America’s Innovation Powerhouses: Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Investors and the Unshackled Venture Team
I just returned back from an international trip to one of the most conflict-ridden areas on the planet, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon (listed in order of my visit). I was in this region for the annual Kauffman Fellows Summit and Post-Summit with a core group of Kauffman Fellows from around the world, representing their respective innovation and venture ecosystems. I will share more about this experience in a later post.
Part of what excited me about coming back home was being able to reflect upon and admire the sheer number of backgrounds that make up America’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. More than 40 percent of companies on the U.S. Fortune 500 list were launched by immigrants or children of immigrants. And that number is expected to continue to increase with venture capital firms like Unshackled Ventures, whose mission is to support immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley working on some of the most innovative endeavors.
As an immigrant of three very distinct environments (Seoul, South Korea; Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; and Hays, Kansas :), I am thrilled to interview my fellow Latina immigrant/change-maker and friend Maria Salamanca, whom I’ve known since her entrepreneurial college days. Now, as a leading investor at Unshackled Ventures, Maria offers advice for immigrant entrepreneurs on how to approach their firm, their evaluation process and how to best leverage her skillsets and the Unshackled team’s at large once they become a portfolio company.
1. Why did you decide to become a venture investor?
I never planned to get into venture; I was very passionate about helping unconventional entrepreneurs work through the various barriers they encounter, such as lack of access to capital and networks. I had a strong conviction that my network and lived experience was rare to find in the industry and that this was an advantage when I walk into the room to talk to these entrepreneurs. It is also an advantage in understanding the pain points of entire communities that are underserved by technology and venture today. In general, we as a venture community invest in disruptive technologies, but without the empathy about how that impacts the population at large, many miss the opportunities that come up as a function of these disruptive investments.
2. Given that the funnel of companies you see is fairly large, how do you effectively manage your pipeline, and at what point during the diligence process do you bring the partnership in?
We are all very involved in the process. Every company that comes in gets looked at by me and prioritized, then reviewed by the partners. We discuss every single one of them to make sure we don’t miss anything. After that, the team takes turns in getting to know the company founders and the product. I am very careful to always point out the “what I could be getting wrong” when I want to pass on a company when talking to the partners. It’s really important for me to build awareness of areas that I still need to learn more about and areas where I could easily have a bias. Our team is really collaborative and open to debating various viewpoints.
3. How should founders think about the role of a venture associate/principal pre-, during, and post investment?
I can’t speak for all firms but at our fund, I am the first eyes and filter, not just for the content but for how the founders behave and communicate. Once I advocate for a company, I am on their side, I want to help them navigate the process with the partners and answer any and all questions they might have. I think the biggest mistake founders make is assuming that associate / principal title doesn’t get influence in the process and are just there to do due diligence. Many founders can be rude and dismissive, but this is part of my comprehensive feedback to the partners when I am advocating for or against a company. Small things like attention to detail, responsiveness, kindness, and communication are really important in those early parts of the conversation when partners are more hands-off. It won’t make or break the deal, but it certainly will take time to recover from in terms of the relationship.
4. When a deal is done, what’s the best way for the founder to leverage the entire team they work with, including partner and pre-partner team members?
It’s important for the founder to know his or her strengths and weaknesses, not just as a founder but as a team. We work closely with our founders, but we don’t impose on them. This means it is up to them to be proactive in communicating their needs. We help the most where we can, but we don’t like to dictate to them what their strategy should be. If at the right fund, post-investment, there should be support for fundraising , hiring, networking, and having trusted advocates to bounce ideas off.
5. What are 2–3 traits that are critical and you look for in a founding team?
This is tough; there is no perfect combo. I look for kindness, how they treat their investors and non-investors. How founders behave towards those in power and those who aren’t can say a lot about how they will manage their team. Being kind goes a long way in keeping employee morale up during the rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.
Thoughtfulness is another trait — we look for founders who are confident in what they are talking about, but can also take feedback. This requires them to balance knowing more about the topic than most people, but not being dismissive of potentially good advice. Sometimes when founders are in the weeds, they have a hard time seeing some obvious challenges they might encounter or get obsessed with a feature that won’t get them very far on its own.
Hana’s Final Thoughts/Perspective
I’m continuously inspired by the unparalleled work of the entrepreneurs I’m surrounded by in Silicon Valley and the other geographies I visit via the Kauffman Fellows Program International Summits. Immigrant or not, thriving innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems exist because of diversity of perspectives, interconnectivity of relationships, collaboration, pay it forward mentality, and the resilience of humankind in the world.
**
Maria’s Bio
Maria Salamanca is an investor at Unshackled Ventures, a fund that fills a unique space in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, funding teams with immigrant founders at the earliest stage of pre-seed. Maria joined the fund three years ago and has been involved in all 22 investments and has evaluated more than 2,500 deals. Maria is not only a leader but a key figure in the pre-seed investment community, supporting underrepresented founders just like herself. In 2018, she was the first Latina named Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital and Business Insider’s Under 30 Rising Stars. She is deeply involved in supporting the Latino entrepreneurship ecosystem, including being on the committee for the first ever StartupWeekend: Latinx Tech Edition and creating the first list and group of Latinas in Venture Capital. It is this strong support and investment in her community that won her the 2017 California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Shark of Year. Previous to joining Unshackled, Maria worked at FWD.us an immigration lobbying group founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman and other tech leaders.
She immigrated to Orlando, FL from Colombia at age 7. She attended UC Berkeley and received a double bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Legal Studies. She is a mentor at Year Up, IDEO, Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, and Founders Institute.
