PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

annexrichmond wrote: post #4

> Women account for 50 percent of the company’s engineering leadership team Surely this isn't some coincidence. How does one achieve this without some degree of sexism?

Seriously? I’m sure you’re first to comment about the inherent sexism in 90% male engineering leadership teams.

Companies that focus on seeking out qualified talent from underrepresented groups have a competitive advantage, by exploiting the inherent prejudice in their competitors to access an undervalued talent pool. This in turn attracts even overrepresented talent that is motivated to work for teams with these principles.

Re: PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

#6

Post by maybeiambatman » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 4:25 AM UTC

annexrichmond wrote: post #4

> Women account for 50 percent of the company’s engineering leadership team Surely this isn't some coincidence. How does one achieve this without some degree of sexism?

You don't have to be sexist to attract women in leadership. Women engineers aren't rare by absolute numbers, but rare as a % portion of total engineering leaders.

If they promise and deliver on a culture where women in leadership can thrive and attempt to recruit smart women, then more women will join. Success breeds success.

Re: PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

#7

Post by annexrichmond » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 4:27 AM UTC

abalone wrote: post #5

annexrichmond wrote: post #4

> Women account for 50 percent of the company’s engineering leadership team Surely this isn't some coincidence. How does one achieve this without some degree of sexism?

Seriously? I’m sure you’re first to comment about the inherent sexism in 90% male engineering leadership teams. Companies that focus on seeking out qualified talent from underrepresented groups have a competitive advantage, by exploiting the inherent prejudice in their competitors to access an undervalued talent pool. This in turn attracts even overrepresented talent that is motivated to work for teams with these pri…

No, I'm just not one to declare inherent sexism if it's less than 50%

Re: PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

#8

Post by CryoLogic » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 4:31 AM UTC

abalone wrote: post #5

annexrichmond wrote: post #4

> Women account for 50 percent of the company’s engineering leadership team Surely this isn't some coincidence. How does one achieve this without some degree of sexism?

Seriously? I’m sure you’re first to comment about the inherent sexism in 90% male engineering leadership teams. Companies that focus on seeking out qualified talent from underrepresented groups have a competitive advantage, by exploiting the inherent prejudice in their competitors to access an undervalued talent pool. This in turn attracts even overrepresented talent that is motivated to work for teams with these pri…

He has a point if just by the math. I get it you want to support women, but many companies do discriminate against perfectly qualified men in order to get that. There is a far smaller supply of qualified women in engineering and engineering leadership right now.

I've been on a team before where one member was adamant about throwing out resumes from white men for the sake of diversity. I know it happens.

So yes, the company probably did partake in sexism and discrimination to get there. Otherwise they are very lucky and a statistical outlier when it comes to qualified female applicants applying.

Re: PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

#9

Post by annexrichmond » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 4:33 AM UTC

maybeiambatman wrote: post #6

annexrichmond wrote: post #4

> Women account for 50 percent of the company’s engineering leadership team Surely this isn't some coincidence. How does one achieve this without some degree of sexism?

You don't have to be sexist to attract women in leadership. Women engineers aren't rare by absolute numbers, but rare as a % portion of total engineering leaders. If they promise and deliver on a culture where women in leadership can thrive and attempt to recruit smart women, then more women will join. Success breeds success.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Having trouble reconciling it with my reasoning though, which is: if some group of people are overrepresented in some category, it is less likely to be a coincidence; i.e., I doubt it's because the people there are just less sexist than everyone else

Re: PagerDuty (YC S10) now at $100M in ARR

#10

Post by abalone » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 4:37 AM UTC

annexrichmond wrote: post #7

abalone wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? I’m sure you’re first to comment about the inherent sexism in 90% male engineering leadership teams. Companies that focus on seeking out qualified talent from underrepresented groups have a competitive advantage, by exploiting the inherent prejudice in their competitors to access an undervalued talent pool. This in turn attracts even overrepresented talent that is motivated to work for teams with these pri…

No, I'm just not one to declare inherent sexism if it's less than 50%

But you do if it’s 50%, the actual population distribution.

Yeah, not a sexist standard at all.