Show notes
Only 2% of VC funding reaches female founders. Nithya Ruff argues the problem doesn’t start at the pitch table. It starts with how girls are raised and who gets to make investment decisions.In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, host Dirkjan Hupkes talks with Nithya Ruff, former Head of Open Source at Amazon, chair of the Linux Foundation board, and LP in funds focused on South Asian women and diverse founders.We cover why VC funding for female founders remains structurally stuck at 2%, what her father’s advice about financial independence built over time, and how AI and open source are changing who gets to build technology.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, women entrepreneurs, and early-stage investors who want to understand why the funding gap persists and what structural change, not individual mindset shifts, can actually move it.What you’ll learn in this episodeWhy the VC funding gap is an investor pipeline problem, not a founder pipeline problem, and what that distinction means for changeHow financial independence, instilled early, shapes confidence and career trajectory for women in techWhy women now lead the Python, Rust, Apache, and Linux foundations, while the coding side of open source remains male-dominatedWhat AI is doing to the “priesthood of software development” and why it matters for non-technical foundersWhy women enter entrepreneurship later than men, and what corporate culture has to do with itWhat early-stage founders consistently underestimate beyond the go-to-market strategyWhy building a peer support community is as important as building the product itselfChapters00:00 Introduction02:43 Nithya’s Journey to the US11:17 The Influence of Family on Confidence18:06 Navigating Cultural Differences in Parenting27:24 Challenging Gender Norms in Family Dynamics27:40 The Funding Gap for Female Founders33:00 The Need for More Female Investors36:31 Empowering Women in Investment41:53 The Startup Path for Women47:04 Integrating Work and Life in Startups50:16 The Open Source Model and Its Impact56:35 AI: A Tool for Empowerment1:01:57 Building Community and Support Systems1:06:38 Underestimating the Go-to-Market Strategy1:11:58 Governance and Flexibility in Startups1:18:19 The Balance of AI and Human ConnectionShow notes and SubstackShow notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/07/09/episode-160/Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-160?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueConnect with Nithya RuffLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nithyaruffSubstack: https://substack.com/@nithyaruff779075Connect with Dirkjan HupkesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirkjan-hupkes/About Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow to get it in your feed.
