Diversity — Little Things That Make a Big Difference

This month, we unveiled Fiverr’s new branding campaign under the tagline ”In Doers We Trust.” Everyone at Fiverr is very proud of our ability to capture our essence in this campaign; one that promotes lean entrepreneurship and taking action, and doing so with our unique style and voice.

But on a personal level, I’m particularly proud of the brand anthem that was released as part of the campaign.

The video highlights entrepreneurs shaping their destiny with their own hands, and doing what it takes to make an impact. More than half the entrepreneurs featured in the video are women. You might think “OK, who cares? They’re clearly actors and it’s not a big deal.” But, I say, it’s little things like this that make a difference.

Morgan Freeman and Tom Lister, Jr. were black presidents on film (Deep Impact in 1998 and The Fifth Element in 1997) a decade before President Obama was elected president. Yes, they are actors, but films featuring black presidents featured people of color in positions many could not imagine them holding. Even though they were works of fiction, they helped all audiences consider the possibility of a black president (even subconsciously) by making it look more probable.

The same goes for women. Successful female entrepreneurs and executives, whether real or fictional, help young girls and women aspire to achieve similar success. Furthermore, these role models help male co-founders, investors, and employees believe in these women. The more a person sees women in successful roles, the more natural it seems.

In 2015, only 7 percent of venture dollars went to companies founded by women. And it’s not that women are not looking to start new businesses. 38 percent of new businesses in the U.S. are being started by women. In addition, according to Bloomberg, female-led startups received 77 cents for every 1 dollar of funding received by male-led startups. This gap is very similar to the Gender Pay Gap — women in America make 79 cents for every dollar men make. There are many ways to bridge that gap, but one way we shouldn’t ignore is correcting the perception that only young white men are most likely to be successful entrepreneurs.

In 2014, Cheryl Sandberg’s Lean-In organization teamed up with Getty Images to create a collection of stock photos, which present women in a more empowering way. As Cheryl Sandberg put it, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

Highlighting diversity and presenting women in more empowering and realistic ways is exactly what our video does. After all, once you see a woman go into a board room with a chainsaw disrupting the status quo, the next woman that walks into a pitch with a room full of male investors may not seem so out of the ordinary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t0UckyNTsQ&feature=youtu.be