journal / founders, identity and capital

Should I come out in the startup room?

Funding, visibility and the calculation queer founders are still asked to make.

01focus

The question came up in a conversation

I recently spoke with journalist Marlon Jungjohann about what entrepreneurship looks like when you are not a man, and what changes if you are also LGBTQ+. The short answer is that it can be hard to get noticed, harder to secure funding, and difficult to know whether being open about yourself will help, harm, or simply change the mood in a room. The more honest answer is that I still do not know why a founder should have to run that calculation at all.

02proof

The startup room still has a narrow picture of a founder

The startup world is still getting used to women as founders. That may make some people uncomfortable, but the investment numbers show that access remains uneven. PitchBook’s 2024 U.S. All In report says women-founded companies have secured only around 2% of U.S. venture capital over the past decade. That is a specific U.S. figure for women-founded companies, not a global number or a complete measure of gender diversity. It is enough to show why access is not just a matter of having a better pitch.

03proof

The data gets thinner when you add queer identity

StartOut’s U.S. analysis covered 142,000 founders and 95,000 high-growth companies between 2000 and 2022. Its Index estimates that LGBTQ+ founders raised 0.5% of the $2.1 trillion in startup funding it tracked, while creating 36% more jobs and 114% more patents than the average founder. These are estimates from a defined dataset, not a global census. Still, the contrast matters: the funding share is tiny, while the reported outcomes do not support the idea that queer founders lack ambition or the ability to build. We are good at business, and I dislike that we still have to prove it before the room takes us seriously.

04proof

Visibility is not a neutral choice

Chasing Rainbows and Proud Ventures’ UK-focused LGBTQ+ Founder Report found that 75% of the LGBTQ+ founders in its research had concealed their identity from investors at some point. That is not a global statistic, and it does not tell us that every founder concealed for the same reason. It does make “just be yourself” careless advice. A founder may be weighing safety, power, timing, the people across the table, and the capital their company needs.

05proof

There is no universally safe answer

To come out or not to come out in business is not a test of courage. Disclosure belongs to the person making it. Being visible can create connection and recognition, but privacy can be a sensible boundary. Choosing not to share does not make someone less honest. Choosing to share should not make their company seem less credible. Investors should be evaluating the business, the team, the market and the work, not treating a founder’s identity as a risk factor.

06proof

What I love is that we started building our own rooms

Tinush Weise started SHE/THEY, a European network for queer women* and non-binary startup founders. I am happy to be a member. The club creates a place to meet, exchange knowledge and build relationships with people who understand the extra calculation queer founders are often asked to make. If you are eligible, join. If you work in the startup ecosystem or can support the network, do that too. Community does not replace fair access to capital, but it means we do not have to enter every room alone.

07next

Being good at business should not be the price of admission

The StartOut data is useful because it makes some of the economic contribution visible. But queer founders should not have to outperform an average before they are treated as investable. I want to be judged on the company I am building, not forced to decide whether my identity will be treated as evidence against its prospects. The question of coming out belongs to the founder, not to the room that controls the cheque.

continue through the record

PitchBook’s 2024 U.S. All In report on female founders ↗StartOut Index: U.S. LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship data ↗Chasing Rainbows: The LGBTQ+ Founder Report ↗Join or support SHE/THEY ↗Read my note on artists and access ↗