1/ I started @officiallaunchx 5 years ago in business school because I knew something had to change in the venture capital industry. I had my dream job but no matter how far and wide I looked, no one looked like me.

2/ What was worse was that from the thousands of founders that came to pitch me, a minuscule amount were women. If pitching to me, a young woman in VC, was hard - imagine how much worse it was at firms that had no women.

3/ There are so many reasons why the numbers are the way they are - no single institution, structure, or access point is to blame. And frankly, I didn't want to waste time pointing fingers.

4/What I did realize I could change was the capital raising process. I learned that the fundraising process is more of an art than a science, and it is an art form that is passed down from one boys club to another. My goal was access and demystification for female entrepreneurs.

5/ There are incredible organizations that focus on company building and technical training. Even organizations like @AllRaise have done generational work in bringing women in venture together. Thank you @aileenlee @PamKostka - you are heroes.

6) So while lots has changed after five years, a lot has stayed the same. The last comprehensive study was done by @babson's Diana Project outlining the large gender gap that still existed in VC funding.

7/ When I started @officiallaunchx, only 2.7% of venture capital funding went to companies with a female CEO or an all female team. As of 2020, that number is barely 2.8% (and the data is not perfect.) 0.1% of progress in 6 years.

8/ Mixed gender teams fare batter, garnering ~10% of venture capital funding, still a tiny amount. Conversely, all-male teams still raise more than 85%(!) of all U.S. venture capital dollars and decision makers at firms are still more than 90% male.

9/ So, clearly, a lot of work left to be done. I'm trying to change a small sliver of it through @officiallaunchx. We are laser focused on demystifying the capital raising process through education, access, and community.

10/ If you know of an amazing female entrepreneur who would be a good fit - applications are OPEN.