Coffee with… Tracy Chadwell | Experienced women are worth gold

Venture capitalist Tracy Chadwell is betting her money on two undervalued assets in our society: women and the elderly. Meeting with a woman who has character… and a lot of flair.

When she returned to the workforce after spending several years at home caring for her two sons, Tracy Chadwell hit a wall. He was made to understand, not very subtly, that his career was pretty much over. “They didn’t tell me it was because I was a woman, but they told me that I was too old, that I lived in the suburbs and that this was not the image they wanted for the company…”

In other words, we preferred to do without the experience of a woman who had worked as a lawyer, who had concluded transactions between the United States and Asia, who spoke Japanese, and who had managed a fund of a billion dollars… all because she was 50 years old and had taken a break from work to be with her family?

If there was a prize to reward bad decisions, no doubt it would have been awarded that day!

Her own boss

Fortunately, Tracy Chadwell did not let herself be disheartened by this flagrant lack of judgment. The one who was not shy about asking her male colleagues how much they earned before going to negotiate her own salary rolled up her sleeves and created her own investment fund. And she named it 1843 in honor of Ada Lovelace, the British mathematician to whom we owe the coding of the first computer program, in 1843.

“I started by investing my own money, says Tracy Chadwell, who was invited as a speaker at C2Montréal last spring. Since it was my money, no one could tell me what to do. It made me feel very powerful and free, and I encourage all women to think very seriously about taking charge, each in their own way, of their financial well-being. »

While doing research, Tracy Chadwell found that only 2% of women-led businesses had access to venture capital. Yes, you read that right, only 2%! And it was even lower for start-ups led by women over 50. The investor saw a huge investment opportunity. No competition on the horizon!

The problem is that they are given less of a chance to prove themselves. Tracy Chadwell tells me about studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in which two identical business plans were submitted to a committee: one named after Jill, the other named after Jack. Jill was 40% less likely to be funded.

Another bias noted by Tracy Chadwell in the world of venture capital investment: women obtain financing more easily when they launch a business in a sector “naturally” associated with women: childcare, makeup, health and well-being. “It’s easier to get funding than if you’re starting a cybersecurity or fintech business,” she points out.

The silver-haired economy

Tracy Chadwell is a very studious investor. She analyzed the market in depth before launching her investment fund in 2016. By looking at demographics and longevity, she quickly realized that the market for seniors was practically infinite. “In the United States, it’s an estimated market of around $14 trillion and it’s expected to reach $30 trillion by 2050,” she says. In English, we speak of “silver economy” to describe all the products and services intended for the generation of the third and fourth age. Tracy Chadwell sees immense potential here.

“I always say that if you give money to 28-year-olds to start businesses, they will solve the problems they have: they will create a robot that delivers pizzas [rires]. Tracy Chadwell is interested in companies related to the elderly, longevity, and technological solutions to help people live better lives.

“People are living so much longer today,” observes the businesswoman. There are 100,000 people over the age of 100 in the United States and 10,000 in Canada. People live long and we have no one to take care of them! You also feel it in Canada, the lack of caregivers, continues Tracy Chadwell. The situation is increasingly serious. There are many people who are interested in creating a simple solution: an application that connects caregivers and patients and their loved ones. And here you are with an app that tells you when your family member slept, how much they ate, etc. According to her, this is not the solution.

“The real problem is that there is a lack of carers and that their working conditions are not up to par. The caregiver does an incredibly difficult job and is paid an average of $14 per hour, while fast food restaurants pay between $20 and $25 per hour. Flipping a hamburger is much easier than helping someone get into bed or take a bath. So with my fund, I try to invest in companies that offer solutions to these complex problems, that offer training and support to caregivers, for example, so that they can do their job better. »

Since the creation of her investment fund, Tracy Chadwell has surrounded herself with a team. Predominantly female. “I think women have very valuable analytical skills,” she says. You know, quantitative financial analysis is now taken over by artificial intelligence. But what artificial intelligence can’t do is go out to lunch. Or call someone at 10:00 p.m. to tell them we’ve found a solution to their problem. I think all of these softer people skills are going to become more and more important in the future. »

By directing her efforts, and her money, towards the elderly, and by taking an interest in aging, Tracy Chadwell really feels like she has found her purpose in life. “I think I’ve never been so happy,” she says with a beautiful smile.

Who will still dare to say that women are “finished” after 50?