Maveron founders and friends,
We hope this note finds you healthy and safe after an unfathomable year of heartache. We have spent the last year reflecting on ourselves, our team, and our firm; seizing the moment to become better and stronger than ever before.
After the tragic death of George Floyd, and the riots that ensued, we looked for ways to not only help in our community, but to learn from this experience as a team. Last year, we participated in BLCK VC’s Day of Action event, and took the opportunity to make changes in the way we were conducting our business. This started with how we hire and how we help catalyze diverse investors participating in venture capital. For the first time, we publicly posted a new investment position, leading to hundreds of applicants with diverse backgrounds that we otherwise would not have seen. Together with nine other venture firms, we now have a Diversity Rider included in our terms sheets, stipulating that founders make their best effort to include at least one diverse manager in each equity financing round. This is a tangible effort to diversify cap tables and, in so doing, expand access to investors who have historically been excluded.
Maveron also looked to help increase diversity through investing our capital in other parts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We became a founding company partner in Colorwave, a group that is making the innovation economy more equitable and inclusive by providing leaders of color access to VC-backed startups. We also made charitable donations to two incredible organizations doing great work in their communities. The Hidden Genius Project, is a program that immerses high school men of color in coding, web and app design, team building and other skills intended to give them a leg up in the tech economy. Code2040 strives to activate, connect, and mobilize the largest racial equity community in tech to dismantle the structural barriers that prevent the full participation and leadership of Black and Latinx people in the innovation economy. This year, we are participating in BLCK VC’s Day of Action and donating to these two important organizations once again.
Internally, we got to work on Maveron’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion plan. We invested in Community Action Partners which serves as the nexus of human capital, racial justice, social impact and economic development and spent months working together with them on our internal program. These lessons not only helped our team learn how to communicate with each other, but they have also taught us to see the world through a different lens.
Though there is still much work to be done, we have made great strides in the last year to better ourselves and our team to be a force for change in the world. We hope you have also taken the time to reflect on ways to be impactful in your life, your career and your community and we encourage you to attend BLCK VC’s “Day of Action’’ event on June 25th. More information can be found here.
Thank you for your continued support.
Onward,
The Maveron Team
