Podcast appearances and mentions of ross baird

Capital markets have been volatile as of late. All forms of investment have been impacted, and Opportunity Zones are no exception. Ross Baird, founder of Blueprint Local, joins the show to discuss that impact, plus, some of the biggest lessons that he has learned after investing $200 million of OZ equity over the past four years. Show notes & transcript: https://opportunitydb.com/2023/06/ross-baird-268/

Devin: What do you think of as your superpower?Ben: I think I had a really interesting experience coming out of college. I grew up in, you know, upper-middle-class suburbs in New York of New York City. Then after college, my first job I got by happenstance was as an intern for the National Office of the NAACP. I was often the only white person in the room, which is just not an experience that I think a lot of my peers have ever had. I don’t know how to translate that into a superpower, but I think a level of empathy, a level of humility, understanding that while I have some great ideas, they’re just ideas.Devin: Meg, what do you think of as your superpower?Meg: I’m going to also say empathy, but I have a different life experience than Ben. I mean it in a slightly different way. I see my superpower as having the ability to help people tell their stories.Ben Wrobel, director of communications at Village Capital, and Meg Massey, a freelance journalist, have partnered to author a seminal new work called Letting Go: How Philanthropists and Impact Investors Can Do More Good by Giving Up Control.Meg summarizes the book succinctly: “We talk about how funders can and should integrate the people that they’re hoping to serve and support with their funding into the decision-making process.”There are two distinct audiences for the book, philanthropists and impact investors. While many do both, the two activities are treated mainly as two separate disciplines. Ben notes that the authors struggled about whether to include both but did because “a lot of the general principles are the same.”Village Capital is known for its unusual funding model. Ben explains:The model we have is called peer-selected investment, and we bring together 12 entrepreneurs that are working in the same sector, but not direct competitors. Twelve African entrepreneurs working on fintech, for instance. We put them through a training investment readiness program. Everyone gets a benefit out of it. But at the end of the program, the group engages in this very open, transparent ranking process and ultimately selects two of their peers to receive funding from our fund. Village Capital was formed to address a related problem in the venture capital community. “The reason village capital was created by Ross Baird and others early, early on was because venture capital, they argued, was a very closed off hegemonic sphere where a few people in a few cities are making decisions about our collective future,” Ben says.He notes, however, that Village Capital’s approach is different from the model he and Meg document in the book. “The mechanics of it are more about asking social entrepreneurs to make decisions rather than, let’s say, people living in a specific community or people with disabilities like we’ve seen with some other participatory funding models.” Meg notes that this has been a blind spot for impact investors. “Impact Investing has largely been about what you’re investing in and not how you’re doing it, that process. And there’s a lot of top-down.”The nonprofit arena has a similar problem, Ben says. “Philanthropy is largely male, largely white, largely based in a few places. Any sort of funding model where the people making decisions aren’t necessarily representative of the world at large is where participatory funding can be helpful.”Participating can be difficult, Meg notes. “If you haven’t taken the economics class, if you haven’t worked at a bank or just had any professional experience in finance, something—‘cap size,’ ‘market share’—like these are normal terms for investors, but they can be really intimidating to people who aren’t part—who don’t live and breathe that work.”Meg and Ben connected at the GIIN conference for impact investors in Amsterdam. Together, they saw a problem. “There’s a panel on support in sub-Saharan Africa that’s like five white guys from Europe,” Meg says.The book set out a nine rung ladder investors and philanthropists can climb to move from traditional to fully participatory models. Ben summarizes the process as three key steps.“At the very bottom there, you have a process that’s not participatory; it’s you simply make a decision and then move on with your life,” Ben says.“Up in the middle of the ladder is what we call consulting,” Ben explains. “Sometimes at its worst, it’s maybe token listening where you’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to hold a community meeting. We’re going to invite folks to join a zoom and weigh in on our investment strategy.’ But ultimately, there are no teeth to that.”“The top rung is true participation, and really the distinction there goes beyond listening,” Ben says. “It means that there is a mechanism in place for community members, for people who have lived experience to have a vote. In its purest form, it’s going to be a decision about who you invest in.”Meg provided an example. Mama Cash is a grantmaking organization that transitioned to becoming fully participatory. “They found that their staff, rather than kind of being grant analysts and making all these decisions, were facilitating the process of having their current and former grantees review applications and vote. They were given this role, and they were also trained in how to do it.” The participatory approach is snowballing, Meg says. “Ben and I were interviewing different participatory grantmakers around the world. They started a Google Group, which then turned into a Slack community, which went from those dozen people, now over seven hundred members around the world.”Empathy is a superpower both Meg and Ben use to enable their work.Superpowers for Good is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.How You Can Develop Empathy As a SuperpowerBen sees empathy as being a radical step for investors and grantmakers. I think participatory grant-making and participatory investing, whether it's on the institutional level or on the personal level, is it's a really radical action to take. I mean, we try not to frame it as radical because, at the end of the day, it is just grant-making. It's not rocket science. But the empathy part of it is radical.Doing participatory funding “is a radical act of empathy,” he adds.Ben sees a foundational problem in his peer group. A lot of young people have the idea of wanting to save the world. There's a problem out there. It can be solved. And if it can be solved, it can be solved by the power of your own intellect. Just like a homework assignment at a liberal arts college, right? It's the perfect attitude for a generation raised on the like the optimism of the “West Wing” and the clean logic of “Freakonomics.”Ben sees this as arrogance that can impede finding more effective solutions, something he now recognizes in himself. “I’ll suddenly just get really into [a solution to a problem] and push and say, ‘This is what we need to be doing. This is it. Let’s go for it.’ And I forget that five days before, I knew nothing about this topic and still only have a third-hand understanding of it.”Humility and empathy enable a more inclusive approach that puts decision-making closer to the beneficiaries.Meg uses her empathy superpower to help other people tell better stories. She offers some storytelling advice. “You always have a beginning, middle and end, which seems obvious. You’d be surprised at how many stories are missing one of those components.”Then she notes that building tension is a critical element of a story. “What keeps us reading thrillers or watching TV shows is they build up what’s going to happen.”“The best writers for television, they’ve mastered managing that tension,” she adds.Grantwriters face significant challenges today. One complained to Meg about the labor-intensive forms and seemingly irrelevant questions. “We don’t speak the same language.”“Storytelling is a universal language,” Meg says.If you work at implementing steps to activate your empathy, like Meg and Ben, you can make it a superpower that can influence every other skill you have, enabling you to have more significant impact. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at devinthorpe.substack.com/subscribe

