Laila Arain & Shila Nieves Burney | How'd You Do It & Why Should I Care?

Laila Arain: 0:00

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the next episode of the Bay Street Capital Holdings podcast titled How'd You Do It & Why Should I Care? This series aims to highlight women doing amazing work in various industries. So today we are so lucky to be joined by Shila Nieves Burney, who is a general partner as Zane Venture fund and also founder and CEO of Zane Access. Hi, Shila. Lovely to meet you.

Shila Nieves Burney: 0:24

Hi, lovely to meet you as well. I'm really happy to be here.

Laila Arain: 0:27

So I guess we can start off with a quick introduction as to who you are. And also a main answer to the question, which is how do you do it? And why should I care?

Shila Nieves Burney: 0:35

Sure. So I'm Shila Nieves Burney, as you mentioned earlier, I am consider that instigator and a catalyst, meaning that I am all about change and problem solving. And so I've been investing in human capital for 20 plus years and decided to pivot to investing and company technology companies found about diverse founders and teams to solve the problem around access to capital for diverse entrepreneurs. And so I think we should care because there's been a huge wealth generation for mainly white men. And that folks of color people of color founders of color, diverse entrepreneurs, however you want to slice it, they've been left out of that. And so I think we should care because it equals, I mean, it's about equity in sort of laying the playing field and opening doors and access to folks who've been traditionally left out of this wealth generation.

Laila Arain: 1:29

That's really important. And it seems like you already have quite a passion for what you do. But I'm curious as to what inspired you to join this industry. Was there a specific point in your life? Or was it a combination of experiences?

Shila Nieves Burney: 1:40

Sure. So it was an opportunity, actually, from an entrepreneur who was looking to scale this company, and he needed someone to help him source investors. And so he, I was approached by someone to, you know, to be to back meet to help them and I thought, you know, I had already I had just become a full time entrepreneur at the time. And so, while I had one company, I always wanted to, you know, keep the door open for other opportunities. And still, I was like, let me see how I can help this individual. It was a company, a FinTech company based in Africa, and they were looking to scale, they wanted to raise about $2 million. And I said, so let me see how I can help them out. And so I did, I was able to get them, I spent about seven months, you know, sort of coaching them educating them around access to capital, how they should present themselves as entrepreneurs, to potential investors. And so I was able to get them to a $5 million letter of intent, with the possibility of up to $100 million, because the opportunity was huge, to be able to work with a financial creative financial system in Ghana at the time. But so once we are in due diligence, the investor decides to drop out of the deal invest in and he decides to invest in hotels and said, that was a problem for me, because I had met so many incredible entrepreneurs who I knew had, you know, great businesses, they didn't have access to networks to be able to talk to specific investors to, you know, pitch their company. And so I decided to launch my own fund. And I mean, it was sort of like a mix of disappointment and tragedy, tragedy happening at the same time, because my daughter was also impacted by violence here in the city, where it was, you know, a traditionally what I call fixture Redmine. area, no one was making investments in these areas. So communities were sort of, you know, also left out of, you know, opportunities to create jobs and, you know, safe communities. And so it was just a convergence of those two things that led me to insert this to enter this space.

Laila Arain: 3:39

That's a really interesting story. And, as you mentioned, you went out and you're pretty much a go getter by starting your own fund. So I'm really curious as to what were the best resources that helped you start your own fund?

Shila Nieves Burney: 3:49

Sure, it started with someone here in the city, sigma z, who is a prolific investor, he considered he is considered to be the Godfather, father of angel investing here in the southeast. And so you know, having someone like that in our city, calm, you know, just simply accent for coffee. It was just a reach out from from LinkedIn. And he said, Yes. And he continued to mentor me and advise me, that was really important to me, because he basically was lending his own years of experience. To me a newbie, like I had no background in this particular area. So having someone like that very early on coaching me and guiding me, and you know, just being someone there and he will say, I want to say this. I don't want to downplay his experience whatsoever, because he has the largest deal acquisition today here that's been done in the southeast, and $6 billion acquisition, so he gives me you know, great credibility. So having someone like that at the beginning of this work was extremely important.

Laila Arain: 4:52

Yeah, I definitely agree sort of having that mentorship opportunity was definitely probably very helpful. Yeah, and following on from that, As I'm sure, you know, you learned a lot from this, but what is one lesson that you wish you would have known before starting in your industry?

