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In Case You Missed It: Launch Links - Week of January 16, 2022

  • 1.21.2022

Some interesting links we found across the web this week:

3 Ways a Purpose-Driven Company Can Stay True to its Values During Hypergrowth
A recent study from Deloitte found that mission-driven companies had 30% higher levels of innovation and 40% higher levels of , and they tended to be first or second in their market segment. This FastCompany article investigates, “how do you maintain an intentional culture when you grow from 100 to 1,000 or 10,000 employees?” The team at Fast Company convened partners, advisors, and others to compile this piece full of takeaways for keeping a mission-driven company all along the growth journey.

Why Aren’t Female Founders Getting a Bigger Piece of the Pie? Theories Abound 
Newly released data from PitchBook shows that VC-backed companies with at least one female founder captured over 25% of last year’s total venture deals by count, representing 17.6% of overall deal value. Despite this increase, up from 11.8% in 2008, less than 2% of venture capital funding went to all-female founding teams in 2021, marking a five-year low. This article in TechCrunch, explored the new PitchBook data and theories as to why all-female founding teams appear inherently disadvantaged. Among the theories: bias, accessibility, and investment stage. Shriya Nevatia of accelerator program On Deck remained optimistic, tweeting, “We ARE making progress, keep it up yall.”

A Hot Startup Market Demands You Prioritize Customer Experience. Here's How 
50% of consumers would switch to a competing product or service after just one bad customer service experience. This article from Inc.com suggests that customer experience is as important of a competitive differentiator as a product because customers can afford to be picky. As a result, it is important for to improve their offering with customer service. Good customer service is also good for . According to a Zendesk benchmark report, fast-growing deploy customer service tools earlier, solve customer issues faster, and are more likely to embrace industry best practices, such as enabling customer self-service.

Accessible Hiring Practices to Solve for The Great Resignation
From March to April 2020, the workforce saw a 20% reduction in workers with disabilities. During the Great Resignation, where one in four people quit their job, it has become important for organizations to identify access as a key ingredient for developing a workplace that welcomes all. Additionally, companies inclusive to people with disabilities see 28% greater annual as a result of increased innovation that develops inclusive products to capture new markets. This article in TechCrunch dispels several myths and misconceptions in hiring practices and several strategies for reaching applicants with disabilities. 

As Venture Capital Continues to Change, What Will 2022 Bring?
While the venture capital industry shattered all records last year, this article on Crunchbase looks at the venture trends that will help shape venture in 2022. The biggest factor could be the public market, especially the role the COVID pandemic has on the market. Other factors include valuations, competition in the market, the proliferation of , and the use of data in finding investment opportunities. Just last year, there were 564 new fintech companies founded globally and investors are turning to data science to keep up with the volume of companies.

Links compiled by Michaela Rosen.