Ethics

The Founder Pedigree Myth: How Ascend Removes Bias From Investment Decisions

The Founder Pedigree Myth: How Ascend Removes Bias From Investment Decisions

A venture capital company's success hinges on the future milestones achieved by the businesses comprising a finite portfolio selected from a massive pool. That's why, to identify promising companies, most VCs have a well-defined process for how they vet, evaluate, and decide on where to invest their money. In that way, we're no different at Ascend Venture Capital. We follow a process to evaluate each potential investment in our pool to determine whether an opportunity is right for us. However, where our process diverges is how founder pedigree is weighed in our calculus.

CFA Sessions: Ethical Venture Capital

CFA Sessions: Ethical Venture Capital

WATCH ASCEND’S CFA SESSION: Ethical Venture Capital

One of the pillars of capital markets is integrity, as it underpins assurance of investors’ ability to price, invest, and trade in securities at fair value and with timely execution. In the venture capital market segment, no set of standards has yet been widely adopted to guide VC professionals in their conduct, and this is resulting in foundation-eroding doubts about the true value of venture-backed businesses. This session highlights ways investment partners can identify and root out unethical behaviors in their venture capital holdings.

Venture Capital Is Overdue for an Ethical Overhaul

Venture Capital Is Overdue for an Ethical Overhaul

If you’ve been following the world of Venture Capital, you likely know that it has seen explosive growth that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. VC funding reached record levels in 2020, and investors are sitting atop a tremendous pile of dry powder. Unfortunately, the VC world is no stranger to unethical behavior — and this can have negative impacts on funds, portfolios, and investors alike. Venture Capital firms have to create an ethical framework to guide their activity and follow it wholeheartedly. Find out how to source investors that share ethical values.