UNCORRECTEDPROOF

We came in to consult and challenged every facet of his firm’s existence to get the answers. He gathered partners and key shareholders from across the country for a painful but necessary examination. After days of reflective and at times contentious conversation, it was Blair’s deeply personal challenge of the potential value of inclusiveness that changed the discussion and the future of the company.

Not allowing the simple, obligatory discussion of DEI to suffice, we forced leadership to give meaning to each value and prove it. We shot down every definition they offered and challenged every word, in order to debate whether they were living by these words and committed to the work they represented. We recognized that the answer to this inquiry would change not only how they worked internally but also who they would fund and how they could redefine their reach into the industry.

As a result, Mercury Fund redesigned the core of its business to add materially improving historically overlooked entrepreneurial communities to their offerings. Further, the firm reimagined its values to include entrepreneurial passion, intellectual curiosity, intentional integrity, an innovation mindset, and being intrinsically inclusive. The moment the leaders arrived at their values, especially “intrinsically inclusive,” the rebirth began. They concluded that the overused idea of “inclusiveness” had no tangible value, but the concept of being “intrinsically inclusive,” if executed true to their mission, would be a game changer. They were right.

Upon this realization, Blair jumped out of his seat, pulled his protective COVID mask down, and, implored his team to understand that these values were not just words, but a fundamental way to run the business and forever differentiate their offerings. After pausing, he said, “It is also how we demonstrate what it means to do right and change people’s lives.” This moment moved the leaders to join in and build a future around what it meant to truly be intrinsically inclusive. It was the catalyst to diversify the leadership and investment teams; rethink the ecosystem around community building; and firmly plant a commitment to mentoring and enabling by providing resources, training, and support to a new community of entrepreneurship.

The result was surprising. It became clear that their future wasn’t about rebranding or opening or closing funds. Rather, the way forward was to realize their shared vision and reimagine the future of the business and its potential impact on the industry as a whole. It was in this exploration that they began to see how they could fundamentally differentiate from others in the VC space by infusing their values into their operations, which reinvigorated both their business and those of other entrepreneurs, who now had doors of opportunity opened for them.

Now, just a few short years later, Mercury is the gold standard for its work in underserved communities. It has funded many more underestimated entrepreneurs, most if not all of whom had been rejected or rebuffed by other firms. In addition to those they funded, Mercury developed programs for budding entrepreneurs and their efforts in underserved communities, knowing that most of them would not meet their funding criteria. Yet to Mercury, it did not matter who fit and who did not. They knew, as part of their vision and desire to create this new ecosystem of support for budding entrepreneurs, that Mercury had an inherent obligation to fund development and growth, even if they would not ultimately fund the ventures themselves.

Mercury kept doubling down on living their commitment. They started using their space and resources to host events for female founders and founders of color. They kept breaking down the walls in venture capital, teaching the participants at every step how to do it. The impact has been significant, as many of these leaders have participated in workshops and personal development they never could have afforded or accessed. Further, it helped to connect them with each other and begin to build the pioneering ecosystem at the heart of Mercury’s vision. Mercury has produced manifold returns for their investors.

Blair explains that the values they adopted allowed all to come together and have one voice. Of his team, he says, “There is high performance because everyone is doing the best work of their careers.” Blair told us that Mercury Fund was named partly in tribute to America’s program to put an astronaut in orbit around the time of JFK’s famous speech: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Referring again to his team and their boundaries, Blair reminds us, “We live as humans to find a sense of purpose in community. You can’t have community without feeling like you belong. Community means you participate. Everyone has a voice, and everyone participates and feels like they have agency.”

When we prevent ourselves from favoring sameness and living in echo chambers and truly seek to challenge our thinking, we unlock a hidden creativity that empowers us to shoot for the moon. And, when we do, we create unmistakable blueprints for how to keep challenging in our newfound spaces of belonging.