♪ emily: while the me too movement has rocked the world of ,ntertainment, media, politics it got a head start in early 2017. a young engineer published a scathing memo about sexual harassment at uber that kick off reports about men behaving badly across silicon valley. it is a fire in the hearts of women who had had enough. female, a group of venture capital is met to change the face of those investing in

tech startups and the people who built them. it is the industry changing the world faster than any other coming to dominated -- any other, yet dominated by men. joining me is aileen lee, kirsten green, and maha ibrahim, all founders. ♪ april of 2018, you were all on the cover of forbes magazine, a space normally reserved for men, male billionaires, and this is the first time a group of women was on the cover. when you solve this, how did it make you feel? awe,, nation of months of work, and decades of conversations and wondering

whether our industry would be as diverse as we wanted it to be. the first reaction was this level of awe that it was coming to the forefront. emily: it was about a year before that you wrote and email vc's and you had had an enough. what was the spark that was the fire? enter enter capital, ,ech -- venture capital, tech after good high schools and selective colleges, there are as many women as men in your undergraduate class and you wind up in tech. you look around the table and there are no women, no people color, a bizarre universe. >> i know enough of these women. we are friendly with each other. we compare notes about these

issues. there is enough of us now. we all feel the same way. we are starting to collaborate more. i wrote this draft and kept it in my draft folder. what if everyone is like, i don't want to do it. i don't know. one day i just decided. was the right time with the right message. it felt like here is an opportunity to do something productive, right? everybody has a combination of outrage, feeling exhausted and frustrated with the situation, and the original impetus was let's do something productive. emily: you are all competitors. you compete on deals. why collaborate with the competition? it sot is what makes special. the competition is nothing

new. our male colleagues have been doing it. >> we are competitive, but collaborative. seldom do you see a company that goes from there first to their exit opportunity. emily: there is the careers program, female founders office hours. >> this did not happen overnight. we knew each other well. that is what made it so special. it was so authentic, some natural, and we all had this by the virtue of what had been happening in our industry over 2017, that it was a point in time thing that when aileen pressed send, there was no say no. exist becausees

they have funding? >> many. we get emails from women who have never raised money, not in the area, didn't go to stanford and harvard, don't know anyone in tech. they say i feel like for the first time people are looking out for me. i got the mouse that said i feel like i can do this now. activism.re is activ new partners have been added, but only 10% of vc's in the united states are women. 73% of firms still don't have a female partner. >> i know. emily: is that progress? >> it is opportunity. that is what we are doing. it has been one year we have mobilized forces against that. , anew female partners

community behind them to help them be better and more successful. >> in our industry, things move slowly. this, weand you know are a case study in what having female investors can mean for the number of females that actually receive capital. you have been there for years. >> i have been there 19 years. 40% of our investment professionals are female. my --d make a that that bet that my firm has a higher percentage of females being invested in than anybody in the industry, because we have females at the interesting table. i would wait to see how that number changes over the next five to 10 years unfortunately. emily: there are those who do not think it will be as

successful as you think. another investor is skeptical of the work you're doing, saying "it will predictably fail. adding a single white woman partner will not change a vc firm." >> she is absolutely right. , at is why we exist coalition of women supporting women. it is incredibly important that we have not woman, but two, three, four, and they stay in the door and stay successful. ,> it is fair to be skeptical there are firms marketing to or hiring, and investment professionals and not supporting them, or saying i hired a woman, check, done. that is not good. that does not work. we are on to that. emily: you hear a lot of things that happened behind the scenes.

do you think that behavior is still happening? >> bad behavior happens in life. i don't know it will get routed out in all places, but i think there is a light on it and a conversation acceptable to have a about it, questions expected to ask. i get asked a lot, some of writing books, raising money -- lot, someet asked a of writing books, raising money. is that ok? >> we have to stay hopeful people can change and evolve. emily: that is yes. >> i want people to be the best versions of themselves. even if they have not lived up to that, i hope that does not mean they have to walk around not being the best selves. >> there are a lot of people who

have not been given first chances come and that is what we are trying to work on. >> yes. ♪ up in tech and venture capital when you are the only woman around the table and you see a lot of things that are legal definitions are not legal. ♪

emily: let's talk about how you got your first chances. aileen, i want to start with you. aileen: i am a first-generation daughter of immigrants from china. i was fortunate my grandparents and parents emphasize education for my sister and myself, so we got into selective colleges. they took aking, so chance on me. they had hired all men in the past, generally people who went to stanford and worked in tech.

