Yeah, no, of course. Happy to start. Thank you so much, Minnie, for having me on. It's a pleasure. It's so incredible all the work that you're doing in the LA ecosystem. So, I can back up a little bit and just share sort of what this program is, how it obviously the state of California is an incredible place for venture capital. I think the rest of the country, if not the rest of the world really sees California sort of as the home of VC. We look at the state though, we can also see that it's very concentrated in terms of geography, in terms of who has access. And so a big part of the state's mission with this new program is to actually build a more inclusive venture capital ecosystem. And so the program got started. up about a year ago now, and the goal is to support both emerging fund managers. As well as companies that are working across the state that have underrepresented fund managers, underrepresented entrepreneurs, under invested parts of California, as well as climate justice and equity.
And so, we have a 250 million program that we can actually start getting those dollars into the hands of entrepreneurs and fund managers that are doing incredible work across the state.
It's such a great program. And what are you seeing in terms of fund managers being in diverse fund managers, being able to raise in this environment?
Yeah. So we have seen fund managers and funds that you think it would be very easy to are still not really getting there yet. And so this is really, I think, a very unique opportunity for the state to really as the role of government to come in and both de risk opportunities and also be catalytic, right? If we can come in and sort of put our stamp of approval. on that first close, we're willing to come in early and sort of take a bet on this manager. Our check sizes are actually fairly large for the stage of you know, funds and investments that we're going to be looking at and that we are looking at. So we have a sort of 1st time institutional manager program.
So we're looking at 1st time funds you know, minimum is still about 50 million because our check size is 5 million, right? So we're looking at an average check size is 5 million, which gives us, you know, about 10 percent of the fund, but we are willing to come in early and we are willing to and we actually want to come in early to be able to have that catalytic effect of, hey, you're getting the stamp of approval.
We're showing confidence. We're de risking for other LPs to be able to also come in. And so that, one of the things I'm very excited about
Yeah, let's just pause there because I think it's so true for fund managers and for entrepreneurs, both, where you have so many people who like have follow on interest, but you don't have a lead, or you need people who commit, you know, a significant size check and come in on your first close, it makes such a huge difference.
It does. And it also, I think there's been a long history of government getting involved in venture, right? A lot of it has been at the very early stages in terms of research and development. There's the SBIC sort of registration and funds. There's not been many opportunities for the government to actually participate in the upside as well. And so just thinking about. Californians all across the state and actually the ability to have Californians be able to participate in the upside of the venture capital ecosystem, right?
It's like, we're all here and we should be able to access that system as well.
So you've got this 250 million fund, and if you invest in 10110 and we have a huge 10x return, where does that money go back to?
It actually goes right back to the program, which is, I think, the part that's really exciting about the investments that we can make is that we're structuring this in sort of an evergreen type way where, ideally, where we can take this 250 million program that we have now and we can turn that into a substantially larger program that can continue to do this work.
It sounds like such a cool role and great opportunity. Um, where are you guys in terms of talking to managers and actually deploying capital?
Yeah. So we have been talking to, I think I can probably safely say hundreds of fund managers. So we're trying to re and this is the same reason why I approached you at the event where we're trying to like talk to as many potential fund managers as possible, is because we want to make sure that we're sort of getting this capital into the hands of managers.
That really. For one, deserve it, but also really need it, right? And so if it's a completely oversubscribed, super brand name fund that like, you know, can close all of their LPs in a day, that's also probably not where we want to be because our dollars don't really have the impact that we want them to make, right?
We want them to be able to say, no, Hey, look, we got this check. Like we can go in and 10X this now, right? So, I think we're seeing a ton of event. We want to continue to see inbound. So putting the call out there for anyone who's listening, it's really, really simple to be able to apply and just sort of get your, it's literally just sending our email a deck. And that's it. So it's a very simple application. But we really want to get bombarded,
And are there other things that you're looking for? Like, are you explicitly outside the Bay area? And do you think a lot about like the diversity of the managing partners?
Yeah. So what we're looking for is across the state of California, right? So we're not exclusive to any area or to any type of fund manager or anything like that. We're just thinking about where is capital currently being concentrated and how can we expand access to that? And so obviously the LA ecosystem is a part of that.
there's so much happening in California, but it feels like so much of it is concentrated in the Bay. And so it's not to say that we're not going to invest in funds of the Bay. Actually, our first fund was a fund out of the Bay. But it's more that we want to make sure that those dollars are going to, to managers.
Like I said, that both deserve it and need it. So the criteria is really across the state.
We have to be able to show an economic benefit to the state of California. Right.
