CEO Talia Goldstein was so fearful of what her first pregnancy would do to her business she kept it a secret.
In a candid post for Fourtune.com the head of matchmaking start up Three Day Rule wrote of how her baby joy seemed like it would bring nothing but misery for her career so she kept it quiet for as long as possible.
“I hid my pregnancy from investors, from family, even from my own business partner,” she writes. “I didn’t want to walk into pitch meetings feeling insecure. Instead, I chose to wear ponchos and baggy clothing.”
As a female entrepreneur attempting a tech start up the odds on Talia’s success were stacked against her – the gender gaps in Silicon Valley are widely noted – and she felt those rose dramatically when she fell pregnant.
When she found out she was pregnant Goldstein described how she and her husband were both “ecstatic” but that happiness was soon overshadowed by the research she began to do on how she would balance her growing business and her blooming belly.
“I felt ashamed and upset at myself for getting pregnant during this crucial fundraising time,” Goldstein wrote.
“I started asking my colleagues for their opinions on the subject. Much to my chagrin, they all openly agreed. ‘It’s a huge red flag when the founder of a company is pregnant.’ ‘Honestly, I’d never invest in a company with a pregnant CEO.’
“Everyone seemed to believe that the people from whom I would be raising money, angels and VCs, simply did not know how to handle a pregnant CEO, and would avoid one like the plague.”
Goldstein only opened up about her situation after she had reached her fundraising goals. She now has built a successful business with 30 employees and has launched her dating site in six cities but who knows how much of that would have eventuated had she not kept mum about her plans to have a family.
As The Huffington Post columnist Emily Peck writes: “Goldstein’s piece concretely demonstrates the kinds of problems that crop up when an industry is dominated by men.”
Goldstein also told The Huffington Post that she decided to share her story to help other women.
“I believe that every candid conversation we have about this topic can help bring us one step closer to closing the gender gap.”
