Meet the company training up more diverse startup founders
Nov 15, 2018

Meet the company training up more diverse startup founders

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Only about 1 percent of venture capital-backed startup founders are black, according to CB Insights data. Even fewer are black women or Latino. There's not a lot of age diversity and geographic diversity, and underrepresented founders don't always have access to the networks or training programs that can help them get startup funding. Mandela Dixon is a former public school teacher and startup founder, and she was a mentor for entrepreneurs at the VC firm Kapor Capital. About a year ago, she created Founder Gym, which is an online-only training program for underrepresented, would-be startup founders. Host Molly Wood talked with her at the AfroTech conference last week in San Francisco.

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Meet the company training up more diverse startup founders

Nov 15, 2018
Founder Gym offers tools for anyone who wants to start a venture-backed company.
A man looks at his computer at a Starbucks coffee shop in Washington, DC on October 18, 2018.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

Only about 1 percent of venture capital-backed startup founders are black, according to CB Insights data. Even fewer are black women or Latino. There’s not a lot of age diversity and geographic diversity, and underrepresented founders don’t always have access to the networks or training programs that can help them get startup funding. Mandela Dixon is a former public school teacher and startup founder, and she was a mentor for entrepreneurs at the VC firm Kapor Capital. About a year ago, she created Founder Gym, which is an online-only training program for underrepresented, would-be startup founders. Host Molly Wood talked with her at the AfroTech conference last week in San Francisco.

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