Empowering Women & Underrepresented Groups Through Entrepreneurship

Betsy Fore, Co-Founder of Natives Rising and Tiny Organics and Investor at XFactor Ventures and LongJump, talked to an All Raise audience about being a Native American, female founder, the importance of resilience, and how she made the jump to investor.

“I am what my ancestors prayed for,” Betsy Fore told an All Raise audience after she was asked by CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner about her experience being the first Native American founder to raise a Series A, “so I’m determined to honor them in my actions. It’s a big responsibility and a driving purpose in my life.”

Betsy’s identity as a Native American isn’t the only one that has influenced her career as a founder and investor: she’s also a proud female founder and investor acutely aware that women and minorities are underrepresented in venture capital. “Only about 1.4% of the total share of assets under management are managed by firms owned by women and minorities in the US, so even though we represent 40% of the population, just 1% of the $70 trillion wealth management industry is controlled by women and minority fund managers,” Betsy noted, adding that this “often directly impacts the number of dollars invested in female and underrepresented founders. This is why I broke into VC: to be that change that I want to see.”

Betsy’s desire to create change starts with her community and family. As a founder, she said, she focused on “elevating the whole ecosystem” and building companies that impact those closest to her. “I need that food for my son? Okay, I will make it myself and turn it into a business. I need my dog to lose weight to extend his life — I’m going to build the company that does that,” she explained of her two previous ventures, Tiny Organics and WonderWoof.

“We cannot separate healing people and planet from capital investments.”

Now, as an investor and venture capitalist, her priorities intentionally focus on supporting underrepresented founders. First, she left Tiny Organics to start the non-profit accelerator Natives Rising for Indigenous founders and operators in tech. “I feel that now that I’m at the table, I need to extend it.” Betsy is building a network of Indigenous founders who have raised or achieved more than one million in revenue for their companies to mentor and give grants to the next generation of Native founders. “I feel I’m living my legacy work. I think so much of the driving force in my life and how I’ve built every company is family.” This isn’t just her own family, although Betsy has said before that her two sons, Sebi and Azi, are her greatest accomplishment; rather, it’s the idea of family and all of the broad definitions it contains. Central to the family narrative, especially in Betsy’s own community, is the role of women.

“One of my dear mentors and elders, Valerie Red-Horse Mohl of Known Holdings, said it really well,” Betsy shared. “Native women can and will claim their rightful place on Wall Street (most recently in Hollywood) and everywhere else as life-givers and wisdom-keepers. I think when we diversify the funding landscape, that’s when we diversify the founders who are creating generational wealth for their families and beyond.”

Betsy is working to expand the pool of funders and founders daily. After starting Natives Rising, Betsy joined not one but two other funds to help her achieve her goal of driving capital to — and opportunities for — underrepresented populations. Betsy explained that the first of those funds, XFactor Ventures, is one of the “biggest check writers in female-led seed rounds. We’ve seen over 10% of every female-led round in the nation and funded over 3% of those. We’re currently on our third fund, with 23 partners, all with different verticals and expertise. What’s so incredible about XFactor is we’re all series A and beyond founders ourselves, so we’ve been in those same trenches.”

The second fund is LongJump, a founder-led firm that Betsy joined when she moved to Chicago. “What’s so cool about LongJump is we’re actually a first check investor,” she explained. “So I would say a majority of deals I’ve done, I’m literally the first $100K the founders receive.” Included amongst these founders to receive a check from Betsy and LongJump was a former colleague at Tiny Organics. “It was so amazing. I think one of the greatest joys of being a founder is seeing your team become founders. For me, it’s full circle.”

And all that has paved the way for what Betsy is planning next: a fund of her own, Velveteen Ventures, which will launch in 2024. “We’re investing in children and planet for the next seven generations. So much of my career has focused on children and those who do not have a voice.” Betsy’s partner at Velveteen is Karla Brollier, who currently leads the Patagonia Home Planet Fund. “We are an unstoppable duo.. I’m very excited that this fund will be the next phase in the journey of my legacy work.”

In addition to all of this, Betsy is also writing a book. Betsy shared that for the past two years, she’s been working on a manuscript that links her success and the success of others she’s supported with specific mindset and energy work through her method, Come What MAE (manifesting mindset, affirming actions, and energetic ethos). “It’s impact and spirituality meet the business of being a founder,” she explained. “Michael Acton Smith from Calm is collaborating with me on this because what he did for meditation is what I hope to do for manifestation — bring it to the masses. Anyone can tap into manifestation.” In the book, Betsy added, “You’ll hear from some of the greatest founders and star investors who are moving capital towards this new business model” — that is, a model that centers the Come What MAE values within a business — “and I believe it is the future.”

You can see our full Power Conversation with Betsy Fore here.

Notable moments include:

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:40 What made you turn to entrepreneurship?
• 2:05 During your journey, did you have any moments of failure? How did you get through them?
• 3:10 What are the top trends you observed during your founder journey that helped you?
• 5:14 Which trends slowed down or hindered your personal founder journey?
• 6:29 What does it mean to you to hold the honor of being the first Native American to raise a series A?
• 8:22 Why did you decide on a path as an investor?
• 9:46 Which funds are you part of, and what is the thesis of each fund?
• 13:29 How does it feel to talk about this in public after spending so much effort to create more access for underrepresented founders?
• 14:31 What does the term “waterways of access” mean to you?
• 15:13 How do you consider investments and whether or not they align with your thesis?
• 16:32 As an investor, what do you want to see from founders as you’re deciding if you want to partner with them?
• 18:54 Are there any common traits you notice across special founders?
• 20:27 What is the top lesson you want to share with founders today?
• 22:33 What knowledge from your founder journey do you now call on as an investor?
• 24:52 What tips do you have for founders to lead with joy?
• 27:55 I’m currently funding my pre-seed round. What’s the best way to contact you and send over my deck?
• 28:48 Is there a resource or directory of investors who have a history/intent of funding women?
• 29:49 What are some other organizations that you like to collaborate with?
• 33:10 How have all of your past positions and roles prepared you for your current one?
• 36:04 How do you decide which ideas to pursue? Do you have any checklists or criteria you use when you decide to write a book, start a firm, etc.?
• 38:09 How do you know when to let something go vs. when to stick it out even though it’s really tough?
• 40:49 For folks who are early in their careers or new to investing, can you talk about tips on building a network and reputation?
• 43:54 How can investors make smart decisions that don’t rely simply on feelings, which can often be biased?
• 48:54 What’s your final piece of advice for the audience?
• 49:21 How can All Raise support you on your journey?