Another interviewee who has served as chief technology officer of companies at various phases of growth remarked on the particular demands of the start-up stage, saying “We’re just focused on hiring the people to please venture capitalists’ [need for growth] and don’t even have time to think about [diversity]… My guess is all venture capitalists say they want diversity and mean it, but they care more about hitting your numbers.” One early employee at a now-global social media platform said this dynamic often begins at a product’s conception: “There was a mantra that we build products for ourselves on the assumption that it then scales to everyone else....