Shoots! Episode 8: Investing in Startups to Effect Real Change

Welcome to the 8th episode of “Shoots!” where I celebrate examples of 21st century entrepreneurialism demonstrating increasingly important business principles. This story is about People First RH, a startup enabling employees and employers to work together to resolve workplace discrimination, harassment and bullying in a consistent and timely manner. People First is raising investment funds on the Republic equity crowdfunding platform through September 1, so anyone (including you) can make an investment!

In this article, I will highlight how:

• You can effect change by investing directly in startups
• People First is well-positioned to drive change by reducing harassment and discrimination within organizations of any size
• People First’s technology enables transparency, accountability and closure in a world where ad hoc responses are the norm
• People First’s expertise enables companies to rapidly transform workplaces

As the world has been upended this year, I have encountered many people motivated to drive change but not sure where to direct their energy and resources. Many resort to social media and only experience aggravation. I’ve participated in a few vigils and marches (with a mask and maintaining social distance) and while my voice is magnified, I seek more sustained impact.

Money can accelerate change in our capitalist system. Pushing companies to avoid advertising on social media platforms or with specific TV personalities has indirect impact. I can focus spending toward companies with the right values and invest in socially-responsible ETFs, but is there a way to support change-focused startups have potential for greater financial returns?

Effecting Change by Investing in Startups

I co-wrote an HBR article on crowdfunded investing with Eddie Yoon at the end of 2018 and stumbled on a promising opportunity available to anyone. Laws created in the past decade now allow anyone (not just the well-connected) to invest directly in startups through equity crowdfunding platforms like Republic (where People First is raising funds), Wefunder and Seedinvest. On some platforms, investments begin as low as $100. While risk is high, there is a possibility of an outsized return.

This is a fun, fascinating world. You can see what’s hot, such as how entrepreneurs are applying AI and automation and how they are pursuing opportunities uncovered by COVID-19.

These sites aim to expand where startup investments are deployed. Last December Wefunder traveled through the US via trains searching for companies located beyond conventional startup hotspots. Republic seeks founders across race, gender and location – less than 10% of venture funds are invested in companies founded by women. Investors can use these platforms to identify companies with diverse leaders or change-focused missions and invest in them.

People First Is Well-Positioned as a Change Agent

If you want to invest in such a company, People First can fit the bill. They are focused on addressing a massive opportunity – eliminating discrimination and harassment in the workplace. While awareness of gender, sexual orientation and racial inequality is rapidly increasing in society, corporations have been slower to evolve.

The idea for People First was hatched when co-founders CEO Shantanu Rana and COO Kamael Ann Sugrim aimed to build open, accountable and trustworthy organizations in prior roles. They were frustrated that anti-discrimination and harassment tools and training advanced little over their careers. As they became more senior, it became more difficult for each to ensure managers’ and their team members’ value systems mirrored their own.

A B2B company like People First can impact companies across industries. When deploying People First’s solution, organizations must think proactively – identifying which leaders should be part the automated notification hierarchy and creating the ecosystem to sustain a safe, inclusive and transparent workplace. In short, just deciding to use People First can help companies take steps to eliminate hostile work environments.

People First’s Technology Enables Transparency, Accountability and Closure

Anti-harassment and discrimination solutions are often built in reaction to an incident. I have encountered a wide range of training – in-person and online. No matter how it is delivered, training is perceived as “checking the box.” You may have completed such training while multitasking and guessing on quizzes. If so, did you feel it accomplished anything?

In terms of incident reporting, some companies have confidential hotlines, but employees lack awareness. HR may not be objective; it looks out for employees, but its primary responsibility is protecting the company. Even more concerning, retaliation occurs in nearly half of reported cases. For these reasons, many employees do not lodge complaints when they are warranted.

Rapidly-growing companies may have the greatest exposure. Companies can grow from 10 employees to 500 seemingly overnight. In these cases, structure and oversight are never able to keep pace with headcount growth, even when founders have the best of intentions. Multiple locations add complexity and remote working resources like Zoom and Slack make it easier for employees to memorialize harassment or discrimination incidents.

People First’s solution provides accountability that training and ad hoc solutions lack. The employee submits an incident via an app or website. Drop-down options help to ensure necessary detail is captured.

• What happened?
• Who was involved?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?

The path to closure begins with the employee stating his/her desired resolution. The incident is steadily escalated if not resolved within specified time windows. Both employee and employer must agree to the proposed resolution for the case to be closed. Periodic check-ins help to ensure retaliation has not taken place.

People First’s Expertise Enables Companies to Rapidly Transform Workplaces 

It’s difficult for companies to build harassment and discrimination knowledge bases beyond their direct experience. Executives can’t easily solicit peer advice without exposing the firm. Talking to external counsel could provide expert perspective, but fees add up. Their solutions may lean toward “playing defense” or focus on superficial remedies rather than root causes.

With visibility into the types and frequency of various harassment and discrimination complaints across its customers, People First can provide strategic guidance on topics like:

How quickly are specific types of complaints escalated?

What is the typical escalation path?

How do other companies resolve these types of complaints?

How do companies minimize the likelihood of retaliation?

This expertise can help People First to have a profound impact well beyond its technology. Progressive employers seek to create safe and welcoming workplaces and People First helps them achieve this through technology and domain knowledge. As People First grows its customer base, they provide additional guidance to effectively prevent and resolve incidents. Expectations across employers can be raised further. And momentum for change accelerates.

If you are skeptical, think back to life in the 80s or early 90s. As a non-smoker, were you ever required to sit in the smoking section of a plane? Or emerged from a late night at a bar? We all were resigned to send our clothes to the cleaners. But change can happen, and it can take place overnight if momentum builds. Placing informed bets, even small ones, behind companies like People First that aim to change things can help to get the first dominoes to fall.

Kyle Okimoto is the founder of Market Junctions, which helps transform the power of disruption into a force of positive change. He is the creator of the Resiliency Map, a process anyone can use to increase their resilience by drawing from their own experience and that of others. He is the Acting Chief Marketing Officer for Trade Exchange, a marketplace for investment ideas and an investor and advisor in startups ranging from Cadence (high yield short term alternative investments), AltoIRA (self-directed retirement accounts for alternative investments), ARIS Technology (robotic quality control laser scanning). Kyle is an investor in both People First RH and WeFunder.