Start-Up Companies Work Better Without All That Pesky Diversity

In an article on BNET.com, “The CBS Interactive Business Network”, writer Penelope Trunk says that start-up companies should be as single-gendered as possible — and preferably, men only.

If you want to know why you shouldn’t do a startup with women (if you’re a man), read on.

It’s a distraction.

I have done three startups and each time it has been with a male co-founder. And each time, the fact that I am female has been a distraction to us. It has been a source of friction. When I was young, people thought my co-founder and I were a couple. (This is not surprising. The majority of male-female co-founder situations for a funded startup have a sex component.)

Plus, women are always crying and as everyone knows, there is no crying in start-ups:

In my last company, Brazen Careerist, I had two male co-founders. Sometimes I’d cry. Or throw a fit. And the guys would say I was so difficult. I am a woman who has been in tech startups for 15 years. I thought, if anyone can deal with men, it’s me. And still, I was too emotional for these guys. You know what? Most women cry at work. And most guys throw a fit.

The author would also like you to know that when she left, she replaced herself with a male CEO.