Glen's path didn't become clear to him until his mid 40s, when as a management consulting partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, he realized he was increasingly dissatisfied with how he felt at work every day. He enjoyed the problem solving, the intellectual challenge of working with businesses and their issues, but he felt something was missing. He had turned away from his purpose. From that point, Glen' s journey has been filled with a number of pivots and leaps of faith, always keeping in mind his purpose. Glen has always felt that the way to solve problems and create opportunities for people was through understanding the way the world works, and the mechanics of policy, economics, business, and nonprofits.Glen is fond of epiphanies, and The Wealth and Giving Forum created an environment in which people could have epiphanies about what their wealth meant to them and how to use it with meaning. Glen made an astute observation about impact investing: "This is not about philanthropy; this is about money. This is about money and how it circulates in our society.” And venture capitalist Ross Baird reminded him, "You can't think and behave this way with one pocket and another way with the other pocket. It's all one." Glen also hadn't given much thought about the word legacy until he heard the stories of Alfred Noble's rare “life history do-over” and billionaire Ken Behring's journey to creating the Wheelchair Foundation. He realized he had never thought about what people would say about him when he moves on, which is a very helpful thing to help you pinpoint your legacy. This epiphany was highlighted by Ken's words at a WGF meeting "Don't do what I did. Don't just accumulate and wait until you're 74 to find purpose and happiness in life." From this, Glen hopes people will look for their purpose and legacy early, because you can miss it.Glen has high hopes for younger generations' ability to address injustice and trauma. Injustice anywhere, is injustice everywhere; trauma in one place can lead to trauma in another. "It's not just about the policy and government, it's what we do at our workplaces." Millennials are pushing corporations to adopt beliefs, policies, attitudes and cultural mores that will not result in trauma that manifests itself when people interact with one another. Takeaways: Curate conversations that help you decide your purpose. Align work and money with your values and create a legacy through investing in yourself, your work, your community, impact investing and philanthropy.Sometimes you have to give up who you are to become who you want to be. And it's hard, like a reptile that has to shed its skin. There is no straight path to a legacy at work. Glen believes that who you owe an answer to at the end of your life is yourself! Don't get to the end and imagine you missed it. Take risks to make what you believe in happen. Quotes: “Wine, is a subject that no one can master, just like it's hard to master yourself.”“At the end of the day I think it's your heart and your belly that rules.” “Reflect on yourself. You don't have to be a billionaire to do that. At any level you can decide what you want your intended legacy to be.How to reach Glen: shoot him a message on LinkedIn.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-macdonald-5915ba5/Bio: Glen Macdonald is a Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley and Co-founder and Chairman of the Wealth and Giving Forum (WGF). The Forum promotes values-aligned and strategic capital allocation among families and private foundations that seek positive social and environmental outcomes.  Glen is a recognized leader in the impact investing and philanthropy fields. Glen was a recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship at the Harvard Center for International Affairs and a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Mexico. His academic research and publications focused on economic development, foreign direct investments, and the formation of common markets. Glen serves on the Board of the Borough of Manhattan Community Foundation and the Board of the Intentional Endowments Network. He received his B.A. with highest honors in political science and economics and his M.A. in international relations, both from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. His interests and hobbies include travel, history, tennis, skiing, and wine.  

