Watching founders work produces a portfolio that is mostly underrepresented founders
Antler admits a wider group, watches them build for weeks, then funds about one in 10 of them.
Inside Startup Funding · Building Community in Startups: The Antler ApproachMore than 65% of the founders backed by Antler in the United States come from underrepresented groups. That is the result, says Jeff Becker, a general partner at the firm, of waiting to invest until after watching people work.
Antler, which backs companies at their start, brings founders together for six to eight weeks of building before any money changes hands. It admits about 3% of founders, which Becker says is about three times the rate in venture capital, so it can start with a wider net. Over those six to eight weeks, it invests in only about 10% of the admitted founders.
The filter, Becker says, is psychology and demonstrated work ethic, rather than resumes or backgrounds. Because of that, he argues, more underrepresented founders receive capital, which in his view is probably a pretty good indication that the rest of venture capital is broken when it favors judging resumes over watching execution.
Questions people ask
Who counts as underrepresented here?
Antler did not define the term in this discussion, but in U.S. venture capital it generally means founders who are women, Black, Latino, and from other groups that receive a small share of startup funding. National data consistently show that women and Black and Latino founders receive only a few percent of venture dollars.
Why would watching work produce more diversity than reading resumes?
Resume screens tend to favor people with familiar schools, employers, and previous startup wins, credentials that are unevenly distributed. Judging several weeks of output, speed, and persistence can surface people who lack those markers but build quickly and attract teammates. That is Becker's argument for why observation changes who gets funded.
What does investing at inception mean?
It means starting even before a company is incorporated or a lead founder and idea are set, when an investor is betting mainly on the person. Most venture capital enters later, at the seed stage or beyond, when there is a product, revenue, or fundraising traction to evaluate.