Heroines

The 2 percent problem: women founders and venture funding

Companies founded solely by women have taken around 2 percent of U.S. venture dollars for a decade, per PitchBook data — the number the industry reports on itself.

What pay-transparency laws changed in their first five years

The first promotion to manager, not the ceiling, decides who reaches CEO

New pipeline data shows where women leave the leadership track, and why that early gap outlasts a decade of promotions.

Why Mercury retrograde became astrology's favorite scapegoat

The phrase describes an optical illusion, not a disruption in the solar system. Here's the cultural history of how it became shorthand for a bad day, traced through named astrologers, historians, and one blunt astrophysicist.

Women-owned businesses closed the small-loan gap. Venture funding didn't.

Small-business lending data from 2024 and venture funding data from 2025 show the financing gap for women entrepreneurs closing on one track and staying concentrated on the other.

Peer support groups close part of the sponsorship gap for women, data shows

Entry-level women are sponsored at lower rates than men, and Lean In's own data on peer circles shows a real but unverified association with faster promotions and raises.