Podcasts about kapor capital

Kim and Wesley welcome entrepreneur, investor and author, Ellen Pao. They talk about what inspired Ellen and her co-founders to start Project Include nearly 10 years ago.  Historically, many firms have some sort of "bias busting" training session and then feel as though they have checked the box on this complicated topic.  It has become especially challenging in recent years with notable pushback against diversity initiatives.  The good news is there are still organizations that see it as a strategic advantage to their company's performance.  Ellen points out how critical it is to get CEO ownership from the get go.  Many diversity initiatives fail because it is delegated to a mid-level staff person who is not empowered to make any changes.  So as a starting point, Project Include, will not engage with a company unless the CEO attends the planning meetings.  One early effect they noticed was many CEOs feel pressure to "know everything about everything" and yet most knew very little about how to run a successful diversity program.  So, part of the CEO coaching and buy in is to get them comfortable at not being the expert in this particular area.  They would push CEOs to evaluate their diversity efforts as any other business project: What is working well and what is not, who is on the team, what are their metrics, what tools are they using, etc.  Then, use this information to adjust as necessary. About Ellen Pao:Ellen Pao is the treasurer of the board of directors at Data & Society. She is the former CEO of reddit and the co-founder and CEO of the award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion nonprofit Project Include. A long-time entrepreneur and investor, she is the former chief diversity and inclusion officer at the Kapor Center and a former venture capitalist for Kleiner Perkins and Kapor Capital. Her 2017 memoir, Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, was shortlisted for the Financial Times and Mckinsey Business Book Of The Year.https://www.ellenkpao.com/

In this episode, Amir talks with Hilliary Turnipseed, Senior Director of Talent at Kapor Capital, about the importance of consciously inclusive hiring. Hilliary discusses how businesses can diversify their talent pool and avoid biases in the hiring process. We explore Kapor Capital's investment philosophy focused on closing gaps in access for low-income and communities of color, and how Hilliary's role involves providing founders with tools to build diverse teams. The episode offers practical advice for founders and TA professionals about de-risking hiring decisions, inclusive hiring practices, and the benefits of expanding networks beyond traditional pools. Additionally, Hilliary shares details about Kapor's talent network and her partnerships with organizations like Diversify Tech and Black Code Collective. Highlights: 01:56 Consciously Inclusive Hiring Explained 03:18 Challenges and Solutions in Hiring 05:41 Expanding Networks and Talent Pools 09:06 Building a Fair and Equitable Talent Network 12:20 Navigating the Current Job Market 16:43 Advice for Candidates and Recruiters Guest: Hilliary Turnipseed is the Senior Director of Talent at Kapor Capital, where she focuses on building diverse, inclusive teams across Kapor's portfolio companies. With a deep commitment to equity and belonging in the workplace, Hilliary works closely with founders to embed inclusive hiring practices and de-risk hiring decisions. She has extensive experience in talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, and has collaborated with organizations like Diversify Tech and Black Code Collective. Through her work, Hilliary empowers companies to broaden their talent pools, avoid biases, and create fair, equitable opportunities in hiring. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilliaryturnipseed/ ---- Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek. We would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

The Look Back welcomes Mitch Kapor -- Founder of Lotus Development and CEO of the groundbreaking spreadsheet 1-2-3. Kapor converted his early software success into building the Kapor Center and Kapor Capital. Now, he is an advisor and investor to 150+ under-represented founders and rocking his mission of creating an Inclusive & Equitable Technology Sector. And while a successful venture fund isn't as easy as 1-2-3... Mitch, his wife, and team have built an impressive organization HQd in Oakland, California.

Reproductive Justice and Venture Capital may seem like unrelated areas of interest, but in reality, they are interconnected in many ways! Policy expert, writer, educator, and producer, Heidi Williamson, hosts a conversation with Marcela Howell and Ulili Onovakpuri to explore these intersections and imagine an empowered future for all. Kicking off our conversation, we are introduced to Marcela's work as President, CEO and Founder of In Our Own Voices with the National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, and Ulili's role as partner at Kapor Capital. Sparked by 2020's protests against police brutality, there has been a movement towards racial justice and equity within and beyond criminal justice. This conversation centers health, reproductive justice, and freedom for all. Join us as we differentiate between sectors, explore both tensions and possibilities, and consider the role that investors can play in ensuring reproductive justice. Thanks for tuning in!  Key Points From This Episode: Background on host Heidi Williamson, policy expert, writer, educator, producer, and voice for change. Welcoming Marcela Howell, president, CEO, and Founder of In Our Own Voices: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda. An introduction to Ulili Onovakpuri, partner at Kapor Capital, an early-stage, social-impact venture capital firm. Context for the conversation with 2020's protests against police brutality in mind. Understanding that criminal justice is not the only area where racial justice and equity is necessary. What to bear in mind if you are new to understanding reproductive justice. Ulili's relationship with impact investment and what it means to her and the team at Kapor Capital. Defining reproductive justice and why it is important to this conversation. Ulili's perspective on venture capital.  The work of educating investors on access issues faced by poor communities. How the COVID-19 pandemic revealed inequalities in our world. Why investment in Black communities benefits everyone.  The importance of reaching out to Black communities to communicate how innovations can help. Why it is necessary to enter communities to see opportunity. Why reproductive healthcare is about economics, culture, and more. The reason behind the inherent lack of trust between Black people and venture capitalists. Being intentional about having people from the community you are serving on your team. Why fighting racism is a long-term investment that requires building trust over time.  Potential and possibility demonstrated by a diverse show of support for Black Lives Matter. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Marcela Howell on LinkedIn  National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda Heidi Williamson on LinkedIn Hummingbird Black Creative Ulili Onovakpuri on LinkedIn Kapor Capital Rhia Ventures P.S. Blossom on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ps-blossom/message

Ep. 145 Cliff Worley is an accomplished marketing leader and growth advisor to startups. As Sr. Director of Portfolio Growth Marketing at Kapor Capital, he provides strategic coaching to help VC-backed companies effectively go to market and scale customer acquisition. He also currently stands at the forefront of artificial intelligence, speaking nationally to audiences on his secrets to leveraging AI.  This conversation took place at the 2023 Annual Meeting of HOPE Global Economic Forum in Atlanta, GA. HOPE Global Economic Forums are the largest gathering in the world on behalf of empowering poor and underserved communities. The conference convenes like-minded leaders from around the world dedicated to advancing the financial well-being of all people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're honored to have Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri, Managing Partner at Kapor Capital, join us on Mission Driven. At Kapor, Ulili leads investments in the health tech and people operations tech companies. She is also the founder of Kapor Capital's Fellows program, the longest running venture capital internship program for underrepresented individuals. Previously, she served as Director of Global Programs at Village Capital, a global accelerator program and venture capital firm. Ulili received her MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. She is a native San Franciscan and a proud UC Berkeley Alum. In the episode, Ulili digs in to investing with an impact lens, including how to combat the perception that impact investing doesn't lead to enough deal flow or returns. She also shares about a few of the investments she led (though all her companies are her favorites) and growing up in the Bay Area. Finally, Ulili discusses tips for founders raising venture capital, including how to make the right choice in investor partnerships. Mission Driven is a conversation about startup founders on a mission to address the world's biggest challenges and how they leverage their social mission for competitive advantage. If you liked this episode, please share and tag us on Twitter: @BetterVentures @unolil @kaporcapital

When you're just starting out as a business, getting the right support during those crucial early stages plays a pivotal role in whether a good idea can reach its full potential. Today's guest has been providing that expert guidance for many years.On this episode we're sitting down with Ross Fubini, founder and managing partner of XYZ Ventures. XYZ was founded in 2017, making investments in 105 companies across seed and growth stages, and as an organization, they look to support founders who have uncovered a unique insight and show immense velocity in their execution.XYZ is primarily focused on enterprise, FinTech infrastructure, climate, and the public sector. Ross sits on multiple boards, including Sardine and Legion Technologies, and has made several successful early investments currently valued in the billions, including public sector focused Anduril, security provider Verdaka, InsureTech company, and New Front Insurance. Previous to XYZ, Ross co founded Village Global and was an investor at Canaan and Kapor Capital. He is currently an advisor to executives at Palantir with XYZ backing over 20 Palantir alumni as founders across the public sector enterprise and fintech. Highlights: Ross describes where the name 'XYZ' came from (3:05) Ross explains how he decided to focus primarily on early-stage companies (4:29) Financing and investment sizes behind early-stage startups (8:04) Ross describes how XYZ chooses and values companies they invest in (10:02) How XYZ approaches and works alongside changing economic environments (13:28) The importance of transparency and sharing your story with investors (16:41) Current trends in the early-stage start-up market (19:01) Ross gives advice to founders raising capital for the first time (22:00) Ross describes companies XYZ have invested in whose outcome has surprised him (23:47) Lessons Ross has learned from start-ups that didn't reach their full potential (26:36) Links:Ross Fubini on LinkedInXYZ Ventures on LikedInXYZ Ventures WebsiteICR LinkedInICR TwitterICR WebsiteFeedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.

Earlier this year, Consumer Reports, in collaboration with the Kapor Center, debuted "Bad Input," three short films that set out to explore and to create public awareness about how biases in algorithms/data sets result in unfair practices for communities of color, often without their knowledge. In this episode of the show, I talk to Lily Gangas, Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center, and Amira Dhalla, Director of Impact Partnerships and Programs at Consumer Reports, about the film and about state of AI at the intersection of race and equity, and the importance of educating the public if we want to see change in the future of AI and human values. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. They do it by fighting to put consumers' needs first in the marketplace and by empowering them with the trusted knowledge they depend on to make better, more informed choices. The Kapor Center's work focuses at the intersection of racial justice and technology to create a more inclusive technology sector for all. Founded by Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, the center seeks to develop a vision and practice to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. The Kapor Foundation, alongside Kapor Capital, and the STEM education initiative SMASH, takes a comprehensive approach to expand access to computer science education, conduct research on disparities in the technology pipeline, support nonprofit organizations and initiatives, and invest in gap-closing startups and entrepreneurs that close gaps of access for all. The Kapor Center seeks to intentionally dismantle barriers to tech and deployment of technologies across the Leaky Tech Pipeline through research-driven practices, gap-closing investments, increased access to computer science education, supporting and partnering with mission-aligned organizations, advocating for needed policy change, and more. 

Much of the business world has bought into the idea of stakeholder capitalism. But Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor say that doing some good by doing well isn't enough when the business impact still creates negative effects and broader disparities overall. Freada, with a background in social justice and empirical research, and Mitch, an entrepreneur and investor who got his start making early spreadsheet software, strive to invest in ventures that close the distance between those with wealth and privilege and those without. The founders explain their metrics and decision-making process at Kapor Capital. The profitable firm explicitly invests in tech startups serving low-income and underrepresented communities. Freada and Mitch wrote the book Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing.