Ross Baird co-founded Village Capital in 2009 with the goal of investing in entrepreneurs building successful businesses, and also making a difference in their communities. After making some initial investments in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he realized something: local businesses built by local capital have a great effect on local communities. Today, he's the Founder and CEO of Blueprint Local where he's working to create the best way for people to thoughtfully invest in their communities. On today's episode, he's going to teach us a new word—topophilia—and why that concept motivates his work.

The following is a conversation between Ross Baird, Founder of Blueprint Local, and Denver Frederick, the host of the Business of Giving. In this interview, Ross Baird, Founder and CEO of Blueprint Local, shares the following: • Small is beautiful as people invest in places and communities they care about. • The problem with investment capital going to the same type of people in the same cities • Financial institutions need to be reimagined for the 21st-century economy

On this episode, Bryce talks with Ross Baird, Founder of Blueprint Local and Co-Founder of Village Capital. Ross and Bryce have been friends for a long time. They talk about the importance of friendships and different experiences from childhood that have informed life trajectory in some capacity. Ross talks about how he is driven by a desire to create communities that allow people to flourish and therefore allow the community itself to flourish. Through the ups and downs of his career, Ross has learned that relationships are what remain constant and it’s important to put work into maintaining them. Learn more on this episode of More Than Profit, Prioritizing For Relationships With Ross Baird. Learn more about our work at Access Ventures

On this episode, Bryce calls Ross Baird, Founder of Blueprint Local and Co-Founder of Village Capital, and John Letteri, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Economic Innovation Group (EIG) to talk about the implications of COVID-19. They discuss the economic impact the Coronavirus is having on employers, employees, and small businesses, the impact on the national and global economy, and the effect it is having on the mental state of, largely, everyone in the world. A pandemic like this causes everyone to step back and evaluate their priorities in order to make important decisions. Learn more on this episode of More Than Profit, COVID-19: Entrepreneurship And Small Business Support. Learn more about our work at accessventures.org.

