Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

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

Episode Summary

In this episode I talk with Miriam Rivera, a co-founder and managing director of Ulu Ventures, an early seed stage venture fund in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs in her current fund are quite diverse by industry standards and Miriam is dedicated to increasing diversity in both the entrepreneurial and investment communities. Prior to Ulu Ventures, Miriam was vice president / deputy general counsel at Google, which she joined in 2001 as the second attorney. There she helped build and lead an award-winning global legal department. She is a board member of the Kauffman Foundation, a national endowment dedicated to increasing opportunity for Americans through education and entrepreneurship. Miriam serves on the Investment Committee of Acumen Fund America, an impact investment fund serving the needs of low-income Americans. She is also on the Launch with GS Advisory Council, an initiative by Goldman Sachs to reduce the investing gap for Black and LatinX founders while driving returns.

Episode Notes

  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 Khalil Gibran [51:09]
  26. Goat yoga! [53:40]
  27. The living person she most admires: Brian Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. [54:55]
  28. How to find Miriam online:
    1. Website: www.uluventures.com
    2. Twitter: https://twitter.com/miriamulu1

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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License