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

The latest from EmilyWeiss, who was previously the CEO, was forced to step down as chairwoman of Glossier. This was due to gender biases in the way the media covered it.

Even though the coverage was more balanced, it was still obvious that she is currently pregnant. It seems as if this factor played a part in her decision. Weiss’ official statementIt was not mentioned that the matter involved family, pregnancy, or children.

Although there has been significant progress in recent times, we cannot deny the fact that there are still assumptions and biases about pregnant women in business. “How much time off will they take?” “Are they going to come back?” “Will they work as hard as they did before?” “Who’s going to watch their baby?”

I discovered I was pregnant in the weeks following my health tech company’s $14 million Series B funding in January 2021. And as someone who had previously experienced the trauma of a miscarriage, I had utterly thrown myself into my other baby — my company. I had to make a change in my approach to taking care of myself and my company after learning of another pregnancy.

While the experience wildly varies from woman to woman, and there is no “correct” path to take, I want to share what worked for me while I was a pregnant founder and CEO. Women come up to me at conferences or catch me at events seeking specific and actionable advice, so I’m here to share what worked for me.

First, I made a decision to be open with my investors. I didn’t delay the news or withhold any details. I hadn’t even told some of my family before I chose to tell my investors — I needed to share the news. I was extremely nervous going into the call so I decided not to start with any small talk. My first words were: “I’m excited to share that George and I are having a baby.”

I was fortunate enough to have Bryan Roberts and Dr. Bob Kocher (Venrock), Stephen Renfro at Optum Ventures and Hunter Walk at Homebrew as my partners. They were all incredibly supportive. Their faces lit up when they saw the news, even though it was so dark.

Investors are your business partners; they are people with whom you’ll have a relationship that’ll last several years, so it’s important to understand their stance on topics outside of work before you take a check. My investors had placed their trust in me. They understood that me having a child was part of our new gameplan.