Can You Be Too Pretty for Silicon Valley?

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According to SF blogger and writer Michelle Miller, to succeed in SF's startup culture, it's best to be a "Seven out of 10." She tells Elle magazine:

You need to be just attractive enough to be noticed, and you need to be not so attractive that you're discounted or that you make people uncomfortable. And the real discrimination that I see is against really attractive women who literally aren't hired because they make men uncomfortable, and really unattractive women, or not-cute-enough women, who are just ignored.

And at least one Silicon Valley startup founder agrees. Lona Duncan, a model and founder of StyleLend, tells the SF Chronicle that she has experienced discrimination as a business woman. But her fashion startup (which lends out designer dresses from private closets) is gaining ground and is up for a round of investment at Y-Combinator today. Fingers crossed her good looks won't scare away the funds.
· Introducing Gossip Girl for the Silicon Valley Crowd [Elle]
· StyleLend's founder trades high-fashion glamour for startup [San Francisco Chronicle]
· Is San Francisco the Most Fashion-Crazed City in America? [Racked SF]