Brocorp

I’m so tired of startups with a C-suite full of cis, straight, rich and white dudes (with so many boxes to tick, you’d think it’d be hard). Honestly, I don’t understand how you got there in today’s society. So let’s play this out, for my understanding.

You’re a well-off white guy with a big idea. You probably have a good education and some sort of family support, so you decide to launch a company - let’s call it Brocorp.‍

And at this point, who could blame you? Sure you started life ahead of everyone else, but that’s not your choice. And sure, you walk through the world without always noticing the comfort that privilege affords you. But that’s not a reason not to take a chance.

So you go ahead. And it works! Everyone loves Brocorp. It’s a skilled company, with good customer service and kind people (we never said the original bro was a bad person after all). Then a few months in, you think “this would be so much more fun with another bro though”. And you look to your right while half-buzzed on some IPA and wouldn’t you know it: there’s someone just. like. you. Another educated straight white dude with plenty of connections who's blabbering about how “dude I’m so bored at my finance job”. Match made in heaven, right? Meant to be, right?‍

And at this point, who could blame you? You’re starting a new business, you’ve got a million things to think about. Maybe the person you’re looking for has got skills in a field with very little women and people of color historically. Maybe you need someone right now and looking for candidates would be too time consuming. But more honestly though, you didn’t even consider it.

So now you’ve got two C-levels: Bro-in-Chief and Chief-Money-Bro. And you feel good. You start growing Brocorp, putting a point of honor on recruiting people you can chill with - sorry, I mean “people who embody our company culture”. You might even have inclusivity as a value - after all your c-suite is “super approachable”. And it’s a success! You’ve even hired a few full time freelancers (who can blame you for their (non) diversity, right?). It’s time for the big guns. Another C-level to complete the trifecta. Chief of Broperations.

And at this point, if you choose to get another cis straight white dude, let’s blame you for perpetuating a status quo that only benefits people like you. The least you can do is use one of your nauseating linkdinluencer posts to admit that you got there not only thanks to hard work and great values, but also because of where and who you were born. Maybe now is the time to realize that to build an environment where diverse people can thrive, you need to have someone different than you as Chief of Broperations. Plus, let's face it, a company with a homogenous leadership team is just asking for trouble.

So, dear startup bros, tell the friends who want in on this soaring company that you love them, that they’ll “get in on the IPO don’t worry”, but that you want to create an environment that benefits more than one type of profile. That it’s time for a little change, because the longer you put it off, the harder it’ll be - and diversity is inevitable in the long run. And if you need a business reason to do this, just think of the future PR firm fees you’ll be saving.

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