If we can show success in our program, I think a service to the larger narrative that capital can be responsibly handled hands of managers that don't have decade long track records, right, that are not coming from only the brand name institutions, that don't only come from this very select pool of Yeah, places that that feel like they're credible or somehow legitimate, but it can actually be really found anywhere.
And so I think that's a big part of what we're trying to demonstrate is that. The whole point of Venture Capital is to find those opportunities for outsized return,
Great. And who's the team? Like how did you get involved? How do people, know, interact with iBank?
Yeah, so our team is actually very small. So our direct sort of venture capital team is actually just myself and my colleague, Derek Tang. So he's based up in the Bay Area. I'm based down here in Southern California. a lot of our team comes from private sector as well, which I also think is nice to be able to have that interplay into government. So the executive director of our agency, Scott Wu used to lead the Omidyar network. So he had his days at O. N. and sort of brings that lens in so, I think one of the things that we've been excited about, for example, is the initial program was set up.
So it's a funded program that was actually set up through United States Treasury. So it's a 200 million program and as with any federal program, there's all sorts of rules and limitations that sort of different from how a traditional LP might participate. And so we actually raised an additional or have an additional 50 million dollar state supplement fund that allows us to sort of patch over some of the those areas that might cause problems for fund managers, including cash flow including, you know, being able to participate in certain follow on rounds.
And it just solves for a lot of the issues.
great. So it's 200 from the treasury 50 from the state.
And did you get involved because you were running for Congress? and getting more involved with politics in California.
Yeah, I think that's a big reason why I started looking at opportunities with the state. Actually. I ran for Congress in 2022 and was sort of recognizing a lot of the gaps in terms of our financial ecosystem in terms of climate and a lot of the issues that we're actually to a certain extent solving for with this program with the state and.
Unfortunately, didn't make it through the election, but I think there is A recognition that there's a lot of ways that government can be helpful, right?
And, when I saw the opportunity with the state of California, it almost looked like ChatGPT had, like, taken my resume and turned it upside down and turned it into a job description.
: I'm super curious, like going through running for Congress and just seeing a lot of what you said about like where the state can have impact. Like where did you get disillusioned by that? and, or where did you get more energized?
Yeah, I mean, I think as you navigate all of the processes, it's easy to get disillusioned with the bureaucracy, right? So it's easy to say. Well, you know, the government doesn't understand how X, Y and Z is done, or if only it could be as fast and as nimble as aspects of private sector are. I think a part of that is actually by design,
But I think that there can often be this sense that, well, the rules have already been set and so there's no way that they can be changed or you're sort of having to work within a set of constraints, whereas in the world of technology, you're sort of breaking everything down and sort of rebuilding everything from scratch.
Right. To work that way, right? Like we want there to be some more stability and for there to be some more structure. parts that are exciting for me is when we can sort of bring back collective feedback and then actually implement the changes that we need, right? And that in, like, a very high level sense is basically just like a call to vote, right?
It's like, have your voice be heard. And then on a micro scale within the government, it's the state supplement that I was referring to, right? It's like seeing some of these issues of an emerging manager that's raising a 50 million dollar fund that has limited management fees and if you're unable to fulfill all the fees and expenses, then you're basically taking someone who's already facing A lot of barriers, so many obstacles, firm building, getting everything sort of off the ground, wearing all these hats at once and then further impeding their ability to succeed.
It's still something that is hard for me, but I'm like a move fast sort of person. But like the stability as a concept that we want stability in our government. I don't disagree with it, but it's a hard one sometimes to live in practice, I guess.
It is. I mean, and especially coming from the world of, right, where things are moving so quickly. Yeah. If things are stable for too long then you're wondering what's wrong.
So I think it's this like stable foundation. That we're able to build on top of that allows the innovation and the taking on of that risk to happen. And I think that is really the premise of programs like the one that we're administering with the state is putting in that 5 million.
We're putting in that 10 million early to de risk to allow the fund to go and take action. very risky bets, you know, in the world that is VC and to allow companies to have the capital they need to solve these big problems that can only be done in these very quick iterations, right? So I think it's, it's actually kind of the perfect pairing.
agree. We talked about providing stability and support to our entrepreneurs. So they feel empowered to go take big risks, but that's a big cry from running for Congress. Like, how, why did you decide to do that?
Yeah, it's a, it's a great question. I think a big part is what we've just been discussing at least my perception was that There was a disconnect between this is through a lot of my work actually with Republic. So I was building a FinTech platform that's, you know, democratizing access to capital and investing.
And a lot of that work was also regulatory, right? It's sort of opening up access. It's sort of looking at and potentially seeing how we can change the rules around who has the ability to raise capital. Who has the ability to invest? How much can they invest? What types of risk are they taking on? And how much of that is for the government to dictate versus individuals to sort of take on their own risk, right?
