middleOutVC. You raise a very good point. People who claim tech is a meritocracy are just as wrong as those who say it’s all brogrammers. FWIW here is what we are trying to do about it:

When I first started working on early stage investments, I noticed that a lot of people who pitched me were female, black, and different in other ways from “traditional” founders.

I concluded that there is a chance for entrepreneurship to be democratized. The fact that the capital requirements to try an idea are lower than they once were means that that the relative importance of capital is lower as well. The high priests of VC are having less and less of a role in “deciding” who is a founder vs not. Founders can raise their hands easier, no matter who they are, what they look like, and where they are from. They can try their ideas with fewer barriers to entry and can *prove* they are right sooner and at lower cost.

We have tried to be ahead of this in the makeup of FLOODGATE and the people we back because we want to jump in front of this trend. Ann Miura-Ko and Iris Choi were my first two partners. We have backed 5 black CEOs. More than 20% of CEOs who pitch us are women. Ann’s first ever investment was Leah Busque of TaskRabbit.

When Twitch.tv was acquired for $970M by Amazon, the exit was great but it was a THRILL that Michael Seibel, who is black, was one of the founders. Ralph Garvin Jr. is also crushing it as CEO of Dispatchr.io and that is also a source of great joy which I hope continues. Tristan Walker of Walker Brands rocks as well.

I say this not to make excuses or to pat ourselves on the back. That’s not the point at all. I don’t even pretend that the world is 100% a meritocracy. We are not done…we will never be done. But if it is even slightly encouraging to you I want you to know that the arc is changing. It bends not as fast as we would like but it is changing. If we can continue to WIN together…founders and investors alike…we will all create the change together by creating the template for what people MUST do to succeed. We aren’t there yet but we are beginning to find the answers.

I believe that in our lifetime we will see a $100B exit from a black founder and from a woman founder as well. It won’t be soon enough as far as I’m concerned, but the stage is being set — albeit not quickly enough — for it to happen.

Take care and good luck.