Startups are often quick to say they value diversity but slow to implement hiring practices that reflect it. It’s the path of least resistance for a growth-stage company to hire from the general pipeline of Silicon Valley, but if the founder wants a diverse team, that value should be used from the first hire.
Leah Solivan, founder of Taskrabbit and founder and managing director of Precedent.VC, joined Isabelle Johannessen on Build Mode to discuss how she thought about hiring while leading Taskrabbit. As the company rose from being tied to Solivan’s credit cards to one of the platforms that defined the gig economy, the leadership team deliberately sought out diverse talent for each role.
Diversity does not happen by accident. Solivan and their team have built themselves into every aspect of their recruiting and hiring process. “But if you do that from the beginning it becomes easier, because the culture that has been built, the team that has been built, the network that you have built as a company, is very different, and it feeds on itself, becoming an ecosystem.
All startups have a talent and founder network at their center, and it makes sense that the network will reflect the founder community. So the diverse tech industry, in many ways, starts with who is investing in these innovators. As an early stage investor, Solivan has seen the flow of money from both sides of the table.
“If you follow the money through the program, it comes from the limited partners, and they decide who the money will be given to, the venture capitalists. And from there, the venture capitalists choose which founders to invest in,” said Solivan. “The money is there, but it is controlled by people with different biases.”
However, founder or backing VCs do not need to be underrepresented to deliberately hire from a diverse talent pool. Solivan suggests setting a goal of seeing two CVs from female students for every male CV, tapping into a wide range of networks, and promoting people from diverse backgrounds to leadership roles.
“You’re asking someone to step off the edge of a cliff — to build a net to jump into,” Solivan said.
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New episodes of Build Mode drops every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.
