O’Leary said that those entrepreneurs who can persuade investors to pony up have three attributes: First, they have to be able to articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds. Second, they have to be able to persuade investors they are the right person to execute the business plan. Finally, they know their numbers and have a “comprehensive understanding” of how to execute their business plan.

But the highlight of O’Leary’s presentation was his list of the common attributes of female entrepreneurs who thrive after they raise capital. Nothing renders these traits exclusive to any single gender, but they include:

1. Successful women realize that employees are valuable assets, not friends or family members. The big challenge arises when they are the same person. Women have “more guts to fire them,” even family members.

2. Maintaining a clear line of command and setting reachable goals is critical, O’Leary said. Females tend to set achievable goals that are easy to make and build upon. Men often establish “stratospheric goals no one could make.” The upshot is broken morale.

3. The best executives are accessible. O’Leary cited the case of one female entrepreneur who gave her cell phone number to all 800 employees and said they should call her when they need to. “The phone never rings, but it creates respect,” he explained.

4. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Constant meddling can be counterproductive. “Set a goal and let them do it and get out of the way.” 

5. Do not procrastinate. A start-up business can lose precious time against rivals if, when it faces a major decision at a fork in the road, its executives deliberate too long before deciding on a course of action. “When it’s time to sever relationships, men wait too long,” O’Leary noted. “Women don’t wait to pull the trigger.” Another benefit of quick decision-making that he didn’t mention is that the sooner a bad decision is made, the faster the feedback so that the business can re-evaluate its strategy.

6. Successful female entrepreneurs tend to have superlative time-management skills. Time is a precious commodity in any business activity, and once a new business gets behind the curve and the competition, catching up can be costly and challenging.

7. Make service trump price. This is an area where O’Leary found that female-run businesses excel. All the women-led businesses in his portfolio ranked in the top quartile in customer service. Among other things, that requires having excellent technology. Businesses with outstanding service build great customer loyalty, he noted. After that is established, then you can always raise prices 15%.