Often, underdogs don’t lack muscle, or desire or skills; if anything, they lack opportunities. While the world around is fraught with challenges, and health, security and civil rights seem to be pit against each other, I believe it’s not an either/or approach or a zero-sum game, but rather, a YES, AND a parallel, multi-channel, multi-effort approach that will favor the economic underdogs to make outsized contributions in their communities. To successfully do this, they need the opportunity to learn, experiment, and enter the ring prepared, hungry, and confident that they deserve to be there and CAN WIN.

The El Paso, TX/Southern New Mexico/Northern Chihuahua region, often referred to as the Borderplex region, is my home and my backyard. The region has many attributes and endowments, not the least of which are its people and work ethic. It is also often seen as an underdog… a long shot as a destination for new industries or corporate headquarters. As an entrepreneur, investment manager, educator, husband, and father who has lived and worked in many places, I especially care about what happens in my own community and how I can contribute to its advancement. That’s why this week, after decades as an experienced underdog in various industries and communities, and months and months of planning, I am proud to introduce the first cohort of young talent; the FIRE Venture Fellows who will have ceased on opportunities to build the next great economy in our own backyard.

It is widely recognized that most of the world has entered a fourth industrial revolution economy driven by emerging technologies that are radically changing societies. According to the World Economic Forum, “the fourth industrial revolution can be described as the advent of cyber-physical systems involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines.” By launching a fellowship focused on harnessing the intellectual prowess of these emerging professionals, and unleashing it on today’s challenges, our region will be better positioned to face future economic and industrial challenges.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution Economy (FIRE) Venture Fellowship is a competitive program focused on training Borderplex university students in venture capital for the benefit of the regional startup ecosystems. FIRE Venture Fellows will undertake a one-year training and apprenticeship. Over the course of the year, fellows will learn about investment, venture capital, and startup entrepreneurship. Designed for undergraduate and graduate students, the Fellowship prompts participants to put this learning to practice by creating investment memos on real companies, creating their own investment theses and working within their desired industrial sectors. All of this will be supplemented through curated internships with partner firms outside of our ecosystem. This will enable the fellows to gain valuable knowledge, bring it back to our region and put that knowledge into practice.

Efforts like the FIRE Venture Fellowship are not launched in a vacuum, nor are they individual accomplishments. Our lead academic partnership is Arrowhead Center Inc. housed at New Mexico State University. Arrowhead and NMSU have long been working to improve the region’s economy. Full disclosure, I hold the Bill and Sharon Sheriff Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship at NMSU, and nothing gets more motivated for my 7:30 AM Entrepreneurial Mindset class than knowing that there are talented students already in class (or online) ready to challenge me and themselves to be better.

The Fellowship also boasts a peer relationship with a leading program developing a diversified talent pipeline for the broader venture capital community. HBCUvc is a leading source of diverse talent to the venture community, and people like Hadiyah Mujhid, founder of HBCUvc, are natural-born champions and someone you want in your corner.

“Great communities invest in their people,” that’s why my friend Paul Thallner, founder and CEO of High Peaks Group, a professional leadership coaching organization, said to me. I think we have a great community, and we’ve got great people, so naturally, I wanted him involved in this journey.

Quick Facts About the Fellowship

• Seven fellows in the inaugural cohort
• The program kicks off June 1, 2020, and lasts a full year
• Virtually for summer and in-person in Fall 2020-Spring 2021
• Internships for Summer 2021, but in-region projects begin Summer 2020
• HBCUvc partnership broadens our national network of venture capitalists
• Real-world curriculum based on experience in seed VC, M&A, and IPOs
• Professional leadership coaching in innovation and entrepreneurship

You start to put the elements together and see that while it is not easy, it is possible to say YES, AND do something in your community that can have global implications. In a nutshell, when you take underdogs, plus coaching, plus experience, plus opportunities… well, now you’re cooking with FIRE! And FIRE my friends, is what the next great economy is all about.

To learn more about the fellows, or the program, visit https://sandbox.ventures/fire-fellows/

To be clear, this is not an attempt to write a “do as I say” piece, or an exhortation to “remove a spec from your eye” when I’ve had a beam in mine. This is not an “I’m sorry” piece, as I believe that apologies should be directed toward the offended — the victim and those directly impacted, and not a generic expiatory exercise that replaces that.

This is a piece drawn from past personal failings and poor judgment, based on introspection and contriteness, and based on a desire to see change in an industry in which I am fortunate to be a participant. It is one man’s response to the question of personal responsibility. My hope is that the current narrative of what is wrong in the industry does not drown out the opportunity to usher in change and where needed, applying it to myself.

If you’ve been the Perpetrator

Often the victim of unwanted sexual advances will not report an incident (or many incidents). There could be many reasons for this, the most likely ones are shame, confusion, the pain of reliving the experience or fear of retaliation. While this may lead a man to assume that no harm was done, you must be more self-aware than that. If you’re not, you can stop reading now and just wait for a barrage of unwanted attention to show up at your doorstep when you’ve gone too far one too many times.

If you have the slightest sense that your actions may have, or could have caused harm (some would call this a moral compass), then stop! Consider the following steps:

Trace the problem. Why is this important? Because a problem requires a solution. Seeing this as a problem means you must think about it. Not seeing this as a problem means you dismiss it, avoid it, bury it, and would probably do it again. What is it that led to this? Does this happen often? Was this an anomaly and it doesn’t fit into any bucket that explains it? If you don’t have the tools to understand whether something is a problem, find out who does and make haste to understand yourself.

Think about those you have offended. The direct recipient of your actions is one, but there are others. If you’re married, you’ve offended your wife. If your actions took place during a work-related event, you’ve offended your employer. If you believe in a higher power (as I do), then you offended God too. Get the point?

