Diversity and Venture Capital

I recently spoke to Frederik Groce, co-founder of BLCK VC and a Principal at Storm Ventures. Frederik co-founded BLCK VC in 2018 with the aim of increasing awareness about the lack of black investors in venture capital. In just under two years they now include Google and Salesforce among their 100+ sponsors, with names like John Thompson, Ken Coleman, Jewel Burk Solomon, Tyson Clark, Kobie Fuller, and Niniane Wang on the advisory board.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. ​How did you get here? ​What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Frederik: Landing my job in the Venture world is largely due to the company I ran after graduating from Stanford University. This company was really unique in that it was a non-profit with for profit subsidiaries that existed to guarantee that Stanford students had access to entrepreneurial programs that teach students about business by running businesses. As part of that mandate, we ran two incubator/accelerator programs. This gave me a lot of exposure to early stage companies and to the broader venture community. This exposure is what planted the seed of VC in my mind, then it was fertilized and nurtured by career mentors of mine.

Adam: What is BLCK VC all about? What compelled you to start it and how did you get it off the ground?

Frederik: BLCK VC is an organization I helped co-found 3 years ago aimed at bringing attention to the lack of diversity in Venture, particularly when it comes to Black diversity. African Americans make up less than 2% of the venture ecosystem, and this is creating systemic issues with respect to Black founders getting funded due to the fact that venture is largely a network based business. We’ve been working hard to increase the number of Black investors, create opportunities for the Black venture community to network within itself, and connecting the Black venture community to other diverse communities within the tech world.

BLCK VC is today the largest Black venture network in the United States. We have a footprint in LA, NYC, Chicago and San Francisco.

What compelled me to help found BLCK VC is that I believe that we can all have impact as we are on our economic and career climbs. I’m a big believer in the power that grassroots communities can have, and that’s exactly what we’re building at BLCK VC. I was able to help get it off the ground due to the support of my partners at Storm Ventures and my co-founder Sydney Sykes. Furthermore, the entire founding team, which includes folks from Khosla, Bessemer, Great Point, and many other great firms were foundational to our ability to build and expand BLCK VC.

Adam: How were you able to land over 100 sponsors, including Google and Salesforce? How do you build such a marquee board? What advice do you have for others on how to land sponsors and attract such reputed people as board members? 

Frederik: For us, getting sponsors has always been around finding aligned thought partners that acknowledge that we have a problem when it comes to diversity in the tech world, particularly when it comes to access for Black and LatinX men and women. All of our partners have seen this problem first hand and are looking for innovative and creative solutions to change that. And many of our partners and sponsors have a number of initiatives aimed at trying to put a dent in the diversity problem. BLCK VC, represents just one of those initiatives, but also one of the higher value ones given the unique networks, access, and role that venture investors play in the broader tech world.

My biggest advice to those looking for sponsors is that it’s important not to just look for financial sponsors, but thought partners who can help you connect dots, level up the impact, and ultimately that can bring allies to the table. We also try to approach a lot of our conversations with sponsors with how we can help them first. This has helped us tremendously over the last few years.

Adam: Your day job is as a VC. How do you decide what companies to invest in? 

Frederik: What a loaded question! We make decisions based on team, traction, market opportunity, and competitive differentiation. At the stage where Storm invests, we put a heavy weighting on team, traction and differentiation. We are looking for b2b business with revenue, hungry teams that ideally have experience with the problem or pain their company is trying to solve for, and a unique insight that manifests itself in the product.

Adam: What are your best tips for entrepreneurs interested in raising capital?

Frederik: Do your homework, know the investors and what they like. And realize that raising is truly a numbers game, so be proactive and cast a wide net. 

Adam: What are your best tips for entrepreneurs interested in general?

Frederik: One piece of advice I give founders all the time is to go build a real and meaningful relationship with a handful of investors. We’re people too, and there’s a lot of help we can provide outside of financing. I help lots of friends out with their companies or ideas, and it’s something I truly enjoy doing. 

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Frederik: Effective leaders are great at seeing what connects people versus what divides them. They are effective and creating incredible alignment to push priorities through. A lot of leadership is about asking good questions and listening. Another overlooked element is that great leaders are always mission driven in some way. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received? 

Frederik: Don’t worry about being known, worry about being worthy of being known. I try to live my life by this principle.