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NextBillion: As Impact Investors, Here's Why We Need to Elevate Human Capital
By Lauren Cochran, Director of Private Investments, Blue Haven Initiative and Grace Horwitz, Associate at Blue Haven Initaitive
Each week brings with it a new batch of headlines uncovering the ugly underbelly of another Silicon Valley pet gone wild. Scandals have hurled Uber, Kleiner, SoFi, 500 Startups, Google, Zenefits and others into unexpected PR nightmares. With the bad news coming fast and furious, it has become apparent that startups and venture capitalists have not factored in a key asset in any company’s growth, talent and culture.
The “grow or die” mentality is certainly part of the story, as process and controls are outstripped by the need to hire, but chronic underinvestment in human capital likely drives much of this chaos. The tyranny of the urgent:
- “Our technology is broken!”
- “Our biggest customer hasn’t paid!”
- “We run out of cash next month!”
In a race to bring product to market, forethought and structure around human capital falls lower on the list.
