So Ambitious 209. Money, Privilege, and Advocacy: Ana Pompa Alarcón's Guide to Entrepreneurship and Social Justice in Tech
In this episode of So Ambitious, we are joined by Ana Pompa Alarcón, CEO of Founders Registry, as she shares her journey of advocating for marginalized founders and creating impactful solutions in the tech industry.
From her beginnings at Rikers Island to supporting our Black Ambition finalists, Ana's story is one of fierce advocacy, resilience, and empowerment. In this conversation we uncover how she navigates the complexities of entrepreneurship and addresses systemic issues faced by minority founders that sometimes even stem from minority organizations.
We talk about the importance of using privilege to open doors for others and the need for diverse communities to support each other and work together to create change in the industry. Ana also discusses challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs, especially those from diverse backgrounds, in navigating the venture space, and provides insights on how to make the best decisions for their companies while dealing with financial desperation and toxic relationships with money.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in raising capital, advocating for social justice, and empowering underrepresented communities. Tune in to hear Anna's powerful story and insights on building a more inclusive and supportive ecosystem.
KEY POINTS
[1:56] - How Ana is supporting systemically purposefully marginalized founders in raising capital
[2:55] - Ana’s entrepreneurial roots - how her first company started out of Rikers Island
[6:38] - How do you get someone that you recently met to introduce you to an investor?
[10:12] - Resources and tools to help you negotiate better on your behalf
[12:11] - Grappling with privilege gaps and lack of diversity and in VC industry
[18:12] - Dealing with disillusionment of organizations’ support (of lack thereof) of marginalized founders
[23:46] - How can we create more transparency between founders and investors?
[26:04] - Addressing money wounds and toxic relationships with money in the VC space
[30:04] - Ana on self-care as an advocate and entrepreneur
[32:25] - Who is Ana uninterrupted?
QUOTABLES
"People need to walk the walk. And if they're not doing this, they need to suffer the consequences, and the consequence is deal flow. Do not take money from people that will throw you under the bus the second they have the opportunity." - Ana Pompa Alarcón
“Whatever privilege you have, whether that's money, education, skin, color, race - use that privilege to open doors.” - Ana Pompa Alarcón
“I do not believe that we should shame anyone who has been marginalized for where they get the money from.” - Ana Pompa Alarcón
"I truly believe that, [and] there's data to back up that, if all indigenous Brown, Black people, Muslims, Arabs would work together and have each other's back, the buying power, the purchasing power that we have, we could take over the economy." - Ana Pompa Alarcón
GUEST RESOURCES [megaphone]
IG | @ana_pompa_alarcon
LinkedIn | @ana-pompa-alarcon-rawls
IG | @founders_registry
RESOURCES
[APPLICATIONS OPEN!] | Are you building a high growth business in tech healthcare, AI, media entertainment, or consumer goods and services? If so, we'd like to help you scale. Don't miss your chance to win $1 million, capital coaching, and access to an amazing community of diverse innovators! Apply for the 2024 Black Ambition Prize competition now
IG | @feleciahatcher
IG | @blackambitionprize
So Ambitious is produced by EPYC Media