Launching While Female: Smashing the System That Holds Women Entrepreneurs Back

An expos of the gender gap in entrepreneurship and a road map for a more inclusive and economically successful future for us all

Journalist and professor Susanne Althoff investigates the obstacles women and nonbinary entrepreneurs--especially those of color--face when launching, funding, and growing their companies, obstacles that persist because the current start-up world was engineered by and for white men. Through interviews with over a hundred founders across the country and in all industries, Althoff paints a picture of an entrepreneurial system rife with bias and discrimination, where women receive less than 3 percent of this country's venture capital, struggle to find mentors in the wake of #MeToo, and are dismissed as "mompreneurs."

The effects of this unequal system--a weaker economy, fewer jobs, less innovation--are felt by all of us, and Althoff explains how more equitable structures in business and entrepreneurship will benefit all people, not just those hoping to fund a startup.

By exploring some of the practical ways we can open the entrepreneurial system to everyone, Althoff provides a rallying cry and a way forward for women entrepreneurs and their allies, showing that change is urgent and within our reach.

Author: Susanne Althoff
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 10/26/2021
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780807014752

About the Author
Susanne Althoff is a veteran journalist and an assistant professor at Emerson College in Boston, where she teaches publishing entrepreneurship and women's media. She's also served as advisor to women-led start-ups. Before joining Emerson in 2015, Althoff worked for 22 years as a magazine editor, including 6 years as the editor in chief of the Boston Globe Magazine. Her writing has appeared in WIRED, the Boston Globe, and other publications. Connect with her on Twitter @SusanneAlthoff and at susannealthoff.com.