Better Venture: Improving Diversity, Innovation, and Profitability in Venture Capital and Startups
About this ebook
The industry’s lack of diversity and inclusion not only compromises moral standing—it means overlooking profitable businesses and talented founders. That costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and neglects ideas that could serve the needs of many more people.
In this collection of interviews, stories, and research, we use the momentum that has been building in recent years to expand the conversation about DEI, venture capital, and the startup ecosystem, and to inspire more concrete action.
Highlights:
- 43 in-depth conversations with leading investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers, making it one of the most comprehensive and diverse sets of perspectives on the startup ecosystem ever assembled in one place.
- An economic history of venture capital through a diversity lens.
- On-the-ground stories from founders and VCs that explore ways to create a more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and profitable venture ecosystem.
No blog post can give the deep understanding and vision needed to address the complexity of the topic.
That’s why we came together to write this book and are bringing in so many voices to clarify the picture of what is and what could be.
Over the course of two years of research and discussion with almost 100 experts, we set out to answer four questions:
- Why has the industry been so slow to change? We map the economic origins and history of venture capital to understand how the economics of VC has contributed to the glacial pace of diversifying the industry.
- What barriers are founders and investors facing now? We draw on contributions from investors, operators, founders, and journalists to help catalog the barriers for founders seeking funding, and for investors seeking entry and influence in the industry.
- Can diversity really lead to higher returns? We bring in new research and data to help us understand how betting on underrepresented founders and investors is really the better venture. Why does diversifying the industry matter, and to whom? How is it linked to financial performance and better decision making? How will it improve innovation across industries?
- What can be done for positive change? We discuss cost effective and evidence-based interventions, tools, and solutions that can help to make the VC and startup worlds more diverse and inclusive—and result in higher returns.
We hope this book and the conversations it contains help fulfill the vision of a more diverse, inclusive, and profitable ecosystem.
It’s time venture got better.
Ratings and reviews
About the author
Erika Brodnock is a multi-award winning serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. Following her MBA, she was Research Fellow at King’s College London, and is currently finishing a PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Through her work at the intersection of technology and wellbeing, Erika specializes in building products and services that disrupt outdated systems. Erika is co-founder of Kinhub (formerly Kami), an employee wellbeing platform focused on enhancing equity and inclusion in the future of work. Erika also co-founded Extend Ventures, where she leads research efforts that aim to democratize access to venture finance for diverse entrepreneurs.
Johannes Lenhard is a researcher and writer based in London. Following his PhD at Cambridge, he has spent the last three years researching the ethics of venture capital between Europe and the US during his postdoc. His first book, “Making Better Lives”—on homeless people’s survival in Paris—was published earlier this year. He regularly contributes to journalistic outlets, such as Prospect, TechCrunch, Vestoj, Aeon, Tribune, The Conversation, and Sifted. Most recently, he is the co-founder and co-director of VentureESG.
