008 - Mallun Yen & Leyla Seka, Founders and Partners at Operator Collective
Forward Thinking Investors Podcast Recap
Published:
Duration: 44 min
Guests: Mallun Yen, Leyla Seka
Summary
Operator Collective is reshaping venture capital by integrating experienced operators into the ecosystem, focusing on diversity and inclusion to influence early-stage companies.
What Happened
Mallun Yen and Leyla Seka discuss the creation and purpose of Operator Collective, a venture fund that integrates experienced operators, particularly women and people of color, into the venture capital ecosystem. They emphasize the importance of operators in scaling companies beyond the founding team, highlighting how the venture world often overlooks this group. By creating a fund that includes a high percentage of women and people of color as LPs, they aim to diversify and expand wealth creation opportunities.
Yen shares her unique journey from being an intellectual property attorney to a venture capitalist, highlighting the lack of accessibility in the venture world for women operators. She explains how Operator Collective works to bridge this gap by bringing together a network of operators who can provide valuable insights and support to startups. The fund's structure, which includes a sliding scale for LP investment, is designed to make venture capital more accessible.
Seka discusses her background at Salesforce and her realization of the income inequality in venture capital, which motivated her to become involved with Operator Collective. She emphasizes the need for more diversity in venture capital and the importance of making venture capital more approachable and understandable for everyone. Seka also mentions her involvement in founding the Black Venture Institute to increase the number of Black venture capitalists.
The episode delves into how Operator Collective evaluates potential investments, focusing on enterprise SaaS companies and sectors like productivity and sales. They explain their process of involving LPs in the evaluation to leverage their expertise and ensure a mutually beneficial relationship with startups.
Both Yen and Seka reflect on the broader impact they hope to have on the venture ecosystem by influencing early-stage companies to be more inclusive and diverse. They discuss their commitment to changing the venture capital landscape by expanding the networks and opportunities available to underrepresented groups.
The conversation also covers the importance of community in Operator Collective, which is not just a fund but also a network for operators. They highlight the significance of community building in their careers and how it plays a crucial role in the success of Operator Collective.
Finally, they address the need for individuals and organizations to actively commit to change, as evidenced by Matt's efforts to diversify his podcast guests. Yen and Seka encourage listeners to use their influence to drive diversity and inclusion in their respective fields.
Key Insights
- Operator Collective integrates a high percentage of women and people of color as limited partners (LPs) to diversify wealth creation opportunities in the venture capital ecosystem.
- The fund uses a sliding scale for LP investment, making venture capital more accessible to a broader range of investors, particularly experienced operators.
- Operator Collective focuses on investing in enterprise SaaS companies, particularly in productivity and sales sectors, leveraging LP expertise in the evaluation process.
- The Black Venture Institute was founded to increase the number of Black venture capitalists, addressing income inequality and lack of diversity in the venture capital industry.