Opinion certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Demetrius Gray: The onus is on VCs to fund Black founders

Demetrius Gray · #99 The Friends & Family Gap · Mar 3, 2025 · at 22:32

Demetrius Gray, founder and CEO of WeatherCheck, shares his perspective on the structural funding gap in venture capital for Black founders.

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“I just don't have tons of confidence in VC. Like, they have a track record, and their track record speaks for itself. Nobody, it's not a secret, and so the onus is really on them to improve. You know, it's not on me to try to convince a VC that a Black founder is good enough, and doesn't mean that I'm going to be limited as a result.”

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Demetrius Gray Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 20:21 #99 The Friends & Family Gap
Disclosure
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Demetrius Gray Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 18:44 #99 The Friends & Family Gap
Prediction Open · timeframe Mar 2028
Demetrius Gray predicts WeatherCheck will become a billion-dollar company
“That also means that I own more of the company than most founders ever do, and I think that's beneficial in the context of, like, look, we will become a billion-dollar company, and the byproduct is that I'm gonna be super rich, and Jermaine's gonna be super ri…”
Demetrius Gray Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 23:35 #99 The Friends & Family Gap
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Demetrius Gray: $75,000 startup grant required spending $75,000 upfront for reimbursement
“But it was paid when paid. Meaning that you won the grant, but you had to spend 75,000 dollars to get the benefit of the 75,000. Yep. So it didn't really solve anything for us. We just had it.”
Demetrius Gray Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 17:37 #99 The Friends & Family Gap
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