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Por que o capital de risco público importa

WE RECORDED VCs CONVERSATIONS AND ANALYZED HOW DIFFERENTLY THEY TALK ABOUT FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

1 When venture capitalists (VCs) evaluate investment proposals, the language they use to describe the

2 entrepreneurs who write them plays an important but often hidden role in shaping who is awarded funding

3 and why.[…] We were given access to government venture capital decision making meetings in Sweden and

4 were able to observe the types of language that VCs used over a two-year period. One major thing stuck out:

5 The language used to describe male and female entrepreneurs was radically different. And these differences

6 have very real consequences for those seeking funding — and for society in general.

7 […] Worldwide, government venture capital is important for bridging significant financial gaps and

8 supporting innovation and growth, as VCs can take risks where banks are not allowed to. When uncertainty is

9 high regarding assessment of product and market potential, for example, the assessment of the

10 entrepreneur’s potential becomes highly central in government VCs’ decision making.

11 In Sweden, about one-third of businesses are owned and run by women, although they are not granted

12 a corresponding proportion of government funding. In fact, women-owned businesses receive much less —

13 only 13%–18%, the rest going to male-owned companies.

14 This brings us back to our research. From 2009 to 2010 we were invited to silently observe

15 governmental VC decision-making meetings and, more important, the conversations they had about

16 entrepreneurs applying for funding. […] We observed closed-room, face-to-face discussions leading final

17 funding decisions for 125 venture applications. Of these, 99 (79%) were from male entrepreneurs and 26

18 (21%) were from female entrepreneurs. The group of government venture capitalists observed included

19 seven individuals: two women and five men. […]

20 Aside from a few exceptions, the financiers rhetorically produce stereotypical images of women as

21 having qualities opposite to those considered important to being an entrepreneur, with VCs questioning their

22 credibility, trustworthiness, experience, and knowledge.

23 Conversely, when assessing male entrepreneurs, financiers leaned on stereotypical beliefs about men

24 that reinforced their entrepreneurial potential. Male entrepreneurs were commonly described as being

25 assertive, innovative, competent, experienced, knowledgeable, and having established networks.

26 We developed male and female entrepreneur personas based on our findings […]. These personas

27 highlight a few key differences in how the entrepreneurs were perceived depending on their gender. Men

28 were characterized as having entrepreneurial potential, while the entrepreneurial potential for women was

29 diminished. Many of the young men and women were described as being young, though youth for men was

30 viewed as promising, while young women were considered inexperienced. Men were praised for being

31 viewed as aggressive or arrogant, while women’s experience and excitement were tempered by discussions

32 of their emotional shortcomings. Similarly, cautiousness was viewed very differently depending on the gender

33 of the entrepreneur.

34 Unsurprisingly, these stereotypes seem to have played a role in who got funding and who didn’t.

35 Women entrepreneurs were only awarded, on average, 25% of the applied-for amount, whereas men

36 received, on average, 52% of what they asked for. Women were also denied financing to a greater extent

37 than men, with close to 53% of women having their applications dismissed, compared with 38% of men. […]

38 Such stereotyping will inevitably influence the distribution of financing, but could also have other major

39 consequences. Because the purpose of government venture capital is to use tax money to stimulate growth

40 and value creation for society as a whole, gender bias presents the risk that the money isn’t being invested in

41 businesses that have the highest potential. This isn’t only damaging for women entrepreneurs; it’s potentially

42 damaging for society as a whole.

Fonte: Adaptado de Harvard Business Review <https://hbr.org/2017/05/we-recorded-vcs-conversations-and-analyzed- how-differently-they-talk-about-female-entrepreneurs>. Acesso em: 17 mai. 2017.

Fonte: Harvard Business Review, 2017-05.

De acordo com o texto, é correto afirmar que

  1. A) na Suécia, as mulheres possuem cerca de um terço das empresas e, proporcionalmente, conseguem financiamento correspondente ao concedido a empreendedores do sexo masculino.
  2. B) foram observadas, pelo período de um ano, as reuniões decisórias para a escolha de quais empreendedores receberiam investimento de capital de risco pelo governo sueco.
  3. C) a análise do potencial de mercado ou do produto é primordial na tomada de decisão sempre que há dúvidas em relação ao potencial do empreendedor.
  4. D) tendo em vista que os bancos não podem assumir determinados riscos, o aporte de capital por parte do governo desempenha um papel importante no incentivo à inovação e ao crescimento.
  5. E) a forma como os investidores (VCs) descrevem os empreendedores desempenha um papel muito claro e inquestionável na decisão de como os recursos financeiros são distribuídos.
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Resposta correta: D

A alternativa D reproduz fielmente "government venture capital is important for bridging significant financial gaps and supporting innovation and growth, as VCs can take risks where banks are not allowed to". A observação durou dois anos — "over a two-year period", de 2009 a 2010 —, o que invalida B. C inverte a lógica do texto: é quando a incerteza sobre produto e mercado é alta que "the assessment of the entrepreneur's potential becomes highly central", e não o contrário. E contraria "an important but often hidden role", já que o papel da linguagem é descrito como frequentemente oculto, e não claro e inquestionável. A também é falsa, pois as mulheres não recebem proporção correspondente à sua participação nas empresas.

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