And how do we protect consumers and protect individuals and retail investors while also allowing them to participate in a lot of it upside? And so this is sort of like the framework that I was operating in almost every day. And as I started sort of applying that same type of critical thinking of, yes, we have these certain types of regulations and we have this current system.
But it needs to change, right? And as technology is sort of moving us forward, as the society today looks very different from the society from even 50 years ago And originally from Riverside, California, so that's my hometown. And There was a real sort of impact on especially my district. And I think we see this across a lot of Southern California in terms of how people are accessing education, accessing wealth creation, accessing jobs and being affected by climate.
But recognizing that. The federal regular, even this program that we're administering through the state now is from the the state small business and credit initiative that's through United States Treasury, right?
So it's ultimately a federal program and has federal funding. So there's amazing things that the government can do. We've seen the IRA. We've seen great bills get passed in the past few years. And there is so much potential, but there's also a lot of backlog and it sort of needs more voices at the table that represent the future
And so just really wanting to serve and be a part of that change I think is, is a big part what really pushed me to run.
Yeah. Okay. So many questions. I want to ask about all of these, but running for Congress I think uh, were your parents immigrants? Okay. So it's not like they were you know, your dad served in Congress, it's not like a, you knew all about running for Congress Okay, you were young.
You're still young. So I can feel all that passion. And yet I know a lot of people who are passionate and don't decide, Oh, I'm going to run for Congress or know how to. So some of my question there is just like, great. I want to run for Congress.
How do you start?
It's not too dissimilar from starting a company. So I actually sort of put my founder hat back on and I set up my campaign in a very similar way to how I've worked at and built companies in the past. So for one, we were incredibly scrappy. We were very focused on like hitting very specific metrics and milestones.
And then it's just a lot of networking, right? It's talking to. A hundred people so they can introduce you to a total of a thousand people, which will then eventually get you to talk to the person that you want to talk to, and that can actually sort of help you in your journey. And so, I think I was very lucky for one, to have amazing support from my family and friends, but then also to have them.
Sort of unlocked that daisy chain of connections fairly, very early on and just had really, really wonderful mentors who to this day, some of them never even met in person but just through a series of phone conversations, help [00:17:00] me get my team together, help me put together my messaging you know, Help with media training, like everything across the board to actually allow the campaign to sort of get off the ground, but it's very similar to starting a company, right?
If you've never been an entrepreneur before, if you don't come from an entrepreneurial background, you're like, where do I start? You're like, I have this problem that I want to solve and I want to do this thing. But I don't know where to start. And so you start talking to people, you start pitching your idea.
You start pitching yourself and you start to get people to lean into your vision and to believe in you and to believe in what you're trying to accomplish.
And it was, that was, I want to say it was one of the most most of running for office is very miserable.
Um, But that was one of the more enjoyable parts of just being able to sort of bring in people alongside you Who share the values that you share who share this vision But it's really. I still think about my campaign almost as like a startup, right? It's a startup with a very clear end date. And so there's, you know, the election is, is when the campaign ends. But it is also a big part of it is attracting team. It's looking at who your customer is, right? It's who you're trying to convince to actually vote for you and , join the side that you're looking at.
It's raising money, and so there's, there's so many of these aspects that are very similar
But you're glad you ran.
uh, That I ran. Yes, yeah.
It's just, it's inspiring. So I had two guests. I had uh, Adrian Fenty and Michael Tubbs from Stockton, and both of them were very prominent in office and then very prominently lost the reelection. And it was really touching for me. Michael Tubbs really made a huge impression on me talking about like, what are you willing to lose for like,
What are you willing to put yourself out there for and be like, it's okay if I lose on a very public stage?
100%. And I think that is especially I mean, in their cases, they had successes to at least to fall back on. For me, it's a first time candidate.
Everything that I'm doing, I have to stand by recognizing that I will most likely lose. And that, that is the most likely and probable outcome.
And in order for me to beat those odds, we're going to have to do a lot to change that outcome. But you're really sort of getting down to like the nitty gritty of. What is it that you're willing to lose for? What are you really willing to sort of put yourself out there for? And how important is that to you?
And then you, you have to come to the conclusion that this is all incredibly important to me, and there's no way I can do anything else besides this
And where does that drive come from? Like, I know a lot of people who are passionate, but they are passionate to build a business or to get rich or to get famous. But for you, it really does seem like it's about the positive impact you can have on the world.