Shila Nieves Burney: 5:07

So, you know, I think, and this is something that I want to share with a lot of folks who get into this space, I mean, the very, if you're going to do this work, you know, be very confident moving forward, I wish I wouldn't have spent so much time asking people to sort of, you know, you know, give their stamp of approval on what I was going to do, because some people can't understand some of the work and they, you know, maybe they tried it, and they failed, it failed at it. And so they're going to give you sort of their opinion. So So for me, the lesson was, like, don't spend so much time asking people for their sort of, you know, like, if I get this person is okay, then I feel like I'm doing the right thing, I should have spent way more time talking to people who were interested in me, and what I was doing. And so that was a huge lesson learned. And so I don't, I don't even ask any more, I know what I'm doing.

Laila Arain: 5:59

And you can obviously see that as a learning opportunity. But I'm also curious as to other learning opportunities in your life. So what would you say was the biggest failure in your career so far? Like, what did you learn from it?

Shila Nieves Burney: 6:10

You know, I was asked, So I earlier, when I read the question, I was asking my husband, you're really trying to figure out like, I don't consider anything to be a failure, all a learning experience, right, until it may make you rethink what you're doing. But I don't consider it to be a failure. COVID could have been a failure for a lot of us, we could have used that as an excuse. And I decided to use it to double down on what I was doing, because it proved even more that, you know, opportunity. While talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn't, you know, widely, you know, you know, distributed and so, and so for me, I don't see any of this, anything that I've done as a failure, I just see it as a learning experience. You know, I've learned from it, what can I get out of it? I've even had, you know, calls where, you know, even with investors where they didn't go the way that I want, and to me seemed like a failure, but it was also a learning opportunity. And so I sort of frame that.

Laila Arain: 7:04

That's definitely a good way to look at it. And then yeah, I feel like with failure, you it's always about sort of the way that you get back up from a failure. And that's it. If you quit that as a failure in detail. I'm glad that kind of opportunity.

Shila Nieves Burney: 7:17

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. You're absolutely right, because I think we're all going to be you know, as we, you know, get back to whatever this sort of new world is when none of us are going to be looking at anything as a failure, if anything we should look at as an opportunity for us to do something different, right. And that's how I feel coming out of this, I'm glad I stayed the course I have the data behind me. And so a lot of folks who are building companies are starting or investment firms, you know, as long as you have those sort of things that keep you, you can pivot, right, you can decide to go a different way. But as long as you don't sort of give up. You know, I think you just see those bumps in the road as learning experiences versus failures.

Laila Arain: 7:57

Definitely. And you've been dropping some really helpful advice throughout this whole conversation. But what is one piece of advice that you would get somebody who's wanting to pursue a career similar to yours?

Shila Nieves Burney: 8:08

I would say research, I mean, it's so it's extremely important to, you know, I think we we read a lot of the headlines that we see a lot of social media posts, and we assume that an overnight success, and that it just takes you having a certain following, and that you can be successful. But like there's a lot of misinformation or miscommunication to young folks who are interested in venture. And I say, research, you know, I had to research even for myself to be able to get into this space. And so you know, do your research, and make sure you understand exactly what you're getting into finding folks in the space who you can connect with, you know, that can mentor you and guide you along the way. But, but just understand that there's a lot of hard work, there's a lot of money involved, you know, you have to personally invest a certain amount of money, and so understand some of those dynamics when when considering becoming a venture capitalist. And

Laila Arain: 9:01

then And following on from that, actually, I feel like sort of venture is very hyped up at the moment. A lot of people have been hearing about it, but what is one common myth about venture that you would like to debunk?

Shila Nieves Burney: 9:12

I think one of the myths I want to debunk is that, you know, there's this sort of there, there's not enough opportunities. For me anyway, like diverse entrepreneurs, right, there's a pipeline problem. And so the folks who want to invest in these types of entrepreneurs, you know, we don't have a great deal flow, great quality deal flow. I heard someone mentioned on an earlier pipeline, conversation, and that's a myth. You know, we started this fund, we have a great deal flow, we were highly differentiated people think that oh, if you're representing diverse entrepreneurs, clearly like the other fun that's represent, you know, this focus on diverse entrepreneurs, and that's a myth. And the other thing is that we're not sitting on a sofa like Shark Tank, you know, looking at talking to him, but that is not what we do all day. We're not so cutthroat I was Want to apply but I don't want to say the name of the organization, but a company today, who pitched to us that I was, you know, sort of the mentor of BC, and given the feedback. And so the VC and residents assumed that I was going to be so hardcore. And I was like, that's not what we want to do. We want to like, kill the dreams of entrepreneurs. Yeah, we wouldn't sit here any curves him if we don't invest in, we want to send them to someone else who may be a potential investors. And so, you know, that's a myth as well. You know, we're very collaborative and personal with the companies, if they're new entrepreneurs, they're new investors. That's just

