Kai Bond joined the corporate venturing arm of US-based mass media and technology company Comcast as a principal in December, and also leads the $20m Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, which targets investments in underrepresented minority entrepreneurs. A serial entrepreneur, Bond was previously general manager of electronics manufacturer Samsung’s accelerator program. He spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee about the importance of persistence as an entrepreneur of colour, his move from entrepreneur to investor and his interest in frontier tech
What drew you to your new role as head of the fund and an investor at Comcast Ventures?
The decision to join Catalyst and Comcast Ventures was a no-brainer for me. The team at Comcast Ventures is fantastic and they have a long proven track record of investing. The mission of Catalyst allows me to leverage an amazing investment platform from Comcast Ventures and presents the opportunity to grow into a new role professionally, managing a fund. I have spent years mentoring founders, advising founders of colour, and assisting companies in raising venture capital – so this was a perfect fit.
How has moving from the electronics sector to mass media influenced your thinking on corporate venturing? What are some of the similarities in how corporates work with entrepreneurs, and what are some of the differences?
In every interaction I have with a startup, the main goal is to identify how I can help add value. When investing in a start up, you want to give them the freedom to grow at a rapid pace, but give candid advice and feedback. If I can leverage the enormous Comcast NBC Universal platform, then I will obviously offer that up as part of the value I, and Catalyst, can provide.
You have been a mentor to entrepreneurs in New York, both at the Techstars accelerator and at Defy Ventures, which offers career training for people with criminal histories, and you are an entrepreneur yourself. How have your experiences as a mentor and entrepreneur shaped your thinking as an investor?
As a founder of multiple startups, you understand that having great investors and board members are key to your success. As an investor, I recognise that mentoring, advice and active engagement are critical to the success of any company I invest in. The real value goes beyond the financial investment. It is about being a partner and spending time supporting the founders whenever you can.
Comcast Ventures targets sectors like virtual and augmented reality, internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning and consumer startups. What kinds of businesses are most interesting and promising?
Catalyst has invested in 77 companies over four years. We are sector agnostic. However, I am particularly interested in frontier tech. Specifically, I am looking for solutions in virtual, augmented and mixed reality, as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence. These are sectors I believe in and hope to make more investments. That being said, we have dozens of investments in consumer and business to business, so we will continue to invest in these verticals.
What is the Catalyst Fund’s role in advancing minority-led businesses in these sectors, what is its approach to investing, how closely do you work with portfolio companies, and what are some of your longer-term objectives?
Our role at Catalyst is to find great founders who surround themselves with strong teams that are addressing problems in large markets. We work very closely with the founders to help in whatever capacity they need, including but not limited to introductions to talent, advice on raising capital and partnership integrations – both internal and external to Comcast NBCUniversal. Every business and founder is unique, so we support them in different ways, depending on their needs.
How does the work the fund is doing relate to Comcast’s diversity efforts?
There is a coordinated effort across internal and external diversity efforts at Comcast. This spans governance, community investment, programming and workforce efforts. Diversity is crucial to success across all aspects of the business – not just our venture efforts.
How are the fund’s investment decisions made? How important is a strategic fit with Comcast’s own interests?
Catalyst looks for great startups. We do not limit our focus to find a strategic fit within Comcast. However, if there is an opportunity to partner, we help foster introductions and collaboration between the business units and the startups. We operate like any fund – our focus is on identifying great companies that will become successful standalone businesses.
Share some of your personal experiences as a minority entrepreneur. What does diversity mean to you, what can the venture capital community do to promote inclusion at management level, and what advice can you offer others who would follow in your footsteps?
My advice to any entrepreneurs of colour is to remain persistent. I heard “no” over and over again when raising capital for my first company. Fundraising was an absolutely brutal process, but I found the right investor to take the lead in a round of financing. That being said, try to be smarter than I am. Luckily, there are now a handful of funds dedicated to diversity and inclusion, so be sure to identify not only funds that have your sector focus, but also those who value having a diverse portfolio.