A bonus, informal, explicit (!) episode of The Pinkonomics Podcast! This is the first episode featuring a guest from outside academia. Raymond is a tech startup founder (and my friend) who insisted on coming on the show to demonstrate what good audio sounds like and how to go viral.

We discuss feminist economics, startups, Raymond’s experiences funding and establishing his own startup, and why women are less likely to found companies and get less funding for their companies if they do. We also argued about whether or not “feminist content” should be entertaining, and about being right and nuanced vs. being generally right and popular.

P.S. There will also be some scheduling changes starting this week, since summer is now drawing to a close. I talk about this in the episode.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:49 How Economics Differs from Sociology, and What (Feminist) Economics Entails

00:07:18 The Need for Qualitative and Interdisciplinary Methods in Economics

00:09:50 Math vs. Economics, and Economics as a Social Science

00:17:14 Why Female Startups Receive (Wayyyy) Less Funding than Male Startups

00:17:32 Venture Capital vs. Other Kinds of Startup Incubators (can’t name the company, but you’ll hear it on the show :))

00:21:50 The Gender Disparity in Startups

00:22:16 The Origins of the Gender Disparity in Startups and STEM Fields

00:27:15 Are Women More Risk-Averse than Men? (Plus the Lottery and Gambling Problems)

00:33:48 The Role of Trust for Investors

00:38:08 The Academic Literature on Why Female Startups Receive Less Funding than Male Startups

00:40:03 Raymond Thinks Men ‘Cap’ More

00:41:16 Disproving Someone's Point Does Not Mean They Will Believe You — People Believe What They Want to Believe

00:42:54 When Is the Best Time to Teach People or Correct Their Beliefs?

00:44:31 Teaching Kids When Young and Raymond Insisting on a Manifesto for Children

00:48:14 Going Viral vs. Stable, Steady Growth

00:51:22 Must “Feminist Content” Be Entertaining?

References

Scott, Linda. The Cost of Sexism: How the Economy Is Built for Men and Why We Must Reshape It. Faber & Faber, 2020.

Rao, Vijayendra. “Can Economics Become More Reflexive? Exploring the Potential of Mixed-Methods.” The World Bank Group Policy Research Working Paper 9918, 2022. URL: <https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485771643376160320/pdf/Can-Economics-Become-More-Reflexive-Exploring-the-Potential-of-Mixed-Methods.pdf>.

Dowd, Kevin. “A sector-by-sector guide to the gender gap among startup founders.” Carta Blog, 2024. URL: <https://carta.com/blog/gender-gap-by-sector-2023/>.

Jacobs, Rose. “How to Get More Woman CEOs: A look at what’s holding women back from top-paying jobs.” Chicago Booth Review - Economics, November 2018. URL = <https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/how-get-more-woman-ceos>.

Wong G, Zane N, Saw A, Chan AK. “Examining gender differences for gambling engagement and gambling problems among emerging adults.” J Gambl Stud. 2013 Jun;29(2):171-89. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-012-9305-1>.

Barnes GM, Welte JW, Tidwell MC, Hoffman JH. “Gambling on the lottery: sociodemographic correlates across the lifespan.” J Gambl Stud. 2011 Dec;27(4):575-86. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-010-9228-7>.

Laura Bottazzi, Marco Da Rin, Thomas Hellmann, The Importance of Trust for Investment: Evidence from Venture Capital, The Review of Financial Studies, Volume 29, Issue 9, September 2016, pp. 2283–2318 DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhw023>.

Ruel E, Hauser RM. “Explaining the gender wealth gap.” Demography. 2013 Aug;50(4):1155-76. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-012-0182-0>.

Dana Kanze et al., “Evidence that investors penalize female founders for lack of industry fit.” Sci. Adv.6 (2020). DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7664>.

Dana Kanze et al., “We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding.” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 61, No. 2, 2018. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.1215>.

Kwapisz, A., & Hechavarría, D. M. (2017). “Women don’t ask: an investigation of start-up financing and gender.” Venture Capital, 20(2), 159–190. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1080/13691066.2017.1345119>.

Snellman, Kaisa and Solar, Isabelle. “Does Investor Gender Matter for the Success of Female Entrepreneurs? Gender Homophily and the Stigma of Incompetence in Entrepreneurial Finance.” Org. Sci., Vol. 34, No. 2. 2022. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1594>.

Malinin, A.. “Beyond the Pitch: Role of Founders’ Characteristics in Startup Funding.” Journal of Accounting and Finance, 23(5). 2023. DOI: <https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v23i5.6563>.

Cover art by Cato Benschop (IG: @catobenschop).

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