Geri Stengel's blog

Why are Warren Buffett and other men bullish on women?

Warren Buffett recognizes value when he sees it. His style of investing in high-quality, underpriced companies has made him one of the richest men in the world. Women are an under valued resource who are key to America’s prosperity wrote Buffett in an essay in Fortune.

Do you want to know why some companies are more innovative, more profitable, command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? It’s because they start by asking “why,” according to Simon Sinek, an ethnographer, author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and speaker (his TED speech is among my favorites).

If women entrepreneurs want to grow their businesses, they need to network. That means stop behaving like shy little girls: Put yourself out there, especially when the economy is slow.

There’s no doubt about it: women business owners face greater funding challenges than men. A lesser-known fact is that those challenges may be linked to the industries that female business owners are choosing, according to new findings by Biz2Credit, an online credit marketplace. 

When it comes to raising money from venture capitalists, the gender of an entrepreneur matters, According to new research from Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, VCs have confidence in a man with a business background leading a tech company, but not in a woman with a comparable profile. 

Elite women-owned business -- those earning $10 million in revenue annually -- are growing in numbers almost 50% faster than $10 million business in general and nearly 100% faster than all women-owned businesses, according to Growing Under the Radar: An Exploration of the achievement of Million-Dollar women-Owned Firms, research commissioned by American Express OPEN.

Recently, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer stirred controversy by ditching the company’s telecommuting policy and requiring employees to report to the office. While many have criticized her decision because it disproportionately affects working mothers, others believe it may save the struggling tech company from obsolescence. To them, Mayer’s decision is justified if it will help Yahoo’s bottom line. 

Women have a powerful tool for helping other women get into positions of power in corporations: their money.

You, too, can help fuel the American Dream by investing in entrepreneurs whose companies may become the next Spanx or SlideShare. Investment in start-up and growing businesses isn’t just for financial institutions any more. Many people, not just friends and family, want to help entrepreneurs solve problems, innovate, and create jobs.

Red Hook, Brooklyn, is a mixture of light industry, open space, and residences. Its population is about 10,000. With no subway directly serving the area, getting there from Manhattan takes patience, although it is only minutes away by car. Plagued by high unemployment and poverty, the neighborhood adopted a plan in 1996 to reinvigorate itself. During the next 16 years, it became known as a destination for food, drink, and great waterfront views.