emily: view joined kleiner perkins as an associate partner. kleiner is one of the more storied firms, but was sued for gender discrimination. what was your experience at kleiner like? >> growing up in tech and venture capital when you are the only woman around the table is not easy. expands a lot of things that are legal definition are not legal. people choose to handle it in different ways. emily: she lost her case in court, but do you think she should have won? >> i was surprised she did not win. that is all i will say. emily: what made you decide to leave kleiner? you suggested investing in uber. you had an idea and they didn't -- >> good friends of mine are

entrepreneurs. said,w my firm and me and when we you leave to start your own firm? it had not crossed my mind i could do that. it had not crossed my mind that people would think they would still be my friends. >> wow. >> wow. >> i realize i had gotten too attached to it. i had been there for 12 years. newthen this whole ecosystem was developing, more collaborative, different pace and velocity of investing, and i would have a chance to find my conviction and gut. at a big firm, even a senior partner, there are big egos in the room and you are gaming the system when you bring companies forward based on how you think

they will be received. i felt like coming back to the basics, really small, low overhead, meeting with companies, working with founders come and not having a lot of infrastructure. emily: he left and started your own fund. that is a big deal. >> i did not realize it was. >> we had a lot of conversations around that time. , came from kirsten outside silicon valley. when i got in email saying we should get together, it was like i got in email from a celebrity. i was so excited. it was validation about how important it was to have community in this business. emily: you started as an analyst, going to malls, trying to figure out foot traffic. >> i was drawn to investing because i was interested in

learning and i was comfortable with math and analytics. that seems like a good combination, finding unique investment ideas people were not onto already is what looked to me in the business. in the business. -- emily: maha, you have had check writing villages from day one, correct -- privileges from day one, correct? time, or't know at the years, that itor was unusual. i had always been, through high program,ollege, my phd working at a token indication startup, always in the minority, so i did not think it was

strange going into a venture firm and being the only female, right? i was a 1000 person startup with , of which i was one. that is what i knew. i was acclimatized. emily: you have always looked at consumer and enterprise. and forrted my career, the first eight or nine years only invested in infrastructure, data center-type deals. it was not until 10 years ago i did my first consumer investment , and that was not planned. it was a company that ended up being a consumer company over time. i waited ♪ ded into it organically. emily: you are all unicorns in venture capital because of what you accomplished. aileen going to that term. i want to take a moment to recognize that, because that

term came from you. >> the analysis that underpinned it i am proud of. even though we manage so much money and create so much there haspportunity, been so little data and analysis of private companies, i was interested in doing a truly accurate quantitative analysis of what these companies have in common and the trends. some of the trends were helpful for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. ♪ place willffs in ruin us for our economy. ♪ our economy. ♪

emily: hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped off the market caps of big tech companies in the last several months. there is fear about a broader economic downturn and whether that will impact tech. is that impacting your strategies? >> it will.

there are positives and negatives. , the tariffs are government has put in place are in the long-term, and maybe this is my economist background speaking more, they are relentless -- ruin for our economy. even when we look at our microworld in silicon valley, when we think about prices going up, both for direct goods and the components, effectively, it is, these are unnecessary price changes, that the only beneficiary of fat is -- and that, is frankly, nobody who needs to have that money. i do believe the tariffs put in place are anti-capitalism, and will in the long term will negatively affect gdp around the world. some of theser if

companies have shot themselves in the foot. if you look at a company like facebook, is the damage self-inflicted ? >> the consumer response or sentiment around facebook, it creates windows for new startups. if there is a startup that will promise certain things around and you canour data share, and we have learned a lot about social media in the past five or 10 years -- this is part of the cycle of creation, destruction and technology. you learn from the predecessors and come up with new products. emily: mark zuckerberg and sheryl sandberg have been scrutinized for the leadership. where do you think they went wrong? >> pursuing dollars at any cost. whether it is them or people under them, i have no idea. that is for you to figure out as

