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

Start of interview [1:44]Miriam's "origin story" from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland [2:17]Her pick for a dual JD/MBA degree [3:16]Her experience as a startup founder in the late 1990s [5:17]Her early experience at Google starting 2001 [07:08]Her focus on angel investing and entry into the VC industry [08:09]Her experience with the Kauffman Fellows Program "they were at the forefront of diversifying VC" [10:18]How to think about corporate boards from the seed stage onward [12:37]The problem with lack of diversity of skill sets and backgrounds in startup boards [14:27]The approach of Ulu Ventures with board seats [15:22]"In the last 10 years, seed stage capital has become a real part of the VC ecosystem." [16:00]"There are ~900 Micro VC firms that have been established in the U.S. in the last 10 years" [18:44]Her reaction to Fred Wison's (Union Square Ventures) proposal to diversify startup boards [20:15]"When we join a board, we generally will cede that board seat at the Series A investment" [23:30]Miriam's take on dual class shares "You are no Jack Kennedy" [25:53]"We've passed on companies that [at the seed stage] are commanding dual class shares." [27:43]"At Google, Larry Page brought on E. Schmidt even though he knew he wanted to be CEO ultimately" [30:13]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]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]"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]The change in attitudes and expectations from Limited Partners in terms of diversity standards [43:06]"Public pensions are among the most diverse pool of capital out there" (ie. police, teachers, etc) [44:20]Books that have greatly influenced her life [46:00]:"Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey."Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think and Do" by Jennifer Eberhardt."Illusions" by Richard Bach.Miriam's mentors [49:34]Her favorite quotes: "Your children are not your children" by Khalil Gibran [51:09]Goat yoga! [53:40]The living person she most admires: Brian Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. [54:55]How to find Miriam online:Website: www.uluventures.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/miriamulu1___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 You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__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