Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I've expressed the view in the past that venture capitalists (VCs) don't fund ideas, they fund people, and specifically, people like themselves. This view is becoming more current, as evidenced by this article. "If you're looking for money to start a new business, it helps to be white, male, attractive-looking, and living in a place like Boston or San Francisco. Better still, you want to have gone to a top-ranked university. People with these sorts of profiles win the lion's share of funding from VC firms." This - and not our lack of drive, innovatioon or application - is why it's difficult to get startup and growth funding in Canada. It's a network, and it extends beyond just VC (you can find the same ties and connections in media and government, for example). I would love in my lifetime to see this advantage rendered obsolete.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 05:16 a.m.

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