Welcome to episode #886 of Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast - Episode #886. How can we change the way that businesses get funded? Are the best businesses actually getting funded? What about investments that truly have impact? Dr. Freada Kapor Klein and her husband, Mitch Kapor, are a dynamic duo striving to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Both co-founders of Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center, they invest in tech startups that aim to dismantle the barriers of access for low-income communities and communities of color. Freada is the founder of SMASH, an organization that provides rigorous STEM education to low-income students of color across the U.S. She is also a vocal advocate against sexual coercion, a member of numerous influential councils, and the author of the revealing book, Giving Notice, which explores the hidden bias in workplaces. Adding to their shared legacy, Freada and Mitch have co-authored the book, Closing The Equity Gap, which offers insightful strategies to address the disparity in tech access among different socioeconomic groups. The book, echoing their combined mission, is an important step towards a more equitable tech landscape. Freada's huband, Mitch, is a stalwart of the personal computing industry and a savvy startup investor. He is the founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3 (the spreadsheet!). He is also co-founder of The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the founding Chair of Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox web browser. In this episode, Freada explores the challenges of investing, the economy and how what we back in venture capital is a strong indication of how our communities will evolve. Enjoy the conversation.... Running time: 55:32. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. Check out ThinkersOne. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Freada Kapor Klein. Closing The Equity Gap. Giving Notice. Kapor Capital. Kapor Center. SMASH. Follow Freada on LinkedIn. Follow Freada on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.

In part 2 of this episode with veteran founders and investors Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, we get into the data of building human-centered cultures. In part one, we heard how Mitch and Freada went all-in on investing their values, committing 100% of new investments in “gap-closing” companies that aim to improve society, even as they aim for scale and liquidity as well. Now, Mitch and Freada can share how that's played out in practice, with both positive examples … and some negative ones as well. (Yes, they were early investors in Uber!)Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you build with conscience and still succeed? Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein certainly think so. As tech industry veteran founders and investors, Mitch and Freada have long embraced non-traditional metrics that put humans at the center. Mitch co-founded Lotus, the 1980s software giant, and hired Freada to help make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.” And years later, their early-stage VC firm, Kapor Capital, aligns their portfolio with their values, investing in companies that close gaps in access and opportunity. Human-centered metrics don't just improve cultures — they improve the bottom line.Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chandler Malone was enjoying college basketball, but when his startup was making a significant amount of revenue, he knew it was time to put the ball away. The former WashU guard is a serial entrepreneur currently building Bootup, a tech marketplace that helps people get their first jobs in tech, and upskill their talent. Bootup has raised over $2.1 million in Venture Capital from Kapor Capital, Concrete Rose Capital, Lightship Capital, and more. Chandler chats about how he developed his passion for tech while playing AAU basketball, the rise in the need for technical talent, the journey of Bootup, and more! Episode Breakdown:  0:00- Intro  1:30- Seeing the power of tech during AAU and college basketball 5:40- Working 20 hours a week in VC during college  7:40- Becoming a serial entrepreneur 8:30- The journey of Bootup  11:11- Who is the buyer?  13:00- What are you getting out of Bootup 15:50- The journey of raising VC as an former athlete 19:20- The explosion of tech in many industries 22:48- Outro I do not own the right to this music (Future- Red Light (instrumental), Future- 4 Da Gang (Instrumental)) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/a--and--a/support

It's easy to despair at high levels of inequality and lack of access to capital and resources that still face entrepreneurs who aren't white, male or well-connected. @Freada Kapor Klein's career is a beacon of hope for those of us looking for real, practical solutions. The Fund, @Kapor Capital, which she co-founded puts its money into underrepresented founders with huge impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem and benefits for all of us! She is going to be joining me to discuss her new co-authored book "Closing the Equity Gap" to share with others how it's done. Join us live on May 5th at 1pm EST or catch the recording afterward. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thoughtsparksritamcgrath/message

Today we are joined by serial entrepreneur and investor Mitch Kapor who is also the Co-Author of the new book Closing The Equity Gap. Mitch is a pioneer in the personal computing industry, most notably founding Lotus Development Corporation and designing the iconic Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. Mitch is also the founding partner of Kapor Capital which focuses on investing in early stage startups that address urgent social needs and transform industries. And he has co-authored a terrific book, Closing The Equity Gap, which we chat about on today's episode. You will love hearing all about his “win-win” roadmap for creating wealth and addressing inequalities by flipping the traditional investment model on its head through investing in gap-closing startups. This episode is filled with so much inspiration and takeaways you won't want to miss it! On this episode of #TheKaraGoldinShow. Sponsored by Thinkific! Go to Thinkific.com/KARA to start educating your customers at scale. Get your FREE month with promo code KARA. Enjoying this episode of #TheKaraGoldinShow? Let me know by clicking on the links below and sending me a quick shout-out on social. Or reach out to me at karagoldin@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/karagoldin/ https://www.instagram.com/karagoldin/ https://twitter.com/karagoldin https://www.facebook.com/KaraGoldin/ Check out our website to view this episode's show notes: https://karagoldin.com/podcast/382 To learn more about Mitch Kapor, Closing The Equity Gap and Kapor Capital: https://closingtheequitygap.com/ https://www.kaporcapital.com/ https://www.kaporcenter.org/ https://www.smash.org/ https://twitter.com/mkapor https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchkapor/

Despite economic headwinds and job cuts, companies backed by venture capital—including many in the Bay Area—drive the U.S. economy, accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales and profits. However, most of this wealth winds up enriching entrenched investors and favored private interests, further widening economic inequality. Two well-known technology investors and entrepreneurs, Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, have committed their lives to doing things differently and finding ways to close these equity gaps. As they explain in their new book, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing, Kapor and Kapor Klein build on their work at the Oakland-based Kapor Center and Kapor Capital, two institutions that invest in seed-stage tech startups focused on closing gaps of access, opportunity and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color. They share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact. They share stories behind some of the most remarkable companies ever launched, and they argue that the standard investment model doesn't work, explain how it can be fixed, and say what the future could look like if more investors joined them. Come hear about their new roadmap for investing in tech companies that defy assumptions from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, and their belief that entrepreneurs who overcome obstacles in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family. Together, the Kapors have launched close to 200 companies, invested in impactful and profitable companies whose services or products close opportunity gaps for communities of color and low-income communities, and shown that their approach can also provide strong investment returns and growth. Join us as Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein share how they've "done well by doing good" and how you can, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Natasha interviewed one of venture's most iconic duos: Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein of Kapor Capital. The investors recently published a book, "Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing," connecting scrappy stories of entrepreneurs to their investment thesis to the returns that other venture capitalists are clamoring to land.In today's episode, we're talking about:Their book and why the pair chose to do it nowMitch and Freada's broader thoughts on impact investingcriteria for success and investor due diligence.For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity's Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7:00 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together and more!

Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, Founding Partners at Kapor Capital, discuss their book Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, Founding Partners at Kapor Capital, discuss their book Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Natasha Mascarenhas of TechCrunch sits down with Kapor Capital's Mitch Kapor, Freada Kapor, Ulili Onovakpuri, and Brian Dixon to talk about the long-term plan for the firm, what leadership changes mean and how to navigate the space as an emerging fund manager today. Recorded March 1, 2023 at the Upfront Summit.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, founders of early stage VC firm Kapor Capital, talk about their new book, "Closing the Equity Gap."

We have special guests on the podcast - Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor. The founders of Kapor Capital have released a new book, Closing the Equity Gap, and, on this episode, they discuss their life missions to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Tune in to learn how the two got their start, founded Kapor Capital, and have been pioneers in impact investing. They impart important lessons on the power of “distance traveled” founders who harness their early experiences to found companies that better serve society. You'll hear stories about the two youngest partners of Kapor Capital, Ulili Onovakpuri and Brian Dixon, plus some of their exciting investments. The Kapors challenge the notion that investing with a diversity and equity lens doesn't create returns. We're here for it!

Devin Baptiste is a serial entrepreneur and investor who is the co-founder and CEO of GroupRaise, a marketplace for large group charitable bookings at restaurants, active in over 500 cities with 10,000+ restaurant clients. He has raised venture capital and investment from investors such as Techstars Ventures, Magma Partners, Kapor Capital and various top tier angels. As an advisor, Devin has translated the lessons he's learned to help founders raise just over $30 million+ for their companies raising pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds; the vast majority of which have been underrepresented founders from LATAM and USA. In this episode, Devin discusses how to fundraise in any circumstance, strategies on effectively raising capital, best practices on navigating relationships with investors, and shifting mindsets about investing in a recession. Hosted by Cristina Tamayo, Endeavor Puerto Rico. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/endeavornorthamerica/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/endeavornorthamerica/support

This is the interview all of you entrepreneurs and business marketers have been waiting for! Are you wondering HOW to take full advantage of social media and market yourself or your business like a pro? I sat down with the marketing genius himself, Cliff Worley, Senior Director of Portfolio Growth Marketing at Kapor Capital and am bringing you all of his marketing knowledge, expertise, tips, and tricks! Cliff is a Bay Area legend who After graduating from Babson, Cliff joined the Shark Group, a branding consultancy firm created by renowned entrepreneur Daymond John. As Chief Digital Officer, Cliff set the digital strategy for Daymond John and worked as a digital strategist for all of his Shark Tank investments. We are dropping

Joonko, the only automated sourcing platform focused solely on underrepresented candidates, today announced $25M in Series B funding led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from Target Global and existing investors Kapor Capital and Vertex Ventures Israel. https://hrtechfeed.com/diversity-recruiting-platform-raises-25-million/ The Predictive Index (PI) announced today a $30 million minority investment from JM Family Enterprises, Inc. (JMFE) to accelerate its mission of Better work, better world through product enhancements to the world's only global talent optimization platform. https://hrtechfeed.com/assessment-platform-predictive-index-lands-new-funding/  Ashby, the all-in-one recruiting platform for high-growth startups and enterprise companies launches publicly today with over 500 paying customers and $21.5 million in Series B funding. The round was led by F-Prime Capital with participation from Elad Gil, Lachy Groom, Semper Virens, Base Case Capital, Gaingels, as well as over a 100 customers, partners, and operators. The new injection of capital will be used to scale operations, engineering, and go-to-market teams. https://hrtechfeed.com/a-new-ats-enters-the-fray/ Indeed Flex, the online marketplace for flexible and temporary workers is expanding into California.   The tech-first staffing platform, which was acquired by Indeed in 2019, is now available to job seekers and employers in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and San Bernardino County, with further expansion across the state planned in the coming months.

