 Okay, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Eleanor Warlock. I'm deputy editor at SIFTED and I am very excited to be here today with an incredible panel of all ladies to talk about networks and how networks can be used to help people who have traditionally been excluded from networks but how they can also be used, obviously, to exclude. All three of the women up here with me have staked their careers on creating networks to create a more equitable place in entrepreneurship and in business. And so I'd like to kind of start our conversation off by just digging into those networks that all three of you have created. Lindsay, do you want to kick us off and tell us a little bit about Chief? Sure. So I'm the co-founder of Chief. It's an executive network that we launched in 2019. And Chief has 20,000 executive women across the U.S. and U.K. We founded Chief because we found that executive women were often put in a place where, in addition to having to be an incredible leader, they also needed to be the de facto mentor. They had to be the de facto woman on stage representing other women. And so those women were often shut out of old boys clubs, closed networks of other executives, and they needed their own place where they could rely on each other, support one another. So they stayed in leadership and can pave the way for others. And so right now we are really excited to make sure that our women have this important community and education that they need to stay strong in those roles. Love that. Rachel, let's come to you next. Let's talk about what you've built. Wow. So it seems like a while ago but it's pretty recent. So back in 2020, I think we can all, we all know there was a lot of uprise around diversity, George Floyd's death, all of that. And at the time I was at Google and we saw an opportunity to really help see the ecosystem and try to assist with trying to make it more diverse from a startup perspective. I think, you know, I don't need to repeat the numbers but they were abysmal in terms of the amount of funding that went into black founders. So at the time in 2020, I co-founded a black founders fund which is now in its third year. We have some of our black founders out there as well, one in the front row right there. And we just saw incredible results. And we started it with the idea of, wow, if we could just seed some of these great startups that generally get not much funding and if we could just get maybe a few unicorns or a few really progressed startups, we can prove to the ecosystem that a successful founder can actually look very different than the traditional white male. I also co-founded our black angels group because it's a two-sided problem really. There aren't any investors that look different. I mean, there are a few but not really. And we all know that people tend to invest in people that look like them. So that's part of the problem as well. So we thought, well, what if we could seed some amazing angels from the earlier stages? So Googlers that are black have disposable income and can invest even if it's a little 3,000, 2,000 small amounts of money and see success with that money. And as they grow, then they'll have more money and then they can invest more. So we really tried to address two sides of the coin. And those are the networks we built. And I'm really pleased to see where we've come. We've got a ton of our black founders fund recipients walking around here and engaging with the ecosystem. And I'm very happy where it's ended. Suzanne, what about you? Tell me about what you're building in Backing Minds. Yeah, so I'm the founder of Backing Minds and we started 2016 to invest outside of the homogeneous networks. And what does that mean? Yeah, we have almost all capital. It was the same eight years ago. It's the same today. It was the same 20 and 30 years ago. So almost all capital remains in tight networks, which means that the majority of founders don't get capital even though they have great ideas and initiatives. So basically, when I looked at the statistics, there was an arbitrage on the market to invest in these great founders when they're not in the hype bubbles. It's almost always like a lower valuation, but then these companies get fuel, the capital, and grow. And that's also a way to change the ecosystem, because by investing in these founders, we invest in new types of owners. And they get a chance to also make exits and also become investors in their way. So I have so many examples because we invest in many different areas, but yeah. So I can talk later about the specific cases that we invest in and how they build ecosystems. Like our first investment, it was free guys with Somali background from a no-go zone or whatever you would call it. They contacted more than 100 investors. They didn't get a meeting. When we saw this company, we saw nothing but potential and Transfer for Galaxy is now 100 million euros company. And we are very happy that we saw this and could invest. So for me, I think VC is the most exclusive club in the world. Yes. But yeah, let's expand this club and not for the sake of the poor founders, but for the society, because we are missing out on so much value and potential. You used