[sahaskatta]

Just to add a counterpoint.

I raised a $2M seed for Smartcar. I had no college degree as I had dropped out. I had no prior work experience. I had no team. The product was still an early prototype.

MANY of the founders I know who've also raised similar sized rounds from top VCs have stories quite like mine.

[anon102010]

Her point is that her husband got more responses. My guess - her husband would get more responses than you as well.

As someone who also took time off (and built apps) from college, the fact that I'd built some apps (that got write-ups) was a big positive for my early career, even if just prototypes. But I was at a top education org before taking time off so I'd already proven I could get into a reasonable place.

No need to disclose, but your and my story tends to work if you (and or others on team) got into a place like an Ivy or a UC or top liberal arts, majoring in CS or engineering, then dropped out (aka were into the entrepreneurial space)

I think it works a lot less well with an undisclosed and possibly non-tech background.

If you had a path like hers then I am very impressed, your deck or prototype must have been compelling. But very often there are some other proof points (top school acceptance / cs majors etc). That is almost silicon valley cliche at this point.

An awesome scenario would be if someone focused on black led businesses in terms of VC and made a killing.

[Apocryphon]

> An awesome scenario would be if someone focused on black led businesses in terms of VC and made a killing.

This is what Tim O'Reilly was talking about funding:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23657403

[anotherfounder]

THIS, thank you for acknowledging that! It often feels like there are two lanes, there is all this talk of the steps to get on the fast lane, and then you realize there are some people who just got put in the fast lane, and you are still supposed to be 'working' towards getting in the fast lane.

It is frustrating that happens all over the place. Even YC - if I had a penny for every male founder that got into YC without an idea or just a new idea and then if that penny was taken away for every female founder who had a product that was doing well, well, I would be in real debt!