234. Breaking into VC; Excelling at Goldman Sachs; and the Origin of BLCK VC (Brian Hollins)

Brian Hollins of BLCK VC joins Nick on a special Crisis Coverage installment to discuss Breaking into VC; Excelling at Goldman Sachs; and the Origin of BLCK VC. In this episode, we cover: Background and path to venture? What was the most surprising thing about venture that you only realized after working in it for awhile? So you've got this great job in venture...  Why'd you decide to go back to HBS? Tell us about the origin story of BLCK VC? What are some of the specific activities and programs that BLCK VC is running? On June 4th, BLCK VC held an event, “We Won’t Wait”, for people in venture to take action. What were the primary goals and outcomes of the event? I want to talk a bit about your experience at Goldman... did you have an opportunity to invest in black and/or underrepresented founders? What, if anything, did Goldman do to support black investors and founders? It's so hard breaking into this industry and orders-of-magnitude harder when you're black --  how have diversity issues and racial profiling affected your professional journey? Can you give us your take on the current social unrest and what path you want to see going forward? Do you think we'll see the systemic changes required this time or do you think progress will be limited? Who are some investors, founders or people in the space you see paving the way and driving change? What can white VCs do, specifically, to contribute to more better balance and stronger representation for black founders and investors?  What organizations do you care about? What are sites or resources that our audience can visit to get more involved? Aspen Fellowship... At New Stack we're rolling out a fellowship program to train young, college students in VC... you're back on a college campus... what are some ways that we can get our job description in front of more black, latin and underrepresented minority students? Are there any national organizations or communities for college-aged, black students that are interested in tech? 3 Data Points... Let's say you are approached to invest in an enterprise SaaS business. The startup has $10M ARR, Growing 10% MoM and LTV:CAC is 4:1. Catch is you can only ask 3 questions (for 3 additional data points) to make your decision. What 3 questions do you ask? To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.