VENTURE VENEER: After his company got acquired by Alma, Fahad Hassan, now the Chief Business Development Officer there, is busy at work reaching out to venture capitalists. He's compiled a spreadsheet of 263 VCs and based on that, dishes candid observations on the world of venture capital. Some trends aren't surprising: "American venture capital is run by white guys," he says: only 13 of the 263 firms he's met has had a founder who is not a white man. Oh, and "every fund website is basically the same with five key links."
Hassan also notes a glaring lack of diversity among the companies that VCs list as wins; most are of the Google, Facebook and Dropbox variety. He'd love for firms that boast an appetite for risks to own up to failed bets. "It isn't a badge of shame— to me it’s a badge of honor." he writes. "As an entrepreneur, I would probably want your money more than anyone else’s if a fund admitted how difficult their jobs were and that not every bet is a home-run."
