To test the waters, she sent out a Tweet calling for moms who wanted to learn about coding to sign up for a MailChimp mailing list. “I really thought no one would answer,” he said. “But within two weeks, 100 people had signed up.” The initiative would eventually attract over 250 students, and secure the support of big-name sponsors such as Marks & Spencer, Microsoft, and Thoughtworks. “The program changed some lives,” recalls Angelides, whose many alumnae have gone on to hold prestigious roles with some of the sponsoring companies and elsewhere in technology. “And the bond we made—all 250 women—is hard to describe.”
How to build a more diverse technology sector
Fast forward to today and, following three successful career pivots, Angelides is an accomplished entrepreneur, public speaker, and venture capitalist for Samos Investments, where he invests in high-growth European startups. Her unwavering belief is that tech needs diversity, and that women should play a bigger role in defining the future of technology. “We need more diversity of thought, and more products made by women for women,” she said. “The more women develop these technologies, the better.”
“I remember when setting up Mums in Tech, how important it was to be able to tap into other female founders for advice, and there weren’t many of them around,” Angelides recalls. “Girls are out there making decisions about what to study—when they don’t see that representation, they don’t like to choose a career in technology. It’s important to shine a light on the talented women who are building great businesses.”
“You can’t be what you don’t see,” Angelides quips.
Not only is better representation in professional settings the right thing to do—and important for driving equality in our society more broadly—it also has positive implications for business growth. As McKinsey’s 2020 report “Why Diversity Matters” shows, businesses in the top quartile for C-suite diversity are 15 percent more likely to boast above-average revenues compared to those that are least diverse. . In the tech industry, diversity is a barrier against groupthink—and it makes for better products, by exposing and spotlighting problems that a homogenous workforce would likely miss, because in part blind spots inherent in their similar life experiences. According to Angelides, seeking advice from people with different and diverse backgrounds is the very first step to making technology more diverse: “You don’t have to do it alone. Be humble and do it this.”
A change in mindset
Of course, technology alone cannot solve all our problems. As technology becomes the agent of change, real disruption needs to happen on a broader scale. In other words, a change in mindset is needed: We need a community, working together to create better, more useful products. We also need a system that, through government and institutional investment, funding, and support, makes it possible for better technology to happen. By establishing the right methods, everyone can be involved in the creative process—including groups like women, mothers, and people of color, who have traditionally been excluded from it.
In a way, that’s what Angelides has worked for throughout her career, from Mums in Tech, to her work as a venture capitalist, and her roles as a mentor at the University of Oxford in VC circles. The important thing, he says, is that positive change is possible even in these turbulent times. “Some of the greatest businesses were created in a downturn. Go out, hire great talent, and build,” Angelides said.