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.What.A.Week.Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann jumped on the mic, with Theresa on backup, to talk through the biggest headlines. For our Apple coverage, click here. For our YC coverage, click here.All that aside, here's what we got into on today's episode:Kim Kardashian surprised us all -- yet again -- with the news that she is co-founding a private equity firm. We also talked about how Userpilot raised $4.6 million to help SaaS companies offer a more personalized user experience and Varjo - an early mover in building XR headsets and software for enterprises - landing $40 million in new funding.We pivoted to riff on a couple of acquisitions in the grocery delivery space, both of which thought were pretty cool and made sense. Instacart acquired Rosie (gotta love the name) in an example of not putting all its eggs in one basket, and Misfit Markets announced it is buying Imperfect Foods.Next, we talked about a couple of venture firms -- Kapor Capital and Countdown Capital -- raising new, second funds. Notably, both firms are looking to back historically overlooked founders and industries, which we -- and their LPs -- are 100% here for.And lastly, we had a lively debate on AI and its impact on the creator economy -- discussing topics such as AI-generated porn and whether AI-driven art is truly art.If you are coming to Disrupt, use the code "EQUITY" to save 15%. It makes us look good internally, and gets you a cheaper discount to our first Disrupt live show in the history of the podcast.Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

Paul Darrigo, co-founder at logistics and warehouse startup Saltbox, is a 2003 Georgia Tech grad. In this converstion, learn how he believes ecommerce is changing now, and how his background at UPS shape Saltbox's vision to create more billion-dollar ecommerce businesses. Saltbox is based in Atlanta and backed by several venture investors, including Metaprop, Kapor Capital and Prologis. Also in this ep, catch up with Valor's this week. Meet Robin Bienfait and William Leonard at Georgia Tech's CreateX. Catch up with William in Tulsa and Lisa in Kansas City, plus much more!

In this episode Neil and Will sit down with Maryam Haque, the Executive Director of Venture Forward.  Venture Forward is poised to "drive the human capital, culture, values and narrative of venture capital to promote a strong and inclusive community that will fuel the economy of tomorrow."  As a follow to the conversation with 3 Roots Capital, they dive a little deeper into the significance of venture capital and advancing a more diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) ecosystem.  Take a listen as Maryam describes what Venture Forward is doing in the DEI space and how that correlates with the rural landscape of Appalachia.  The guys ultimately think it's equally important to think about geographical underserved areas when thinking about DEI in venture capital.  You might even hear Neil's secret ingredient for pancakes and how once a year he tries to "light the woods on fire."  Don't forget the #AppBiz of the week: The Sequoyah Fund!  Venture Forward: www.ventureforward.org/  National Venture Capital Association: www.nvca.org  Invest Appalachia: www.investappalachia.org/  Example VC Firms focusing on DEI The Sequoyah Fund (#AppBiz):  www.sequoyahfund.org/ Cross Culture Ventures: www.macventurecapital.com/ DiverseCity Ventures: www.diversecityv.com/ Kapor Capital: www.kaporcapital.com/ Backstage Capital: www.backstagecapital.com/ Pride Fund 1: www.pride.vc/ Chattanooga Renaissance Fund: www.chattanoogarenaissancefund.com/ Hatteras Ventures (Pisgah Fund): www.pisgahfund.com/fund/  Redhawk VC: www.redhawkvc.com/ OTHER SHOW NOTES The Daily Yonder - "How Appalachia is Growing its Outdoor Economy through Collaborations and Capacity Building": www.dailyyonder.com/how-appalachia-is-growing-its-outdoor-economy-through-collaborations-and-capacity-building/2022/06/29/  State Small Business Credit Initiative: www.home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci BACON GREASE PANCAKES! www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/bacon-fat-pancakes-9368888              

David Bank is joined by the departing and incoming leadership teams at Kapor Capital. Mitch and Freada Kapor, veteran tech entrepreneurs and investors, are handing over the reins to homegrown talent: Brian Dixon and Ulili Onovakpuri. David spoke with the four of them about the leadership transition, where legacy venture capital falls short, and how to get top-quartile returns along with impact and diversity. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/impact-alpha/message

In this episode of Capital for Good we speak with Donnel Baird '13, one of the country's most innovative entrepreneurs leading our transition to a low carbon and more inclusive economy. Baird is the founder and CEO of BlocPower, a clean tech startup based in New York City that develops portfolios of clean energy retrofit opportunities in underserved communities and connects those opportunities to investors seeking social, environmental, and financial returns. In this conversation, we discuss the early days of BlocPower and Baird's decision to seek financial backing from mainstream investors who believe squarely in the commercial model of greening urban real estate, rather than from so-called impact investors. Baird notes that although his investors, who now include Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Goldman Sachs, Prosperity Capital, Apple, Andressen Horowitz, Kapor Capital, and others, appreciate the social and environmental benefits that BlocPower creates — decarbonizing buildings in low-income communities reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improve health, and creates jobs — it's the commercial power of the model that will bring it to scale. Baird says “There are 125 million buildings in the United States; they account for 30 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. If you can figure out how to decarbonize a building and move a building entirely off fossil fuels, then you can do all of the buildings on a city block, and if you can decarbonize all of the buildings on one city block, then you can decarbonize all the buildings in a city.” BlocPower is partnering with Ithaca, New York, the first city in the world to commit to green all its buildings by 2030, to decarbonize its full real estate stock. BlocPower has several other cities in the pipeline and ultimately intends to open source its approach; to become a “decarbonization platform” to supply the data, workforce, project finance, and model for others to follow suit. Thanks for listening!Subscribe to Capital for Good on Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Drop us a line at socialenterprise@gsb.columbia.edu. Mentioned in this Episode “Making Buildings Green May Take a Chunk Out of Climate Change,” Soujourner Elleby (Bloomberg, 2022) BlocPower Is Turning Every Home Into the Equivalent of a Tesla, Ainsley Harris (Fast Company, 2022) Green Banks Target the Funding Gap for New York Energy Startups, Lee Harris (Financial Times, 2021) This US City Just Voted to Decarbonize Every Single Building, Tik Rook (Washington Post, 2021) Brooklyn-based Clean Tech Startup Bringing Rooftop WiFi to 100,000 Bronx Residents, Sharon Udasin (The Hill, 2021) Block by Block, He Aims to Fight Injustice and Save the Planet, Sarah Kaplan (Washington Post, 2021)    

Welcome to Diversity & Inclusion: Revolution or Reform?  Today's conversation is a behind-the-scenes look at life and work as a solo DEI Practitioner with special guest Carissa Begonia. David and Carissa speak about the growing pressure on solo DEI Practitioners to do it all within their organizations as the only one. The conversation also highlights the growing need for healing specifically for POC within DEI work and organizations. A big thank you to Carissa for her time and openness to having real conversations. Guest BioCarissa is a first-generation Filipina-American daughter of immigrants. She is the founder of CONSCIOUSXCHANGE, an equity-focused leadership and business coaching and consulting company with a mission to forward the economic advancement of BIPOC, women, and folx of historically marginalized identities by helping them lead values-aligned careers or launch their own purpose-driven businesses. Carissa, aka the Dream Doula, serves as a startup and small business consultant as well as executive coach, helping BIPOC entrepreneurs and leaders bring their wildest, most audacious dreams to life and design a life they are proud of. She is the former head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) of Zappos and has over 15 years of experience working on both the operations and the human side of business at some of the country's largest retailers including Macy's, Saks 5th Avenue, and Ross Stores. Carissa has been featured in TIME magazine and has been invited to speak at organizations including KPMG, Publicis Groupe, Kapor Capital, Pearson, and the YMCA. As a serial entrepreneur, Carissa is also the co-founder of Green Mango International, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization supporting educational opportunities for underserved school children in the Philippines, as well as the co-founder of AARISE - Asian American Racialized Identity and Social Empowerment for AAPIs, a program and community focused on justice and liberation for all centering Asian American activist history, AAPI experiences, emotional processing and somatic healing.Connect with CarissaLinkedIn: Carissa Begoniawww.consciousxchange.comREMINDER!Join us on Thursday, January 272022 at 4pm PST/7pm EST for a LIVE conversation + audience Q&A on Dismantling White Supremacy Culture in organizations and society with poet, artist, & writer Dr. Tema Okun. Tickets are available HERE.Learn more about our work:Email: revolutionorreform@gmail.comConnie's Instagram: @and.now.collectiveConnie's Work: and-now-collective.comDavid's Instagram: @amplify.rjDavid's Work: amplifyrj.comListen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherClick here to access the transcript of today's episode.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Nhon Ma of Numerade.com, an AI powered digital tutoring platform with over 1 million video lessons. In this episode, Nhon talks about the epiphany moment of doing asynchronous tutoring, how he used a "traction story" with investors to pitch the business pre-revenue, why he believes founders must earn the right to pitch investors, how game theory applies to fundraising, and much more. The Company recently raised $26 million from IDG Capital, General Catalyst, Mucker Capital, Kapor Capital and Interplay Ventures, and strategic investors such as Margo Georgiadis (the former CEO of Ancestry), Khaled Helioui (the former CEO of Bigpoint Games and angel investor in Uber) and Taavet Hinrikus (founder of Wise) How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com/

Phaedra Ellis Lamkins is the CEO of Promise, a payment technology platform that simplifies how people manage government payments like utilities, child support, parking tickets and more by offering customizable plans and providing digital payment options. The organization has secured funding from a wide array of investors including Roc Nation, Starbucks, Bumble, Kapor Capital, XYZ, First Round, and many more. Promise secured 20 million dollars in its Series A collectively raising  50 million dollars overall which is one of the largest funding rounds for a Black, women-led startup with investors like Kapor Capital, Bronze, First Round, and Y Combinator.Phaedra herself is a rockstar in the world of social justice and music: prior to starting Promise, she served as the Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL–CIO Labor Council, she served as the personal manager for legendary musician Prince, and helped procure Prince's ownership of his catalog, negotiating his deal with Warner Bros and co-founding NPG Music Publishing LLC. She also succeeded Van Jones as the CEO of Green For All, and worked with the Congressional Black Caucus to advocate for standards in environmental protection and spearheaded state, local and federal victories in creating solutions to both poverty and pollution.Her work and leadership has been recognized over the course of her career, including highlights like:the World Economic Forum as a Young Global LeaderEssence for their 25 Most Influential African AmericansEbony for their Power 150The Grio for their 100 History Makers in the MakingBlack Enterprise for their 40 Next: Emerging Leaders for our Future2018 SPUR Award from the San Francisco Urban

