What are women waiting for?

But how many are allowed to remain in control for the long term? Not many. Particularly in fashion and beauty, still, women are muses for men’s amusement. 

The most successful luxury fashion companies in the world have all been founded by women, yet brilliant women have to work twice as hard for half the respect of their male counterparts. This uphill battle is a colossal waste of time and resources. 

This is an all-too-common scenario: A female founder seeking investment presents a profitable business with consistent yearly growth as well as cash reserves to investors, and yet a male founder at the helm of a loss-making company who nonetheless manages to raise capital is ultimately the one who seals the deal. 

Men trust men. This culture shortchanges everyone, both the women it excludes and the men who, by participating in it, turn back into schoolboys. 

The ‘big boys’ 

I saw this first-hand in my experience with Net-a-Porter and Richemont Group. I became the founding investor of Net-a-Porter against the guidance of my advisors in 2000–later sharing my rights with Richemont to be an equal investing partner.

As long as that power was shared with Richemont, I always felt respected, at least up until I started negotiating my exit in 2015.

Few moments in my career have been as simultaneously illuminating and insulting to me as the sentiment shared by Johann Rupert, head of the Richemont Group (which had become Net-a-Porter’s majority shareholder by then) when he exclaimed at a conference that year: “It’s time for the big boys to take over!” The need for a larger female presence on the board became glaring and urgent.

This was all the more frustrating to hear because, at one point, Richemont was an excellent partner. However, they often mistook calculated business decisions for naivete. My father and I strategically allowed Richemont to buy more shares and match our ownership and rights, as we understood the pros and cons of having a public company as partners. What some saw as a weakness, I saw as a competitive edge, which allowed me to later negotiate the best possible price and conditions for my exit.

While powerful private equity firm partners have always undervalued my intelligence and that of other women, mind you, in 2002 I was the only person willing to risk their own money in Net-a-Porter. 

As I witnessed a premium asset flirt with bankruptcy, I couldn’t help but feel that the private equity managers had acted like cowards. As I no longer had the right of first refusal, the Richemont “big boys” were allowed to drive the company we had financed from its earliest days in an untenable direction, and I had virtually no say in the matter. They effectively blocked every buyer that came to the table. They weren’t interested in what was best for Net-a-Porter, but rather what was best for Richemont.  

What gives?

That was the context behind Rupert’s comment. Another bloviating man taking control of a business built by women’s expertise. In a moment that could be written off as one of bumbling flippancy, he actually could not have spoken more concisely and honestly about his complete lack of regard for and knowledge of the fashion industry, where women are the leaders and the lifeblood. 

Isn’t it time for us to write our own story, one that isn’t so predictable and disappointing?

It took some years for people to forgive me and accept my decision to sell my shares in Net-a-Porter–out of respect and love for my own father, not some perceived lack of ambition or weakness. Women are often a lot braver than given credit for when it comes to taking responsibility and knowing our values.

I have had the luck to meet some of the more progressive men who don’t have a problem trusting and investing in female founder-entrepreneurs. But we need more. Female celebrities seem to be the only group of women who are readily accepted in the business world. 

Women have been conditioned to accept socially sanctioned closed-mindedness concerning what is and isn’t considered “women’s work.” Meanwhile, our economic systems have had ample time to demonstrate that they are neither environmentally nor socially sustainable.

The best way to empower all people–from lifting individuals out of extreme poverty and improving public health to forming the equitable, respectful, and diverse workplaces that can and should define this century–is through empowering women.  

We can start by recognizing and uplifting the talented female founders and entrepreneurs who are already hard at work. This isn’t a man’s world anymore—or so we’re reminded by every magazine and ad campaign. But a veneer of progress isn’t enough. If more women are at the helm of billion-dollar venture capital and equity funds, more women and minority-owned businesses will get the compensation they deserve. 

I have always been opinionated and outspoken. Experience and age have given me a renewed desire to speak up for female founders who have been wronged or mistreated. Both at the top and the bottom of the economic ecosystem, women are firmly reminded that, at the end of the month, we are worth less than our male counterparts. 

To my fellow female entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, both established and aspiring: What gives? The women who have made it into the room have proven that they have the tenacity, the grit, and the intelligence to make it there. You’re already making a difference. 

Ask yourself: What might it take to make a larger splash? You’re already saying something important, why not say it louder? It’s not enough to be present in the boardrooms where businesses are merged, evaluated, and acquired. Take action. Be heard, and not just for your own sake. For everyone.

Carmen Busquets is a Venezuelan entrepreneur, strategic investor, and philanthropist, whose career in the luxury fashion industry spans over three decades. A pioneering member of the fashion-tech space, Carmen champions its potential to advance sustainable development, turning the luxury fashion industry into one that balances profit with purpose.