Rx for Silicon Valley success: VC advice

    During a recent television interview, I was asked by a reporter, “Which industry is more sexist, Wall Street or Silicon Valley?”

    That question is of great interest and relevance to me. I’ve spent over a decade as a female partner of one of the largest venture capital firms. I was an entrepreneur at a start-up here in Silicon Valley before that. I'm a working mom with a seven-month-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. A first-generation Chinese-American, I “immigrated” to the Valley as a young engineer and business school student.

    But before all this, I have been the only non-white, non-native person in my small-town high school and the only woman in the engineering lab, the GM auto plant and the executive boardroom. And, like many women, I've had my abilities questioned, my looks appraised, my senses assaulted (a business lunch at a topless bar…but don’t get me started) and my biological clock monitored.

    While I cannot speak first-hand to the Wall Street culture, I can tell you that the Valley is, first and foremost, a meritocracy of talent and performance. The culture rewards results, bold new ideas and risk-taking, no matter the source. Companies that my firm and I have invested in have been founded by native-born as well as first- and second-generation immigrants–men and women of Chinese, Irish, Syrian, Indian, and Israeli descent and pretty much everything in between. Men and women “immigrate” here because they see the Valley as a special place with unique conditions that increase the chances of a venture becoming the next Cisco (CSCO), Google (GOOG) or Facebook.

    Like other VC firms here, we seek to back the best and brightest people who are creating disruptive and exciting companies. Period.

    But, I’m not suggesting that the Valley is a gender-blind utopia. Last summer, as part of Maria Shriver’s A Woman’s Nation, my firm hosted a roundtable for 21 women in Silicon Valley. The consensus? Overt sexism is not largely at play here–but there was a noticeable division between women whose careers span 15+ years and women newer to the workforce. We “older gals” were adamant that if you want to make career and family work in sync, it's critical to commit to a job that you're crazy about. (I know that sounds trite, but it speaks to why you keep coming back to work. See Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Guest Post, “Don’t leave before you leave.").

    Beyond that, work-life synchronicity requires that you work hard, become a unique asset to your company, and negotiate from there. That’s great advice for any working woman–or man.

    That said, the real need in Silicon Valley isn't just for more women, but for more diversity of all kinds–in our boardrooms, not just our lunchrooms. So, where do we start? I have three recommendations.