LaTecia connects with Mandela SH Dixon, CEO of FounderGym, to discuss the importance of creating new rules, building your tribe, and investing in continuous self-care. The two women discuss Mandela's history of “firsts, her take on the expansive opportunity available to investors who invest in diverse founders, and how freelancers can benefit from the new creator economy. We also talk about: Finite resources and how to take care of yourself How her priorities have shifted as a mother and founder Showing up as your full self in the world Sponsors: O-P-E-N | Use Code “CREATIVES” for 30-days free at open-together.com/creatives Top Level Design | Use code “CREATIVES” for 1-year free at porkbun.com About our Guest: In 2012, Mandela SH Dixon became one of the first Black women to raise venture capital from Silicon Valley investors. A few years later, she transitioned into the investing world, and became one of the first Black women to work at a venture capital firm. Now as the CEO of Founder Gym, Mandela leads the #1 training program teaching underrepresented founders how to raise venture capital. Founder Gym was launched in 2017 and leverages the best investors and funded-founders to help teach underrepresented entrepreneurs how to raise capital to scale their tech startups. To-date, Founder Gym has trained 550 founders across 25 countries, spanning 6 continents who have gone on to raise over $106 million. According to the ProjectDiane Report, only 93 Black women in all of history have ever raised $1 million or more, and 1 out every 10 of these trailblazers are Founder Gym Graduates. Prior to Founder Gym, Mandela was the Founding Portfolio Services Director at Kapor Capital, and the Global Director of Startup Weekend Education (acq. by Techstars). Mandela is an angel investor, Limited Partner, Sequoia Capital Scout, and inaugural member of First Round Capital's Angel Track. Her frameworks for success have been shared on over 150 stages and in more than 100 publications. Mandela has received various recognitions, including being named Entrepreneur magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women, LinkedIn's Top 10 Voices in Venture Capital and Startups, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee. Resources: Start your week on an insight high with fresh takes delivered straight to your inbox via The Creative Brink Newsletter. Get everything you need to level up your founder journey and level the playing field at Founder Gym.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Donnel Baird of Blocpower.io, a Brooklyn-based climate technology startup that is making American cities greener, smarter, and healthier by retrofitting older buildings with more efficient energy systems. In this episode, Donnel talks about how he got started by "greening" some barber shops in Harlem and then landed a government contract, getting past 200 "no's" when raising early capital, pitching Ben Horowitz and Mitch Kapor for his pre-seed round, understanding the "Silicon Valley Archetype" of what VCs are looking for and how to close the gap if you are different from that archetypes, tips for Black founders, and much more. The Company recently raised a $63 million Series A round ($55 million debt, $8 million equity). The round was led by American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, AccelR8 and The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, with participation from Kapor Capital, Elemental Excelerator, CityRock Venture Partners, The Schmidt Family Foundation and Salesforce Ventures. Other investors in the Company include Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, MaC Venture Capital, Exelon, New York Ventures of the Empire State Development Corporation, Echoing Green, and The Schmidt Family Foundation. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https:/www.foundersuite.com/

Frank Furman was destined to lead. First, as an Infantry Officer in the US Marine Corps. Then as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company And now, he’s Chief Operating Officer of the VC-backed & fast-growing PadSplit. PadSplit is disrupting the affordable housing industry by creating safe, attractive, and respectable co-living environments. One room at a time, often for workforce housing. Unlike AirBnB, this is long-term rentals Based in Atlanta, PadSplit has 1,200 bedrooms listed & its average rental is 8.5 months Clearly, Frank & PadSplit are onto something. Because they’ve been backed by a who’s who of early-stage ventures. Including Impact Engine, Cox Enterprises, Kapor Capital, Techstars, 1984 Ventures, Base Ventures and Core Innovation Capital. But this episode isn’t about funding. It’s about leadership. And how Frank is scaling his team at PadSplit.

In this episode: Emily's conversation with Donnel Baird, the founder and CEO of BlocPower.BlocPower is a Brooklyn, New York startup electrifying and weatherizing buildings in underserved communities — slashing pollution and saving money. This includes housing units, churches, community centers. BlocPower was founded in 2012. It has raised venture capital from Kapor Capital and Andreesen Horowitz. But that process was not easy for a company with a mostly Black leadership team. As a black founder, Donnel was turned down 200 times before any venture firms were willing to back his vision.The mission for Donnel isn't about just about hitting milestones for investors. It's about changing the fabric of underserved communities that are plagued by pollution and energy poverty. That's because Donnel has lived it himself.The conversation was recorded in front of a live, remote audience at the end of 2020.We're brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 — so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, every hour of the day. Learn more.Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

Venture capital firms are known for being an incredibly exclusive group. The firms themselves are often small. Even smaller is the number of partners, the actual decision-makers who control hundreds of millions — sometimes billions — of dollars. At the biggest firms, there might be a dozen partners maximum. And if you’re an entrepreneur who wants some of that money, it definitely helps to have gone to college with one of those partners. Kapor Capital is trying to be more inclusive in whom it promotes and funds. One way it’s different: It finds founders primarily through a submission form on its website instead of networking. Molly speaks with Mitch Kapor, the firm’s founding partner.

Venture capital firms are known for being an incredibly exclusive group. The firms themselves are often small. Even smaller is the number of partners, the actual decision-makers who control hundreds of millions — sometimes billions — of dollars. At the biggest firms, there might be a dozen partners maximum. And if you’re an entrepreneur who wants some of that money, it definitely helps to have gone to college with one of those partners. Kapor Capital is trying to be more inclusive in whom it promotes and funds. One way it’s different: It finds founders primarily through a submission form on its website instead of networking. Molly speaks with Mitch Kapor, the firm’s founding partner.

Venture capital firms are known for being an incredibly exclusive group. The firms themselves are often small. Even smaller is the number of partners, the actual decision-makers who control hundreds of millions — sometimes billions — of dollars. At the biggest firms, there might be a dozen partners maximum. And if you’re an entrepreneur who wants some of that money, it definitely helps to have gone to college with one of those partners. Kapor Capital is trying to be more inclusive in whom it promotes and funds. One way it’s different: It finds founders primarily through a submission form on its website instead of networking. Molly speaks with Mitch Kapor, the firm’s founding partner.

Venture capital firms are known for being an incredibly exclusive group. The firms themselves are often small. Even smaller is the number of partners, the actual decision-makers who control hundreds of millions — sometimes billions — of dollars. At the biggest firms, there might be a dozen partners maximum. And if you’re an entrepreneur who wants some of that money, it definitely helps to have gone to college with one of those partners. Kapor Capital is trying to be more inclusive in whom it promotes and funds. One way it’s different: It finds founders primarily through a submission form on its website instead of networking. Molly speaks with Mitch Kapor, the firm’s founding partner.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

In this episode of Immigration Law for Tech Startups, I’m absolutely thrilled to be joined by Esther Tricoche, director of investments at Kapor Capital, the venture capital investment arm of the Kapor Center for Social Impact based in Oakland.   Kapor Capital invests in tech-driven, early-stage startups that expand access and opportunities to low-income communities or communities of color in the U.S. Esther focuses on investments in other VC funds that share Kapor Capital’s values.   During our discussion, Esther shared her origin story of growing up in Houston under the poverty line. “I had no idea what venture capital was,” she says. “Venture capital wasn’t on my radar until after college.”   However, once the VC world came onto her radar, she quickly excelled in that world. By the age of 30, Esther had deployed $150 million in investment funds, had co-founded an edtech accelerator and venture fund, and was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in education.   Listen to Esther discuss how diverse teams drive better financial outcomes, surprising new research from Pitchbook about female founders and CEOs, her words of wisdom for founders, and what she expects—and hopes for—in 2021.   Please share this episode with aspiring entrepreneurs, startup founders, or anyone who can benefit from it. Reach out to us if we can help you determine your immigration options whether you’re in the U.S. or abroad.   In this episode, you’ll hear about: Esther’s origin story and early career in devising human rights policy, education policy, funding and supporting edtech startups, and later social enterprises expanding around the globe How Hurricanes Harvey and Maria in 2017 prompted a pivotal shift in her career What international cities are the biggest entrepreneurial hotspots, and why investors in those markets are similar to VC market in Atlanta Esther’s assessment of where the biggest investment gaps are in emerging markets Kapor Capital’s investment philosophy Esther’s focus at Kapor Capital How diverse teams drive better financial outcomes Interesting trends in a recent report published by Pitchbook Why a lot of VC funds are focusing on immigrant founders Esther’s words of wisdom for founders What she expects in 2021   Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with other top technology thought leaders, venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, and futurists on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or whatever your favorite platform is. We welcome your rating and review of this podcast.   Resources: Kapor Capital Kauffman Foundation Pitchbook’s All In: Female Founders and CEOs in the US VC Ecosystem     Alcorn Immigration Law publications and courses: Subscribe to the Alcorn Immigration Law Newsletter Immigration Options Chart Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.   TechCrunch column: What everyone at a startup needs to know about immigration   ***   EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

Julia Collins is the Founder and CEO of Planet FWD, a company on a mission to tackle climate change by expanding regenerative agriculture adoption. The company is building a software platform for regenerative agriculture alongside Moonshot Snacks, its climate-friendly snack brand that carbon neutral, organic, kosher, plant-based, non-GMO and has no sugar added. Planet FWD has raised over $5M in venture capital from funds including Emerson Collective, BBG Ventures, MCJ Collective, January Ventures, Concrete Rose, Kapor Capital, Arlan Hamilton and more. Julia is a serial entrepreneur who has started companies like Mexicue, Murray's Cheese Bar, Harlem Jazz Enterprises, and Zume Pizza, where she raised over $250M in venture capital and became the first black woman to co-found a unicorn company. Julia serves on the board of Black Girls Code, sits on the advisory council for Launch with GS, and serves on the All Raise operating committee. She is an active angel investor focused on funding female entrepreneurs and BIPOC founders. In this episode, we will cover: Julia's first exposure to entrepreneurship and what motivated her to become a founder How Julia prepared herself to start her first company and what it felt like to actually make the leap and jump in Julia's experience starting a company with a co-founder vs. on her own, plus her advice on building the initial team What Julia learned from founding Zume Pizza and how that informed her approach for Planet FWD Julia's experience raising venture capital and her perspective on what matters most in generating momentum for that first round of capital Julia's advice for founders just starting out, particularly the mindset they must have in the early days Julia's inspiring vision for how Planet FWD will change our lives and positively impact the planet

Freelance workers may soon be able to find their next gigs through a new LinkedIn service that’s currently under development.  LinkedIn Marketplaces will enable users on the Microsoft-owned professional social networking platform to find, connect, hire, and pay freelancers all on the platform itself. LinkedIn spokeswoman Suzi Owens was quoted as saying that the platform has noticed a rise in people searching and requesting services from others during the pandemic. “In the future we'll be building new ways to share more about the services you [could] offer directly through your LinkedIn profile,” Owens told The Information.  LinkedIn’s move isn’t surprising since it is reported that Upwork and Fiverr, the two behemoths in the freelance marketplace field, together generated about $550 million in revenue last year. With over 700 million professionals already on its network, it stands to reason that LinkedIn wants to have a share of the pie as well.  However, what apparently sets Marketplaces apart from the existing functionality is that it’ll be tied to the LinkedIn digital wallet that is also supposedly in the works. The wallet will enable LinkedIn to facilitate transactions between the employers and the freelancers, making the platform an attractive end-to-end solution in the gig economy. If reports are to be believed, LinkedIn has been working on the Marketplaces feature since October 2019, and it’s set to go public later this year in September. Have to ask what will happen to their current product ProFinder> That project marketplace has been out for years but never seemed to become a mainstream product fo rLI...looks like that may fade away in favor of whatever new thing they are building https://www.techradar.com/amp/news/linkedins-new-service-could-be-the-tool-to-book-your-next-freelance-gig iCIMS Adds Slew of New Features Accelerating hiring decisions: iCIMS for Microsoft Teams allows recruiters and hiring managers to provide interview feedback – during or after live video meetings – directly within Microsoft Teams to accelerate the ease and speed of hiring.  Gaining more control with new, native video interview capabilities: Job advertising platform Talroo, has launched a new feature enhancement called Qualifying Questions to enable companies to hire qualified candidates while reducing wasted time and wasted recruitment marketing budget.  https://hrtechfeed.com/new-features-in-hr-tech-icims-talroo-crew/ Bitwise Industries has raised $50M in series B financing led by Kapor Capital, with participation from JPMorgan Chase, Motley Fool Ventures, and ProMedica to support the actions needed to stop the widening wealth gap, end institutional discrimination, and remove the barriers for accessing high-wage, high-growth jobs.  This latest round of funding will support the company’s growth into multiple new markets across the country beginning with Toledo, Ohio.  Bitwise is one of the largest tech apprenticeship providers in the country. https://hrtechfeed.com/tech-apprenticeship-provider-bitwise-lands-50-million/ Phenom, the global leader in Talent Experience Management (TXM), today announced its acquisition of Talentcube, an experience-driven video technology company based in Munich, Germany. Phenom’s third acquisition in five months will accelerate the adoption of video for candidates, employees, recruiters and hiring managers, optimizing support of a post-COVID, remote workforce. The addition of Talentcube’s technology advances Phenom’s ability to provide seamless video functionality at every stage of the talent journey. https://hrtechfeed.com/phenom-acquires-talentcube/