the phrase an exclusive club. And I think also the C-suite and executive positions are also an exclusive club, right? And Lindsay, I know that this kind of C-suite female leadership is who you guys are working at Chief, but obviously there might be women who might not actually, who have that ambition, right? But maybe they don't have the socioeconomic, they don't come from a socioeconomic background or a certain kind of background to make that open to them. How have you guys thought about Chief, about creating that network, but also making sure that that is accessible to people? Yeah, it's such a good question. When you look at closed networks, inevitably becomes the question of power dynamics, because if you're creating now a network as we did at Chief for women who are typically excluded, that now opens up a question around, well, if you were creating a network for women leaders, what about the women on the way up? So our mission at Chief is actually to change the face of leadership, to make sure that leadership as a whole is reflective of what society looks like. We started with executive women, because my co-founder and I, as executive women, found that there were so many amazing organizations that focused on the pipeline, that focused on women in the workplace, women in business, mentorship of women, but we actually saw a market need for something that women who were in these executive level positions could join. And so our goal was never to exclude, it was to find this niche of women and saw product market fit. And that product market fit was bigger than we ever expected. So Chief, we thought we'd have a few hundred women year one, we had thousands. As I mentioned, we're at 20,000 women across the US and UK. We became the fastest company led by women founders to hit a billion dollar valuation in history. And as we did that, we knew, okay, well, if we're focusing on women leaders, our goal in the future will be how do we replicate this for women on the way up? How do we make sure that we are thinking through a future where we can build a community for women who are looking up to these women leaders? So the first thing we want to do is make sure that we are being thoughtful around the entire ecosystem of women. The second thing that's really important for us is to know that when you look at women leaders, you are seeing within that small construct of women, you see that it's predominantly white women who are in these positions of power. And we were hyper aware of this day one. And so we wanted to make sure that diversity and inclusion were at the center of what we do. And you can't add that in later, right? So we said you can't make a cake and then smear the eggs on after it's baked, right? So we immediately looked at the numbers and saw that it was only 18% of women who were in these VP through C-suite positions that were identified as women of color. Immediately set a goal, let's double that and make sure that our network has 36%. We monitor this every month. Right now we're at 34%. We're not at our goal. And you can't just rest on, all right, we have an ambition. We'd like to hit those numbers. So what did we do? We outbound women to make sure that we are not just sitting in a closed network of word of mouth. Because as you mentioned, people just invite their friends, right? Like that just ends up snowballing white feminism, which isn't what we're looking to do. And we've also democratized access to chief. So we implemented a grant program. Last year alone we gave away $5 million of grants to make sure that access to chief was as accessible as possible. And then when those women do join chief, that's not enough. We want to make sure that there's identity groups that are thoughtful and private. So even within the space, there are places where communities can have their own conversations. And I think for us it's a journey. We know that building an exclusive network of executive women will leave out others. And so we are constantly learning, involving, listening to our members. And never thinking about members as customers. Members are stakeholders. And potential members, the public, women in business, are our stakeholders. And when you are a mission-driven company, there are high expectations for you to always be listening, evolving. And so that's what we're committed to do as we ensure that we continue to grow, but never leave people out or feel like we are excluding people from our mission. I mean, all of these networks are amazing. You know, backing underrepresented founders, a place for women in business to find like-minded individuals, right? The Black Founders Fund, Black Angels Fund. But at the end of the day, in order to raise capital, sometimes you've got to go in and you've got to be in the rooms with those white men, right? Rachel, what do you think about that question, that tension between having a community for people like yourself, with a background like yourself, versus breaking into those rooms? That's a tough one. So I will share a personal story, my personal journey. So over the last year or so, I've been on a journey to expand my board portfolio. So getting new board roles. And if you look in this space, I got, you know, my