Recruiting of Senior Women to Venture Capital – mission impossible or a matter of style?
A case study by LSE students and New Chapter Executive Search
„If female candidates do not know the difference between kilowatts and joules, then they are out.” New Chapter Executive Search GmbH has partnered with The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to dive into the often-referred-to ‚White German Boys club‘ of VC…
LSE students Katarina Polovina and Marie Carlotta Samland from the Human Resources Master program analysed the recruitment process and women’s experiences at partner-level hiring for a German VC fund. Prompted by market pressure, the German VC fund embarked on searching for a female General Partner. New Chapter Executive Search GmbH screened over 700 women and conducted more than 100 interviews, revealing the following insights from the recruitment process:
VC funds: Professionalize your recruitment, be aware of your bias, and adapt your behaviour. Eliminate gender-specific questions and diversify the voices in your senior investment team.
Search firms: Take a stand for diversity in front of the client, help the client build a search process that will cater the needs of female candidates, even when it leads to a longer search.
Women: Know your worth, speak up, and support each other.
Outcome: With our help, the fund secured a female General Partner, raised over +100 million, and is performing exceptionally well. Heterogeneous teams are not just a tick-box for VC funds; they are a gold mine!
Read the full business report below: