Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Special Series

Public & Business Risks: Planning for Public Purpose in Venture Capital

RSVP Required Open to the Public

Join Technology and Public Purpose fellow Liz Sisson for an overview and discussion of her research on evaluating early-stage startups for business and public risks related to the environment, economic inequality, labor, privacy and more. She will also demonstrate her team’s Public Purpose Indicator tool, built for venture capital groups and startups to be used in diligence.

Date: Time: - Location: Online
Assessing global risks

About

The decisions venture capital make do not just impact LPs, founders, or customers. The decisions to fund and support various types of technology or innovation impact everyone in society. Venture backed startups affect how we work, live, and move; they impact jobs, the environment, the economy, democracy, human rights, privacy, and safety.  VC is risky in more ways than just high failure rates and intense growth models. These investors have massive responsibility in how our society is shaped and rarely are they held accountable for the negative aspects of those outcomes.

Impact investing or ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solving problems: ESG and impact do not always work in the early-stage and for venture scalable businesses. Join Technology and Public Purpose fellow, Liz Sisson for a talk on why ESG falls short and what other options investors have when considering public purpose in their investments.

  VC + Public Purpose Team
  • Liz Sisson, Technology and Public Purpose Fellow, Speaker
  • Nathalie Gazzaneo, MPP '22, Harvard Kennedy School, Speaker
  • Campbell Howe, MPP '22, Harvard Kennedy School, Speaker

Watch Here