Naseem SayaniInvestor | Innovator | Ecosystem Builder | Board Director

How's That for Masculine Energy with Jenni Ogden #femalefounders #venturecapital #podcast

Name: How's That for Masculine Energy with Jenni Ogden #femalefounders #venturecapital #podcast
Uploaded: 2026-03-11T14:01:18+00:00
Duration: 1 min 16 s
Channel: Naseem Sayani
Description: In this podcast excerpt, the speaker describes a recent encounter with a venture capital investor while presenting her activist‑focused platform. After…

11 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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1:16

In this podcast excerpt, the speaker describes a recent encounter with a venture capital investor while presenting her activist‑focused platform. After detailing the novel technology stack, the investor asks whether she has a "masculine partner"—specifically, a male co‑founder—to pitch the company. The speaker, who runs a woman‑owned and led venture, is told the project could be funded only if a man joins the founding team and presents to the fund. She expresses surprise and frustration at the overt gender bias, highlighting how such attitudes persist in VC circles despite the growing focus on inclusive investing.

Chapters

My latest venture is we're building a platform that empowers and rewards activism in the world. And I met this particular investor and I took him through what we're building, the technology, the tech stack. It's, you know, a novel tech stack. So it's, it's definitely in alignment with what investors are looking for. And then he asked me if I had a masculine partner. Masculine partner. A masculine partner. And I said, what do you mean by a masculine partner? And he said, well, is one of the founders a man? And I said, no, this is a woman-owned and led company. And he said, well, I could fund this. It's a great, fully fundable project. I really like it, but you would need to bring in a male partner to pitch to our fund. I said, why? And he said, well, where I think he called it a, like a fraternal group, VC group. And he felt like he could fund this company if I had a male partner, but I couldn't come to the meeting. I can't pitch to them as a woman. That is so strange. What a strange thing to say out loud. I was surprised. I mean, again, no shock, but I didn't expect somebody to say it out loud. Like you, you can't pitch your own business.