En la nueva entrega de "Thoughts de OMD", Virginia Mangas, Business Development Director de OMD, hablará de “The Innovation Blind Spot”. Un libro en el que Ross Baird habla sobre la manera en que la mayoría de las empresas dejan escapar las ideas más innovadoras y lo que hay que hacer para evitarlo.

It's easy to put your ideas out there -- we're one click away from posting a tweet, sharing a video or publishing a blog post.  But in a world where it's so easy to create content, how do you create the depth to make your voice count. On this episode we go inside Ross Baird's journey to make 'Arguments with Integrity.'  As he shared, good ideas don't always win; but shared ideas will.  Hear how he intentionally used his venture firm and his book to build a community behind some powerful shared ideas he's convinced will change the world. Ross developed the Village Capital concept in 2009, and has led the development of programs worldwide.  He's the author of The Innovation Blind Spot: Why We Back the Wrong Ideas—and What to Do About It (includes forward by Steve Case). Before launching Village Capital, he worked with First Light Ventures, a seed fund focused on impact investments. Prior to First Light, Ross worked on the development of four education-related start-up ventures: the Indian School Finance Company in Hyderabad, India, the National College Advising Corps in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and two ventures using technology to promote civic participation. He has a MPhil from the University of Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a BA from the University of Virginia, where he was a Truman Scholar and a Jefferson Scholar.

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Ross Baird, Founder at Blueprint Local, has been creating businesses from the very beginning. But what sets Ross apart is his passion for social entrepreneurship. Most people separate the world into two pockets: Making money and doing good.But Ross knows that a business can actually be a great, financially sustainable way to do something that you care about. So, on this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast, Ross joined us to talk about lifting up your community through social entrepreneurship, partnering with others in your region, and leveraging the new opportunity zone legislation.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Village Capital was founded to invest in social entrepreneurs using a novel, peer-selected methodology. A decade later, under new leadership, it remains committed to those principles. Allie Burns recently succeeded Ross Baird (who left to start Blueprint Local) as the CEO of Village Capital. She joined Village Capital nearly three years ago after leaving the Case Foundation, working closely with Jean Case on communications surrounding impact investing initiatives. Allie joined me to talk about three key ideas. First, she noted that investors need to look beyond equity as the primary structure for startup finance. Second, she noted the success of the peer-selection model at Village Capital. Finally, she noted that the peer-selection model not only yields good investments it eliminates gender bias. Be sure to tune in to the full interview in the players above. Click the following link to learn my insider secrets to media publicity for social impact: http://bit.ly/75offmedia.

Whitney Hosty, Senior Philanthropic Advisor at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation sits down with Ross Baird to discuss Opportunity Zones. The Grow Your Giving podcast is powered by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and our national entity, Greater Horizons. We aim to make giving convenient and efficient for our donors through donor-advised funds and other charitable giving tools. The Grow Your Giving podcast discusses philanthropic topics to help you enjoy giving more. Find us online at growyourgiving.org/podcast. "Easy Lemon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Jason Hartman talks with Ross Baird, President at Village Capital Group and author of The Innovation Blind Spot, about where all the startup money is going these days. Venture capital is flowing to tech and everyone's trying to hit a home run, not a bunch of singles. Ross discusses the danger of our current "winner take all" mentality, some options for what to do with the big companies like Google and Facebook, and why sometimes looking in your back yard for an investment is the way to go. Key Takeaways: [2:48] Where is all the startup money going? [5:57] Most people in positions of power and influence are unintentionally leaving out entire swaths of the population [8:47] We're living in a "winner take all" type society right now [11:18] The 3 options for what needs to happen to these big public companies [15:04] You don't always have to look for the next big thing, sometimes you just have to look at what's going on right around your home town [19:06] Everyone goes for location in real estate, but the better yield is in the non-trophy property Website: www.VilCap.com

