Abstract

Purpose: Given the scant literature of female founders in technology ventures, and scarce evidence of Latin American startups, we have examined gender similarities and differences between male and female-led teams regarding their business stage, growth expectations, strategic vision skill, and team composition. Design/methodology/approach: A unique online survey was sent to male and female founders via email and social networks, out of which a total of 199 responses were analyzed using tools for descriptive analysis and mean comparisons. We deliberately sought for a greater proportion female founders from Latin American countries. The respondents were surveyed on their individual and startups characteristics. Findings: We have found (1) no significant gender difference in business stage, (2) slightly fewer growth expectations among women, compared to men, although not significant, (3) slightly less strong skill of strategic vision among women, compared to men, (4) female-led teams are smaller than male-led teams, both diverse teams in terms of employees’ gender, and (5) male- (73%) and female- (55%) led teams create further jobs than the minimum team size. Originality/value: This study discusses the findings on gender differences (growth expectations, strategic vision, team-building) in relation to the discussion on whether startups create employment or not. According to our results, both male and female-led startups create jobs.