Laila Arain: 10:36

No, thank you for debunking that. I think a lot of people need to hear that, because obviously, is such a hyped up area nowadays. But it's good to hear that you debunk that myth. And then I'm sure you're really busy, because you're obviously both a general partner and a founder and CEO, but what have you read or listened to recently, that's really inspired you.

Shila Nieves Burney: 10:55

So I have been the one thing that I've been really focused on is data, right, could tear it in. And you know, you don't have to be sort of a geek to want to hear about data all the time. But for us, it's important to drive our work. So we're looking a lot of at a lot of reports coming out of like McKinsey, and you know, these other big corporates who decided to address you know, the inequities within venture capital. So, you know, I'm, that's what I'm like, at the forefront of me, and I'm sure that's not like, you know, something that your audience wants to hear about. But I'm also looking at other books more like from a leadership perspective, because now that we just had our first close, I need to be more focused on the team that I'm building around me. And so you know, Brad Feld has always been someone who I'm highly interested in. So venture deals for anyone who wants to raise capital, but then there's also the business of his business business of venture capital. That's important. But he also has a book about the community, right? When you, you can't just build like, I can't just build a venture fund, yes, we have a programming arm, you know, we he talks about, like having these different types of capital, right, cute social capital, and all that sort of stuff. So I'm sort of diving into that right now. Because for us, we're not just trying to make a few investments and go away. We're trying to build, you know, a community that lasts way past, you know, this is sort of a legacy for me. So really trying to figure out how to work the community, and make sure every part of the capital that's needed for an entrepreneur to be successful, we have that in our work here and say that your funding is a Nexus.

Laila Arain: 12:30

Awesome, awesome. And then you obviously mentioned the importance of mentorship earlier on in your conversation, but what who are three people in your life who have been the most influential to you?

Shila Nieves Burney: 12:40

So there's definitely signals, like I mentioned him earlier, he's been highly informative inspiration of desperation, he's a part of my work. He has been someone that's given me credibility in this space. And you know, so really appreciate him. ARLEN Hamilton is another person, right, she has been someone who took on sort of this focus on underrepresented founders, like in 2014, and right now has the most investments into underrepresented companies. And so and then, in terms of the other other person right now, that inspires me, it's really like my family, really my husband, who, who has been by my side the entire time, and I know, that's not like a sort of, you know, professional answer, but it's, for me, it's, you know, in doing this sort of work, you need a foundation, you know, whether it's your family, or an individual or someone that's helped supporting you. And so my family has been very instrumental in supporting this work for me. So for me, it's, it's all of them, but starting with my husband, who has been like my, my first investor, and continues to be my investor. Work,

Laila Arain: 13:45

how lovely. And then finally, to sort of round up our conversation, what is one piece of piece of advice that you wish you gave yourself at any point in your life?

Shila Nieves Burney: 13:54

You know, I think when I was younger, I always had these dreams, I didn't know that it would be sort of like a curvy path to get here. This was not a straight like, I went to Wall Street. You know, I worked in investment banking, and then I pivoted to private equity and a hedge fund. That's not my path I wish I would have just given myself allowed myself to and I think I did to some degree, but I think just allowing yourself to sometimes the path may not be strict, but but take those off shoot opportunities that come your way. So I had opportunities given to me at different startups, a health health tech startup that was in Chicago, a charter school startup that was here in Atlanta, and all of those prepare me for sort of like working with companies who have to deal with small budgets and that sort of stuff. And so, you know, now you can relate to an entrepreneur who's trying to deal with a small runway but needs to be able to, you know, they want to keep their staff and so it's just so so for me, it's like understanding that yes, embrace, you know, the journey and when winding roads just embrace it

Laila Arain: 15:02

Well that's a lovely message and a lovely message to end on so thank you again once again Shila for taking the time to speak with me today it was lovely to hear your story and to engage in great conversation with you.

Shila Nieves Burney: 15:12

Thank you so much I really appreciate being here.

Laila Arain: 15:15

Thank you bye bye.