On March 8, Sista co-founder Tatiana Jama returns to Madame Figaro’s exclusive forum for this career-defining episode. And which reflects the terrible suspicion of lack of ambition that still weighs on women.
Since its inception 5 years ago, the Sista Collective has been fighting for more equality in entrepreneurship and tech. Shock campaigns, creation of an investment fund dedicated to women-led projects,… On March 8, Sista launched the #amaplace operation on LinkedIn. Its co-founder Tatyana Jama’s opportunity to question this received notion that still burdens women and slows them down is the presumption of a lack of ambition.
Tribune: ” We need to talk. “. We need to talk. Jake just ended our short phone conversation with this typical lump-in-your-throat formula. It’s 2011, 48 hours from the end of our company sale, and our buyers want to chat. My partner and I are about to sell our company, less than two years after its creation, to a subsidiary company.Amazon:. Race against time. we have a month left cash flow, we have ruled out all fundraising avenues, we have 120 workers to pay. So we hang up and fly to Washington. The purpose: understand the end of the story. We are greeted by our 3 buyers.
Jake, Eric and Rob – three men.
– So girls, you want to build an empire?
(So girls, wanna build an empire?)
I look at him, shaking my head.
– OUI bien sur. What is today’s agenda?
(Of course. What’s the agenda?)
“Do you want to build an empire?”
(Want to build an empire?)
He is exaggerating, as if I did not understand the question the first time. I smile politely.
— Yes, we do, and we would like to build it together.
(Yes, that’s what we want, and we’d love to build it with you.)
– No, no, repeat after me. i want to build an empire.
(No, no, you’re not there, repeat after me: I want to build an empire.)
I’m uncomfortable. I repeat, a little ashamed.
– We want to build an empire.
(We want to build an empire)
He goes further.
– Louder, I can’t hear you. I WANT TO BUILD AN EMPIRE.
(Higher, I can’t hear you – I want to build an empire.)
– WE WANT TO BUILD AN EMPIRE!
(We want to build an empire!)
“Are you sure, girls?” he raises ..
(Are you sure, girls?)
We shout with one voice.
— WE WANT TO BUILD AN EMPIRE.
(We want to build an empire!!)
Both of us are banned. The three men, facing us, take turns looking at each other, looking pleased, before turning to us.
– OK. Let’s do it! Thanks for coming! concludes Jake.
(Okay, we can seal the deal. Thanks for coming)
They get up and slide a hug ceremonial. The meeting ended a little while ago. An hour later, 25 million dollars are transferred to our company’s bank account. We are in the knockout stage. Amazed and saved.
Paris-Washington for a ten-minute conversation
What happened ? It took me a long time to understand this scene. Speaking of the problem we faced, the assumption that women entrepreneurs lack ambition. We were young, everything was right, we had a solid business plan to grow the company, but we were women. We had a ten-minute Paris-Washington conversation because we had to reassure ourselves about our desire to build an empire. Would our buyers have the same doubts, and would they behave this way in the presence of two men? No, obviously.
If we look at the latest McKinsey study on this topic, technology is disgusted by the lack of representation of women in the highest positions. In 2023, differences in the attitudes of men and women once again extend to all areas of the private and professional sphere. Are they to blame? No. Is it the man’s fault? Neither. I think the responsibility lies with the system. In other words, society as a whole.
There is no “pretentious chromosome”.
To push back one’s own borders, to shake certainties, to expand one’s horizons. we are all capable of it, men and women, because we are entrepreneurs. And objectively, no one spends their day pounding their fists on the table. So why this assumption that women in particular lack ambition?
While they disrupt the status quo to build their businesses, they measure the risks twice rather than once. They also have in their hearts and bodies the passion to succeed. They are also demanding of themselves. Perhaps even more so than their male counterparts, since they were aware from day one of the additional hurdles they would have to overcome in order to break the glass ceiling. And they overcome these obstacles one after another. Flexible design. So, is this presumption of lack of ambition due to the discretionary way of confirming their success?
In this video, these barriers prevent women from investing
Flexible design
Rather, I believe we have trouble collectively thinking that, like angels, ambitions have no gender. Let’s not miss half a generation when it comes to inventing tomorrow’s solutions. No, female entrepreneurs do not need to assert their ambitions. Because they do not suffer from a lack of ambition. But lack of support. They don’t need to be shown the way, nor told how to proceed. It’s just that we give them the resources and funds.
Source: Le Figaro