Greg joined Kapor Capital in 2019 and focuses on Agtech, Energy, and Infrastructure investments. Prior to joining Kapor Capital, Greg was a consultant for several funds, foundations, corporations, and family offices. Greg was also previously on the investment team at Village Capital, an early-stage venture fund and accelerator, and was focused on finding, training, and investing in founders working to solve big global problems. Greg began his investment career at Unitus Capital, an investment bank based in Bangalore, India. Before moving into the investment field, Greg worked as a product manager for FINCA International, a global micro-finance bank, and as a grant-writer and researcher at the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies in Amman, Jordan. He also was a SAT/ACT tutor for students in the United States and Jordan. Greg received his B.A. in International Political Economy the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Outside of work, Greg enjoys boxing, playing soccer, building things out of wood, and hiking the trails of northern California.

The following is a conversation between Freada Kapor Klein, Partner at Kapor Capital, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving. The need to “build back better” in the wake of the cataclysmic events from this past year is at the top of most people's minds, but good intentions are no longer good enough... or are piecemeal solutions. Freada Kapor Klein, a partner at Kapor Capital and co-chair of the Kapor Center, understands better than most what changes are truly needed to assure for an equitable, diverse, and inclusive rebuild. And she is with us now.

Dr. Dayna Long, Medical Director and Researcher, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland Center for Child and Community Health, discusses her involvement in the All In For Kids virtual series that took place in December 2020, and how research has shown that persistent childhood adversity – abuse, neglect, violence, racism, and other forms of trauma – can lead to higher rates of illness (cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc.) later in life. COVID-19 has exacerbated the trauma, isolation, and stress kids are experiencing and is disproportionately affecting Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other communities of color. Dr. Dayna Long, Pediatrician, Medical Director and Researcher UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Center for Child & Community Health. Dr. Dayna Long has been a primary care pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for over 20 years. For the past 5 years, she has also served as the co-Director of Center for Child and Community Health at University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospitals. She dedicates her career to eliminating childhood health inequities that lead to poor health, financial and educational outcomes for families and young children on both individual and population levels. She is a co-Principal Investigator of the Pediatrics Adverse Childhood and Resilience Study (PEARLS). The PEARLS tool screens and measures children for experiences in their daily environment that can cause stress. She also directs the Family Information and Navigation Desk (FIND), along with the FIND connect technology platform, which address the social and environmental factors affecting children’s health outcomes. As a steering committee member of First 5 Alameda County/Help Me Grow, Dr. Long advocates for children. In 2014 she received the prestigious National Service Award from the Corporation for National Service for the 20th Anniversary of AmeriCorps. She is the 2016 Girls Inc., Alameda STRONG awardee, received the 2018 Genius Leadership Award from Kapor Capital and Genius Plaza and most recently was given the Keeping the Promise 2020 Award from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Dr. Long received her B.S. from Stanford University in Biology and a B.A.in African and African-American History. She attended medical school at George Washington University and completed her residency and an infectious disease fellowship at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and was subsequently a Harvard Macy Institute Faculty Scholar.

BlocPower CEO Donnel Baird is on a mission to clean up old, inefficient buildings in America’s cities -- and help people who are exposed to the worst pollution. BlocPower was founded in 2012. It’s raised venture capital from Kapor Capital and Andreesen Horowitz. But that process was not easy for a company with a mostly non-white leadership team. As a black founder, Donnel was turned down 200 times before any venture firms were willing to back his vision.“It was really difficult for us raising capital. One of our investors when I talked to him two or three years ago and said I was struggling to raise capital, he was like ‘yeah man, just hire some white people and send them into the fundraising meetings and it’ll clear things up,’” explains Donnel.BlocPower is a Brooklyn, New York startup electrifying and weatherizing buildings in underserved communities -- slashing pollution and saving money. This includes housing units, churches, community centers. And the mission for Donnel isn’t about just about hitting milestones for investors. It’s about changing the fabric of underserved communities that are plagued by pollution and energy poverty. That’s because Donnel has lived it himself.In this episode, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch talks with Donnel about how he channeled his frustration and anger around racial unfairness into a business model for the energy transition.Listen to all our past episodes of Watt It Takes here. This series is normally recorded in front of a live audience, but we’re now recording the interviews remotely. See future events from Powerhouse here.The Energy Gang is brought to you by Sungrow, a leading provider of PV inverter solutions across the world. Sungrow has delivered more than 10 gigawatts of inverters to the Americas alone -- and 120 gigawatts in total across the globe. Learn more about Sungrow’s cutting-edge solar projects.The Energy Gang is also brought to you by CPower. CPower and its team of energy experts are back with a webinar series aimed to help organizations make sense of the chaos and optimize their energy use and spend in 2021. This hour-long webinar series features market-by-market breakdowns to help energy planners make the right decisions. Register today.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Zuleyka Strasner of ZeroGrocery.com which offers a grocery delivery platform that provides shoppers with a convenient and plastic-free delivery service. In this episode, Zuleyka talks about how she started the business and validated the market with $2,500 from her apartment building, what it's like navigating Silicon Valley and raising capital as a Black, trans, woman immigrant (and why resilience is key), why it's important to not waste time on investors who are "just not that into you," how COVID19 has dramatically changed the landscape for her business (in a good way), and much more. The Company most recently raised $3 million of seed funding in a deal led by 1984 Ventures. Luma Launch, GingerBread Capital, Forward Venture Capital, Chingona Ventures, Concrete Rose Capital, INCITE, MaC Venture Capital, Gaingels Syndicate, Cleo Capital, Bluestein Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, VitalizeVC, WOCstar Fund, Precursor Ventures, SGH Capital, City Light Capital, Kapor Capital, Vitalize Venture Group, Tina Bou-Saba, Basecamp Fund, and Arlan Hamilton also participated in the round. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $2.5 Billion since 2016.

Chris Hulls is the Co-Founder and CEO of Life360, the world's leading platform for keeping loved ones connected and protected outside the home. Founded in 2008, Life360's mobile app now provides millions of families in over 140 countries with services such as private location sharing, location history, drive details, crash detection, roadside assistance and help alerts through our free and paid membership subscription. Life360 has raised +$200M in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, DCM, Fontinalis Partners, BMW iVentures, Allstate, Bullpen Capital, Founders Fund (FF Angel), Launch Capital, Kapor Capital, and 500 startups. They are currently publicly listed as 360 on the Australia Stock Exchange (ASX). Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Highest Honors from the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously an angel investor in or an advisor to a number of technology companies including Tile, Credible, Ring, Automatic, Honk, and Zendrive. He is also an Air Force veteran and served in Afghanistan. About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies. They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches. They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs. Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company. Learn more at variasearch.com. Some of the Topics Covered by Chris Hulls in this Episode What Life360 is and the big vision for the company How the idea for Life360 was born and how Chris developed it and pivoted early Chris' lifetime journey in entrepreneurship Early customer acquisition for Life360 The challenges of being the first ever location sharing app How they leveraged a big news story into a growth hack that kickstarted the app's success How Chris and his co-founder navigated the early lack of traction The importance of customer retention From borrowing money from family members to raising a Series A How Chris has approached building and managing the Life360 team How Chris approaches hard conversations and having to let go employees Adapting the business model to create revenue Chris' professional growth and his experience with YPO and an executive coach The decision to go public in Australia and how Chris has leveraged the secondary market What fuels Chris and how he navigates the challenge of work-life balance Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

In this episode of the Dear BAMf podcast, we speak with Cliff Worley, Senior Director of Portfolio Growth Marketing at Kapor Capital. Cliff shares his advice for getting customer case studies, how to do more with less, and why it's important to think about diversity and inclusion when planning a new company-wide photoshoot.

Jason Reminick, MD, MBA, MS is the CEO & Founder of Thalamus, the premier cloud-based interview management platform designed for application to graduate medical education (GME) training programs. He is passionate about medical innovation, education and technology with work featured in Health Leaders Media and PracticeLink Magazine, as well as leading medical journals including The Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME), The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) and Movement Disorders. Formerly, Jason trained in the combined Pediatrics/Anesthesiology program at Stanford University, with interests in pediatric chronic pain. He graduated Alpha Omega Alpha from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, while concurrently earning his MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business, concentrating in Entrepreneurship and Health Sciences Management. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Biochemistry and Theatre Arts, while concurrently sub-matriculating to earn a Master's of Science in Chemistry. In addition to his role at Thalamus, he is also the Director of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (SOPE) Nashville Chapter and also serves as an advisor, specializing in healthcare and business pitching, at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Jason was recognized as a Physician of Tomorrow award recipient (2012) by the American Medical Association for his entrepreneurial, humanistic and medical journalism pursuits. He was a member of the Stanford University Society of Physician Scholars (2013-2017) and a Joseph Collins Foundation Fellow (2011-2013). He has also won several nationally recognized entrepreneurship competitions including MedHack-San Francisco (2014) and the Johns Hopkins University Business Plan Competition (2012). Splitting his time between the Bay Area and Nashville, TN, Jason is well versed in the technology and fundraising scene in Silicon Valley. Thalamus finished in the top of its cohort in Jason Calacanis' Launch accelerator and then went on to receive VC funding from some of the top firms in the Valley including Fresco VC, Kapor Capital and The Launch Syndicate. Originally from East Meadow (Long Island), NY, Jason is a husband and father of an amazing 6 month old boy. He enjoys theater, movies, fine dining and following New York area sports teams. What we cover How can programs use big data to make better recruiting decisions? Is the current way of applying to residencies optimal? Insight from someone who sees many many applicants and where they end up. To connect w/Dr. Reminick Connect @jasonreminick or @thalamusgme ___ And finally, learn more about how to survive residency even with no time, no money, and no power. The Solving Resident Burnout Book is a practical, evidence-based manual that is easy to read.

