
Venture capital firms to include “diversity riders” in term sheets - jacksonpollock
https://www.axios.com/venture-capital-firms-diversity-riders-cap-tables-f196b011-0559-4f00-a026-3b2618c6268c.html
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Taikonerd
Huh. Looking at the headline, I had thought that this would mean, "we'll fund
your startup, if you agree to meet these diversity hiring targets." But if I'm
reading the article correctly, it actually means, "we, the VCs, will try to
have more diversity among the people writing the checks."

~~~
pmiller2
Of the handful of comments currently posted, yours is the only one that shows
evidence of actually having read the article.

Personally, I think it's a good thing that VC funds are trying to include
people from underrepresented groups into their club. At least, I hope that's
what they're doing, because all this "best effort" language basically means
they're not _really_ obligated to do anything.

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seibelj
I love how everyone uses throwaways in these comments because they know any
deviation from the progressive-left line will get them cancelled!

I’ll say it under my name - I’m completely old fashioned and probably racist /
sexist / *-phobic whatever because I still agree with Martin Luther King that
it is morally correct to judge someone by the content of their character
rather than the color of their skin. I’m so totally backwards! I meet someone
new and have a blank slate no matter what color they are or what they look
like! I do this intensely regressive thing where I listen to what they have to
say and judge them by their words and actions. I know, very evil and wrong of
me, but I can’t help it - I still like Martin Luther King!

~~~
eaurouge
We all carry biases, including towards/against groups we wouldn't expect to be
biased towards/against. We probably all start with blank slates, but, unless
you've had zero interactions with the outside world, you'd have to work
actively to retain that blank-slate outlook.

In aggregate, we run the risk of collectively creating various forms of
systemic bias. We can test for these systemic biases (we have) and prove the
existence/non-existence of said biases (we have).

~~~
throwawaysea
> We can test for these systemic biases (we have)

How do you propose testing this? Typically, a difference in outcomes is taken
as evidence of systemic bias, but it isn't the same thing. For example, if one
cohort commits more crimes, they are going to have more police interactions,
more arrests, and so forth. But that's not a systemic bias. Unfortunately the
recent "anti-racist" authors like Ibram Kendi have been pushing a false and
expansive definition, where they term any difference in outcomes (or as they
put it, any racial inequity), as "racist". That's not what most people would
call "racist".

> prove the existence/non-existence of said biases (we have)

As for the existence of biases, I assume you are referring to the 'implicit
association test', which is commonly used as a tool to identify unconscious
biases. The IAP methodology has been challenged and debunked many times.
Studies have also found that measures of implicit bias do not predict how
people act in real life. See [https://newdiscourses.com/2020/06/flaws-white-
fragility-theo...](https://newdiscourses.com/2020/06/flaws-white-fragility-
theory-primer/) for more.

~~~
jtsiskin
There are many ways to conduct studies on bias. As a simple example, they can
do things like send out identical resumes with different genders/races and see
who gets called back. You can find a ton of these; here is a meta-analysis
which looks at many such studies:
[https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/11/1706255114](https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/11/1706255114)

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RobPfeifer
I’m all for this (meaning bringing diverse co-investors into rounds). I’d add
that as entrepreneurs we should add LP riders when doing rounds (where’s your
money from?!).

Can’t say I know all these funds super well - they’re not big names outside of
a couple - but helping diverse co-investors build track records is a good idea
on a bunch of levels. It’s all friends and family anyway.

I will say that Greycroft is one of the few funds who I respect deeply in how
they operate and don’t treat “diversity” as an add-on. They’re just a really
smart group of people, that I’ve enjoyed every interaction with, that actually
have a diverse set of experiences and interesting points of view And
investment theses that scale across diverse sociopoltifla outcomes. Novel I
know!

I see a few misguided comments here not worth responding too about “merit” and
what not. I’ll deal with your anguish if you make a point of it, but please
bring some original thought, non-anecdotal or not-bad research cause I feel
like I’m reading a bad /r/* thread in the below.

~~~
raxxorrax
We have recent proof that educational institutions actually discriminate
against white and asian pupils.

Your wording suggests animosity, so why would you believe you are less biased
than anyone else?

Perhaps you are biased because you spend time on reddit, I wouldn't hold it
against anyone, but original thought doesn't make an appearance in this
discussion.

~~~
RobPfeifer
I believe that discrimination narrative is largely based on test scores. Which
are, and it took me decades to come around to this, fairly biased. Outcomes
have been shown to be pretty equal regardless of relative experience (and
comparable ability) pre-college.

And I’m less biased cause I’ve seen more and made pretty much every mistake a
high test-score, arrogant white or Asian guy can make :).

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throwawaysea
We need to stop introducing artificial racist/sexist affirmative action
policies and instead stick to including people based on merit. The injection
of this ideology everywhere is pernicious, unnecessary, and discriminatory.

~~~
jtsiskin
Although hopefully becoming weaker over time, people still hold biases against
different groups. Until these biases don’t exist it makes sense to be aware of
them and try to correct

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baskire
what is racism? To me giving someone a benefit due to their skin color is
racist.

Affirmative action is racist in nature.

A good test is to replace the race with “white European”. And if the statement
offends it’s racist.

~~~
skitout
Do we agree that current VC, mostly because of unconscious bias, are racist
and sexist ?

Then what do you suggest to change this situation ?

I am not super comfortable with counsious positive discrimination as a
momentary tool to correct a discriminatory situation (with negative impact on
the whole society), but it is hard to imagine solutions without using this
tool.

~~~
baskire
My belief comes from personal experience. That social mobility is alive and
well but can take multiple generations.

There’s Plenty of VCs who came from poverty, who’s parents came from poverty,
or who’s grandparents came from poverty.

When looking at that Kind of timescale from 1920s till now, I don’t believe
the system has had enough time. Civil rights, racial rights, and gender rights
are relatively new concepts.

My belief is over the next 30-50 years the forces of market capitalism will
address the issue.

~~~
skitout
So to you this is not a problem that VC and investors discriminate negatively
people based on their gender of race ?

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cryptixvi
Aside from arbitrary virtue signaling and moral grand standing, what's the
point?

$1 is $1 no matter which pocket it comes from. Also, this would be introducing
discrimination based on immutable traits - two steps backwards there guys...

~~~
klyrs
> $1 is $1 no matter which pocket it comes from.

For all the uproar about Chinese ownership of tiktok, zoom, etc etc, I suspect
that your assessment is a minority opinion here.

~~~
BobbyJo
If you drop all context sure. I'm sure no one here would take investment money
from a resurrected Hitler, Narcos, or the Mob, but, since the discussion is
about race, it's kind of an orthoginal point.

~~~
klyrs
It's not. Folks have ethics about who they take their money from. I agree,
it's not the same, but a dollar isn't just a dollar. Who it's coming from, and
what their ethics are, do actually matter.

In this case, I see that minorities are underrepresented in startups. Insomuch
as it's all about who you know, there's strong reinforcement of systemic
trends of enriching primarily white men. Diversity at the top unlocks hidden
talent in their networks and overlooked markets, so picking folks to maximize
cultural competency is kind of a no-brainer.

