3 ms·

The author of this article cites as evidence of racism higher response to her husband's solicitations of VCs than her own. However, comparing their resumés, it

The author of this article cites as evidence of racism higher response to her husband's solicitations of VCs than her own. However, comparing their resumés, its pretty easy to see that this is unlikely to be attributable to racism. Husband has founded multiple start-ups that were acquired, is technical, and worked at Google and YouTube. Meanwhile, the author has personal trainer and gym owner as experience.

dhosek 6y ago
The VCs said that they want to fund more black-founded startups. But, if we assume you are correct about why they responded to the queries from the husband's e-mail, that means that they'll consider a proposal from someone with startup experience while rejecting that same proposal from someone without startup experience. Which, given that they've not been funding black people, means they're going to continue not funding black people, which means that their claim to want to fund more black-founded startups is just words and not actions.
adam 6y ago
I think the larger point the author was trying to make was don't give lip service to specifically going out of your way to try and help Black founders if you're still going to use the exact same credentialing signals you always do: track record where someone has worked, name brand of their school, etc. One might argue that without the special consideration these VC's rushed to say they would give, how would someone like the author ever have an established track record of starting/selling their businesses in the first place? I'm frankly still expecting VC's to make decisions on what they think is going to be most profitable for them, full-stop. But plenty of other firms like large consulting firms, do set aside people and resources to work with non-profits for example. Why couldn't VC's do the same to try and level the playing field and eliminate some of these inherent advantages the well connected/well credentialed have? A "no" is potentially fine, but how you deliver that "no" can make all the difference.
- racl101 6y ago
  > I think the larger point the author was trying to make was don't give lip service to specifically going out of your way to try and help Black founders if you're still going to use the exact same credentialing signals you always do: track record where someone has worked, name brand of their school, etc. I think that's the mistake all these companies are making. They need to make it clear if it's their intent to help black founders, provided, all other things are equal / held constant. That is if two people have the same or similar background and qualifications but they just happened to be different race then to not always pick the white guy cause, hey, we look alike or belonged to the same frat. It should leave no room for interpretation as: "hey, you're black, let me throw some money at you cause you happen to be black."
- digitaltrees 6y ago
  Yes. Exactly this. If a VC is going to use the same filters for inbound deals. The same networks to connect to founders, the same metrics and stats. Then all their rhetoric is BS.
  - callalex 6y ago
    Are you arguing for equality, or affirmative action? (I am not going to take a stance on which one is the right choice, but I do think you are conflating the two.)
zentiggr 6y ago
And VCs who stated in public that they were open to changing their criteria and actually helping that less experienced founder flat out didn't live up to the words they said in public. That's what she called out very specifically.

dhosek 6y ago

The VCs said that they want to fund more black-founded startups. But, if we assume you are correct about why they responded to the queries from the husband's e-mail, that means that they'll consider a proposal from someone with startup experience while rejecting that same proposal from someone without startup experience. Which, given that they've not been funding black people, means they're going to continue not funding black people, which means that their claim to want to fund more black-founded startups is just words and not actions.

adam 6y ago

I think the larger point the author was trying to make was don't give lip service to specifically going out of your way to try and help Black founders if you're still going to use the exact same credentialing signals you always do: track record where someone has worked, name brand of their school, etc. One might argue that without the special consideration these VC's rushed to say they would give, how would someone like the author ever have an established track record of starting/selling their businesses in the first place? I'm frankly still expecting VC's to make decisions on what they think is going to be most profitable for them, full-stop. But plenty of other firms like large consulting firms, do set aside people and resources to work with non-profits for example. Why couldn't VC's do the same to try and level the playing field and eliminate some of these inherent advantages the well connected/well credentialed have? A "no" is potentially fine, but how you deliver that "no" can make all the difference.

racl101 6y ago
> I think the larger point the author was trying to make was don't give lip service to specifically going out of your way to try and help Black founders if you're still going to use the exact same credentialing signals you always do: track record where someone has worked, name brand of their school, etc. I think that's the mistake all these companies are making. They need to make it clear if it's their intent to help black founders, provided, all other things are equal / held constant. That is if two people have the same or similar background and qualifications but they just happened to be different race then to not always pick the white guy cause, hey, we look alike or belonged to the same frat. It should leave no room for interpretation as: "hey, you're black, let me throw some money at you cause you happen to be black."
digitaltrees 6y ago
Yes. Exactly this. If a VC is going to use the same filters for inbound deals. The same networks to connect to founders, the same metrics and stats. Then all their rhetoric is BS.
- callalex 6y ago
  Are you arguing for equality, or affirmative action? (I am not going to take a stance on which one is the right choice, but I do think you are conflating the two.)

zentiggr 6y ago

And VCs who stated in public that they were open to changing their criteria and actually helping that less experienced founder flat out didn't live up to the words they said in public. That's what she called out very specifically.