Jason Hartman talks with Ross Baird, President at Village Capital Group and author of The Innovation Blind Spot, about where all the startup money is going these days. Venture capital is flowing to tech and everyone's trying to hit a home run, not a bunch of singles. Ross discusses the danger of our current "winner take all" mentality, some options for what to do with the big companies like Google and Facebook, and why sometimes looking in your back yard for an investment is the way to go. Key Takeaways: [2:48] Where is all the startup money going? [5:57] Most people in positions of power and influence are unintentionally leaving out entire swaths of the population [8:47] We're living in a "winner take all" type society right now [11:18] The 3 options for what needs to happen to these big public companies [15:04] You don't always have to look for the next big thing, sometimes you just have to look at what's going on right around your home town [19:06] Everyone goes for location in real estate, but the better yield is in the non-trophy property Website: www.VilCap.com

Jason Hartman talks with Ross Baird, President at Village Capital Group and author of The Innovation Blind Spot, about where all the startup money is going these days. Venture capital is flowing to tech and everyone's trying to hit a home run, not a bunch of singles. Ross discusses the danger of our current "winner take all" mentality, some options for what to do with the big companies like Google and Facebook, and why sometimes looking in your back yard for an investment is the way to go. Key Takeaways: [2:48] Where is all the startup money going? [5:57] Most people in positions of power and influence are unintentionally leaving out entire swaths of the population [8:47] We're living in a "winner take all" type society right now [11:18] The 3 options for what needs to happen to these big public companies [15:04] You don't always have to look for the next big thing, sometimes you just have to look at what's going on right around your home town [19:06] Everyone goes for location in real estate, but the better yield is in the non-trophy property Website: www.VilCap.com

Ross Baird is President and founder of Village Capital, a venture capital firm that takes a unique philosophy and approach to choosing the entrepreneurs they fund. He has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs in over 50 countries and has visited over 100 cities worldwide in an effort to find new entrepreneurs and help the people supporting them.

Lindsey Moeller is the founder of Concur, formerly known as Balm Skincare. Lindsey is also the founded of Botavi Labs and holds a degree in biology and molecular genetics from the Ohio State University. Concur creates holistic skincare products that agree with our natural biology and protect the microbiome. Concur focuses on getting to the core of skin issues using natural science. Concur, formerly known as Balm Skincare, was founded in 2016 and based in Columbus, OH.learn more about Concur: https://shopconcur.com/learn more about Balm Skincare: https://balm-skincare.com/follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm//Ross Baird is the President of Village Capital and the author of the Innovation Blind Spot.Ross developed the Village Capital concept in 2009, and has led the development of programs worldwide. Before launching Village Capital, he worked with First Light Ventures, a seed fund focused on impact investments. Prior to First Light, Ross worked on the development of four education-related start-up ventures: the Indian School Finance Company in Hyderabad, India, the National College Advising Corps in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and two ventures using technology to promote civic participation. He has a MPhil from the University of Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a BA from the University of Virginia, where he was a Truman Scholar and a Jefferson Scholar.follow Ross on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rossbairdlean more about Village Capital: https://vilcap.com

On this episode of Never Stand Still, I had the chance to catch up with Ross Baird, president of Village Capital and a great PayPal partner. We spoke about his time working at a micro finance bank in India and how that experience led him to launch Village Capital. Ross also shared his advice for entrepreneurs, which is to focus on small innovations that can have big differences.

Ross Baird, founder of Village Capital, believes that venture capital isn't doing a good job of getting new ideas to society. In his new book, The Innovation Blind Spot, Baird explains that the industry could do more to spur innovation.

