Actions you can take in the startup/tech world if you’re a….

Now is a time to be ambitious with the change you want to see. YSYS is providing our platform to enable your voice, your capital and your input to drive change so we are not having the same conversations one year, five years, 20 years from now.

In the startup and tech ecosystem we have the opportunity to shape businesses and cultures early-on to reflect societal changes, embed inclusive practices and to drive long-term change.

At YSYS we have created some actions that can be taken by various stakeholders across the ecosystem for positive change and better diversity and inclusion practices:

For VCs:

• Review your current methods of sourcing founders. We know networks are a key driver of the investment committee funnel.
  Collaborate and partner with community groups to host meetings with diverse talent and create pathways for founders to open doors.
• Be transparent and provide feedback: institutions can share their investment criteria with YSYS so we can curate introductions (i.e. meet relevant businesses for your fund); provide constructive feedback to founders you reject and/or or by host office hours for diverse founders.
• Build D&I training into your onboarding and employee training for your teams and your portfolio companies. This is a continuous practice throughout the investment and not a one-off exercise.
• Sign up to community groups demo days and events. Learn about events by signing up to newsletters or follow groups on social media.

For Founders:

• Challenge your investors to meet more diverse founders; introduce them to new founders or diverse networks that host office hours to facilitate introductions.
• Foster a diverse culture now, you might not see short term return on investment but it will help your business and brand long term.
• Diversify talent sourcing: the ‘best’ talent doesn’t necessarily come by fishing in the same pond as everyone else. If you use agencies or job-boards, ask them what they do to ensure they’re sourcing diverse talent. (https://talentdoor.jobboardfire.com/, consider new recruitment methods — e.g. Applied, Create anti-discrimination policies)
• Diversify your boards; talent pays close attention to representation and your leadership structure creates a perception of the culture of organisations.
• Embed D&I into all leaders and employees roles and responsibilities. Consider including this as part of peoples annual goal-setting and annual review process.

For Employees or Operators:

• Speak to your C-Suite or Board about current events and challenge them on steps being taken to address issues internally and externally.
• Request D&I training or D&I practices are incorporated into Learning and Development budgets and are available for the whole organisation
• Challenge the diversity of your leadership teams and boards. Ask for or set timeframes for change to take place (a new board member will not happen overnight).
• Join diverse networks or attend events/meet-ups that help educate and digest a broad range of thoughts and opinions (groupthink is a broader issue than the startup/venture ecosystem)
• Volunteer your time with D&I Organisations to mentor or nurture new talent- e.g. Coders of Colour

For LPs or Asset Owners:

• Your capital talks. For many investors, venture and early stage companies are a small % of your portfolio; your voice will be well served challenging change in the large institutions. However, as startups are nimble and not slow-moving tankers, their lean model will enable action to be taken quicker and results seen if you request change from your GPs and from portfolio companies (we have seen the shift in mindset regarding ESG).
• Encourage a wider LP base to consider early-stage investing. The Covid-19 crisis has challenged many industries and businesses, a portion of your capital supporting the companies of the future will foster growth vs propping up the giants of today and the past. British business bank research on UK VC returns.
• Explore a wider pool of fund managers who have D&I as a core focus and therefore will diversify your early stage exposure to wider founders (e.g. Ada Ventures, Backstage Capital)

Change is hard, change requires thought and change might not be accretive to the bottom line in the short term. However silence and inaction, if these are important issues for you personally or professionally, will not yield change.

Our Voice, Our Capital and Our Input will drive change so we are not having the same conversation one year, five years, 20 years from now.