Batul Joffrey is an investor with Kapor Capital, making socially mindful investments that aim to close gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for underserved communities. She is the current vice curator of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper’s LA Hub - where she leads the group in driving dialogue, action, and change through local projects, such as Los Angeles Votes, where their current focus is on increasing civic engagement in the younger LA populations.    Previously, she was Chief of Staff at a social impact startup and also a senior consultant on a complex data analysis and management team.    Outside of work, you can find her with a cup of chai in hand, enjoying the art of storytelling through different mediums whether it be books, movies, or photography and engaging with the people and components that make up her identity as a Pakistani-Indian Muslim American woman.   Listen to Batul Talk about: How she got into the VC Being a woman of color in this field  What they look for when providing funding  The importance of opening up opportunities to diverse backgrounds What her day to day looks like      Follow Her Zindagi on Instagram: @her.zindagi Find the host, Maheen, on Instagram: @maheen93   If you or someone you know would make a good guest on the podcast or if you have any questions/comments/concerns please email herzindagipodcast@gmail.com

"Your business will get better when you get better." ~ Mandela SH Dixon, Founder and CEO, FounderGymGet ready for some high impact inspiration and aspiration from our guest, Mandela SH Dixon! She's the phenomenal Founder & CEO of FounderGym, the first and leading online program to train underrepresented founders how to raise money and build sustainable and profitable businesses. In less than 3 years FounderGym has helped founders from 22 countries raise over $43 million!A former public school teacher, education policy researcher, and PhD candidate, Mandela began her career in tech as a startup founder, building Tioki, which helped hundreds of schools across the country secure great teachers for their students. After a successful exit, Mandela became the Global Director of Startup Weekend (acquired by Techstars), followed by 2 years at Kapor Capital as the Founding Portfolio Services Director, before launching FounderGym in 2017.Whenever I need inspiration and actionable advice to keep me motivated and moving forward with my work, I hop on Mandela's Twitter or Instagram feed. You can FEEL her high-impact energy and HEAR her hands clapping like a coach on the sidelines, cheering you on to be and bring your BEST. Our conversation - from an earlier live streamed show - will lift you up and leave you with action steps you can take immediately to increase revenue and restore your mindset to a vibrant, healthy condition! Watch the live stream video here: https://bit.ly/SLSMandelaSHWays to engage with Mandela:https://foundergym.com/ - sign up for newsletter AND for a FREE Master Class!https://twitter.com/MandelaSHhttps://twitter.com/FounderGymhttps://www.instagram.com/foundergym/https://www.instagram.com/mandelash/If you’d like to receive an alert whenever I post a new episode, please follow the Startup Life Show wherever you listen to podcasts, including: Stitcher, Spotify or Apple/Google Podcasts… and let’s connect on social media! You’ll always find me hanging out at my favorite social media bar – Twitter! https://twitter.com/AndeLyonsTo receive an alert for my live shows, please join my Meetup group here: https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Life-LIVE/Do you have a startup story you’d like to share on the Startup Life Show podcast? Please reach out to me via email – ande@andelyons.com. You'll find tons of curated DIY startup advice on my YouTube Channel Andelicious Advice: https://www.youtube.com/user/AndeliciousAdvice and please subscribe to my bi-monthly newsletter, Let’s Stick Together -> http://bit.ly/AndeliciousNewsletterDo you need a pitch deck reviewed? I've raised millions from VC and thousands from Angels... and I'm a co-host of a monthly pitch event in Boston. I can make sure your deck is ready for investors and a pitch event. Click this link to learn more: http://bit.ly/PitchDeckAuditAre you ready to stop struggling alone and take your business to the next level… without wasting money and valuable time? I offer Startup Strategy Sessions, Funding Strategy Sessions, Monthly Founder Support and Emergency Founder Support. Book a free intro call here: https://andelyons.as.me/Need an audio or video transcribed? Use Otter.ai: https://bit.ly/StartupLifeOtter Listeners - thank you so much for tuning in - I am genuinely grateful for your time and presence. Stay strong, stay focused – and please remember – you’ve got this – Cheers!Ande ♥

The impact of a global pandemic has been far reaching, and according to data reports, it’s clear that here in America communities of color are being hit disproportionately hard by COVID19. Analysis from The COVID Racial Data Tracker revealed that in many states, African-American deaths from COVID19 are nearly two to three times greater than would be expected based on their share of the population, while Hispanic/Latinos make up a greater share of confirmed cases in 42 states plus Washington D.C.. In our first episode of Onward On-Air, host Jake Soberal facilitates a conversation with Rich Dennis, CEO of Essence & Sundial, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, of California’s 13th District, and Freada Kapor Klein, Partner at Kapor Capital and Kapor Center, on how the pandemic has impacted communities of color and what we can do to respond.

Welcome back to Access & Opportunity. In these unprecedented times of COVID-19, we're checking in with some of our favorite guests from previous seasons to understand how they're adjusting their schedules, their businesses, their outlook, and their investing styles. In this episode, Carla welcomes back Dr. Freda Kapor Klein, Founding Partner at Kapor Capital and founder and co-chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact.Dr. Kapor Klein appeared in season one and in season three, so we wanted to see how, despite the current circumstances, she continues to create opportunities for underserved communities and to close the gap in the venture funding landscape. We discuss how she's thinking about new investments, how she sees the challenges and the silver linings that many startup businesses are facing in the time of COVID-19, and specifically, how it's affecting early-stage companies, the investing community, and the VC community.https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunityThe guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.© 2020 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Lo Toney is the founding managing partner of Plexo Capital, a new $42.5 million fund incubated inside of GV focused on making investments in seed-stage VC firms led by women or people of color. In addition to investing as LPs, Plexo Capital makes direct investments in startups that are funded by firms where Plexo has an LP position. The fund’s investors include Alphabet, Intel Capital, Cisco Investments, the Royal Bank of Canada, Kapor Capital, the Hampton University Endowment and the Ford Foundation. Previous to Plexo Capital, Lo was a partner at GV and Comcast Ventures, as well as an operator in various capacities at Zynga, Nike, and eBay. In this episode, we discuss Lo's unique career journey, some of the early lessons he learned helping to build iconic web products in the dot com era, how he landed at GV and more recently decided to build his own venture platform in Plexo Capital. We're also excited to announce Carta as the title sponsor for this season of Origins, a product we use and love. Get 10% off when you use the Notation Signup Link (Terms and conditions apply). This season is also sponsored by SVB and Cooley, two of the earliest and most trusted supporters of our work at Notation.

This weeks guest on Evolve with Brandon Stover has helped hundreds of founders raise startup capital and build successful businesses. Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon is Founder & CEO of Founder Gym which is bringing Silicon Valley to the streets of hundreds of underrepresented founders to help them build successful businesses, across 16 countries, and raise $35 million dollars in funding to scale their tech startups. She was the founding Portfolio Services Director at Kapor Capital, the Global Director of Startup Weekend Education, and a tech startup founder backed by Kapor Capital, 500 Startups, and Imagine K12 (acq. by Y Combinator). Mandela is also a member of First Round Capital’s prestigious Angel Track program. In this episode she talks about lessons learned while failing her first startup, the key skills every founder must have, and how to deal with crippling impostor syndrome & analysis paralysis. Visit brandonstover.com/evolve for shownotes & resources with each episode. ► Follow Me Online Here: Website | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Silicon Valley venture firm Kapor Capital recently released its annual Impact Report, which clearly demonstrates that they have not sacrificed returns when investing in women- and multiculturally-led businesses. In this episode of Access & Opportunity, we welcome back Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, a founding partner at Kapor Capital and founder and co-chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact. Dr. Kapor Klein talks to us about that report, about the principles that guide Kapor Capital's investment strategy, how a focus on skills instead of pedigrees can be both inclusive and effective, and how a new approach to venture capital might help change the capital-access divide. This is the final episode of our third season of Access & Opportunity, where we have been exploring how influential investors, from across various pools of capital, are helping women- and multiculturally-led businesses gain access to capital. After you’ve listened, and while we work on Season 4, check out more of our content on the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Innovation and Opportunity page:https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunityThe guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. © 2019 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Atticus Leblanc of PadSplit.com, a house sharing service that offers affordable shared living experiences to the workforce. The Company raised a $4.6 million Seed Round led by Core Innovation Capital. Cox Enterprises, Kapor Capital, 1984 Ventures, Impact Engine, MetaProp NYC, Techstars, Alexander & Edwards Publishing and Enterprise Community Partners also participated in the round. In this episode, Atticus discusses his vision for making an affordable housing marketplace, the Atlanta startup scene, raising capital from foundations and social impact investors, his powerful way he leverages weekly investor updates, and much more. This series is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Learn more at www.foundersuite.com.

Mitch Kapor is fond of saying, “genius is evenly distributed by ZIP Code, but opportunity is not.” So, in 2011 Mitch and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, set out to tackle this issue by investing in seed stage tech startups closing gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for low-income communities and communities of color in the US. After more than 100 investments over eight years, Kapor Capital has not only been able to generate gap-closing social impact but has done so while achieving financial returns in the top quartile among VC funds of similar size. In this episode, Mitch shares lessons learned from his journey into impact investing and tries to dispel harmful biases still embedded in the VC community.

The post E24: “Angel” podcast: Mitch Kapor, Partner at Kapor Capital, shares stellar return results of their portfolio’s first-ever Impact Report, investing with purpose to close gaps & back entrepreneurs with distance traveled, insights on Uber’s IPO, fixing the gig economy, promoting diversity in Silicon Valley & creating long-term value v. short-term gains appeared first on This Week In Startups.

Mitch Kapor, Partner at Kapor Capital, shares stellar return results of their portfolio's first-ever Impact Report, investing with purpose to close gaps & back entrepreneurs with distance traveled, insights on Uber's IPO, fixing the gig economy, promoting diversity in Silicon Valley & creating long-term value v. short-term gains

The post E24: “Angel” podcast: Mitch Kapor, Partner at Kapor Capital, shares stellar return results of their portfolio’s first-ever Impact Report, investing with purpose to close gaps & back entrepreneurs with distance traveled, insights on Uber’s IPO, fixing the gig economy, promoting diversity in Silicon Valley & creating long-term value v. short-term gains appeared first on This Week In Startups.

Nick is the co-founder and CEO of Thrive Market, which is an online retailer with over 2,500 high-quality healthy foods, vitamins, home goods, and beauty supplies. Thrive Market is doing $200 million in sales and also raised $200 million from celebrity investors. Some of those investors are Demi Moore, John Legend, Deepak Chopra or Tony Robbins. On the VC side, they have investors like Greycroft, e.ventures, and Kapor Capital.

Nick is the co-founder and CEO of Thrive Market, which is an online retailer with over 2,500 high-quality healthy foods, vitamins, home goods, and beauty supplies. Thrive Market is doing $200 million in sales and also raised $200 million from celebrity investors. Some of those investors are Demi Moore, John Legend, Deepak Chopra or Tony Robbins. On the VC side, they have investors like Greycroft, e.ventures, and Kapor Capital.

