It could be just another monthly partner meeting at just another “Fill in the Blank” Capital， typical Silicon Valley–based venture firm。 The fund’s top players sit around a white conference table， armed with Apple laptops and pastel—colored cans of La Croix。 A couple of startup entrepreneurs stop by to present to the partners， enthusing over upward—trending charts and touting the merits of recent hires。 Outside the expansive windows lies the not—quite—bustling heart of downtown Palo Alto—a town that， along with nearby Menlo Park and the city of San Francisco， is a mecca for Arc’teryx vest–wearing VCs。
這場月度合夥人會議跟以往沒什麼區別，很可能又是典型矽谷風投公司在“填補空白”資本。基金高層坐在白色會議室桌前，每人面前擺著蘋果電腦和彩色灌裝樂活氣泡水。幾位創業公司的企業家向合夥人們介紹，一邊展示滿是向上箭頭的圖表，一邊吹噓最近招到什麼大牛。開闊的窗戶外，是帕洛阿爾託鬧市中心，但不太喧鬧。帕洛阿爾託跟附近的門洛帕克和舊金山市都是那幫喜歡穿始祖鳥戶外裝的風投大佬雲集之地。
But anyone who knows this hub of venture capital would immediately spot something unusual about this particular gathering： Four of the eight investors seated around the table are female。 And one of the two presenting portfolio company heads is also a woman。 In Silicon Valley， where unicorns are a dime a dozen， this kind of gender ratio is the real rare and magical discovery。
但如果對風投資本中心帕洛阿爾託有所瞭解，就會立刻發現這場會議有點異樣：桌前八位投資人裡有四位都是女性。兩家作介紹的被投公司負責人裡，有一位也是女性。矽谷的獨角獸遍地，但一次會上女性佔比如此之高真是罕見，堪稱神奇。
“If you have more diversity you have better financial performance，” says Theresia Gouw， one—half of the founding team of Aspect Ventures， the norm—breaking VC firm at hand （the other founder is Jennifer Fonstad）。 “Our company is nearly 50/50 in an industry in which just 7% of investors are female。 And our portfolio is a reflection of our pipeline。”
“公司多元化程度越高，業績就越好，”新派風投公司Aspect Ventures創始二人組之一特蕾西亞。格武表示（另一位創始人是珍妮佛。馮斯塔）。“行業裡女性從業者只佔7%，在我們公司接近50%。從投資物件也能體現出公司理念。”
Gouw and Fonstad， both longtime VCs who worked at firms like Accel and DFJ， didn’t set out to create a “female—focused” fund when they launched Aspect in 2014。 But they believed that diversity， both internally and throughout their portfolio companies， would lead to better outcomes—and they had the right Rolodex to test out their thesis。 “We have different networks than the traditional firms on Sand Hill Road，” says Fonstad， referring to the nearby street where the bulk of the most established VCs are headquartered。
格武和馮斯塔都長期從事風投行業，之前在Accel和德豐傑等公司工作。2014年創立Aspect時，她們並沒打算成立“女性主義”風投基金。但二人都認為不管是內部還是投資物件公司裡，多元化都可以提升業績，而她們的關係網也很適合測試多元化理論。“跟矽谷沙丘路上傳統公司相比，我們的關係網不太一樣，”馮斯塔表示，沙丘路是公司附近一條聚集了多家著名風投總部的路。
The results： Over the course of their careers， Gouw and Fonstad’s investments have resulted in a collective seven public offerings， 26 acquisitions， and more than 500 financing rounds in follow—on capital。 Aspect， which is now announcing a second， larger fund with some big—name limited partners （more on that later）， began with $150 million in financing and has already made 29 Series A investments。 One of its portfolio companies， security startup ForeScout， went public last fall at a valuation of about $800 million。 Other standout investments under Aspect’s first fund include Cato Networksand Exabeam， both promising cybersecurity startups； health—tech player Vida Health； and online career source The Muse。
結果是，格武與馮斯塔合作投資的公司裡，已經有七家成功上市，併購26起，還有500多起跟投交易。Aspect現在宣佈新成立一隻更大規模的基金，有不少著名有限合夥人加入（詳見後文），初始融資規模1。5億美元，已有29起A輪投資。證券創業公司ForeScout是被投公司之一，去年秋天成功上市，估值約8億美元。Aspect第一輪投出的出色案例還包括Cato Networks和Exabeam，兩家都是很有前景的網路安全領域創業公司；還有醫療領域的Vida Health；提供線上求職資源的' The Muse。
Overall， women founders receive less than 3% of total VC dollars （women of color， meanwhile， get a meager 0。2%）， but Aspect’s portfolio looks strikingly different from the norm： About 40% of the firm’s companies were founded by women， and 30% were started by minorities。 Once， those numbers might have been a mere curiosity—today they are becoming a competitive advantage。 While investing for diversity is something certain industry players have been pushing for a long time， the message is finally beginning to be received by the deep—pocketed individuals and institutions that fund the Silicon Valley ecosystem。 Why？ Ignoring it can be expensive。
總體來說，女性創始人獲得的風投資金不到總投資額3%（其中有色人種女性僅能獲得0。2%），但Aspect的投資案例完全不一樣：約40%被投公司創始人為女性，30%創始人為少數人種女性。以前這些數字還只能引起人們好奇，如今卻成了競爭優勢。雖然業內不少人一直在推動投資多元化，但現在矽谷風投背後的富裕個人和機構終於開始接受了。為什麼？因為不接受可能代價很大。
Last summer， after six female founders accused venture capitalist Justin Caldbeck of making unwanted sexual advances， his firm， Binary Capital， spiraled downward fast。 Caldbeck quickly resigned from the all—male firm。 A new fund， then in the process of being raised by Binary， was abruptly halted。
去年夏天，六位女性創始人指控風投資本家賈斯汀。卡德貝克實施性騷擾，他的公司Binary Capital也急轉直下。卡德貝克迅速從這家全為男性的公司辭職。Binary正在融資過程中的新基金也只得叫停。
In Silicon Valley， where unicorns are everywhere， gender balance is the real rare and magical entity。
矽谷的獨角獸遍地都是，但實現性別平衡的公司非常罕見而且神奇。
It’s not just venture capital firms that can be impacted。 Perhaps the most high—profile example of how such misconduct can destroy value is Uber， the ride—sharing company rocked by allegations of harassment and sexism early last year。 A number of other embarrassing debacles followed—including reports that Uber had used a software tool to try to deceive authorities by “hiding” rides—and ultimately resulted in a more than 20% decrease to the once high—flying company’s valuation， from around $70 billion to an estimated $54 billion。”
受到影響的不只是風投公司。也許最能體現性別歧視可能摧毀價值的例子就是Uber了，去年初共享車輛平臺Uber因被指存在性騷擾和性別歧視而大受打擊。之後又出現幾起醜聞，包括Uber曾使用軟體工具“隱瞞”某些派單從而規避監管，最終導致估值縮水超過20%，從之前高達700億美元降至估計540億美元。