first one and all of a sudden, top board directors.com, all these different people were just like, what is top board directors.com? Now, okay, I'm kind of in the club, okay, great. But there are so many other clubs, so many groups that want your money. $4,000, $1,000, all that. So I asked somebody that runs a nonprofit that focuses on boards. So what should I be a part of? What makes sense? Who's going to help me get to those board roles the fastest? She said, Rachel, you can join those groups. It's great. And you will learn a ton. There will be lots of educational opportunities, all that. But at the end of the day, it is the white men that own those board roles. So you need to be networking with those white men. So when people ask me, you know, which way should I go? Should I join these clubs? Should I, you know, try to get into the white man club? I say both. But I say, you know, for the clubs specifically, you know, whether it's a black club or a women's club, you need to be very clear on what you're going to get out of it. So if your goal is purely I want a job, I want a job, I want a job, I want a role, I want this, I want that, and they don't have a way to deliver that? Maybe not. If you want nurturing, which is very important in this journey, support coaching someone to push you in the room with all those white men, then you might want to join those clubs. You need to know. And I think that's with anything in life when you're about to join it. Last year I was looking at board readiness programs, and everyone runs them, Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton, all that in the U.S., right? But one of my big things was I wanted to make sure that, yeah, you're going to educate me, but you're also going to help me be in a place where I can be seen for proper roles. And so that's how I selected the one I went to for board readiness education. I wanted one that would help place me. I think there's a place for both. And I think, you know, when I look at the Black Founders Fund's recipients and the groups that we form there, I think there's unfiltered support there. There's a place to go and say, oh my gosh, I have this problem. Like what do I do? How do I address this? Or this investor said this. Is that weird? Like other people with lived experiences. And when you go into these spaces where you are the only two, the only three, you know you have to expand, you know you have to beat down those doors to get into those other networks, but it is nice to have someone there, even if they're across the room, and you see them that you know has your back and can really, you know, trust, you can trust them as you go through this journey together. Yeah. Suzanne, I wanted to come to you and talk a little bit about these questions in terms of funding for entrepreneurship, right? Obviously you guys are building something amazing at Backing Minds, but you also have to convince LPs, right? And you also have to make sure that the people who are distributing capital reflect the kind of diverse founders that are out there. How have you thought about the questions of like who funds the funders, right? And then also getting more people like yourself to be in there, writing those checks. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. So, almost all capital goes to, like if you're raising capital in Europe or in the US, you should either be a white guy from the inner city or bring one. All the statistics tell you this. So, last year or this year we just got a report, so 1% of venture capital went to women. We see on partnership level that we have 16% partners being women now in VC. When I started, the numbers weren't so great, so it's a progress. But what matters is who is making the decision of the money. So, if we look at assets under management, 91% of those are under men, like white guys. So, what does this mean? Yeah, it means that we are missing out on return, because this is a question about return. There are a lot of different statistics that show that diverse teams give you better return. We see that we lose 3% to 6% of GDP yearly, because we miss out on female founders. And this is not only about female founders, it's about different competencies, backgrounds or age, a lot of different things. So, what we see now with LPs is that they see that we can get great return and we can also get great change. Why should we choose one of them? So, actually LPs are now putting demand on funds and founders. And you mentioned previously that, yeah, back in mind, you look at underrepresented founders, no, we look at all founders. And that's the difference. And by doing so, you need to look outside of the recommendation from your friend's friend. You need to look at the data. You need to look more outbound than inbound. So, we're like, skip the deal flow. Of course, you should look at that as well, but start to do more deal find. And we have seen now that a lot of other funds are now like, okay, guys, you showed us with back in minds. So, we are also putting targets on our funds. Yeah, we want for the next fund that it also should be like 25% female founders and so on. And what you measure is what you get. So, that is the start. And what was your