The incentives and metrics to build a healthier innovation ecosystem
Your weekly guide to start-ups and venturing
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Hello and welcome back to Heroa.
This issue focuses on the metrics needed to build a healthier, more diverse, and ultimately more profitable innovation ecosystem. Heroa will be taking a Christmas break until the 11th of January so I hope you have a good holiday season. It was an extremely busy, news-packed weekend, with events we would not wish to see ahead of Christmas. So, I’d like to leave you today with some optimism. The Telegraph has spoken to 40 well-known figures, from Captain Tom Moore to Miranda Hart, to find out why they are optimistic about 2021. Their responses cover a huge gamut of possibilities and trends. I hope they lift your spirits too.
Round-up of the news this week
Global venture funding to female-founded companies fell significantly in 2020. Crunchbase data shows $4.9 billion went to more than 800 female-founded startups globally so far this year, down 27 percent from the year-ago period. Tech Nation reveals its 30 Rising Stars from all regions across the UK. Coinbase, U.S. largest cryptocurrency exchange, files for IPO. So does, UiPath a robotic process automation company. Bumble is also expected to file for IPO. Pia d’Iribarne (formerly of Accel and Stride) raises a new $56M debut fund. GoCardless raised another $95M in Series F funding this week. This round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and follows GoCardless's 46% YoY growth, which has benefitted from the increase in e-comm and online payments during COVID19.
Finally, it’s been a celebratory week for the tech ecosystem as three of the largest tech IPOs in history took place in 2020, two of these happened last week.
From the investors
“Hire for the values and attitudes that make for a good colleague and not just for the technical skills they will need.” Jenny do Forno, OMERS Ventures, Director, Talent
Judith Dada of La Famiglia on building a leading early-stage VC firm in Europe (having raised a second fund at the height of the pandemic!) and tackling unconscious bias in venture.
Azeem Azhar in conversation with Kindred Capital’s Leila Rastegar Zegna. They discuss the ways to better align incentives between entrepreneurs and investors, in order to build a healthier innovation ecosystem.
Cowboy ventures on measuring what matters resources to help you track progress towards DEI. This includes template Google surveys to copy and modify to collect data.
Hiring and firing: the 2 questions startup CEOs always ask me by Jenny do Forno of OMERS Ventures. I particularly like this advice ‘A good mantra to have in hiring is this: “Hire to raise the bar.” “Good enough” rarely raises the bar; don’t settle.’
From the operators
“Any time something unexpected happens, we could do some root cause analysis.” Courtney Seiter the Director of People at Buffer
Jacqueline Schafer, the founder of Clearbrief, published a new article on how AI will transform government social services, including a discussion of the impact on court systems, privacy issues, and necessary federal legal changes.
Working from home tips: Keeping spirits high with remote team building activities by the Director of Support and Success at Whereby
Courtney Seiter the Director of People at Buffer on the 5 Whys Process to Use to Understand the Root of Any Problem
Events
Bethnal Green Ventures
19th January 10am GMT
Bethnal Green Ventures are hosting a Tech for Good Showcase. RSVP here.
Ecoystems Giants
19th January 5pm GMT
Benjamin Erhart (Partner, UVC Partners) is talking to Ecosystems Giants about finding and funding the industrial tech moonshots of tomorrow, his journey from industrial engineering to venture capital, and lessons learned in supporting founders from idea to exit. RSVP here.
Job opportunities
Head of Comunity and Marketing at Carra. Apply here
Diversity VC is looking for a new CEO. Apply here.
SEE YOU IN 2021!
If you have any comments, questions, or just want to chat about start-ups and venturing then do drop me a comment.
Written by Alexandra Wyatt, based in London but a global traveler. You can also reach me on Twitter and Instagram.