Read on Twitter
After a brief hiatus, I'm back. This week's piece, and a brief thread 
How Some Black Startup Founders Are Thriving in a Pandemic Year https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450
How Some Black Startup Founders Are Thriving in a Pandemic Year https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450
1. The figures for black startup founders receiving VC are grisly. Worse than or as bad as representation at big tech co's:
"Between 2013 and 2017, 77% of founders of active U.S. startups that had received venture capital were white. Only 1% were Black." https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
"Between 2013 and 2017, 77% of founders of active U.S. startups that had received venture capital were white. Only 1% were Black." https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
2. But something unexpected is happening for some Black founders during the pandemic. VCs, corporate funds are, in a time of pandemic and wake of George Floyd, writing checks in a way they haven't before https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
3. Take ShearShare, aka the "Hairbnb" of the salon industry, because it matches stylists with barbershops in a similar model. It had tons of traction; still couldn't get VCs to write the damn check. But their latest round closed faster than ever. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
4. I heard this story again and again: Black founders who were used to no after no from investors are in past few months, in some cases seeing investors call them, instead of other way around. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
5. Of course, huge growth in investment in Black and Latinx companies can happen in part because the starting numbers are abysmally low. And no telling how long this momentum lasts. *But* there is one reason to hope... https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
6. ...And that's the growing numerical commitment of many funds to writing checks to diverse founders; and (slowly) growing ranks of Black+underrepresented VCs. Combine with power of representation of these founders, some like AptDeco which are thriving https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-black-startup-founders-are-thriving-in-a-pandemic-year-11607144450?utm_content=buffer30314&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
7. The bottom line, as @nasirqadree and @motownini and many others note, is that largely white VCs who have historically not funded Black and underrepresented founders are leaving potentially outsize returns on the table. See this essay e.g.: https://hbr.org/2020/06/a-vcs-guide-to-investing-in-black-founders
8. Fact that VCs and all sorts of other investors have historically under-valued and under-funded companies led by underrepresented founders isn't just a failure of their "investment thesis," of course - it's also a hit to total American economic dynamism. Which is just a waste.