last question? Around female GPs and around GPs from underrepresented backgrounds. Like, if you only get 1% of venture capital, we see today that almost 30% of the founders are female, but they get the 1% of the venture capital. Of course, you get less fuel to a company to be able to make an exit. And in order to be a GP for a fund, you also need cash. And that's how the structures in the VC industry are formed. So, that makes it harder for you to come to that position. So, we are back in minds. We have changed the structures for partnership. We are three female GPs. Together, we have 10 kids. And of course, this is not a problem. And in our fund, 90% of the founders are either like female or immigrant background like myself or from more rural areas all over Europe. So, of course, it's possible. And it's about returning then as a survival for the industry, I would say. Yeah. I like how you phrased at trying to change the profile of founders who get access to VC capital as a question not of looking for underrepresented founders specifically, but actually looking really at everything, right? Yes. And I think that brings me to the next question that I wanted to ask, which is about geography and the role of geography and networks, right? Does someone who lives in a hub that's not London or New York or San Francisco have the same access to those networks? How have you guys, whoever wants to jump in, feel free to jump in, thought about untangling that geographic question from networks? Lindsay? Yeah. I mean, I think there are obvious geographic market dynamics. I'm a New Yorker, right? I have New York goggles on. So, my network is a lot easier because I can just rub shoulders and bump into people in a New York coffee shop. I go out of my way to make sure I can come to places like Slush and meet people that I wouldn't meet in New York City. And so, I think globalization has helped us ensure that founders have events like these where they can go, and it behooves people who are in these bigger markets like San Francisco, London, New York to make an effort to get here and meet other founders, meet other VCs, and make sure these conversations are more accessible. Obviously, the pandemic also pushed everybody to Zoom, and that allowed networking to blossom in a completely new way. And I think tore down some of the borders that we faced through networking, where Zoom, I think, was less common. It's so easy now to hop on a Zoom, right? It's expected. It's more typical. But I think it is the onus of people who are in big geographic centers to get out of their comfort zone, take those meetings, and go to places like Slush. What about you, Suzanne? What about from the sourcing point of view? How do you get out of there? How do you find all the founders? Yeah, and we have to go out there. The thing is that you see that 80 or 90% of the capital is in the capital city. So in Finland, more than almost 90% of all capital goes to Helsinki. But you have, like, 80% of the companies outside. So there you see, like, okay, here is a gap, or you can call it an arbitrage, as we like to call it. So we really like when we find the companies outside of these hubs, because it's easier many times. It's, you know, you don't get your CTO, maybe, like, hijacked from someone else. You can build an organization. The most important thing is you should be close to your end user or your end customer. Where are they? So I had one of my best meetings was when I was, me and Sarah, we went to this very, like, rural place in Sweden. And we, like, met this founder who we were supposed to have a meeting. And then this founder just threw us out and said, like, guys, I'm sorry, so many customers are calling, so I don't have time for this. And we were super interested, of course. Of course. It's a new tactic. Yeah, exactly. I'm too busy for you. You always want what they can have. Very nice tactic. I love that. Rachel, what about you? How do you think about geography? So when we, so I'll tell you, when we launched the Fund Year One, we were specifically looking for black founders. Yeah. And we knew from what we could see in the numbers, we were, I was actually like, well, what happened to France? Because that has, like, the most, the biggest black population across Europe. So year two, we made an effort to really get out there, go visit these markets, let people know that this existed, do the viral kind of deep search for these black founders. I think the other way around, I think originally when we talked, we were talking also our founders at a disadvantage being outside. Am I going to lie? They are. It's a little bit of a harder hurdle, right? And there are structural things that are challenging for them, like there's taxation, proximity to your investors and consumers in some cases, employment laws, if you start doing the remote work thing, all that. And then there are some funds, and I don't know the proper terms for this, you know, Suzanne will probably know this better than me, but some funds that are restricted in terms of where they can invest. So if you're, you know, sitting in Europe trying to get funding out of the US, it can be challenging for some investors to invest in you. So I'm