Communities have helped diverse founders and investors find a home in venture and given them the tools to succeed.
Arlan Hamilton has more than one way to measure her success. The founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital and founder of startup recruitment platform Runner has made a name for herself in venture capital through winning numerous awards and working herself out of poverty. But the only way Hamilton chooses to acknowledge her accomplishments is how they have allowed her to have a positive impact on others in her community. “I still get messages everyday where people are saying something I did three years ago helped them do ‘this,’ or even further back,” Hamilton tells For(bes) the Culture. “That’s the only metric that I can still feel. Money doesn’t make a lot of difference these days but the impact truly does.”
Hamilton joins a handful of other professionals from the venture capital ecosystem on this year’s inaugural For(bes) the Culture 50 Champions List who have worked to give back to their communities by making VC more equitable to underrepresented groups. Often referred to as an industry built on networks, venture hasn’t historically been designed for those looking to break in that aren’t wealthy or white. But VCs like Hamilton are using their power to change that through fostering communities that not only help underrepresented groups find a home in venture but also give them the tools needed to succeed. “I’ve been called a key maker rather than a gatekeeper,” Hamilton says. “And that’s the point.”
For Lolita Taub, the cofounder of the Community Fund, a fund focused on community-driven companies, creating an accepting network within venture was originally about finding a place for herself to land in the industry, and finding other peers that could validate her involvement. Once she felt comfortable, she quickly realized the value of passing it on. “A lot of this work is giving people hope,” Taub tells Forbes. “And the ability to say ‘hey there is someone that looks like me, that comes from South Central [Los Angeles], that can do something.’If we role model that behavior then we can all just take action and make a positive impact in our communities.”
Sylvester Mobley hopes to extend this feeling to the next generation too. Mobley, the managing partner at Plain Sight Capital and CEO of Coded by Kids looks to give back to his community through his startup, which teaches Black and Brown kids that a future in tech at a venture-backed startup isn’t just possible but that they deserve the opportunity to hold positions of power. “A lot of our work has more to do with just trying to change the mindset of people,” Mobley says. “ We are often saying to people you can be in tech too. There is all this opportunity. There is this space that is there for you as well. The easier part is teaching them the hard skills, the harder part is changing the way people view themselves.”
While Mobley’s startup looks to show kids they can be a part of the venture community when they are older, Hamilton’s startup has shown that offering an inclusive community in venture can attract all generations to the industry sometimes for the first time. “Even people on the outskirts who are older,” Hamilton says. “When I started my company Runner, just a few weeks ago we launched it officially, and we are already seeing a lot of people who are older than 60, 70, who are like ‘hey I’m still here.’”
As these communities grow, they create a ripple effect across the industry. For Hamilton, she believes that her wins are also wins for the community and vice versa. She has been able to take some of what she has earned to personally invest in 20 funds that all operate with the strategy of advancing underrepresented groups — none of the 20 funds existed five years ago. Her success thus far has also allowed her to teach these emerging funds, and others, that there are ways they can be successful in this industry too. She jokes that she can help show the often overlooked professionals that succeed in venture is a learned formula as opposed to a magic potion.
Building a strong community allowed Taub to help foster real connections that have resulted in funding or resources for underrepresented founders. During the pandemic Taub helped connect investors from her network who were actively looking for deal flow to companies in her community that needed funding which resulted in multiple new connections and at least one closed deal. She’s also helped facilitate introductions for emerging fund managers with limited partners to help them with their fundraising. “I‘ve been a curator,” she says. “I don’t see this as being successful without the power of community. This is what we’ve accomplished together. We have made so many introductions and it's all because of the community.”
The venture communities being built today will help recruit and inspire the community builders of tomorrow to join the industry too, and show them that they not only have a place but one that allows them to be seen, heard and successful. “The community is about belonging and building a culture of supporting each other and realizing that this is not a zero-sum game in supporting each other,” Taub says. “We are enlarging the pie of opportunity and we are growing the ability for us to prosper as individuals and humans.”
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