How I navigated my pregnancy as a Series A founder – Nob6

The information of Emily Weiss transferring to the position of chairwoman of Glossier from her former place as CEO was riddled with gender biases in the way it was lined by the media.

Even the extra balanced protection nonetheless highlighted that she is presently pregnant, as if it inevitably performed a consider her determination, though Weiss’ official statement on the matter made no point out of household, being pregnant or kids.

There definitely has been progress lately, however we can’t deny that we nonetheless harbor biases and assumptions about pregnant girls in enterprise. “How a lot break day will they take?” “Are they going to come back again?” “Will they work as laborious as they did earlier than?” “Who’s going to look at their child?”

I realized I used to be pregnant a couple of weeks after my well being tech firm raised a $14 million Collection A in January 2021. And as somebody who had beforehand skilled the trauma of a miscarriage, I had totally thrown myself into my different child — my firm. The information of one other being pregnant meant I wanted to handle myself and my firm in a brand new manner.

Whereas the expertise wildly varies from girl to girl, and there’s no “right” path to take, I wish to share what labored for me whereas I used to be a pregnant founder and CEO. Girls come as much as me at conferences or catch me at occasions in search of particular and actionable recommendation, so I’m right here to share what labored for me.

At the beginning, I made a decision to be sincere with my buyers and never delay the information or withhold any data. I hadn’t even instructed a few of my household earlier than I selected to inform my buyers — I wanted to share the information. Going into the decision, I used to be extremely nervous, so I made a decision to not start with any small speak. My first phrases had been: “I’m excited to share that George and I are having a child.”

I’m fortunate sufficient to have chosen companions like Bryan Roberts and Dr. Bob Kocher from Venrock, Stephen Renfro at Optum Ventures, Hunter Stroll at Homebrew and the crew at First Spherical Capital, they usually all had been extremely supportive. In the course of the pandemic, when issues seemed so bleak, their faces lit up after they heard the information.

Buyers are your corporation companions; they’re folks with whom you’ll have a relationship that’ll final a number of years, so it’s essential to grasp their stance on matters outdoors of labor earlier than you are taking a verify. My buyers had chosen to guess on me. So now, me having a child was going to turn out to be a part of our new recreation plan, they usually understood that.