPs), the most senior decision-makers in a venture 昀椀rm, women make up a small minority. Studies have shown that women VCs are more likely to allocate capital to women-led teams. Hence, an increase in women GPs might ultimately have a positive impact on the share of funding going to mixed and women-only founding teams. GPs themselves do not shine in gender diversity 16% Source of GPs are female Founders are looking for alignment on vision When asked the same simple question - what do founders really want from their VCs - the answers from founders and VCs are surprisingly divergent. While VC respondents are most likely to cite the strength of reputation of an investor (the top ranked answer selected by 31% of VC respondents), this features way down the list of priorities for founders (13% of founder respondents). For founders, what matters is 昀椀nding a VC that truly ‘gets them’ - shared alignment of vision/purpose is by far the most cited response (36%). Access to relevant networks, as well the importance of having chemistry with the investor partner, are next most-often cited (28% of founders). What is also interesting is just how low down the priority list certain oft-discussed considerations rank for both founders and VCs, such as the diversity of the investment team, prior founder experience, and brand a昀케nity. 99 | Companies