The Butterfly Effect of Winning
From Kathryn: I’m so excited to share my new monthly newsletter with you! I’m creating a movement and each month will feature a short essay to inspire us all to focus on creating a world where we can all truly win. If you no longer want to be a part of the movement (we hope you will want to be a part of the discussion), please just shoot an email to friends@kathrynfinney.com and we will unsubscribe you.
The Butterfly Effect of Winning
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I call the “butterfly effect of winning.”
The current “winner takes all” mentality that often dominates the business world is bullshit. When people think of a world in which everyone wins, they think that means you have to give up something in order for someone else to win as well. But what if we think of it differently in terms of everyone getting an equal chance to win? What if we create a butterfly effect of winning, where one action that leads to everyone winning creates a cascade effect of winning?
We often get stuck on the size of the effort, but the smallest actions can create the largest effect. In March 2020, I used $10,000 from a canceled family vacation to create The Doonie Fund, which gave micro-investments of just $100 to Black women entrepreneurs. The original goal was to support 100 entrepreneurs with $100, and make the application process as simple as possible. In a six-week time period, at the height of the pandemic, the Doonie fund scaled to helping over 2,000 black women entrepreneurs.
The impact of just $100 was profound. We had people who took the money and retrofitted their websites, and, as a result, gave money back to the fund. The Doonie Fund led several other people to create their own funds and foundations in the name of their beloved family members, helping thousands of black women entrepreneurs.
The butterfly effect of winning has had a major impact on my personal worldview and how I invest at my fund, Genius Guild. The companies we invest in are not only generating wealth; as they win, they are also creating healthy communities. Last week, I spoke at the Goalkeepers conference, alongside model and entrepreneur Karli Kloss and Stanford undergrad and Melinda French Gates’ daughter Phoebe Gates. As the US representative to the Goalkeepers Advisory Group, I focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goal of good health and well-being. And by investing in portfolio companies that increase access to affordable health care for traditionally marginalized groups, I apply the butterfly effect of winning beyond business to promote good health and well-being throughout communities across the country.
For more on my investment philosophy, you can check out my bestselling book, Build the Damn Thing.
Out in the World 🌍
I’m honored to receive the Heinz Award for the economy, which honors individuals whose exceptional work advances prosperity through envisioning and promoting socially responsible policy and business practices. From Teresa Heinz, Chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation: “Kathryn is honored for her vision and tenacity in creating space for Black and Brown women to bring their too-long overlooked gifts, talent and power to the world of tech entrepreneurship and investment. Using data, she has not only revealed entrenched mindsets that have acted as barriers to opportunity, but she is also boldly leading the way as a deeply committed angel investor, speaker, author and entrepreneurial role model for success to ensure that others like her receive the funding and professional support they deserve to make their businesses successful. She is both a dreamer and a doer.”
You can listen to my strategies and ideas around taking on society’s most complex and tough challenges with four other leaders in this podcast recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit.
On September 19th and 20th, I spoke on a keynote panel with model/entrepreneur Karli Kloss and Phoebe Gates as a part of the UN Goalkeepers conference during the 78th United Nations General Assembly. I currently serve as the US representative to the Goalkeepers Advisory Group, a coalition of experts committed to achieving the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
This past September, I was the first woman keynote speaker at Denver Startup Week, keynoting two events, including a sold-out breakfast with over 100 women entrepreneurs in Denver.
I recently spoke with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman for Marie Claire’s Ambition Issue. We discussed the most important things they’ve learned through their journeys, sharing tips for women looking to take their careers to the next level, and creating a career with purpose.
Asks 🙏
Get a copy of Build the Damn Thing, my Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller that has been called “a must read for both wantrepreneurs and early stage business builders” and an “inspirational, intriguing and practical toolkit.”