Let your ambition be undeniable.

I hate the phrase “pretty good for a girl.” Yet I heard it enough times growing up that it became a driving force in my life. I decided early on I was going to be GREAT, no gender qualifier required.

Now, more than twenty years into my career, I find myself on a new journey trying to deconstruct the dogmas that shaped who I am today. Some have served me well, but many have held me back.

I see the same behaviors forming in my teenage daughter as she starts to navigate what the world expects of her and what she expects of herself. I notice the questions she asks before committing to something, and the way she looks at me for confirmation that wanting things is okay. I want her to think anything is possible, but she doesn't see that in the world around her.

This isn't a grievance about men. I've been fortunate to have many men in my corner, championing my career.

The issue lies in the fact that most women still consider ambition to be a dirty word. We've been conditioned not to overreach, to be careful and considerate. To not be too loud or too demanding.

So women carry their enormous dreams around inside them, trying to contain them. Making them smaller and more reasonable, and apologizing when our desperation to achieve them shows. This is a lonely endeavor, and that loneliness has a cost. But they never stop wanting to achieve them. It's not wrong to want more.

I know because I'm one of them. I'm never not thinking ambitious thoughts.

I've spent my career in startups—as a founder, early employee, consultant, now on the investor side—and much of that time using research to change people's minds. I know what a sexy statistic can do to change the conversation and drive progress.

So I went looking for the data on women's ambition.

Long-standing research shows what we're up against: women earn less and hold fewer executive seats.¹ It's made more complicated as more women step out of corporate environments and strike their own paths.

The number of women entrepreneurs is increasing: Women are building at a rate we've never seen, now owning more than 40% of U.S. businesses (14.2 million of them, $2.8 trillion in revenue),² a share that grew nearly twice as fast as men's between 2022 and 2025.³ Globally, the rate of women's startups rose in 19 of 47 countries tracked last year.⁴

Funding for women lags woefully behind. By now, most have heard the statistic that all-women founding teams receive less than 2% of U.S. venture capital investment dollars.⁵ And loans aren't filling the gap. Federal Reserve data show that women-owned firms apply for small-business financing less often than men-owned firms (33% versus 38%) and are approved less often (19% versus 23%).⁶

Mentorship opportunities are lacking: Research by Ethan Poskanzer (CU Boulder) and Minjae Kim (Rice University) tracked a 2023 startup accelerator cohort and found that male and female founders reach out to mentors of both genders at equal rates, but male mentors disproportionately accept outreach from male founders rather than female founders.⁷

All evidence that the climb is long, and the odds are not in our favor, but women are doing it anyway.

Despite these challenges, enterprising women are finding a way through. I've encountered hundreds of female founders over my 20 years in startups; what separates the ones who progress from the ones who don't are three things.

I acknowledge that smarts, grit, and developing a product that customers want are vital components to progress. I've put them aside here given they apply to all founders, regardless of gender.

I've experienced this myself. Four years ago, I joined an executive women's coaching group. We were six strangers who came together with a shared desire to overcome our obstacles and reach the next level of professional success.

Now I can see that my expectations going in were limiting. I thought these brilliant women had the experience and expertise to solve my problems, like a set of personal management consultants. This thinking, that the answer lay outside of me, was the real hurdle.

Instead, I came to relish the biweekly experience of laying bare my entrepreneurial woes and receiving thought-provoking, analytical insights in return. More often than not, the unlock that moved me forward didn't come from what I brought to the table. Rather, watching the other women work through their challenges led to my own “holy shit” moment. They changed my trajectory. I credit them with accelerating my professional evolution and strengthening my resilience.

Women are wired to be good at this. We've all heard the adage “it takes a village to raise a child”; well, I believe the same applies to building a company.

Every ambitious woman deserves this kind of support.

The Women's Ambition Project elevates the conversation around women's ambition by creating a space where female founders, builders, and entrepreneurs can be seen, heard, and supported on their journey.