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Miriam Rivera: "If You Invest In Diverse Teams, It Will Lead to Financial Outperformance"

Miriam Rivera: "If You Invest In Diverse Teams, It Will Lead to Financial Outperformance"

Episode 10 Published 5 years, 10 months ago
Description
  1. Start of interview [1:44]
  2. Miriam's "origin story" from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland [2:17]
  3. Her pick for a dual JD/MBA degree [3:16]
  4. Her experience as a startup founder in the late 1990s [5:17]
  5. Her early experience at Google starting 2001 [07:08]
  6. Her focus on angel investing and entry into the VC industry [08:09]
  7. Her experience with the Kauffman Fellows Program "they were at the forefront of diversifying VC" [10:18]
  8. How to think about corporate boards from the seed stage onward [12:37]
  9. The problem with lack of diversity of skill sets and backgrounds in startup boards [14:27]
  10. The approach of Ulu Ventures with board seats [15:22]
  11. "In the last 10 years, seed stage capital has become a real part of the VC ecosystem." [16:00]
  12. "There are ~900 Micro VC firms that have been established in the U.S. in the last 10 years" [18:44]
  13. Her reaction to Fred Wison's (Union Square Ventures) proposal to diversify startup boards [20:15]
  14. "When we join a board, we generally will cede that board seat at the Series A investment" [23:30]
  15. Miriam's take on dual class shares "You are no Jack Kennedy" [25:53]
  16. "We've passed on companies that [at the seed stage] are commanding dual class shares." [27:43]
  17. "At Google, Larry Page brought on E. Schmidt even though he knew he wanted to be CEO ultimately" [30:13]
  18. Her response to concerns by founders/entrepreneurs of potential bad behavior by VCs. Mention of Prof Ilya Strebulaev article "Squaring VC Valuations with Reality" [31:52]
  19. Miriam's take on diversity in Silicon Valley. "In the early days, Google was a relatively diverse team and I think it was under-reported how Google's diversity (at the top) lead to the success of the company." "Almost every leader at the company had a right hand woman" [38:31]
  20. "If you invest in diverse teams, it will lead to financial outperformance" Kauffman Fellows Analysis: "Deconstructing the Pipeline Myth and the Case for More Diverse Fund Managers" [41:13]
  21. The change in attitudes and expectations from Limited Partners in terms of diversity standards [43:06]
  22. "Public pensions are among the most diverse pool of capital out there" (ie. police, teachers, etc) [44:20]
  23. Books that have greatly influenced her life [46:00]:
    1. "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.
    2. "Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think and Do" by Jennifer Eberhardt.
    3. "Illusions" by Richard Bach.
  24. Miriam's mentors [49:34]
  25. Her favorite quotes: "Your children are not your children" by
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