Diversification

After recoiling from techies questioning my skills and ability to contribute to a start-up, I did a bit of research.

Start-ups founded by women generally get less investment.

Start-ups founded by women generally perform better once they are up and running.

Diversification in a team, not just women and men, but age, nationality and general backgrounds, makes for better teams, and statistically, better performance overall.

But it also requires more effort to work together. And that can be an added factor that can easily be overlooked.

Don't let your team underestimate anyone.

TPWNN didn't like that I initially found my stats on a BCG site, so I didn't cite them. But a quick google will give you a few other sites with similar information.