The delicate dance of feminine entrepreneurship in a masculine world

Or: What if creating from my feminine costs me my company?

As a female founder, navigating the entrepreneurial landscape can feel like walking a tightrope. 

On one side, the obvious appeal of the traditional, masculine-coded playbook, promising wild success through relentless hustle and fierce competition. 

On the other, a more feminine approach, rooted in unwavering integrity, sustainable growth, and powered by vision, intuition, and deep self-knowledge.

. . .

I spoke with a fellow coach of female founders last night and we were talking about the very real conundrum that female start-up founders face.

The cost of creating purely in the masculine is clear: Burnout, the sidelining of core values and your personal life, joylessness, losing yourself to your ambition.

And the fear is also palpable: What if embracing my feminine essence jeopardizes my business? What if the market, investors, or my competitors dismiss my approach as too soft, too slow, or too idealistic? 

At its core, the fear is this: What if creating from my feminine costs me my company?

. . .

I’m not here to say that you can build a fast-growth start-up fully from your feminine. 

The reward of the masculine approach is far from guaranteed, but it will get you taken seriously. It will help you get in the room where it happens. It might get you a slice of that 2% of VC funding that goes to women founders.

That particular game is designed in a very specific way and if you want to play it you need to match the guys stride for stride.

. . .

Many of the female founders I work with aren't content with just mastering that dance.

They yearn for more.

They seek to infuse their ventures with their feminine strengths: profound vision, intuitive insights, and the ability to forge relationships that open doors to unimaginable opportunities.

They want to nurture their creative spirit and navigate the demanding terrains of Silicon Valley.

. . .

I'm a staunch believer that the most impactful entrepreneurs are those who harness both energies. 

Those who can dance between logic and emotion, ambition and compassion, aggressive strategies and collaborative growth. 

It's not about choosing one over the other. 

It's about harmonizing both.

. . .

The stakes are high.

What got us our society here will not be enough to get us somewhere better.

The masculine playbook on its own cannot create the businesses that our world needs.

We have to create something better.

And female founders are in a truly unique position to do just that by using their feminine power to remake capitalism to serve our humanity, not the other way around. 

Do you know (or know of) a female founder who has created wild success from her feminine as well as her masculine?

DM me: I’m gathering a list of entrepreneurs to interview for The Baubo Project.