I Don't Want To Be A Diversity Candidate

When we were raising our angel round, I had a phone conversation with a prominent Silicon Valley investor who did not have time to meet me face-to-face but was interested in investing in MyLikes because I was a female entrepreneur"aka the "diversity candidate."While it is difficult to say no to money, especially when someone is giving it to you without even listening to what it is that you are doing, I felt insulted and unhappy. I felt that I was competent enough to raise money and build a successful business regardless of my gender, not because of it.In all fairness, this angel and many other supporters of women in technology have good intentions. However, they don't realize that by calling out someone's gender they make the system less meritocratic.
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