It isn’t only what you know; it’s who you know, and nowhere is this more relevant than in the venture capital world.

That’s what’s driving a networking community started by Lucy Marcus, who was named as "one to watch" in the 2000 edition of magazine Management Today's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Britain. Marcus’ site, HighTech Women, is helping European females create their own space in the business world both on and offline.

Marcus notes that unlike similar organizations, such as the San Francisco-based Women’s Technology Cluster, HighTech women is a for-profit venture. Marcus initially funded it herself and now it is breaking even and she is busy talking with interested parties who have approached her to help fund its growth.

Based in London, the inspiring and energetic Marcus – who is actually American - is the founder and managing director of Marcus Venture Consulting (MVC). Started almost two years ago, MVC was one of the first consultancies in Europe to advise organizations with experts in engineering, marketing, sales, finance and upper management, be they venture capitalists, corporations or individuals wishing to invest in the technology sector and tailoring the help to their specific needs.

Show Us the Money

Marcus paid her dues in the business world. Previously, she co-founded and was vice president for an enterprise management software company; headed marketing and business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Infinity Financial Technologies; ran the EMEA of a communications consulting company; worked for PriceWaterhouse in the Eastern European services division; and worked for the US Treasury's economic policy division.

Marcus says she was helped and motivated by women that she met along the way. She wants to give the same to others struggling to navigate the often-chilly waters for women looking to make a place for themselves in the male-dominated business arena.

Research firm VentureOne reported that out of the 3,000 venture capitalists in the US only 90 were women. This might explain why although women start businesses at twice the rate of men, they received only 12.7% of the record $17.8 billion in venture funding in the first quarter of 2000, according to VentureOne. Such figures aren’t even available for Europe.

“I can count the number of women venture capitalists, and particularly those in senior roles, in Europe without running out of fingers and toes. It is not uncommon where I am the only woman in a room of venture capitalists, and the majority of our clients in venture capital are indeed men,” Marcus said.

Marcus is confident that time will change this current reality. “Just like companies of all kinds, venture capitalists are coming to recognize that building a strong, diverse team is key to their success -- and grooming women for top positions in their firms is good and smart business,” she said.

It’s become even smarter for Internet firms to have women in top positions. A recent report by Nielson//Net Ratings in the US found women surpassed all other groups to become the most avid users of the Web at 50.6% and NetSmartAmerica.com in New York predicted this number will jump to 60% by 2003.

A sign that companies are paying attention to the discrepancies in their firms, Marcus said she’s been approached through HighTech Women by a number of firms that want to redress the imbalance in their organizations. “We’ve had some success with placing our graduate student members in venture capital firms and banks for both internships and jobs, and we look forward to being able to do more of this in the future,” she said.

New or Old?

Though some like to draw distinctions between opportunities for women in the new and old economies, Marcus sees this as a false line. Instead, her view is that there are more opportunities for women in what’s been termed the new economy simply because more women are involved in these kinds of businesses now. Fewer young women -- and men too -- are interested in going into the traditional banking and manufacturing sectors.

“As the lines become blurred between what is referred to as the new economy and the old economy, and the older more traditional firms begin to incorporate and partner with some of the new firms, I think we’ll see a faster pace of change in the advancement of women in the traditional sectors. I’ve met some truly extraordinary women who are just coming out of school and I am very hopeful for the future of both those companies in the old and new economies,” Marcus said.

The Heart of the Matter

Since most new ventures getting funding these days have some technology bent, it is to women’s disadvantage that they are not graduating higher numbers in math and computer science. Women do, however, graduate high numbers in medicine and law. Psychologists have attributed this to the idea that women like to participate in work that is service-oriented, so they don’t take the math and computer science courses because they don’t see any way that they can apply these courses to helping people.

But Marcus believes that women must find ways in which they can help in the high-tech world. “Women have made some great strides,” she said, “There are more women in senior positions in tech and tech-related companies -- more than 200 of the 1,300-plus members of HighTech Women are director level and above.”

Also since MVC began, Marcus has seen an increase in the number of business plans submitted by women jump from 1% to 30%. She said most of the plans are for B2B or B2C companies, because “women know these areas. Now we need more diversity and more women in fields like engineering.”

Future Women

Although women are making progress in business, there’s still a long way to go. There needs to be advancement in other areas now, Marcus stressed. “We need to have more women speaking, writing and sitting on boards.”

Perhaps most surprisingly in 2001, women still don’t make the same wages as men for the same work, and often have to face social scrutiny about how they choose to raise their family, or even if they decide to have a family at all.

With the help of women like Lucy Marcus, females are slowly discovering the chance to prove themselves in the financial world. As the success of HighTech Women shows, women are looking for a place where they can come together, do business and learn new skills. And most importantly, Marcus said, “take their work seriously but not take themselves too seriously.”

Lucy Marcus holds a B.A. from Wellesley College (Wellesley, Massachusetts), and an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, England). She sits on the board of University of Cambridge's business school, the Judge Institute of Management Studies. Lucy is a regular speaker on technology, investment and entrepreneurialism in Europe, Israel and the US and has been a contributor to several high-tech publications and programs.