When I was at a meeting once, it was remarked upon that with the Asian American, African American and myself in attendance, we were only one 25 year-old white male Harvard MBA short of a $50M VC deal.
I asked what we would be funded for…
The person remarked:
“Don’t be silly, Heather, you know ideas don’t get funded… Teams do.”
I threw up in my mouth a little at that one, honestly.
Not because the person was wrong – More that they were pretty much on the money, and it disgusted me to be any part of it.
The reality is, at least with the Unicorn startups, there are fewer than 5% females in the top executive positions and on boards, and the number of minorities there isn’t high either.
As for overcoming bias – you can get funded if you can prove that you are without a doubt the right team to get things done. That takes gravitas. It takes confidence.
By asking this question, it seems you may have a lack of some.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Should-I-hire-white-males-to-overcome-venture-capital-investing-bias
Originally Posted On: 2016-05-10