Episode 166: Richard Kerby - Co-Founder & General Partner, Equal Ventures

It’s no secret that diversity is an issue in the tech industry, but it is an even bigger issue when you look at the venture capital industry. Rich has conducted a lot of research on this topic and based on his last report, only 2% of African Americans were represented as investors in the venture capital industry. Rich is the type who takes action. By publishing his findings (which have been featured on TechCrunch, his personal blog, and in many other interviews), it helps to bring awareness to this key issue. In addition, Rich is also the founder of Stealth Mode, a community of more than 1,500 African American founders, operators, and investors. After spending time in the venture capital industry at IVP and Venrock, Rich is now a Co-Founder & General Partner at a new firm called Equal Ventures, which recently announced a $56M first fund. The firm is focused on bridging the digital divide by investing in founders who are transforming legacy markets in industries like insurance, retail, supply chain and the care economy. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Rich’s early career in investment banking and how he landed in the venture capital industry, which involved a lot of cold emailing to partners at firms. * All the details on Equal Ventures in terms of the firm’s thesis and the stage of investments they are focused on. * What an investor is looking to get out of a first meeting. And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.