How to Navigate Bias When Fundraising

Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix
In conversation with: Ravi Belani, Stanford University

Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake acknowledges that she faced significant bias when she was first fundraising, often because male VCs could not relate to a women’s apparel business. She advises female entrepreneurs that emphasizing the business’s financial upsides and the market opportunity can help break through bias, but adds that structural change — more investors from underrepresented backgrounds — is paramount.