Representation as Successful Life-Path Indicator
The Role of Diverse Stories In Widening the Entrepreneurial Funnel
This article is a part of the book “How to Build Thriving Start-up Ecosystems: Five Information Patterns for Success.”
Globally, 77% of venture-backed companies are founded by individuals who identify as White, while only 3% of venture funding goes to female founders (World Economic Forum). For a potential founder like Annika — who is both female and Indian — her hesitation to pursue entrepreneurship is understandable. In a field where success is already low, it must feel to her that her probability of success is lower still.
For Annika and other Inadvertent founders like her to progress through the entrepreneurial pipeline, a small but critical shift must occur in their mental framework: they need to start noticing entrepreneurship-related information in their environment. One seemingly simple yet effective tactic Community Information Designers (CIDs) can use to facilitate this shift is to ensure diverse representation in entrepreneurship-related advertisements.
Start with the Superficial
Entrepreneurship-related information that showcases a diverse range of genders and races is a strong place to start. Research has shown that individuals tend to pay more attention to faces of their own race than to those of different races (Zhou, Cheng, & Yue). When Annika sees a flyer that features someone of her racial background, it signals that the resource is not just broadly available to the student body, but specifically accessible to people like her.
The concept of representation is often framed in abstract terms like inspiration and empowerment, which can obscure a deeper idea rooted in the life-path theory of cultural evolution (Creanza, Kolodny, & Feldman). This perspective views individuals as constantly navigating trade-offs as each person seeks an optimal path toward success. When someone sees a person who shares their traits — such as race, gender, or discipline — achieve success, it serves as a signal of a viable path forward, which in turn increases the likelihood that they will pursue a similar trajectory (Yassin).
For Annika, each time she sees an Indian woman featured in entrepreneurial advertisements, it reinforces the message that these opportunities are meant for her.
The idea of representation is often couched in vague terms like “inspiration” and “empowerment” that hides a powerful idea of the life-path theory of cultural evolution (Creanza, Kolodny, Feldman). The life-path perspective sees people as in a constant battle of trade-offs where each person searches for an optimal path towards success. When a person sees someone with their same set of traits (race, gender, discipline, etc.) achieve success, it presents a positive signal of a potential evolutionary path towards success and increases the likelihood that person will go down this same path (Yassin). Every time Annika sees an Indian woman in entrepreneurial advertisements, it is a signal that this information is meant for her.
It should be mentioned that race and gender are simple visual cues. However, Annika cited that she was also reticent to become a founder because she also wanted to be a mother. Other Inadvertent founders might face different barriers — -they may be first-generation, low-income, disabled, or veterans.
CIDs should look at their wider student body to identify which groups are underrepresented in entrepreneurship. They can then incorporate more nuanced visual signals into entrepreneurship-related advertising that resonates with these missing demographics.
Orient Information in Space
Once CIDs incorporate visual cues that encourage diverse participation in the entrepreneurship ecosystem into their advertising, the next step is to position these cues in spaces that reach the broadest possible audience.
In digital spaces, this means distributing information about early-stage entrepreneurship programs through general student body email lists rather than limiting outreach to entrepreneurship-specific ones.
In physical spaces, CIDs should position early-stage entrepreneurial information where it reaches the broadest possible audience. In a city, this means leveraging highly accessible public areas such as plazas, government buildings, and sidewalks (Li, Dang, Song).
Within a university setting where space is not fully public, these spaces can be understood as more hubs of generalized attention — places where students from diverse disciplines and degree programs naturally congregate. At the University of Michigan, these include the Diag, the Hatcher and Shapiro libraries, and the Michigan League.
The semi-private realm in cities includes spaces such as private businesses and residential neighborhoods (Madanipour). At a university, these can be understood as places of specialized attention where students and faculty from specific disciplines gather. Bulletin boards in these areas typically display posters and flyers relevant to those fields.
At the University of Michigan, examples of such specialized spaces include the Institute for Social Research, the Chemistry Building, and the School for Environment and Sustainability, among others. When a CID places entrepreneurship-related information in these spaces, each flyer is likely to reach a smaller audience. However, because the content is more directly relevant to students in that discipline, it has a higher likelihood of engagement and action. More advanced advertising strategies for CIDs would align specialized visual cues within the advertisements themselves with the characteristics of these targeted spaces.
Past Visuals to Paths
Featuring diverse founders in entrepreneurship-related advertising can spark initial interest from a broader range of students. However, this interest will quickly fade unless supported by concrete examples of how these entrepreneurs achieved success. To convert interest into meaningful engagement, mentorship is essential. The more actionable a mentor’s advice, the more useful.
Effective mentors act as key information transfer vectors, offering insights into the unique pathways non-traditional entrepreneurs can take to succeed. Mentors also pivotally provide guidance on missteps to avoid, helping future founders steer clear of unprofitable directions.
It may seem simple, but the most effective way to share this mentorship information is through stories. But not just any types of stories: stories structured around key decision points at each stage of a diverse founder’s journey are the most actionable and useful. CIDs should work with alumni founders to collect data on the options founders considered and the reasoning behind their choices to understand key inflection points of the founders’ businesses. The goal of this story gathering is to equip future founders with heuristics — practical decision-making shortcuts — that they can apply when facing similar challenges.
Additionally, these stories should highlight whether non-traditional founders carved out a unique niche. Did they leverage their cultural communities as an underserved customer base? Did they introduce innovative designs or techniques that differentiated their offering in the market? Or did they identify a successful business model from a global market and adapt it for the U.S.? Understanding whether previous founders carved out a unique niche or took an unconventional path is crucial for new potential founders. By knowing new alternative routes to success, aspiring entrepreneurs can see viable, adaptive pathways that fit their unique circumstances. This knowledge is akin to expanding their evolutionary playbook — offering a broader set of proven approaches that future founders can learn from and build upon.
From Interest to Opt In
How CIDs get these stories might vary. You might sit down with alumni and interview them, and post these stories in emails or a blog. You might connect nontraditional founders with younger counterparts directly to facilitate this knowledge sharing directly. You might create a digital platform where alumni can connect to current students directly, or utilize existing platforms like Adjacent.
Whatever the specific method, setting up a structure for this kind of information transfer is an important step to help non-traditional founders translate initial interest to selecting in to putting their time and energy to understand the entrepreneurship ecosystem around them.
