Revisiting the Role of Gender and Beauty in Entrepreneurship: A Large-Scale Conceptual Replication

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice · 2026 · Volume 50 · Issue 2

Abstract

Some research has suggested that investors prefer pitches made by men rather than women entrepreneurs, and physically attractive men entrepreneurs are even more successful than their physically unattractive counterparts. However, empirical evidence remains limited. We re-examine these findings using a large archival dataset with 9,285 entrepreneurs across 13 industries and 105 countries between the years of 2014 to 2018. Our results replicate the female penalty effect—women raised 12.9% less funds compared to men. However, we found that the physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs has a negative main effect on startups’ success, and that this effect is only significant for men entrepreneurs.

Keywords

entrepreneurs, fundraising, gender, physical attractiveness

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