While it seems like the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur is having a great idea, you also have to have money. But If you’ve got a winning idea, getting financing should take care of itself, right? As you’ll find out during my conversation with Ross Baird, Founder and President of Village Capital, and author of the book “The Innovation Blindspot: Why We Back the Wrong Ideas and What to Do About It," it is not always that simple. In order to raise capital, you have to be able to connect with investors. And that means avoiding innovation blind spots that are common with venture capitalists. Ross Baird wants to help investors see the vast opportunities available outside of their typical, limited scope. In this episode, Ross sits down with me to discuss his new book and to share how he’s making a lasting impact by helping investors eliminate some of those innovation blind spots in their approach to Venture Capitalism. You don’t want to miss this conversation. How innovation blind spots create limited opportunities for entrepreneurs As I was talking with Ross, I found myself thinking back more than 10 years ago to when I founded the Max Borges Agency. I had some reservations about growing a consumer tech PR agency in Miami because our offices were not in Silicon Valley or New York City. Ross says that's a concern too many entrepreneurs face because of the innovation blind spots many investors have. "80 percent of venture capital goes to New York, California, and Massachusetts," he says.. "Professional investors have trained their minds to think good ideas only come out of a few locations and industries. We think in society that resources flow to their best and most productive uses.” As I discovered in our conversation, that is not always the case. Be sure to listen as Ross explains why this is a huge problem for entrepreneurship. Investing should be more like college sports recruiting Ross shared with me that he believes too many investors approach their jobs like stock pickers - they're only looking for the next sure thing based on historical trends. This type of innovation blind spot causes many investors to miss out on star entrepreneurs that could really make an impact. He thinks they should instead model their approaches after college basketball and football coaches."If you go to any neighborhood anywhere in the U.S., whether it's rural North Dakota or inner-city L.A., if there's are kids with the potential to be an athlete. That’s why by the time they are ten years old, college recruiters know their names. There's a multi-billion-dollar industrial recruiting complex to discover athletes. Investors need to spend the same amount of time investing in their pipelines," says Ross. Hear about this unique approach to investing and how Ross is applying it to his own business in this week’s episode. 3 qualities of successful entrepreneurs Ross and his colleagues are working to eliminate innovation blind spots and widen the narrow lens that professional investors use to identify entrepreneurs. He does not want location, education, or economic backgrounds to disqualify anyone with a great idea from pursuing his or her dreams. He shares with me three qualities common to most successful entrepreneurs that he recommends anyone thinking of starting a business should embrace. These three characteristics can help entrepreneurs better position themselves for investment and success. Be sure to listen to our conversation to hear about these three unique characteristics. Removing innovation blind spots opens up a world of new possibilities The Max Borges Agency is a consumer tech PR agency, but we do not limit ourselves to partnering only with companies based in the Valley. We know we would be shutting ourselves out of the opportunity to work with some amazing companies. That's the same line of thinking Ross had when he founded Village Capital almost ten years ago. Ross Baird is leading Village Capital to find and invest in great entrepreneurs with great ideas who most investors are not paying enough (or any) attention to. And he’s trying to help other investors identify and reduce their innovation blind spots so that a more diverse group of entrepreneurs have a shot at success. Hear all about this and more during our conversation on this week’s episode of Unconventional Genius. If you are with a consumer technology company planning to launch a new product at CES, or are even looking ahead to CES 2019, the Max Borges Agency can help you succeed. To learn more, check out: www.maxborgesagency.com. Topics Featured In This Episode [3:11] Ross Baird’s accomplishments and the genesis of Village Capital [5:20] The blind spots of the current venture capital investing culture [10:19] What are the personality traits of a successful entrepreneur [12:27] How Village Capital chooses businesses to invest in and examples of success [16:48] Why Ross Baird’s wrote his book “The Innovation Blindspot” [20:44] Village Capital’s commitment to finding entrepreneurs outside the mainstream [23:26] Ways venture capitalists should change their approach to investing [27:37] The future of Village Capital and how Ross Baird envisions its ongoing impact Resources & People Mentioned MPOWER Connect with Guest Name https://vilcap.com/ Connect With Max Borges www.MaxBorgesAgency.com LinkedIn Subscribe to Unconventional Genius onApple Podcasts, Otto Radio, Player FM, Soundcloud, or Spotify  

October 9, 2017 Village Capital Ross Baird, Master Builder Rene Antanesian & Genie Dreamer Allison Gondoli

