For enterprise capitalist and angel investor Brianne Kimmel, what began as a real curiosity in bringing folks collectively and deepening communities in the end was a full-fledged profession.

Immediately Kimmel serves as founder and managing accomplice of Worklife Ventures, a enterprise capital agency “designed for the brand new period” that invests in instruments that energy versatile, joyful and inventive work. 

So far, Kimmel has backed 9 unicorns (startups valued at greater than $1 billion), together with Deel, Webflow and Hopin. In 2022, she launched Worklife Studios in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood. It’s a “first-of-its-kind group house designed in collaboration with artists, cooks, designers and distant staff,” in accordance with Worklife’s web site.

“Being a girl within the business simply provides me a really completely different outlook, and the abilities that I’m capable of present are very completely different as nicely.”

The present panorama of feminine enterprise capitalists

When wanting on the present panorama of enterprise capital, there’s not an entire lot of variety, notably when it comes to gender. Ladies make up round 11% of investing companions at VC corporations in the USA, with roughly 13% of VC funds allotted to startups with a girl on the founding crew, in accordance with the Ladies and Public Coverage Program of Harvard Kennedy College.

Kimmel has confronted her justifiable share of criticism on her ascent to founding Worklife. She says it’s not unusual to be mistaken for any individual’s assistant or an intern at conferences—folks have requested her to get them espresso. And but, her numbers communicate for themselves. On the time of publication, Worklife Enterprise’s $12 million fund is now valued at $54.9 million, returning the fund in lower than 4 years in enterprise.

Tips on how to change into a feminine enterprise capitalist

Trying again on her personal journey, Kimmel sees 5 methods different aspiring feminine VCs can pave their method and learn to be a enterprise capitalist.

1. Lean into your tremendous abilities

In maturity, girls are instructed to “belief their intestine,” however the actuality is that many women are raised to be compliant, compromising and nice. For Kimmel, she skilled firsthand how necessary it’s to embody a real sense of self and to be grounded in your imaginative and prescient.

As a substitute of making an attempt to slot in amongst different male VCs, Kimmel carved her personal path. “Being a girl within the business simply provides me a really completely different outlook, and the abilities that I’m capable of present are very completely different as nicely,” she says. In Kimmel’s case, she’s an skilled at community-building and nice at connecting folks. Other than the normal chilly e mail and the much less conventional direct message by X, previously often known as Twitter, Kimmel turned a professional at internet hosting founder dinners early in her profession. “In case you pull collectively a dinner or in case you make an intro, these kind of issues go actually far as a result of, while you’re busy constructing an organization, it’s onerous to search out your tribe and meet new individuals who could be useful,” she explains.

2. View enterprise capital by the lens of hospitality

Most of Kimmel’s inspiration for the way she works doesn’t come from Wall Avenue or any kind of books on investing; it comes from learning the hospitality business. “There’s a purpose why corporations need extra feminine buyers concerned within the firm,” she says. “We deliver a special perspective to the dialog, and I’m personally dedicated to hiring, mentoring and retaining girls on the firm.”

In all of her interactions with founders, Kimmel appears for methods wherein she might help. “Beginning an organization is extremely irritating, particularly for the first caregiver at residence,” Kimmel says. “I make an intentional effort to ask spouses to dinners and host kid-friendly actions all year long.”

3. Speak brazenly (and infrequently) about cash

Cash could be a difficult matter to broach, and Kimmel has seen that, whereas many ladies are nice at managing their very own funds, they don’t speak as brazenly about cash as their male counterparts. “Having the dialogue about cash is absolutely necessary,” she says. “I all the time encourage girls to speak about how a lot you’re making; ask your mates who’re in comparable roles how a lot they’re making. I believe all of us want to assist one another out.”

That mentioned, Kimmel hints at an uptick in monetary literacy amongst Gen Z and future generations. There are folks on TikTok sharing their cash recommendation, and there are new apps and methods for folks to begin investing. “I believe that we’re trending in direction of a extra equitable future,” Kimmel says. “However, , I believe being on the entrance traces and actually serving to corporations form that tradition is absolutely necessary, too.”

4. Empower different girls to really feel seen

As a substitute of combating for seats on the desk, Kimmel takes a extra collaborative method. She has seen many ladies in the end go away the business as a result of firm tradition wasn’t supportive sufficient for them, particularly girls who’re planning for households and maternity go away insurance policies. “We’ve additionally seen girls go work on different stuff and work in different areas the place there’s extra girls, and so, I believe the first step helps each girl really feel seen, after which discover methods to construct that into your organization’s tradition,” she says.

As a part of her mission to make tech extra welcoming and equitable for ladies, Kimmel makes a dedication to assist her portfolio corporations entice and retain feminine engineer expertise. “Ladies breaking into tech are coming from school campuses the place they’d a ton of feminine associates, lived within the women’ dorm and plenty of had been concerned in campus teams the place they’d a group…. There’s simply all of those completely different eventualities the place it’s sort of a tradition shock while you enter right into a largely male world,” she says.

5. Embrace AI to focus your efforts

As a way to lean into your tremendous abilities, you should begin saying “no” extra and automating guide duties with AI. “Within the company world, one of many challenges that girls all the time face is we wish to be seen, and we do wish to be acknowledged for the standard of our work,” Kimmel says, including that, many instances, girls find yourself choosing up much more initiatives like planning the corporate off-sites or virtually working as admin for groups. “There are methods we’re beginning to see automation take form the place it’s truly serving to girls,” she says. “We’re not answerable for taking notes in a gathering and the entire different mundane duties that by some means all the time fall on the plate of the girl within the room.” 

This text initially appeared within the March/April 2024 situation of SUCCESS journal. Picture by Evan Mulling/Courtesy of Brianne Kimmel.

Megan Eileen McDonough is an award-winning author and social photojournalist who splits her time between Barcelona and Virginia. Along with operating top-ranked weblog, Bohemian Trails, McDonough’s writing has appeared in publications similar to Lonely Planet, US Airways, Teen Vogue, Fodor’s, and Bustle amongst others. She’s been featured in Journey + Leisure, AFAR, Refinery29, and Forbes as a pacesetter within the journey house. McDonough additionally works as a model strategist, serving to to outline content material course, curation, and compelling storytelling. Observe her on Instagram @itsmeganeileen.