What if startups chose for themselves who should get money? Would they back more diverse founders? It turns out the answer might be yes.
A typical VC firm invests in about a dozen companies for every 1,000 pitch decks they review. Investors need to make quick gut decisions and rely on "pattern recognition" to separate the signal from the noise, which helps explain why female-founded ventures receive only 15% of startup funding and Black and Latinx entrepreneurs receive less than 2%.
For 10 years Village Capital has been testing an alternative model: a due diligence process led by groups of peer entrepreneurs. CEO Allie Burns will lead a conversation about how flipping the power dynamics can reduce implicit bias and lead to more inclusive decision-making, and what others can learn.
The panel "Who Gets to Decide? Flipping the Power Dynamics in VC" was scheduled for SXSW this year. After it was canceled, our friends at Zebras Unite leapt into action to hold talks virtually. You can find the catch slate of #altSXSW talks hosted by Zebras Unite on Crowdcast.
Watch the full talk with Charli Cooksey (WEPOWER), Melvin Hines (Upswing), Liesel Pritzker-Simmons (Blue Haven Initiative), and Village Capital's CEO, Allie Burns:
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