Marc Andreessen ‏@pmarca Jun 27

2/"The more [ethnic and educational] affinity there is between two VCs investing in a firm, the less likely the firm will succeed." !!

Marc Andreessen ‏@pmarca Jun 27

3/"VCs have strong tendency to team w/other VCs whose ethnic & educational backgrounds are similar... turns out to be bad for business."

naynerz ‏@naynerz Jun 27

@pmarca it's worse when all the founders went to the same bschool... i refuse to be part of the "columbia MBA mafia" => real term in NYC

Ablorde Ashigbi ‏@Ablordesays Jun 27

@pmarca wanna loan me a few million to start a fund? Lol

Sushobhan ‏@sushobhan Jun 27

@pmarca "Diversity is the canary in the mine for meritocracy"

Marc Andreessen ‏@pmarca Jun 27

4/"Two VCs from same undergraduate school 34.4 percent more likely to collaborate...and increased by 39.2 percent if same ethnicity."

Alejandra Owens ‏@frijolita Jun 27

@pmarca and yet we almost always make professional hiring/partnership decisions based on likability (aka affinity)

naynerz ‏@naynerz Jun 27

@pmarca Ethnic? As in cultural heritage/ethnicity?! I don't think that has anything to do with anything.. Education and work exp. - agreed.

Bijan Salehizadeh ‏@bijans Jun 27

@pmarca anecdotal corollary - the best deals tend to be the ones where there is some partnership disagreement on the fundamental thesis.

Johny Miric ‏@JohnyQi Jun 27

@pmarca The friction is the key. If too people are bringing same skills on the table, there is no friction. Friction creates fire.

Bryan Beal ‏@bryanrbeal Jun 27

@pmarca this isn't true just for VCs. Stats find this true everywhere from businesses to the lunch table.

Marc Andreessen ‏@pmarca Jun 27

5/"Odds of success of invested company down 17% if two VCs worked at same company; -19% same undergrad school; -20% same ethnicity."

Paul Judge, Ph.D. ‏@pauljudge Jun 27

“@pmarca: 1/New study on interplay between diversity and success in VC investing in startups -- really interesting -- http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7316.html 

John Francis ‏@johnefrancis Jun 27

@pmarca weird. Proposed mechanisms?

Johny Miric ‏@JohnyQi Jun 27

@pmarca Jobs and Wozniack had friction, Lennon and McCartney had friction... those differences are what makes team great.

Jeff Frick ‏@JeffFrick Jun 27

@pmarca Interesting coloration. Are ethnic & education just proxies for "sameness" Some would say "herd" ? Lesson, try a different POV ?

Jonathan Korman ‏@miniver Jun 27

Survey of venture capitalists shows that a diverse team of investors is more successful http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7316.html  via @pmarca

Marc Andreessen ‏@pmarca Jun 27

6/"The lack of success among similar investors seemed to lie in the decisions that *followed* the investment...due to 'groupthink'."

Nait Jones ‏@NaithanJones Jun 27

@pmarca also true on founding teams. Diversity of perspective (unlikely w/ homogenous groups) and shared core belief lead to better ideas