• Home
  • About
  • Contributors
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Women on Business

Business Women Expertise, Tips, Advice and More to Build Winning Careers and Brands

You are here: Home / News and Insights / Research Shows Startups Run by Women Are More Successful

Research Shows Startups Run by Women Are More Successful

November 23, 2012 By Susan Gunelius

NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATE:

Venture-backed startups with women at the helm are more successful than startups led by men. That’s according to a study conducted by Dow Jones which analyzed more than 15 years of venture-backed company data and executive information to compare successful versus unsuccessful companies.

The Women at the Wheel study revealed:

  • A company’s odds for success (versus unsuccess) increase with more female executives at the VP and director levels.
  • For start-ups with five or more females, 61% were successful and only 39% failed.
  • The overall median proportion of female executives is 7.1% at successful companies and 3.1% at unsuccessful companies, demonstrating the value that having more females can potentially bring to a management team.
  • 1.3% of privately held companies have a female founder, 6.5% have a female CEO, and 20% have one or more female C-level executives.
  • The most common positions held by female executives were within Sales & Marketing roles, accounting for 27% of the total population sample.
  • By industry, the median proportion of female executives at successful companies is higher than that of unsuccessful companies in the IT, healthcare, consumer services, and business and financial services industries, which are the four largest sectors.

Surprised? Alden Wicker of LearnVest urges, “Next time you read a breathless account of a new start-up, make sure to ask in the comments, ‘So, does it have any female executives?'”

Get the details: Study Says Successful Startups Are Run by Women via www.learnvest.com

READ MORE NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATES FROM WOMEN ON BUSINESS

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular <a href="https://amzn.to/2qzS0db">Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/30-Minute-Social-Media-Marketing-Step-/dp/0071743812/">30-Minute Social Media Marketing</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Content-Marketing-Dummies-Business-Personal/dp/1118007298/">Content Marketing for Dummies</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blogging-All-One-For-Dummies/dp/1118299442/">Blogging All-in-One for Dummies</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kickass-Copywriting-Easy-Steps-Entrepreneur/dp/159918253X/">Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps</a>. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of <a href="http://www.keysplashcreative.com">KeySplash Creative, Inc.</a>, a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:Add me on XAdd me on FacebookAdd me on LinkedInAdd me on PinterestAdd me on YouTube

Filed Under: News and Insights

Comments

  1. Greg Marcus says

    November 25, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Interesting. Susan, what about companies where the only sr women are sales and marketing? I suspect they would not be as successful, because those positions are not powerful enough to impact the overall culture.

  2. Susan Gunelius says

    November 25, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    Greg, That’s a great question and I’d love to see some follow-up research that gets the answer! I suspect you’re probably right. As a 20-year marketing veteran who spent half of my career in marketing departments for some of the largest companies in the world, I suspect that your guess is probably accurate for the majority of companies — not because sales and marketing isn’t important, but because the role is too often treated as “second class” in executive circles.

Sponsors


Awards & Recognition

Categories

  • Board of Directors
  • Books for Businesswomen
  • Business Development
  • Business Executive Team
  • Business Travel
  • Businesswomen Bloggers
  • Businesswomen Interviews
  • Businesswomen Profiles
  • Career Development
  • Communications
  • Contests
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
  • Customer Service
  • Decision-making
  • Discounts & Offers
  • Education
  • Equality
  • Ethics
  • Female Entrepreneurs
  • Female Executives
  • Female Executives
  • Finance
  • Franchising
  • Freelancing & the Gig Economy
  • Global Perspectives
  • Health & Wellness
  • Human Resources Issues
  • Infographics
  • International Business
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Job Search
  • Leadership
  • Legal and Compliance Issues
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Networking
  • News and Insights
  • Non-profit
  • Online Business
  • Operations
  • Personal Development
  • Politics
  • Press Releases
  • Productivity
  • Project Management
  • Public Relations
  • Reader Submission
  • Recognition
  • Resources & Publications
  • Retirement and Savings
  • Reviews
  • Sales
  • Slideshow
  • Small Business
  • Social Media
  • Startups
  • Statistics, Facts & Research
  • Strategy
  • Success Stories
  • Team-Building
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Women Business Owners
  • Women On Business
  • Women On Business News
  • Women On Business Offers
  • Women On Business Partners
  • Women On Business Roundtable
  • Women on Business School
  • Work at Home/Telecommute
  • Work-Home Life
  • Workplace Issues

Authors

Quick Links

Home | About | Advertise | Write for Us | Contact

Search This Site

Follow Women on Business

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 Women on Business · Privacy Policy · Comment Policy