Which bar is open for outdoor drinks? | How bias, network, and culture work against underrepresented founders

Valentine Osakwe has the answer.

As cities reopen from COVID-19, we all want to know what’s open. Two weeks ago, Jeremy told me that Meghan said Zeitgeist was open. I was ready to text everyone to meet up for outdoor fun, but it turned out to be take-out only.

This week, Lena posted a pic saying: “Bars are open for outdoors and they’re happy to see us in our masks!” I mentioned it to my roommates. Which bar? When? Someone had heard that it was Monk’s Kettle, or that other one on 16th. I found Lena’s post, read through the comments: Hawker Fare! But when? What’s the capacity? Why is this so complicated? I have to check posts from friends, hope that I randomly hear about something, check Yelp, or the worst ever: I have actually had to CALL places of business to find out if they’re open. Ahh! We need a solution.

Valentine Osakwe has the answer. His new social events platform tracks what’s happening where, including all of the COVID-19 re-opening events and schedules around cities.

Why don’t I know about this? Why don’t I have this? Well, it’s not *exactly* released. The beta is ready. Valentine and team launched it and got 1,000 downloads, but quickly had to pull back due to financial complications: they couldn’t afford AWS. I considered that AWS has a program for startups, so I don’t want to misrepresent the technical situation that Valentine explained that I didn’t quite understand. What I did understand was lack of funds.

They’ve been trying to get funding, but have no experience in the VC world, and no connections. In fact, Valentine says it’s been extremely difficult to talk to anyone in tech who is even willing to hear him out. Ridiculous! They had 1k downloads for a beta.

We stopped laughing over Zoom when we got to this part of the conversation. Was it race? Do I address it or pretend it’s not a factor? I finally said, “I bet if you were a white-guy in San Francisco it would be a lot different.”

Valentine is a 25-year-old black founder in Missouri, born in Nigeria. He and his team bootstrapped to build their team and platform, raised a friends and family round of $20k and are solving a problem important to all of us. So what’s the problem?

Bias

Black founders receive roughly 1% of all VC funding. During a talk this week by Lo Toney, “Black Man and VC in America,” where Valentine and I initially connected, I learned a little bit more about why. Hint: it’s not because black entrepreneurs aren’t trying, or aren’t good enough.

• When black people ask for funding: “I’d be happy to mentor you.”
• When white people ask for funding: “What are you building?”

“Black people are over-mentored and underfunded,” Lo Toney.

Valentine said he related to this. In the few conversations he’s had with people in tech who might possibly be able to help, he’s instead been offered mentorship. Valentine doesn’t need mentorship. His platform is in beta, and they’re ready to release. They need funds to get the rest of the way there.

This is what’s working again Valentine, and other underrepresented entrepreneurs.

Network

Access to venture capital in tech comes down to the warm intro. To meet with a VC, someone you know sends an email introducing you. If you don’t have the network, then you don’t have the opportunity. This is another major reason why underrepresented populations have such little VC funding.

Most VCs still operate by the warm intro, but Lo Toney made it a point to change this in his firm specifically to give underrepresented populations equal opportunity. Even if you do get a warm intro, Lo will direct you to fill out the form like everyone else. Go Lo!

Culture

The tech scene has a unique culture of communication that outsiders can’t be expected to understand, but if you don’t operate within that culture your odds of getting a conversation are much lower.

Professional in tech = Short. Friendly. Casual.

• Short to show that you respect the other person’s time
• Friendly to equalize the power dynamic
• Casual because it’s assumed that everyone is building the next big thing. If you talk it up too much you lose credibility.

So how did Valentine and I meet?

Because of bias, network, and culture, I almost never had the pleasure of meeting Valentine. It’s by sheer luck and coincidence that I did. I happen to be on the lookout for every opportunity for underrepresented founders, being cofounder of a diverse, woman-led company myself struggling to raise funds. I saw a post about Lo Toney’s talk on being a VC and black man in America and immediately signed up. A few people posted their LinkedIn URLs in the Zoom chat during his talk, so I posted mine. Requests to connect immediately came in, including one from Valentine.

My first impressions: his message to me was very formal, his LinkedIn profile pic was also very formal, we didn’t have any connections in common. If it weren’t for this event or something similar, I would not have come into contact with him.

I replied to his overly formal message that might not usually get replies with:

“Hi Valentine! Excited to connect. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to support. Shares / Likes / Intros, etc.”

I was surprised at his reaction. He was SO grateful. He let me know that he has little to no connections to VCs, and asked for intros. Eek! I suddenly felt a bit silly. Who am I to offer this guy help? I don’t know any VCs either. So I made the one intro that I could. Allison Byers, cofounder of Scroobious, a startup that helps underrepresented people fundraise. She helped me create an awesome video for our startup with clickable chapters!

Valentine was so unusually grateful again that I started considering the advantages I have that he doesn’t, so I asked him if he wanted to chat for 15m. Again, I was thinking that I likely can’t be helpful, but I was still thinking about this the wrong way. Bias, bias, bias!

When I talk to white people, I’m not asking how I can “mentor or be helpful.” I’m asking to learn about the cool thing that they’re building. Valentine’s passion, humor, and product got me so excited that I had to write this post. Quite selfishly, I want his platform to exist so that I make sure I don’t miss out on any opportunities to go out as SF starts to re-open.

If you are reading this and you’re in tech, consider this your warm intro to Valentine. Not because he’s black and has bias, network, and culture working against him, but because he’s building a product that we all want. On the flip side, because he has bias, network and culture working against him, YOU could be the big breakthrough that gets him where he needs to go next.

vosakwe@peep.dev