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More likely what is happening in the investment part of this is something similar to what's happening in the other components of the announcements. Which is inv
by runako 6y ago
More likely what is happening in the investment part of this is something similar to what's happening in the other components of the announcements. Which is investing in geographic areas that typically are not places where white people typically frequent (and which often get shut out of other investment opportunities). Edit: to expand on this a little: if you solicit investment proposals only from businesses headquartered in downtown Detroit, you will get a different makeup of founders than if you only solicit from those within an hour drive of e.g. Sand Hill Road. This is legal.
Investing in HBCUs isn't racial discrimination because any student is welcome there. And obviously anyone can go to the Developer Academy in downtown Detroit, but Detroit is obviously an intentional choice.
And choosing to invest in "companies with diverse founders" would seem to be more defensible than what the Northern California VCs typically do. Read it as "invest in Black and brown companies also" as opposed to the prevailing standard of "invest in Black and brown companies rarely."
- Grustaf 6y agoSure, that makes sense. Investing in companies based in predominantly black neighborhoods is easy to see that it’s legal. But then announcing you’ll invest in “black businesses” seems questionable. But to your last point, there is no “prevailing standard” to “invest rarely” in black businesses. At least I don’t think many VCs have that as an explicit policy.
- runako 6y ago> But then announcing you’ll invest in “black businesses” seems questionable. Again, read it as investing in "Black businesses also". That's what makes it different than mainstream investing, which invests in "Black businesses rarely, if ever." (And controversial! See other comments here.) > I don’t think many VCs have that as an explicit policy. Search for VCs explicitly saying they look for entrepreneurs who "pattern match" or "look like Mark Zuckerberg" etc. They are as explicit as possible without breaking the law. Regardless of intent, even accidental disparities create gaps that bring opportunities.
- Grustaf 6y agoI don’t think they mean that they’re looking for Jewish founders, they are more likely referring to Zuckerberg’s determination and ruthlessness. VCs looking for that would most likely be happy to invest in founders of any colour that match his personality.
- runako 6y ago> VCs looking for that would most likely be happy to invest in founders of any colour that match his personality. Track records say otherwise. And again, there is plenty on the record indicating that what they mean is exactly what it sounds like: they are looking for a close match for Zuckerberg on every axis. Sure, personality, but also traits like age, pedigree, and phenotype. All available in Google if you're curious.
- Grustaf 6y agoWhy on earth would they prefer people with a specific phenotype? Do you have basis for that assertion at all?
- runako 6y agoYou would have to ask them. I have said repeatedly that this is well-documented over time and on the record. It's actually pretty basic search engine usage given that I cited some specific phrases to search for. The other basis is expressed in the companies in which they choose to invest.