Search for Women-Run Venture Capital Firms In the US Nets A Grand Total of One

Venture capital is a realm where typically those with big ideas in technology roam. In many ways, VC is America's leading incubator for putting remarkable ideas into practice. When they hit big, VC investors make a fortune. However, at its highest reaches, venture capital is a man's world, something the with-it tech crowd doesn't really like to publicize. (The movie The Social Network hints at tech's rampant, aggressive sexism.) For every Meg Whitman, there are hundreds of "cool" guys blessed with ideas, ego, and drive (both professional and sexual).

Therefore, I was intrigued when a story in today's San Jose Mercury News focused on what is most likely the only female-run VC firm in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. The article, by the interesting journalist Peter Delevett, interviewed the firm's two managing partners. Their business acumen convinced them to invest in Pandora, which turned out to be a winner. The two women -- Cynthia Ringo (photo) and Nancy Pfund -- also believe in taking environmental and social issues into account in their business decisions.

Vator.tv includes a thumbnail biography of Ringo. The website was founded by Bambi Francisco Roizen, a Silicon Valley journalist who knows just about everyone involved in the area's tech and VC communities. She still runs Vator and retains a strong interest in emerging enterprises.

It's refreshing and important that women such as Roizen, Ringo, and Pfund (sounds like a law firm) are marking their territory in tech's boy's club. However, they only have a toehold in the merciless commercial and entrepreneurial jungle known as Silicon Valley. More women are needed in impact positions in VC and innovation. Men don't have a monopoly on brains; in fact, they let the wrong head do their thinking. It's time for greater gender balance, for everyone's benefit.