Well, I appreciate that for one. I do think that a lot of people don't necessarily give themselves the leash to actually do that as well, right? I think there is an element of, well, I'm just one person. Am I going to be able to actually impact the world in the way that I want to? And I think if you just tell yourself yes, it just completely changes your mindset about what you allow yourself to do,
It allows you to sort of take those risks in a way that actually allow you to put it all on the line for something bigger. And I don't know, I think a part of it, definitely have to like credit my parents, right? Like seeing them.
And sort of make their way into America and like build a business and, you know, raise a family and do all the things that they did and also be involved in the community. I think was a big part of seeing that sort of like value system firsthand and then being able to almost take that value system and scale it.
Right? It's like, so what does that mean for the rest of the world? Like, how do I take this sense of Need to serve the community, the sense of solving problems and just like taking things head on
Oh, I like a lot of that. I liked the part about giving [00:21:00] yourself the latitude. I feel like a lot of people don't give themselves the latitude for different reasons. Like I don't have my own financial stability. I don't have a nest egg or like, in my case, I'm often thinking I'm not. Old enough or wise enough, Or do I have the experience to actually be.
sharing my own philosophy of life with others.
I think that's, really common, right? And I think that's also I very much felt that a lot, especially in moments when I was running for Congress and I was looking at a debate stage, where you have people who are decades older than you have all this public policy experience, and I had none of that right.
And so I think the imposter syndrome is real. I think not easy to overcome. I think it's a big part of it is figuring out how to like unhijack your own brain into allowing you to say that you are enough, that you have enough experience, that you have the right values, that you have what it takes.
To at least push things forward, right? Like you don't have to be the smartest person in the room. You don't have to be the expert in everything I actually think that especially for elected positions There's no way that you can be an expert on health care, on immigration, on climate change, on the future of technology, on the markets, The list goes on and on and on.
There's no way. There's no way that every single representative sitting on Capitol Hill has all that experience, right? And so I think it's recognizing what your strengths are, if that's the ability to Bring in all those smart people and to be able to take advice and to be able to take feedback and to listen.
Right? Like those are all skills that you don't have to be a genius. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room to be able to listen well. Right? And so I think there is an opportunity to be human
And that doesn't mean that you have to have all the ideas that doesn't mean that you have to have all the answers. It just means that you need to care
That's like Michelle Obama saying that she's been at every powerful table in the world and the people around the table, aren't all that smart. Anyhow, you, your parents immigrated to Riverside. Are you still a believer in the American dream?
I am. and I think a big part of it is just seeing my parents live through it and being a product of the American dream. Right. I think that there's still so much opportunity here.
So, as someone who was a product of the American Dream, I'm also recognizing the fact that my dad had a master's when he came to America, right? They had family here that was able to support and at least have a social network, if not anything else. it changes things when, yes, my dad with a master's came to Southern California and was a pool boy, right?
So he was cleaning pools for the first basically decade of his life here, and then was able to take over the business and turn that into something else. But he still came with an education. He still came with a strong social fabric, with a sense of entrepreneurship, with a lot of these things that are not available to everyone.
And so I think the pathway still exists. You can still go from immigrant to pool boy to business owner. But it requires a strong sense of community. It requires an access to education and support. It requires access to healthcare. It requires access to all these things that allow you to be a healthy, safe individual to be able to tackle a lot of these things that you are excited to do,
Yeah, I actually think that entrepreneurship is the brightest of the bright spots in our country. I sometimes would like more things that are outside traditional venture entrepreneurship, right? So to, you know, if I could run a small business lending program, it would incorporate venture as well as people who want to start bull businesses, etc.
Yeah, and I actually think that the agency that I'm part of, iBank, actually has a loan guarantee program, right? It has all the small business support. They actually just launched a new lender matching tool that actually allows for that type of support for more of your traditional small businesses.
And so I think that there's sometimes in the, the tech and venture side seems to be this like very myopic view of what a business can look like. Whereas most of the businesses across the state and across the country are not venture backable businesses.
I love your organization more and more. Are there messages that you want the young people of today to hear?
I think my message or my main piece of advice would be to allow yourself to do great things.
Good.
And I think that's something that as I've taken a lot of risks throughout my career and taken very sharp turns from being an engineer and having my first project be, you know, working on a lunar outpost in the south side of the moon for NASA through to starting a company or you know, running for office.
Totally. I see, I mean, the role of VC and being in entrepreneurship, you just see that certain individuals move our society And I don't think it's because only certain individuals have that in them. But they allow themselves to access it for whatever reason.
Yes. Yeah, I completely agree.
It's such a great message. I think I just end there and just say like I'm so excited that we met I'm really excited for the really big role that iBank is having and will continue to have in California.
Thank you so much, Minnie. Thank you for having me and thank you for again for all the work that you're doing here in L. A.
I think I will have plenty of people to send your way.
Perfect. We're ready for them.