If The Shoe Fits: VCs Moving Where??
by Miki Saxon
A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here.
News of a Bay Area exodus has been appearing off and on for a few years.
I saw the latest stats,
But in the last three months of 2017, San Francisco lost more residents to outward migration than any other city in the country, according to data from Redfin, the real estate website. A recent survey by Edelman, the public relations firm, found that 49 percent of Bay Area residents, and 58 percent of Bay Area millennials, were considering moving away.
in and article about a much different group that is becoming disenchanted with it: VCs.
“I’m a little over San Francisco,” said Patrick McKenna, the founder of High Ridge Venture Partners who was also on the bus tour. “It’s so expensive, it’s so congested, and frankly, you also see opportunities in other places.”
In this case, ‘other places’ refers to the Midwest and cities like Detroit.
Which I find amusing, considering that
VCs are known to invest primarily in young, white males, mostly from elite colleges, who are introduced by a trusted source in their network.
They aren’t known for investing in women entrepreneurs
Venture capitalists invested $58.2 billion in companies with all-male founders in 2016. Meanwhile, women received just $1.46 billion in VC money…).
And practically none went to Black women.
Only 11 startups led by Black women have raised more than $1 million in outside funding—and are typically funded by the same three investors.
So here’s the question.
Knowing the personal attributes that VCs look for (and are comfortable with) who will they fund?
Image credit: HikingArtist