Venture capitalist and prominent activist Freada Kapor Klein, the founder of Kapor Capital, talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about diversity in tech and impact investing. In this episode: In this episode: Kapor Klein’s background; her first forays into activism; why the term “sexual coercion” is more meaningful in the workplace than “sexual harassment”; holding managers accountable when they don’t live a company’s values; why did Kapor Klein and her husband Mitch Kapor become impact investors?; how to have values as a VC; being an Uber investor during the company’s discrimination scandal; how is Dara Khosrowshahi doing?; why the venture capital industry is “flunking” the diversity test; startups that widen inequality; the problem with how All Raise measures diversity; Kapor Klein’s publicly quiet supporters; what does impact investing really mean?; Bill McGlashan and the college admissions scandal; making college admissions more equitable; why Kapor Klein is optimistic about the world; and the 2020 presidential campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

Daniel Ramot is the cofounder of Via which provides on-demand transit on a mass scale. The company has raised so far over $450 million from investors such as Pitango Venture Capital, Daimler, Kapor Capital, Hearst Ventures, or RiverPark Ventures. Daniel has a Ph.D in neuroscience from Stanford. Prior to Via, Ramot built supercomputers designed to discover new pharmaceutical drugs and developed avionic systems for F-15s and F-16s for the Israeli Air Force.

Daniel Ramot is the cofounder of Via which provides on-demand transit on a mass scale. The company has raised so far over $450 million from investors such as Pitango Venture Capital, Daimler, Kapor Capital, Hearst Ventures, or RiverPark Ventures. Daniel has a Ph.D in neuroscience from Stanford. Prior to Via, Ramot built supercomputers designed to discover new pharmaceutical drugs and developed avionic systems for F-15s and F-16s for the Israeli Air Force.

Today on Midday, we continue our series of Conversations with the Candidates.My guest is Ben Jealous, the Democratic nominee for Governor. He was one of nine Democrats on the ballot in the primary last June. And he beat the crowded field handily, with 40% of the vote, defying pollsters and pundits, many of whom who had predicted a win by Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker.In the end, Mr. Jealous bested Mr. Baker by nearly 10 points. Ben Jealous and his running mate Susan Turnbull, the former Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, are now challenging Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Lt. Gov Boyd Rutherford. Ben Jealous is perhaps best known as the former president and CEO of the NAACP. When he was appointed to that position in 2008, he was, at 35 years old, the youngest person ever to lead the venerable civil rights organization. In 2013, he joined Kapor Capital, a socially conscious investment firm. He manages the firm’s Baltimore office. He is also a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. We livestreamed this show on the WYPR Facebook page. If you missed that video, check it out here.Election Day is seven weeks from today. Early voting begins in just 37 days on Oct. 25. Please remember to get out and vote!

“Most people in the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem… believe that institutions are meritocracies,” says Freada Kapor Klein, a founding partner of Kapor Capital. “If you believe that self-serving nonsense then you believe that if there's no diversity in your circles, it's because whoever's outside isn't good enough, and it's an incredibly dangerous and inaccurate belief system.” In the season 1 finale of the Access & Opportunity podcast, Carla Harris talks to Kapor Klein about how her Oakland-based venture capital firm, which she co-founded with her husband, the computer visionary Mitchell Kapor, is breaking down the investment barriers for startups run by women and multicultural entrepreneurs. To date, 56% of Kapor Capital’s investments have gone to startups with a founder who is a woman or a person of color from an underrepresented background. “We’re often the first money in, and our investment has signaling value—that we believe in this entrepreneur, in this business model, and we’re going to help them succeed,” says Kapor Klein.Taking it a step further, Kapor Capital has also invested in startups with a social justice angle that look to help underserved communities. One such venture—Pigeonly—helps families find affordable ways to keep in touch with incarcerated relatives. It’s all part of Kapor Klein’s evolving approach “to both identify leaks in the pipeline and to plug them.” The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.© 2018 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

OVERVIEW Sherrell Dorsey is a social entrepreneur. She is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s School of Journalism and the CEO and President of BLKTECHCLT an initiative creating an inclusive ecosystem of dope startup founders, committed leaders, and engaged citizens moving North Carolina forward. She is also the founder of The Plug Daily, the first daily tech newsletter covering founders and innovators of color. With features in Fast Company, The Atlantic’s City Lab, The Root, Next City, and many others, Sherrell has covered high-profile founders, investors, and business trends at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and equity. Sherrell has been a featured speaker and moderator, hosting panels and fireside chats with Steve Case, founder of AOL; Virginia Governor, Terry McAuliffe; Daymond John, ABCs SharkTank; and Ben Jealous of Kapor Capital. Her experience in tech includes internships at Microsoft, serving as a marketing manager at Uber, and on a contract project with Google Fiber. She also serves as WCCB TV’s tech expert and hosts an inclusive quarterly technology event series called #BLKTECHCLT. Give $1 to MarketShare's 100,000 Founders Campaign http://bit.ly/kingstreetmarket/ Sherrell's Social Media & Web: twitter.com/Sherrell_Dorsey instagram.com/sherrell_dorsey linkedin.com/in/sherrell-dorsey-922a656 medium.com/@Sherrell_Dorsey blktechinteractive.com/ theplugdaily.com/ No Blueprint & AmbassadorStories Social Media: instagram.com/ambassadorstories/ twitter.com/AMBStories facebook.com/NoBlueprintPodcast/ ambassadorstoriesllc@gmail.com Support + Merch paypal.me/AmbassadorStories patreon.com/AmbassadorStories ambassadorstories.bigcartel.com/ Official Websites: NoBlueprintPodcast.com/ AmbassadorStories.com/ Extra! Sherrell Dorsey on TAF Presents: This Is The Work Podcast https://soundcloud.com/user-680051220/taf-presents-this-is-the-work-podcast-sherrell-dorsey-1 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/taf-presents-this-is-the-work-podcast/id1342476918?mt=2 Shelf Life Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-805652645 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shelf-life/id1384712118?mt=2

Today, we continue our series of Conversations with the Candidates who will be on the June 26 primary ballot here in Maryland. Early voting begins June 14th.Tom’s guest for the hour, live in Studio A, is Ben Jealous, a Democratic candidate for Governor. Last May, when he stood in front of his cousin’s flower shop in Baltimore’s Ashburton neighborhood and jumped into the race, he was only the second Democrat to announce his candidacy. Now, he has plenty of company: There will be nine Democrats on the ballot in June. The winner will go up against Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the general election next November. We are live streaming this conversation on the WYPR Facebook page. To watch, click here. Ben Jealous is perhaps best known as the former president and CEO of the NAACP. When he was appointed to that position in 2008, he was, at 35 years old, the youngest person ever to lead the NAACP. He was there for more than 5 years. When he left the NAACP in 2013, he joined Kapor Capital as a partner and investor. It’s a progressive investment firm based in Oakland, CA. He manages the firm’s Baltimore office. He is also a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is a former community organizer and, early in his career, he was a journalist. He is 45 years old and the father of two. He lives in Anne Arundel Co.

Ana Díaz-Hernández is the Head of Sales at interviewing.io, a platform for engineers that set technical interviews and land jobs at top tech companies. Sacramento-born, Ana talks about how she leveraged online communities to get into Stanford, break into startups, how she went through an acquisition process, hustled her way into venture capital at Kapor Capital. In addition to that, she also led business development and online education platforms like Udacity. She founded the Women of Color in Tech - Bay Area. She is a member of the Diversity Advisory Council for Code.org. She is in the Board of Directors for Chicana Latina Foundation.

Today in the guest chair, we have Mandela SH Dixon. She is one of the only black women who has navigated the tech space as a VC-backed tech startup founder, global startup ecosystem builder, and VC portfolio services director. Mandela began her career in Silicon Valley in 2011 as a startup founder backed by Kapor Capital, 500 Startups, and Imagine K12 (acquired by Y Combinator). Thereafter, she led a global entrepreneurial program called Startup Weekend Education (acquired by Techstars) that spanned six continents and empowered thousands of entrepreneurs to launch edtech startups. Most recently, Mandela worked at venture capital firm Kapor Capital, where she supported the success of over 120 tech startups and launched the Founders' Commitment, a first-of-its kind initiative teaching founders how to bake diversity and inclusion into the DNA of their early stage startups. To-date, Mandela has shared her frameworks for success on over 65 stages, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and Facebook. She has also received several recognitions, including being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List, LinkedIn's Top 10 Voices in Venture Capital and Startups, and Medium's Top 10% of Writers. Most recently, Mandela co-founded Founder Gym, an online training center that teaches underrepresented founders how to build successful tech startups (applications for Cohort 2 are now open). On this episode, we get into: What it was like to walk away from her first company Why it’s so important to her to democratize access to information in Silicon Valley Why there needs to be more transparency among founders How seeing both sides of the table and all aspects of the startup ecosystem has shaped her experience The start of Founder Gym and more! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Google Play Links mentioned on this episode Founder Gym Mandela’s Medium articles Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements Side Hustle Pro is now over 5600 members strong. If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook This episode is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is offering an unrestricted 30 day free trial for all my listeners. No credit card required. Visit FreshBooks.com​/​​SIDEHUSTLEPRO​ and enter SIDE​ ​HUSTLE​ ​PRO​ in the how did you hear about us section. This episode is brought to you by Skillshare.  Skillshare has a special offer just for my listeners: Get two months of Skillshare for just 99 cents. To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/hustlepro to start your two months now. Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Mandela - @mandelaSH Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro #SideHustlePro

Mandela SH Dixon is co-founder at Founder Gym, an online training center that teaches underrepresented founders how to build successful tech startups. She began her career in Silicon Valley in 2011 as a startup founder backed by Kapor Capital, 500 Startups, and Imagine K12. She led a global entrepreneurial program called Startup Weekend Education that spanned six continents and empowered thousands of entrepreneurs to launch edtech startups. Most recently, Mandela worked at venture capital firm Kapor Capital, where she supported the success of over 120 tech startups. She’s spoken for TEDx, Google, and Facebook. She’s Forbes 30 Under 30, LinkedIn's Top 10 Voices in Venture Capital and Startups, and Medium's Top 10% of Writers.   Subscribe to my Youtube Channel at: http://bit.ly/2kymc8n Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wlucasii Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Brian Dixon focuses on identifying and evaluating early-stage investments along with helping portfolio companies grow effectively. Brian joined Kapor Capital in 2011 after spending two summers as an MBA intern, and was promoted to partner in November 2015. He is committed to making sure entrepreneurs of all backgrounds have access to advice and capital in order to make their business succeed. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Northeastern University and an MBA from F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and has been selected as a Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Fellow, Babson Fellow, and Springworks Scholar. Prior to business school, Brian started his career as a software engineer at Citigroup through their selective IT analyst training program and has worked as a product and project manager at Education First and Babyzone (Acquired by Disney Inc.). He has founded multiple technology start-up companies and enjoys working with founders and accelerator programs

In 2014 Anastacia took a risk and left her job in consulting to become the first employee of a now venture-funded startup called Jopwell. She withdrew her admission to Columbia Business School in 2015 when Jopwell went through Y Combinator, the most renowned startup accelerator program in Silicon Valley. By the end of that summer, her work helped the company raise a $3.25M seed round of funding from Magic Johnson Enterprises and prestigious venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Kapor Capital, and more. Join us as we talk VC funding, business school and growth on Episode 3 of Season 4. Find Anastacia Here: Web: https://alittlepieceofmine.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/staaci7/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/staaci7 Linkedin:  www.linkedin.com/in/anastaciagordon/

Hello and welcome to Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig, where I interview entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the investors who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America.   My guest today is Devin Baptiste, cofounder and CEO of GroupRaise, a company with more than 50 employees in 3 offices in Houston, Texas, Santiago, Chile and the Philippines. GroupRaise is a platform that allows groups of 15-50+ to book events in more than 6000 restaurants across the united states. These restaurants then donate 10-20% of their bill to the organization or charity of the group's choice. As Devin puts it, it's the tastiest way to change the world. Not to mention the most cost effective customer acquisition strategy a restaurant can have.   Devin and I talk about his journey that took him from Houston to Taiwan, Korea, Hawaii, Chile, Germany and back to Houston again, how he thinks about scaling businesses from Latin America to the US, how he raised his recent fundraising round from Techstars Ventures, Kapor Capital and Magma Partners, how he looks at being a minority founder and what its like to run an international business while married with two young kids.   Devin is one of the most interesting people I've met in the past few years and I feel lucky to be able to work closely with him on his journey to building a world class business. We had a few sound issues, as Devin was in a target in a thunderstorm and then in his car when we recorded our conversation, but please don't let my recording issues get in the way of learning everything you can from Devin. Let's jump right in!

