How to Solve the Founder Opportunity Gap

Entrepreneurs are everywhere today, but opportunity isn’t. In part, this is because many founders have historically had little access to venture capital, experienced mentors, and pools of talent. Although the situation is slowly improving, new research shows VCs still mostly back founders from their own networks. Techstars CEO Maelle Gavet argues that the only way to fix this is for investors to adapt to undiscovered founders’ circumstances. From tailoring accelerator programs to skeptical, hard-to-access communities, to supporting people who may not have the network, capital or operational idea to start a business, and developing older talent – all too often dismissed as ‘past it’ by investors – Gavet reveals what flies and what fails when bridging the founder opportunity gap.