For fund manager Katie Potts, setting mandatory quotas for women on corporate boards of technology startups is a bad idea. Not because she’s against diversity, but because she says there just aren’t enough suitable candidates.
“There are simply not enough experienced women in the sector and of suitable caliber to fill a third of board posts” in the smaller tech company space, the founder of U.K.-based Herald Investment Trust Plc said in the company’s annual financial report Tuesday. Many startups also struggle to compete for talent against bigger companies like Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc, she said.
Small software and tech companies make up a bulk of Herald’s holdings, and her funds will be “pragmatic” when voting on mandatory quotas and “overly burdensome” regulations, Potts said, citing “instances of unsuitable candidates being appointed and doing real damage.”
