Talked with two different startups this morning. One was a white founder & the other an underestimated founder.

The convo on how they raise money was two completely different conversations.

1. VC

2. Loans

You can already guess which was each option.

We’re allowing underestimated founders go into debt because they believe in their ideas, all while white founders are giving equity to fund theirs. Very high risk Vs very low risk.

Let’s say both fail. What happens to the underestimated founder? They now have to payback the loans, in insurmountable debt and have to struggle to dig themselves out of a hole.

What happens to the white founder? They have a failed startup on their record, but they’ve “learned invaluable lessons from failure” and will undoubtably raise again.

The wealth gap will not close until we address these issues. Our communities will not heal, until we’re intentional about investing in Underestimated Startups. Not on a small scale but all over. Not in SV, but worldwide.