Today’s episode is about new ideas about a very old problem in consumer finance -- high-cost lending to high-risk borrowers. My guest is LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff, who is one of a new generation of fintech founders building alternatives to traditional payday lending. In public policy, there has been a long-standing assumption, sometimes implicit and sometimes explicit, that widespread access to credit -- especially mortgages -- is a good thing. A host of government regulations, programs, and bank supervisory activities aim to promote more credit, because we’ve assumed that wider credit access is, broadly speaking, good. Is it, though? Most people would agree that up to a point, it’s good, and beyond some point, it becomes bad. It definitely becomes bad at the point where the borrower can’t realistically repay the loan. It can also become bad if the pricing is so high that the person ends up worse off for borrowing, instead of better, especially if the borrower doesn’t understand the terms We could do many episodes on the tough issues embedded in this question. One is whether it’s better to have high-cost loan options that are legal and subject to regulation, or to outlaw them, knowing that shutting down legal options will drive some desperate people to use illegal ones, which hurt them even more. Another is the philosophical question of how much the government should protect people from themselves. If the price of a high-cost loan is clear, and borrowers understand it, should the government respect their decision on whether to take it, or substitute its judgment for theirs and remove the option? Again, public policy has been debating these issues for decades --  maybe centuries -- and still is, including through many of the initiatives taken to date by the CFPB. In this podcast, we won’t tackle those questions, but will instead ask a very different one: What if we didn’t need to resolve them? What if, thanks to technology, we could solve the problems surrounding high-cost credit -- or a big chunk of them -- not through regulation, but in the marketplace. LendUp.  Sasha Orloff founded LendUp to provide more affordable credit to the 50% of Americans with credit scores below 680. He had worked at a big bank, and at an NGO in the developing world, and had a brother in the technology world who kept telling him that better software could create better products. He finally founded LendUp, to build them. LendUp offers credit products online -- which means it has, automatically, a lower cost structure than the traditional bank model of branches. As Sasha explains in our discussion, it has also designed its products to offer borrowers a gateway to better credit scores, credit options, and financial health. LendUp is backed by major investors including Y-Combinator, Google Ventures, QED Investors, Startfund, Kleiner Perkins, A16Z seed fund, Thomvest Ventures, Kapor Capital, Bronze Investments, Founders Co-Op, Data Collective, Susa Ventures, and Radicle Impact. Sasha and the firm have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NYTimes, Financial Times, CNN, NBC, TechCrunch, Venturebeat, Inc, Wired, Bloomberg, Fortune, Dow Jones, American Banker, Marketplace and many others. He has presented at TEDx, and LendUp, and they won Finovate Best In Show. FastCompany named the firm as one of the World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Personal Finance, and it won runner up in Webbys for best website design. They have presented at LendIt, Emerge, Money20/20, The HubSF, NBC News, and Huffington Post Live, and participate in The Clinton Global Initiative on Financial Inclusion. Sasha also serves on the Consumer Lending Advisory Board for TransUnion (one of the three major credit bureaus) A regulatory note.  After Sasha and I recorded this episode, the CFPB announced an enforcement action against LendUp. The order is, among other things, a warning flag for startups about the importance, and the great challenges, of maintaining complete regulatory compliance in the midst of rapid growth. The company has responded with a massive expansion of compliance staff. Following the announcement of consent order last fall, it issued this statement: We started LendUp because the traditional banking system wasn’t working for more than half of Americans. From day one, we’ve committed ourselves to offering better, safer and more transparent credit products and to aligning the success of our business with the success of our customers. We genuinely believed the product features that were identified by the CFPB and the California DBO– like optional expedited funding and a 30 cent per day discount for early repayment—were in the best interests of our customers. But we fell short in the execution and in meeting the expectations of our regulators.  We have since taken action to resolve every issue they’ve raised, including beginning to refund customers prior to entry of the Consent Order and Settlement Agreement. We’ve also made significant investments to build out our legal and compliance operations. In this respect, we are a different company today, with a completely new legal and compliance team that is larger now than our entire company when we started these exams. Importantly, those teams are brought in at the beginning of the development lifecycle for every new product and feature. We are proud of the progress we’ve made to expand access to credit, lower borrowing costs and provide credit-building opportunities to our customers. LendUp has: Graduated more than 20,000 borrowers to the highest rungs of the LendUp Ladder in more than 11 states Saved Californians alone more than $18M in 2016 (and an estimated $40M to date nationwide) Delivered over 800,000 free credit education classes; and Helped LendUp customers improve their credit scores: according to TransUnion data, 66% of LendUp customers showed a credit score increase – more than those in the control group using similar types of products from other lenders. We are eager to keep building on this track record, and look forward to continuing our work to put our customers on paths to better financial health. I have found Sasha to be one of the most thoughtful people in fintech. I think you’ll be fascinated by his overview of the shrinking of the American middle class, the impact of the smartphone revolution; innovation models fort startups versus banks; how making financial education interesting; and how to redesign regulation for the 21st century, The loans at Lendup cost less than traditional payday options, but more than loans to prime customers, because the borrowers are simply higher risk. If lenders can’t charge enough to cover that risk, they won’t serve these customers. If they can, though, and if they can leverage technology to gain efficiency and underwriting accuracy, and if they can enable high-risk borrowers to build and repair credit records, and if they can educate people about managing their finances, and can also make a great return on capital and then truly scale up…. then seemingly unsolvable problems can, maybe, begin to.get solved. More links: Study on LendUp impact on credit scores. LendUp education on credit scores. More for our listeners: I'll hope to see you at "LendIt in New York in February, SXSW in March, FinXTech Summit in April and of course CFSI’s Emerge in June. Remember to review Barefoot Innovation on iTunes, and please sign up to get emails on new podcasts and my newsletter and blog posts at jsbarefoot.com.  My latest post argues for some healthy regulatory disruption as a new administration takes office. Go there too to send in your “buck a show” to keep Barefoot Innovation going. Please also join my Facebook fan page, and follow me on twitter. Support the Podcast And watch for the next podcast, because we’re going to turn to innovation in small business lending. My guest will be Karen Mills, the former Administrator of the SBA and at Harvard Business School, where she has just issued an updated study on small business lending This one is focused mainly on fintech. We had a fascinating conversation. See you then! Subscribe Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. 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Matt MacInnis is the Founder & CEO @ Inkling, the company that brings policies and procedures to life for your desktop workers. The company has backing from some of the best investors in the world with the likes of Sequoia, Felicis and Kapor Capital behind them. As for Matt, prior to Inkling, he spent 7 years at the one and only Apple Inc. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Taro Fukuyama, Founder @ AnyPerk for the intro to Matt. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How did Matt make his way into the world of SaaS and Inkling from Apple Inc? Does culture in sales really matter? Is it not just about hitting the fucking number? What are the two opposing culture that exist in the world of sales team? Why is missionary always better? How can a sales leader instill a competitive element into a missionary sales culture? What are the inherent challenges and how does Matt approach them? Is it possible to have a fantastic sales and a fantastic engineering culture? How can the two live under the same roof and what needs to happen to ensure this works? In terms of measurement, how can a founder know whether they have a strong culture? What are the signs and indications? 60 Second SaaStr Productivity Tools What does Matt know now that he wishes he had known in the beginning? Biggest mistake most SaaS companies are enacting with their sales process? If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin Harry Stebbings SaaStr Matt MacInnis

This week, the EdSurge On Air podcast features three "Extra" editions focusing on investors: how they choose what to invest in, where the money is flowing, what personalization in schools means to them, and more. On this episode, we speak to Brian Dixon of Kapor Capital. Kapor Capital holds a significant role in the space of investing: they do about 20 investments per year, and the average investment size is anywhere from $100,000 to $250,00. Dixon gives an inside peek into how Kapor makes its decisions.

Mitch Kapor is a successful entrepreneur, perhaps best known for founding Lotus, and investor, having founded Kapor Capital which focuses on tech startups that have strong social impact This episode we talk about Mitch's come up story, the world of impact investing and how Kapor measures impact, the ed-tech space, the role of government in tech and much more. This interview was recorded last year at the Launch Festival. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @mkapor Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

What can any startup learn from mission-driven companies? From focus, to metrics, to impact, to team, the lessons are deeper than most of us expect. In this conversation, Mitch Kapor, of Kapor Capital, talks with Christie George, Executive Director of New Media Ventures, about building a profitable company that solves real-world problems.

Part 1: In this chat with Snapchat QA Engineer Justin Washington, we discuss his journey to the ultra-popular and high-growth startup Snapchat, how he became a believer in the product, and working with Steve Jobs. We also talk about growing up in the midwest (he’s from Detroit), ambitions in the music business, and both of our impeccable tastes in music. Part 2: Brian Dixon is very smart, and he knows startups and pitching like the back of his hand. He’s a VC at Kapor Capital, a venture firm focused on startups making a significant social impact. In his role, he’s on the hunt for the next big thing. We talk about how to pitch effectively to get VC attention, and Silicon Valley.

Ben Jealous, Partner, Kapor Capital, former CEO, NAACP Ben Jealous stepped down from his post at the NAACP at the end of 2013. The youngest president in its history, he began his career at age 18 opening mail at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Jealous has been a leader of successful state and local movements to ban the death penalty, outlaw racial profiling, defend voting rights, secure marriage equality, and free multiple wrongfully incarcerated people. He has been named to the 40 under 40 lists of both Forbes and Time magazines. He is #1 on TheRoot.com’s 2013 list of black leaders under 45. He holds a BA from Columbia University and a MA from the University of Oxford , where he was a Rhodes Scholar.