[tbirrell]

"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." - Goodhart's Law

Hiring a minority individual because they are a minority individual and it makes you look better, marginalizes everything else that person is. Which only serves to exacerbate the issue that this action is supposed to be solving.

[jssmith]

Great observation. So if we have to choose between diversity as a target and as a measure, which would be better ?

I wouldn't take the comparison to affirmative action too far here. Our startup / VC ecosystem exists to drive radical progress and to achieve success where it seems unlikely. So let's go for it and get creative.