How do you raise capital for your company when you’re not in the traditional social circles of the money people? In particular, the VC industry is 76% white male and overwhelmingly straight; what if you do not fit into that bucket? I’m speaking on a panel this afternoon on fundraising for minority founders at the...
[Continue Reading]HBS Alumni Angels NY accomplishments to date, and our new Chairman
I’m happy to announce that Jason E. Klein, CEO of On Grid Ventures, will serve as the new Chairman of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater NY. Jason is an experienced angel and company builder. I’m shifting to “Chairman Emeritus” (an overly polysyllabic title). I’ll still be an active involved member. In December 2010, Richard...
[Continue Reading]Why are venture capitalists (76% white men) ignoring the future?
Why do so many venture capitalists ignore the single best predictor of the future: demographics? Paul Graham, cofounder of Y Combinator, observes, “Many suspect that venture capital firms are biased against female founders. This would be easy to detect: among their portfolio companies, do startups with female founders outperform those without? A couple months ago,...
[Continue Reading]Helping women and minorities raise angel capital
In early 2012, my HBS Alumni Angels colleagues and I launched the Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP), an initiative to help women and minority-led businesses to raise capital from the Harvard alumni angel community. This is a partnership between HBS Alumni Angels of Greater NY (HBSAANY) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), the...
[Continue Reading]Don’t hire people you know!
Countless psychology studies have proven that we tend to like people who look and/or think like us. Peter Salovey, Dean of Yale College and a Professor of Psychology, taught my “Introduction to Psychology” class in college. On the first day of class, he asked, “Do you want to know whom you are going to...
[Continue Reading]Finalist Women and Minority Entrepreneurs Named in VCAP Program
HBS Angels of NY and the NAIC have named the finalist women and minority entrepreneurs of the Venture Capital Access Program; check out the press release below. If you’re from a major media outlet, please contact me to attend as a guest the pitch night in midtown Manhattan on June 27. Harvard Business School Alumni...
[Continue Reading]