It's so important for Black and Brown founders
to just re-examine the way that we look at the VC space
because we don't know what we don't know.
There's some myths that need to be busted
so that we can get the confidence that we need
to reach the goals that we have.
(gentle music)
The first thing that I think
entrepreneurs should think about
or a myth that needs to be busted
is really recognizing that
VCs aren't doing us a favor, right?
We're the ones that are doing the work
to provide them outsized returns.
And I feel, many of us,
including myself early in my journey,
we view VCs as handing out to us,
giving us the smallest amount possible that we could raise.
And the venture process is significantly
more challenging, you know, when you have the mindset
of VCs doing you a favor.
It's counterproductive for a lot of founders of color
to be able to scale and grow.
If I'm gonna be the one doing the work
to build this company, to provide returns for these VCs -
you know, I look at them as partners,
you know, and as a partner in my business,
I want them to help me raise the funding that I need
to truly build the team and the processes necessary
to build a large and scalable business.
(gentle music)
Another misconception that many founders feel:
You've got to raise capital to get traction first.
I need money to build a product, to get sales,
to hire the team, to generate traction.
You don't have to do that.
Even before you raise capital,
it's so much easier to get VCs interested
in who you are and what you're building
if they see other people and entities
are also just as interested.
And that extra step really helps
one, de-risk your venture even more for a lot of VCs
because they now know that the founder is willing
to put in the work.
Even without capital,
you've been able to get people to be interested
in your product and service.
So, it makes it easier for the VCs to cut checks
because now you're building a solution for a customer base
or for interested parties that want your service.
One of the other myths that is actually not a myth,
it's completely true,
is when you go to VCs for investment, be ready for advice.
But if you go to VCs for advice,
it is likely you can find a way to get investment.
The same way you go to prospective customers
to get their feedback on how to develop
and build your product,
you going VCs for advice about the way you see the market
works in a very similar manner.
So, imagine you have a conversation
with a VC in January about this product
you're thinking about, talking about,
and you're having early conversations
with prospective customers, and 3 to 6 months later,
you now have letters of intent from those same customers
that the VC has now helped you, you know,
glean information on, you know,
to build your business and build your product.
They invest so that they can help.
(gentle music)
VCs are pretty important
for the Black tech ecosystem at large
because they're holding the checks.
VCs hold the keys to the kingdom,
a lot of amazing networks, a lot of amazing partnerships.
One of these days, I hope to be sitting
across the table, cutting bigger checks.
Right now, I'm an angel investor,
and I definitely have fun investing in other startups,
but I recognize that when you get to those larger stages,
the series A, series B, series Cs,
you see fewer and fewer people, you know, of color
and of diverse backgrounds, you know,
that you can have conversations with that might
understand the pain points
of our communities the way we do.
But imagine how much easier it gets
when you have VCs that have also lived
many of those same pain points
and recognize the opportunity that's available, you know,
to them from founders of color, you know,
that can really get out there and create solutions
in communities and industries
that they haven't even thought of.
(gentle music)