Welcome to the fight.

Let's get to work!

I’ve spent my entire life breaking into rooms that weren’t built for me. First as a musician. Then as a startup lawyer. Now as the person rewriting the rules of business for women founders.

If you’re here, you already know the numbers. Only 2% of all venture capital dollars went to female-founded startups last year. The entire funding system is built to exclude half of the talent. That’s not a fluke. That’s the natural result of a club that never considered us.

But here’s what the data doesn’t capture.

Women aren’t waiting around to be chosen anymore. We’re building, we’re scaling, we’re closing deals on our own terms. And I’m here to make sure you never leave a dollar, a term, or a seat at the table.

Who I Am

I’m Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal. A lawyer, a founder, an investor, and a woman who has spent more than 15 years helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas into market-shaking ventures.

I founded Esse Law in 2007 with a simple idea: the legal system should work as hard as the founders building the next generation of innovation. Too often, women enter these negotiations underrepresented, underestimated, and under-informed. I don’t let that happen.

I’ve guided startups from inception to exit, negotiated the kind of deals that change careers, and built a law firm that works inside the system while actively dismantling the bullshit that keeps women out.

What You’ll Get Here

This space is about radical transparency. I don’t believe in gatekeeping information, and I don’t believe founders should have to piece together how to raise capital, structure deals, or scale their companies from scraps of outdated advice.

Here’s what you can expect from me:

💥 Hard truths about venture capital. What investors aren’t telling you, and how to navigate the system without selling your soul—or your company.

💥 A breakdown of the deals, trends, and moves that matter. I’ll analyze term sheets, unpack what’s happening in critical industries like biotech and femtech, and expose the patterns keeping women out of major funding rounds.

💥 Legal talk that’s real. No jargon, no fluff, just straight-up insights on how to protect your business, your equity, and your control.

💥 Stories from the frontlines. The wins, the lessons, the ones who paved the way, and the ones who are building right now. Because knowing you’re not alone in this fight changes everything.

What This Is Not

I’m not here to sugarcoat things. The system is deeply flawed. It’s infuriating. And it’s not going to fix itself.

If you’re looking for feel-good advice about working twice as hard to get half as far, this is not that space.

If you’re ready to get smarter, tougher, and more strategic about how you build, protect, and scale your business, you’re exactly where you need to be.

Thank You for Being Here

The fact that you’re reading this means you already know the stakes. And more importantly, you’re ready to do something about it.

We’re not waiting anymore. We’re making the rules. We’re taking the money. And we’re building the kind of businesses that change the world.

Welcome to the fight. Let’s get to work.