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Comment by DoreenMichele | Hacker News Reader

Gender

89% Male (Clearly a problem!)

As a guess, women are uncomfortable with cofounder dating because too many of them have been burned by men trying to turn it into actual dating.

I don't know how to solve such problems but I feel like that is a big hitch for women in business: How to keep it all business and not have it turn into some issue because some guy thinks you are hot.

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I'm friends with four female founders who would absolutely laugh at this stereotypical response. Women are fully capable of having strong backbones, high confidence, and efficient bullshit filters. Founding a company takes grit, from ANY gender, and I'm envious of the grit that founders I know bring.

> 89% Male (Clearly a problem!)

That's not a problem. That's a massive opportunity. For women, and for people to step up.

Good for them.

Are they currently here on HN, which was around 98 percent male when I originally joined more than twelve years ago? Perhaps they would be so kind as to participate in this discussion, speak for themselves and clue me as to how to get shit done as a woman in a man's world.

Please and thank you. Much obliged.

Yes, agreed with this sentiment. "Clearly a problem!" was vague and not the best wording.

My hope is to see that number increase. Not the right post to explore it, but I'd love to help!

Alternative theory, women are more risk averse, and founding a startup is extremely risky.

Or: being an impressive fintech founder requires high intelligence. Men have wider spread of the bell curve and are overrepresented at both ends.

Have an upvote.

I disagree and am not up for trying to engage in a meaty way at this time, but I always appreciate a good faith effort to bat about ideas concerning why there is a gender gap. Understanding why it exists is a first step in trying to move those numbers.

That's incredible dismissive towards women generally. I've worked with many, many women who are strong and capable enough not to let hypotheticals about male behavior derail their trajectory.

If a guy tries to turn it into an actual date, you have the information you need to make a decision: run like hell.

Sure, but managing that risk is still solely on the woman's side, so it's understandable that a cold message would intrinsically have lower value than it might to a man.

Yeah, but imagine if you had that fear – or really, just the annoying worry – going into every potential cofounder. It would be exhausting, and I imagine that's why fewer women opt for the process at all.

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