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For better or for worse, VCs need heuristics to filter the likelihood of you pulling off what you're claiming you can, and prestige and depth of education is on

For better or for worse, VCs need heuristics to filter the likelihood of you pulling off what you're claiming you can, and prestige and depth of education is one of those factors, as well as employment history which also selects on those education factors. An associates from a community college isn't going to get you a meeting with a VC, nor is it going to get you past the resume screen at google to run around the education filter. This is also able to be circumvented by network, which is very easy to do if you are already at a high end university which will hold your hand grooming you for meetings with VCs they introduced you to, or where you can at least just ask your friend from college for an intro.

blacktonystark 7y ago
So, to put simply, VCs are only interested in those who already are full of multi-generational advantages and privileges built off the poor. No wonder startups are bascially for white guys only.
- SeanAppleby 7y ago
  They're interested in making money, not providing a social service. There's certainly a problem there, but it's not the VCs' responsibility. You are more likely to succeed in your business if you have the experience of building scalable systems, like at google, and if you have a similar friend group to recruit talent from, which is extremely hard at an early startup unless you already know the kinds of people you disproportionately meet at top universities and tech companies, and if you have family/friends that can help you out while you're struggling at the beginning of the startup, etc. You are less likely to succeed if you have the financial encumberances that are common outside of the upper middle class, or if you have an unstable family structure that leans weight on you, if you don't have a safety net to lean on to get you through rough periods without personal income, and if you don't have the kind of network that a top school, top company, or connected family brings. I came from a working class background, taught myself how to build products, made my own connections and raised some money for a startup and had to leave and return the money because there was a nonzero chance I'd have to adopt my nephew to keep him from the foster system, and couldn't possibly do that with the hours and volatility of that game. It is perfectly logical to avoid startups that have those kinds of additional risks when the game is already risky. We absolutely should try to assuage those biases to improve economic mobility, but the answer isn't just to yell at VCs for trying to make money.
  - crankylinuxuser 7y ago
    Venture capitalists are only a thing because they siphon off the working class via the exfiltration of surplus. And then they have the gall to demand percentage ownership for that money they "invest". Because they worked hard (stealing from workers) for 'their' money. My opinion is their money is tainted from the get-go. It amounts to theft from the very people whom made the things.
    - acct1771 7y ago
      The people creating the things should be organizing projects for themselves more often.
  - blacktonystark 7y ago
    Those financial encumbrances exist due to VCs taking a larger share of the pie than their efforts are worth, and we can't look at their bank balances now and ignore all context as to how that money got there in the first place.
  - bumby 7y ago
    > it's not the VCs' responsibility You make some valid points, but I really dislike the above comment. When used it seems like a convenient way to diffuse responsibility, often to selfish ends. There's lots of examples where this type of single-minded attitude isn't acceptable. - A civil engineer cannot just have making money be the sole pursuit when designing or building a bridge - A doctor cannot just have making money be the only goal when treating a patient - A government worker cannot be only concerned on how to maximize their individual gains when awarding contracts - A financial adviser is expected to act in their client's best interest, rather than their own We're used to expecting certain levels of ethical behavior from some professions acting within a larger societal framework. I don't know why investing is so often left off the hook in this regard. Maybe it's naive, but I think we'd be better of if people told themselves it WAS their responsibility when making these decisions.
    - lotsofpulp 7y ago
- joyeuse6701 7y ago
  Lot's of people of color across the pond too, i.e. China.
Reedx 7y ago
You don't need a VC for most types of businesses. Especially not at the beginning. Furthermore, you can get VC meetings or a job at Google with no college. Many have done it. It's increasingly the case that employers care more about what you've done/built than what college you went to - or indeed if you went at all.
- SeanAppleby 7y ago
  Yes, I actually have gotten VC meetings and work at Google without a compsci degree. I said one of the factors, like that it is a big difference in likelihood of getting past filters, not that it's impossible. It's a statistical effect.

blacktonystark 7y ago

So, to put simply, VCs are only interested in those who already are full of multi-generational advantages and privileges built off the poor. No wonder startups are bascially for white guys only.

SeanAppleby 7y ago
They're interested in making money, not providing a social service. There's certainly a problem there, but it's not the VCs' responsibility. You are more likely to succeed in your business if you have the experience of building scalable systems, like at google, and if you have a similar friend group to recruit talent from, which is extremely hard at an early startup unless you already know the kinds of people you disproportionately meet at top universities and tech companies, and if you have family/friends that can help you out while you're struggling at the beginning of the startup, etc. You are less likely to succeed if you have the financial encumberances that are common outside of the upper middle class, or if you have an unstable family structure that leans weight on you, if you don't have a safety net to lean on to get you through rough periods without personal income, and if you don't have the kind of network that a top school, top company, or connected family brings. I came from a working class background, taught myself how to build products, made my own connections and raised some money for a startup and had to leave and return the money because there was a nonzero chance I'd have to adopt my nephew to keep him from the foster system, and couldn't possibly do that with the hours and volatility of that game. It is perfectly logical to avoid startups that have those kinds of additional risks when the game is already risky. We absolutely should try to assuage those biases to improve economic mobility, but the answer isn't just to yell at VCs for trying to make money.
- crankylinuxuser 7y ago
  Venture capitalists are only a thing because they siphon off the working class via the exfiltration of surplus. And then they have the gall to demand percentage ownership for that money they "invest". Because they worked hard (stealing from workers) for 'their' money. My opinion is their money is tainted from the get-go. It amounts to theft from the very people whom made the things.
  - acct1771 7y ago
    The people creating the things should be organizing projects for themselves more often.
- blacktonystark 7y ago
  Those financial encumbrances exist due to VCs taking a larger share of the pie than their efforts are worth, and we can't look at their bank balances now and ignore all context as to how that money got there in the first place.
- bumby 7y ago
  > it's not the VCs' responsibility You make some valid points, but I really dislike the above comment. When used it seems like a convenient way to diffuse responsibility, often to selfish ends. There's lots of examples where this type of single-minded attitude isn't acceptable. - A civil engineer cannot just have making money be the sole pursuit when designing or building a bridge - A doctor cannot just have making money be the only goal when treating a patient - A government worker cannot be only concerned on how to maximize their individual gains when awarding contracts - A financial adviser is expected to act in their client's best interest, rather than their own We're used to expecting certain levels of ethical behavior from some professions acting within a larger societal framework. I don't know why investing is so often left off the hook in this regard. Maybe it's naive, but I think we'd be better of if people told themselves it WAS their responsibility when making these decisions.
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
joyeuse6701 7y ago
Lot's of people of color across the pond too, i.e. China.

Reedx 7y ago

You don't need a VC for most types of businesses. Especially not at the beginning. Furthermore, you can get VC meetings or a job at Google with no college. Many have done it. It's increasingly the case that employers care more about what you've done/built than what college you went to - or indeed if you went at all.

SeanAppleby 7y ago
Yes, I actually have gotten VC meetings and work at Google without a compsci degree. I said one of the factors, like that it is a big difference in likelihood of getting past filters, not that it's impossible. It's a statistical effect.