"Women need to network more proactively"

Women are a rarity not only in the start-up world but also among venture capitalists. In an interview, Carina Harding from Picus Capital explains how this could change.

Various studies show that there are hardly any female investors in Germany. What do you think are the reasons for this?

I think there are many hurdles along the way. The first step is to get interested in venture capital and then apply. Then, if you look on Linkedin and in the media, the world continues to be pretty male-dominated on the outside. I told myself I'd go into VC anyway and then change the industry from the inside.

How could you inspire more women to become investors?

We need more strong women in venture capital who act as role models. We need to make the skills of female investors visible. In addition, job postings and information on websites should be as gender-neutral as possible in terms of language. Then perhaps more young women would dare to enter the industry.

What was the biggest hurdle for you when entering the world of female investors?

Regardless of whether it was a startup or a step into the VC world, I didn't have the largest network in these areas when I started my career. At the time, I felt that men had it better. Female fellow students had to be much more proactive about it, in my opinion. And then what can be off-putting in application processes is when you're suddenly sitting across from four male partners who are interviewing you.

Why does networking work easier for men?

VC comes from the U.S., which was 99 percent male. Then investing in startups spilled over into Germany 20 years ago. In the beginning, there were almost no women here either - in general, the VC market in Germany was still much smaller than it is today. And then it was the male partners who didn't yet have any awareness of the problem of diversity and therefore first hired similar people again. I think this simply grew historically and too few women were approached proactively. Only in recent years has there been a change in thinking: Because now many male investors are also saying that they want to play a part in equality.

How do women successfully enter the world of venture capitalists?

First, they should have done internships in a startup, in VC or consulting. This is where you learn important skills to understand the job. Then it's important to build a support network. That means proactively seeking contact with founders or people with a good network who can help you along the way. In the industry, everyone is actually totally open.

Why do women have a harder time moving up in the industry?

There are studies that prove that women are generally more realistic about selling themselves. And VC and startup is built a lot on big visions.

So do men overestimate themselves?

I myself am not a fan of stereotyping like "women are more shy" and "men are more confident." But I do think it's a structural problem that founders as well as VC partners don't think often enough about the fact that they also have a responsibility to help drive this issue forward.

Would more female investors also produce more female founders?

At least it is more fun for me to support a diverse team of founders. Female investors are more aware of the issue of diversity than their male colleagues because it affects them.

About the person: Carina Harding joined Picus in 2021 as an investor in the team. Prior to Picus, she worked as Head of Sales at Capmo, a VC-funded start-up in Munich. Before that, she gained experience at the management and strategy consultancy McKinsey and the research institute Fraunhofer.