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Denise McQuaid's Recent LinkedIn Posts
Denise McQuaid
@denisemcquaid
Investments & Funding | Angel Investor Training | Investment Readiness | Growth Strategy & Innovation | Strategic Leadership | Board Advisory
Posts
Denise McQuaid
Sales & Marketing
2mo
Just read this article by Laura Richards FCIPR in which she makes the point: women founders are not “lucky” to be funded. A topic I spoke about last weekend at Techstars Startup Weekend Women Dublin
That narrative isn’t harmless, it shapes behaviour. It encourages women to under-ask, over-prove, and accept terms from a place of gratitude rather than commercial confidence.
But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a mindset issue. It’s a capital allocation problem.
If only a tiny percentage of funding consistently goes to women, then we are not looking at a pipeline issue, we are looking at how decisions are made, who makes them, and what gets recognised as “potential.”
We don’t fix this by telling women to think differently.
We fix it by:
• Changing who is writing the cheques
• Building investor literacy early
• Treating fundraising for what it is, a commercial transaction, not validation
At AwakenAngels, this is exactly the work we are doing, backing more women to become investors and reshaping how capital flows to women founders.
Women founders are not lucky. They are operating in a system that still misprices them.
And that’s where the real opportunity lies.
#StartupFunding #AngelInvesting #FemaleFounders #VentureCapital
https://lnkd.in/dRHNvkMV
24
Denise McQuaid
Sales & Marketing
2mo
Just read this article by Laura Richards FCIPR in which she makes the point: women founders are not “lucky” to be funded. A topic I spoke about last weekend at Techstars Startup Weekend Women Dublin
That narrative isn’t harmless, it shapes behaviour. It encourages women to under-ask, over-prove, and accept terms from a place of gratitude rather than commercial confidence.
But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a mindset issue. It’s a capital allocation problem.
If only a tiny percentage of funding consistently goes to women, then we are not looking at a pipeline issue, we are looking at how decisions are made, who makes them, and what gets recognised as “potential.”
We don’t fix this by telling women to think differently.
We fix it by:
• Changing who is writing the cheques
• Building investor literacy early
• Treating fundraising for what it is, a commercial transaction, not validation
At AwakenAngels, this is exactly the work we are doing, backing more women to become investors and reshaping how capital flows to women founders.
Women founders are not lucky. They are operating in a system that still misprices them.
And that’s where the real opportunity lies.
#StartupFunding #AngelInvesting #FemaleFounders #VentureCapital
https://lnkd.in/dRHNvkMV
24
Denise McQuaid
Sales & Marketing
2mo
Just read this article by Laura Richards FCIPR in which she makes the point: women founders are not “lucky” to be funded. A topic I spoke about last weekend at Techstars Startup Weekend Women Dublin
That narrative isn’t harmless, it shapes behaviour. It encourages women to under-ask, over-prove, and accept terms from a place of gratitude rather than commercial confidence.
But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a mindset issue. It’s a capital allocation problem.
If only a tiny percentage of funding consistently goes to women, then we are not looking at a pipeline issue, we are looking at how decisions are made, who makes them, and what gets recognised as “potential.”
We don’t fix this by telling women to think differently.
We fix it by:
• Changing who is writing the cheques
• Building investor literacy early
• Treating fundraising for what it is, a commercial transaction, not validation
At AwakenAngels, this is exactly the work we are doing, backing more women to become investors and reshaping how capital flows to women founders.
Women founders are not lucky. They are operating in a system that still misprices them.
And that’s where the real opportunity lies.
#StartupFunding #AngelInvesting #FemaleFounders #VentureCapital
https://lnkd.in/dRHNvkMV
24