The Definitive Guide to Investing in Black Founders

The meeting is only one piece of the puzzle. Learn how to find more black founders and how to build a relationship that will get you in their round.

Four black founders with exceptional companies who are currently raising.

In the midst of a pandemic, I don’t think we ever expected to see one of the most energized social justice movements in the past few decades. Emboldened by the movement, many are engaging in more frank discussions about the role race plays when it comes to funding opportunities for early stage tech companies. As a result, a group historically dominated by white men has shown increased interest in finding and funding Black founders. While the energy is appreciated, there are unknown and unsaid nuances that will actually challenge most VCs in actually getting into a deal with a Black founder. Taking a meeting is one very small step in the process.

There is more to getting behind us than just making a passionate blog post to influence others or taking intros to us for meetings. In order for this new energy to birth change in Silicon Valley and beyond, it’s important to break down the core challenges that ultimately set the stage for why Black founders receive <1% of venture capital. Of course we can touch on unconscious bias as a portion of the challenge but let’s dive deeper than that to help you gain access to new amazing opportunities.

There is a story behind why you find yourself passing on the few, if any, Black founder deals that come across the table (assuming you’re a VC who hasn’t funded many people of color). These are the four key things you need to understand in order to get into a deal with a talented Black founder, and maintain a positive working relationship that can take you and them to a successful outcome.

TL;DR

• The Four Key Challenges You Need to Overcome
  1. We Solve Different Problems and Have Different Solutions
  2. Different Surroundings, Different Resources
  3. Different Culture, Different Communication
  4. The Continuous Threat of Unconscious Bias
• The Reasons Why You Should Invest Black
• Guide to Sourcing Black Founders

IMPORTANT : These are high level concepts. Know that Black people are not a monolith, there is no universal…