In this bonus episode, Arlan speaks with Ross Baird of Village Capital, author of the latest featured Cover book, 'The Innovation Blind Spot, Why We Back the Wrong Ideas―and What to Do About It'. Also, we're treated to an interview from the road with Crew member Chacho and Headliner Harold Hughes, Founder + CEO of Bandwagon. Full show notes: http://backstagecapital.com/podcast/bonus-cover-vilcap/ Credits: Host + Executive Producer: Arlan Hamilton Co-host: Christie Pitts, Chacho Valadez Editor + Producer: Bryan Landers Theme song by: Janine Additional Music by: DeKobe

Ross Baird, President of Village Capital, chats with David Bank about his new book "The Innovation Blindspot," why many VC firms are missing out on great investment opportunities, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/impact-alpha/message

Hello there! This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures hosted by Luke Tucker. Today's episode we welcome Ross Baird, Founder and CEO at Village Capital. One of the most amazing stories, I think, in venture these days is the Vilcap Story. You're going to hear some things not available anywhere else as Ross goes through some awesome stories. Including, a dinner party in Rome with some famous actors. Stick around for that, you don't want to miss that story! A few nuggets in the show: the maximum 3-digit Fibonacci sequence number (bet you can't guess the number right now), the thesis of leveraging the collective knowledge, what are “2 pocket thinkers”, and what's next for Vilcap! So much good stuff. So guys, enjoy your commute to the office or quick gym session while you listen, but make sure you remember to take some notes fr --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/startup-catalyst-podcast/support

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1WN1Akz. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. As I’ve been covering social entrepreneurship and impact investing for the past several years here, I’ve watched and come to know Village Capital as one of the real leaders in social entrepreneurship. Their peer-selected investment model is unique among the accelerators and incubators I’ve covered. Last week, Village Capital announced the formation of VilCap Communities, an effort to radically expand the peer-selected model. Ross Baird, Executive Director, is on a mission. Last week, he published a piece that was highly critical of the Silicon Valley model for venture finance. Afterward, he told me, “The way we fund new ideas today is broken–we send billions of dollars to a few people in a few well-off cities, who fund people they know and who are in their networks. As a result, 78% of venture capital is distributed to just three states – California, Massachusetts and New York – and only 5% goes to women founders, and less than 3% to people of color. And the people solving problems in society don’t have lived experience with most of the problems they are trying to solve.” Village Capital’s innovation is the principle of peer selection. When they bring a cohort of entrepreneurs into their programs, those entrepreneurs ultimately decide who gets the money. The Village Capital team serves only to facilitate training and collaboration. ”Village Capital’s peer selected investment model changes the power dynamic between people with ideas and people with capital. It’s no longer well-resourced people sitting under fluorescent lights who don’t understand the problems they are trying to solve deciding who gets a shot; instead, entrepreneurs everywhere can get opportunity, if they can convince their peers,” Baird says. Having been invited to watch the process first hand, it is interesting to see entrepreneurs compete and collaborate in an environment where their peers will ultimately decide their investment fate. “Peer selected investment upends the power dynamics of traditional early-stage venture capital, by placing investment decisions in the hands of entrepreneurs (Village Capital provides the first funding in two-thirds of investments). The process also democratizes venture capital by making capital more accessible to anyone solving major global problems, no matter their race, ethnicity, zip code or background,” he adds. Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1WN1Akz. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

Ross Baird offers insights into capital inequality and how Village Capital seeks investment opportunities beyond the usual suspects.

Carol Sanford Interviews Ross Baird of Village Capital for the Responsible Capitalist Podcast. Carol looks at what responsible partnering looks like when you are creating a community of investors and entrepreneurs. Four basic characteristics are addressed. 1) you will be, by definition, coming into a relationship or community, 2) What are the motives for being in […] The post TRE – The Responsible Capitalist – Ross Baird appeared first on Carol Sanford.