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

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

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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