journalists, but i think they were willing to sacrifice a lot of their principles for the almighty dollar. emily: sheryl sandberg, specifically, has been heavily criticized for whatever shortcomings. do you think that criticism has been fair, or it has been disproportionate? >> i think in many sectors of ng howy, we are witnessi women are treated. emily: you think she is getting criticized more because she is a woman? >> it is not binary. she is the chief business officers of the company, and there are business issues, business decisions, that fall under her purview, but if you look at politics in particular and how females in office are being viewed by the media or by the public versus men, there is

clearly a double standard. emily: where are the double standards? can women do that? >> no. >> no. >> what you think? #funding secured. >> we are on a continuum of integrating women, and while we are on that path, we are held to a higher standard. doing i wonder if we are this to the detriment of society, these companies. marissa mayer, who was so picked apart, where is she now? >> there has to be an acknowledgment that one woman does not equal the next is not equal the next. emily: totally, right? >> investment styles are different, personalities are

different. that doesn't mean we can't come together and produce something that is excellent and where we can succeed. that means we can come together and do great things. >> the other thing that has changed in the past year that i am excited about, we are seeing more men stand up and call these things out. to seeink it is exciting men stand up and say what they think about the issues. emily: are you concerned about regulation? could that hurt -- >> when i think about it from different perspectives, i don't want to live in a world where there are five choices for everything. it will not be as interesting. it will ultimately not be good for us. why theo back to regulations and antitrust laws exist, it is to protect the consumer, right? your definition of what has been protecting the consumer has been about price and access, and that

is where we are running into interference around how those companies, if they interfere with that, but maybe that needs to be re-explored, the standards that govern the way we think about when a company is too big. emily: are you concerned because the macroeconomic slowdown that funding could dry up? >> i am concerned about that. i think that is why companies raised the capital they did in 2018. i think fear as opposed to greet was was creating the raises. the benefit is i don't see the party ending. ofre is still a huge amount cash in the system looking for returns. you are not getting it on the stock market. >> the fund flows. it is a macro fund flows issue. it will go for high data, -- beta, high return, and that is

venture. emily: you are on a lot of this these days, the midas list, how do you use that power? >> that is a great question. >> we decided to take some of that notoriety and influence and directed towards goals we feel are worth while. >> 2018 was the year where i realized that we collectively have reached og status. >> it is scary. it is sad. let's own it. >> to that extent, i am trying to own it, and with that owning or power comes the responsibility to make sure that we are bettering this industry, that we are making sure we have a class of junior people in this industry that are doing the

right things with our founders and companies come etc. -- companies, etc. >> there is still so much opportunity. up.oy ventures is a start we are small and early, so a lot to prove. i have a lot to prove as a venture investor and a founder of a firm i hope will last beyond me. the opportunity we have, all of us come and many who are not here right now who are involved with all raise, that family and community will grow larger in 2019. it comes from such a good place. i am sure we will make mistakes. it comes from a place of orcking any personal agenda self-help at the door and truly tried to create a better, more-inclusive, tech environment where all people from different

backgrounds have an opportunity to thrive, and that is super important to all of us. emily: aileen lee, kirsten green , maha ibrahim, thank you. >> thank you. ♪

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reporter: it is almost 11:00 in singapore. top stories this hour, trade tensions continue to dominate the news. davos has heard speeches defending globalization. china puts its case on the forum stage. they offered a rebuke to president trump's protectionist views. the boj governor warns a prolonged dispute will have deep-seated and widespread implications. this is "bloomberg markets: asia." ♪

reporter: we are entering the last hour of the morning session in hong kong. asian stocks struggling for direction, we had that whipsaw attention on wall street. you have south korea supported, the bank of korea keeping rates on hold. they have the forecast, but we have seen sk hynix boost that. japan under pressure, off .4%, and other major markets are mixed. watching currency moves today, the aussie dollar down .25%. that volatile employment it a coming through. rishaad: let's take a look at what is going on in context and have more from mumbai when things get going. take a look at those futures, ,hat we have for the nifty probably looking at a flat open. there 44 minutes away from cash markets.