On the VOX program “Die Höhle der Löwen”, founders, young entrepreneurs and inventors present their business ideas to a jury of business leaders. The goal: to convince them to invest in their startup. The investments made are real, the founders benefit from the money, advice and experience of the “lions”.
The focus is therefore on the product idea of ??a founder – if the concept, business plan and idea are right, a deal is possible. But a new study is now providing looks. In this, the responsible research team from the University of Paderborn and the FH Aachen questioned the concept of the program. According to the results, the deals would depend not only on the idea, but above all on the attractiveness, age and gender of a founder. According to this, attractive, older and male founders are more likely to land a deal and even receive more money.
As part of their research work, the scientists analyzed how investors dealt with a total of 636 founder presentations. In doing so, they paid attention to the gender, age, a possible migration background and the attractiveness of the founders as well as whether a deal came about, how much money the “lions” invested and how many company shares they asked for. The physical attractiveness of these was assessed using a Likert scale, a method for measuring personal attitudes.
Well, attractiveness is usually subjective, isn’t it? Not necessarily. The research uses a universal formula that is intended to specify what people perceive as attractive and what not, explains Livia Boerner, co-author of the study, of “Bild”.
The results of the researchers: Compared to less attractive founders, attractive young entrepreneurs are more likely to get a deal with the “lions”, and the chance of a deal increasing with the age of the young entrepreneurs. Older candidates therefore have a greater chance of getting a deal than younger ones, according to the study, the latter also have to accept a company valuation that is about half as high on average as they suggested at the beginning – but in comparison they get a lot more money.
Although the attractiveness of the investment volume plays a subordinate role, there are clear differences between the sexes when it comes to the money supply. “equal pay”? none. Female founders should therefore get deals just as often, but receive less financial support than male candidates. As the scientists write, the “lions” rate ideas from female founding teams on average 30 percent lower than those from male entrepreneurs. “Women have to give up more shares or make do with less capital,” summarizes Boerner. “Women are less trusted in comparison.”
When asked by “Zeit”, Vox entertainment boss Kirstin Petersen said: “As far as the investment amount of the individual start?ups is concerned, we see no difference between male and female companies”. The different ideas of the “lions” only refer to “the respective company and its team composition and potential, not to gender, age or migration background”. In addition, Petersen emphasizes that the presence of female companies in the program is explicitly taken into account.
“Lioness” Dagmar Wöhrl also contradicts the allegations when asked by “Bild”: “I’m surprised that we supposedly prefer more attractive founders.” Nevertheless, the investor points out that in addition to the product, “empathy, charisma, the person’s biography or passion for the project” are also important. Wöhrl rejects the aspect of the money difference between the sexes. In her opinion, mixed teams are still the best, “because that’s where the creative diversity is greatest,” says Wöhrl.
Sources: “Zeit”, “Bild Zeitung”
