Episode 21: Compassionate Capitalist Vernon Lee Empowering Diverse Entrepreneurial Success

Karen Rands - The Compassionate Capitalist Podcast Show

Karen Rands, host of the Compassionate Capitalist Show, is joined by Vernon Lee, Jr., co-founder and managing partner of The Marathon Fund to talk about the shift in paradigm toward the realization that diverse founders of funded startups outperform traditional venture backed companies led by white male founders. The data is clear but the process for diverse founders to get funding to get started is muddy. The good news is that conversations started pre-2020 helped to shine the light on the challenges for access to capital for diverse founders that crystalized in 2020 and opened up the doors for more dedicated funding allocation in corporate equity, venture, and angel funds. Karen & Vernon dig into the topic and discuss the elevation and availability of capital for underserved for companies from start to growth stage: past, present & future. Mr. Vernon Lee, Jr is a Partner and Co-Founder of The Marathon Fund, an early-stage equity fund primarily investing in high-growth innovative businesses. The fund aims to deploy capital with exceptional entrepreneurs that have been historically underrepresented (Black, LatinX, Women, Disabled, Veterans, and LGBTQ) in the institutional private capital markets. Mr Lee is also a member of the Global Impact Fund II investment committee. Mr. Lee previously chaired the Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP), a partnership between The Marathon Foundation, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York (HBSAANY), and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC). He is also a judge for the i.Invest National Youth Business competition and Startup Runway pitch competition. For more information please visit: www.themarathonfund.com Watch Interview: https://youtu.be/W4gTH3ZIgaQ Karen Rands, the leader of the Compassionate Capitalist Movement and author of the Best Seller, Inside Secrets to Angel Investing, is an authority on creating wealth through investing and building successful businesses that can scale and exit rich. Visit http://KarenRands.co to learn why Investors hire her firm to identify the red flags of deal before you invest or try to raise capital, and entrepreneurs trust her to advise and manage on their capital campaign. SOCIAL MEDIA: http://twitter.com/karen_rands http://facebook.com/theKarenRands http://instagram.com/compassionatecapitalist http://linkedin.com/in/karenrands