saying, I'm not saying it's easy, but I do think some of that can be mitigated as well with extra effort from the founders. Totally, totally. Well, the fact that all three of you are sitting here today is also a testament to the networks that you've all built as individuals, right? And the power of networking, right? Which is like the action, I guess, of building a network, right? So I'd love in the final few minutes that we have to ask each of you, your, how do you network? How have you networked? And what do you think the best way to network is? Suzanne, tell me. Yeah, so, yeah, I think as a founder, before I was an investor, and I still identify as a founder, actually, I think you need to hustle to get into the real networks. That's the thing. You need to get into where the real power or what you want is. And for me, it was by playing poker. Okay. Yeah. So I just understood that a lot of investors were playing poker. So I'm like, okay, I need to get into those games. And when you are at the finals table and you've got some capital from some of the investors, then they start to ask, oh, and you said you had a startup. What was your company? And then the conversation starts. So, yeah, I have many of these examples. Suzanne, that is an expensive way to network. You must be good at poker. I like to play poker. Don't take Suzanne on poker. What about you, Rachel? How do you approach networking? So, I can say, you know, when my last role, when I was at Google, my task at 2018 was to build the VC start-up kind of partnership practice across this region. The problem was I didn't know any VCs here. So that was a big networking exercise. So I started off with very much like you, I need to be in the right place. I started off actually with Slush. And I asked Slush, you know, hey, can you make an intro to this VC, this VC, this VC. 2018 I lost my voice at Slush because I talked so much. I think the other way I approach it is I really look for kind of those allies that, so I use LinkedIn a lot actually. Who knows who? Who's my strongest connection? Can you make an intro? And then those, you know, we were talking about the different types of networks, the kind of exclusive ones versus the I need something very direct one, the exclusive ones, you know, they, they nurture me and kind of give me that push in the back to walk in the room. And that's happened many times. And I walked in and said, I can't do this. I'm the only black woman. And you know, another woman has said, yes, you can. Boom. And pushed me in the room. So that's how I approach it. It's a lot of hustle, like you said. And just getting it done. Yeah. Finding the place where the people you want to meet are and then going there. And Slush, you know, 2018, every VC in the region goes here. So I was here too. And a little back room back there, taking meetings thanks to Slush and the intros. Oh my gosh. What about you? So I, I know we're in Finland. Okay. But I am very, very friendly and talkative. So much so. I think people have thought I've been weird the last couple of days because I have approached a lot of strangers. Like I said, I'm a New Yorker. But I find that talking to people and broaching awkwardness is always the way in. Because most people that are here, everybody here we all know one or two people. And yet we are all sitting together. We all want to meet each other. And somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to broach that awkward. Who are you here with? Do you want to be friends? And so last night we, we were at a bar last night. And I, we just created a girl gang. I was like, are you by yourself? Are you by yourself? Come sit with us. And so I think if you have the confidence to just broach over that awkwardness, it's so easy. It's so easy to network, to talk to people, to find incredible minds that I think can be very reciprocal. And I'm a big fan of building relationships, not necessarily thinking about networking as being transactional. I am all about growing relationships and just meeting people, being friendly and knowing that, you know, five, ten years down the road that relationships may pay off for one of us, or it just may be a wonderful way to get through a very noisy conference full of strangers. I watched her in action yesterday. She's like, single woman there. We're going in. We had a girl gang going. I love that. Are you going to recreate it tonight? Yeah. Everybody, come on. Get the women up here. Everyone here has been invited to be part of the girl gang. You know what, guys? You can come up also. We're playing poker. Oh, my gosh. Suzanne's going to hustle everybody. I have to say I also met my co-founder there. You think you're a co-founder of poker? Can we play with plastic chips? I can't. But also my co-founder. Oh, my gosh. This feels like a dangerous poker game. Plastic chips. Plastic chips. Plastic chips. No money will be spent tonight. Thank you all. This was an incredible conversation. It was an honor to be up here on stage with all of you and everyone out there in the audience. Come network with these lovely panelists when they get up. Stay well backstage. See you all backstage. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you. Nice. Come on.