Why Melinda Gates Has Been Funding Female VCs Through Her Secretive Investment FirmMelinda Gates needs no introduction. She has been the co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for 18 years. Now, she has quietly entered the venture capital world by investing in female-led or minority-focused venture firms like Aspect Ventures, Female Founders Fund, and Defy Partners. Through Pivotal Ventures, her Seattle-based investment and incubation company, Gates is betting that non-traditional funds can bring outsize returns. [ Fortune ] More than half of the most valuable U.S. tech companies were founded by first- or second-generation immigrantsImmigrants are integral to the U.S. tech market. Some 56 percent of the 25 most valuable tech companies in the U.S. had a founder who was a first- or second-generation immigrant, according to Mary Meeker’s annual presentation at the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. The father of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came from Cuba. Alphabet founder Sergey Brin is from Russia. One of Facebook’s founders, Eduardo Saverin, hails from Brazil. [ Recode ] Arlan Hamilton 4: Hacks - This is the fourth episode in a six-part series on Arlan Hamilton and her company, Backstage Capital.Arlan has only a few months left before her cash runs out out when a seemingly perfect opportunity comes along. Is it too good to be true? Also, we take a look at Arlan's past as an entrepreneur, before she became a venture capitalist. What did she learn? And can she avoid making the same mistakes? This is the fourth episode in a six-part series on Arlan Hamilton and her company, Backstage Capital. Coffee Meets Bagel raises $12M for international expansion and live events Coffee Meets Bagel scored a $12 million Series B this week. The round, led by U.K. VC firm Atami Capital, brings the popular dating app’s total up to just under $20 million since launching back in 2012. The San Francisco-based dating app has worked to distinguish itself from competitors like Bumble and Tinder by limiting the number of matches it offers during a 24-hour window. [ Tech Crunch ] Stitch Fix CEO doesn’t seem worried about Amazon Stitch Fix CEO Katarina Lake did not express much concern over Amazon and its entrance into fashion with Prime Wardrobe at the Code Conference today. Lake says that while she does think about Amazon, that Amazon offers a “fundamentally different” value proposition. [ Tech Crunch ] Tradeshift Valuation Hits $1.1 Billion After Pre-IPO FundraisingCowboy Ventures’ Aileen Lee says enough with favoring the ‘good guys’ Billion-dollar start-up DraftKings founder: Quit your day job if you want to build a successful businessGlobalizing Venture Capital and the Story of 1776 with Donna Harris The VentureFizz Podcast: TJ Mahony - Partner at AccompliceAirbnb CEO Brian Chesky | Full interview | Code 2018After building a billion-dollar business at Citibank, he quit to send rockets into spaceWhy New York beats Silicon Valley as a destination for some startup foundersFive Essential Marketing Strategies For Any StartupMachine-learning shop CTRL-labs banks $28 million in venture capitalHere’s how leading women in Silicon Valley think tech can fix its gender diversity problemEarly-stage venture capital is a funny business. VCs ask investors to fork over huge sums of money that they then throw (albeit in a methodological and educated manner) at promising young startups, hoping upon hope that they turn into very large and profitable businesses. The problem is, VCs have long realization horizons, with full fund performance in the balance until up to 10-plus years after making their first investment. [ Ben Sun, Primary Venture Partners ] Momofuku chef David Chang explains why he’s building a media empireFind an Athlete to Market Your Brand With This Matchmaking AppUber’s European rival Taxify raises $175M led by Daimler at a $1B valuation Caffeinated Capital Files To Raise $225 Million Across Two New FundsStartups 100 2018: The UK’s best and brightest start-ups in one definitive indexDrilling deep: Why energy PE is about to get hotStartup studio eFounders is gaining some serious tractionThe creator of Internet Explorer is making mind control a reality |