Extant research suggests that entrepreneurial venture initiation and outcomes are greatly influenced by the identities which are salient to founders. However, the body of literature on Founder Identity Theory has drawn much of its empirical support from samples of primarily male founders and has not yet attended to the gendered context of founders’ identities. Given that women experience both entrepreneurship and identity distinctly, this paper further develops existing theory by exploring the nature of the identities of women venture founders. Extending and refining an existing typology of founder identity, my analysis reveals a novel, Individualist category of founder identity, focused on self expression and associated with limited customer orientation, lower venture financial viability, and lower venture survival. These findings call into question an underlying assumption of extant Founder Identity Theory - that founders universally orient toward market opportunities - and illuminate potential mechanisms driving women’s dampened entrepreneurial outcomes.