Accept responsibility. Don’t let your inaction add to the offense of your actions. Accepting responsibility means figuring out what is in your power to make things right.

Apologize. Above all, be sincere.

Ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness may not come soon, or easy, or at all, but you should still ask for it. And as a wise man pointed out once, “be sure to forgive yourself too.”

Resolve to change (repentance). Make no provisions for future mistakes or compromising situations. That’s why you widen the circle of who knows, so that you become accountable and not repeat those mistakes.

Develop accountability. Like a business, you need frequent check-ins and tools to gauge whether you’re getting dangerously close to repeating an offense or undesirable behavior. An audit can raise flags, anticipate danger zones, and be prescriptive to take actions to avoid circumstances. Accountability is a very, very hard thing; we (perhaps especially for Americans) value personal freedom and the idea of individuality. However, the truth is we all have some form of authority over us — at home, at work, and in society. Find accountability resources and partners that can speak into your life. If in your accountability practice nothing comes up that raises red flags (and assuming you’re honest and transparent about it), then good for you; find joy in journey of personal growth. However, don’t use that as a club over others, or as a form of self-promotion and adulation that disparages or denigrates others.

Be aware of what might trigger bad behavior. Watch what you consume, or what might lead you to repeated offensive behavior. By “consume” I don’t just mean what you eat and drink; I mean what you fill your time and head with — activities, visuals, company, sensory experiences; catch my drift? Are you creating questionable circumstances for yourself? A trigger to bad behavior could be excessive consumption of alcohol (and for some, one drink is too much). This is often an enabler, or an excuse. You must be honest with yourself. If there are enablers in your life, you need to find ways to pull away from these.

Surround yourself with people you want to be like. Draw near to those that build up the type of character you want to be known for. Find the right models to emulate. A man I admire has a quote at the bottom of every emails he sends that reads, “A man’s reputation is the opinion people have of him; his character is what he really is.”

Practice moral restraint. Don’t let the success you seek in your job, or in the industry blur your vision to extract satisfaction in areas of your life that transcend appropriate behavior.

What if you’re not the Perpetrator?

I’ve read several comments on blogs and posts that range from disbelief that someone behaves that way, or expressions of ‘a sickening feeling”, or “shock,” or the rendering of clothes via a broad apology on behalf of an entire gender and for all men in general. I don’t fully share that latter sentiment, because my belief is that the apology should come from the offender directly to those offended, naming the specific offense. But what can men that are not the perpetrators do? It is OK to feel righteous anger when someone is maligned and hurt by reprehensible behavior. Righteous anger is morally right and justifiable, which is different from self-righteous anger which seeks to first validate oneself as morally superior.

You can act if you witness behavior not becoming a male member of the industry toward a female, and that action should include the practice of good judgement. If it’s someone you know well (or thought you knew well), think about the time and place to bring this up. If it requires immediate action, think about the victim or offended person first — their wellbeing is paramount. Think about how you would like to see females in your circle treated; females you love and admire, like your mother, or sister, or daughter.

If someone approaches you with knowledge of something happening, weigh the information and assess the role you should play in sharing it further, gathering more information, or acting upon it if based on established policy.

Our industry needs to work on itself to establish an environment of inclusion, respect and opportunity for women, without the fear or threat of harassment or unwanted sexual advances. Due to the recent publicity of some events, I am aware of many firms and organizations doubling down on pledges and taking initiative to ensure their workplaces and gatherings are welcoming, safe places for women to thrive professionally. If you’re part of such initiatives, awesome.

If you’re still reading this, perhaps you’ve found areas of agreement or even disagreement, or you may have other ideas on how to tackle the issue. Perhaps more public vetting or inclusive discussions are necessary. If I were asked to put together an industry workshop, I would title it, “Attitude, Behavior and Action: The Role and Responsibility of Men in the Advancement of Women in VC.”

The objective would be to influence the ecosystem by creating an environment that values women in VC. Some working assumptions include:

1. Workplaces set norms for male / female interaction, thereby moderating some of the adverse behavior that may be “culturally acceptable.”
2. When someone breaks workplace norms (or where none exist to guide behavior), adverse behavior proliferates
3. Organizational leadership that recognizes diversity and gender equality break new ground that favors organizational performance

The necessary audiences and areas of interest for long-term transformation would be:

· Graduate school cohorts — where much socialization takes place and perhaps behavioral expectations are more explicitly transferred; their preparation to join the workplace would not be complete without addressing this issue.

· VC fund recruitment process — interviewers and interviewees should not be afraid to ask candid questions about how a firm views these topics; whether there are policies in place, and whether instances have occurred and how they were handled.

· VC fund leadership — the increased awareness of late should prompt the managing partners across all firms to have frank conversations with their peers and within their firms.

· Start-ups — these venerable tech warriors need to prepare their employees (men and women) to respond to unwanted behavior, such as in the case of power dynamics between investors and founders/start-ups, and establish appropriate boundaries.

· Work-life balance discussions — this is such a “chicken and egg” thing, and the lack of balance often gets the blame for bad behavior. Regardless, it needs to be front and center in how people show up, individually and as a group, to the workplace.

· Board of directors — often the board is the last to know, but should be prepared to respond appropriately and swiftly.

· PE/VC fund culture — while culture change is a difficult and time-consuming endeavor, it is worth it light of the consequences of not doing so.

Note that the above attempts to include numerous stakeholder groups that shape the work environment of the VC industry specifically, but it is not an exhaustive list.

In closing, if you are asking yourself “what can men do,” clearly the answer is a lot, because doing nothing is not an option.