#120: Believing and Investing in Underrepresented Founders w/ Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis

As investors, we have a major role in building and creating opportunities for underrepresented geniuses — founders whose ideas and innovations are knowledgeable and led by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. It’s really surprising to know that the major difference between minority and majority startup founders is bleak. It's so bleak that less than 10% of all venture capital deals go to women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders. So how can we change the way VC’s think? And how can we best support underrepresented founders and innovators? On today’s episode of the Igniting Startups podcast we’ll be speaking with Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis. Anastasia joined the team at Backstage in 2016 as Entrepreneur in Residence and ran Backstage Accelerator’s first cohort in Los Angeles as Managing Director. She now leads Special Projects at Backstage Capital, a VC firm that invests in women, people of color, and LBGTQ founders. She’s also the co-founder of bosa, a wellness and productivity app that enables consultants to provide the highest level of service to their clients. In this episode, you’ll get to hear Anastasia share her thoughts on why investors should believe and invest in underrepresented founders, how she found a great mentor, the amazing culture at Backstage, and finding a breakthrough in her product. You’ll also get to hear how she was able to get plugged into the culture of tech and the growing tech scene in the Los Angeles area. Tune in for more! In this episode with Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis, you’ll learn: How Anastasia broke into tech and entrepreneurship Finding and building a great relationship with a mentor in tech How Anastasia was able to plug into the L.A. tech ecosystem The exciting things happening at Backstage Capital The biggest determinants of success or failure for a startup or an entrepreneur Please enjoy this conversation with Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis! If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.