Only two women make 2011 Forbes Midas List

April 7, 2011 9:48 AM
Marie C. Baca

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Forbes’ 2011 Midas List of the top 100 tech investors includes only two women, Deborah Farrington of StarVest and Theresia Gouw Ranzetta of Accel Partners.

The Midas List ranks the top venture capitalists as measured by, among other criteria, “his or her leadership within a firm or sector, his or her firm’s overall standing in the venture capital industry,” and an analysis of the firm’s disclosed M&A’s and IPO exits. Farrington holds the 77th spot on the list; Ranzetta, the 93rd.

We’ve called attention in the past to the dearth of women in sectors like cleantech, but Forbes’ most recent Midas List is a sober reminder that while women make of the majority of the U.S. workforce and U.S. management positions, they remain woefully underrepresented in the world of venture capital.

And things seem to be getting worse. The last Forbes Midas List, which was published two years ago, had a much stronger female presence: Ann Huntress Lamont of Oak Investment Partners held the number 25 spot; Farrington came in at 44; Jennifer Fonstad of Draper Fisher Jurvetson was at 54; Jean George of Advanced Technology Ventures was at 76; and Kathleen La Porte of New Leaf Ventures held the 95 position.

Any thoughts on what made this year so different?

http://cognited.tumblr.com/ warren

Still waiting for VB or any tech blog to give other underrepresented minority groups some coverage. How many Blacks or Latino on the list? Zero. These 2 groups make up roughly 30% of the nation's population. At my school, Stanford, that number is ~15%.This seems to be a topic the media seems to virtually dodge entirely, despite countlessly reminding us of the lack of women in the industry. Is this topic too taboo? I suspect it's not deliberate, and you guys are simply too bright for it to go completely unnoticed.I say that with the utmost respect as I read VB religiously.