Thanks. Just to be clear: this isn't about my 'feelings.' It's actually about having a successful startup: one major reason people fund startups is because they think the founders have the right characteristics that will make them succeed. They're looking for a certain type of person, not just an idea. Through its posts and comments, this community shares a mental model of what type of person makes a successful founder. Having that image be of a particular gender negatively impacts those of us who happen to be women or who have women in their startup team.
This example from Founders at Work struck me: Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr, related an anecdote where she and her partner, who was also her husband, met with a VC firm. Caterina didn't fit the VC's mental model of a founder. After the meeting the VC told her husband 'not to bring his wife to VC meetings.'
I guess that's true in most industries - women had to work much harder than men just to get their foot in the door, but eventually perceptions change - when there are enough women there to change the (mostly unconscious, I think) perception.
I think that there's a good chance for a change here. I know very few female hackers, but they tend to be really good - I guess it takes being way above average to be able to penetrate a group that's predominantly the other gender/race/views/whatever. However, if you do have the ability, and the tenacity to survive in such hostile environment, you probably have a better-than-average chance of success.
