Summary: “Most people in the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem… believe that institutions are meritocracies,” says Freada Kapor Klein, a founding partner of Kapor Capital. “If you believe that self-serving nonsense then you believe that if there's no diversity in your circles, it's because whoever's outside isn't good enough, and it's an incredibly dangerous and inaccurate belief system.” In the season 1 finale of the Access & Opportunity podcast, Carla Harris talks to Kapor Klein about how her Oakland-based venture capital firm, which she co-founded with her husband, the computer visionary Mitchell Kapor, is breaking down the investment barriers for startups run by women and multicultural entrepreneurs. To date, 56% of Kapor Capital’s investments have gone to startups with a founder who is a woman or a person of color from an underrepresented background. “We’re often the first money in, and our investment has signaling value—that we believe in this entrepreneur, in this business model, and we’re going to help them succeed,” says Kapor Klein. Taking it a step further, Kapor Capital has also invested in startups with a social justice angle that look to help underserved communities. One such venture—Pigeonly—helps families find affordable ways to keep in touch with incarcerated relatives. It’s all part of Kapor Klein’s evolving approach “to both identify leaks in the pipeline and to plug them.” The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. © 2018 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.
