We've started companies as immigrants—we get it. Our journeys inspired us to create Unshackled Ventures so that we could remove the bottlenecks of immigration and amplify your superpowers.
From starting their companies to scaling them, Unshackled helps immigrant entrepreneurs bring their powerful innovation and imagination to the world. We support via legal, capital, community, resources, partnerships, and networks.
Since humans first discovered and used tools, we've learned to solve our problems creatively. Building. Trial and error. Learning and iterating. Collaboration. Great startups embody this creation process: they remind us what's possible, help us forge connections with others, and make meaningful differences in our lives.
Unshackled focuses on, collaborates with, and deploys capital to the problem-solving acumen of immigrants. Here we aim to document the unique culture that has made us successful, and will allow us to keep succeeding.
What makes Unshackled special is how abundantly and readily we:
- Put our people first — teammates, founders, LPs, everyone in our community
- Are willing to be vulnerable if it moves us closer to trust
- Deliver and receive feedback with candor
- Are curious and push beyond our comfort zones, and into our learning zones
- Orient towards generosity and kindness
- Lead with empathy
- See competition as an opportunity for growth; for ourselves and our team
- Create and cultivate joy in our work
The thing we most value is working with exceptional people with integrity who are generous, curious, and believe in personal accountability. We are a team that holds ourselves accountable for our individual goals and outcomes, as well as to the firm's mission and vision.
Values & Behaviors
People first: High trust, high integrity relationship are our number one. We believe that, when we have strong and healthy relationships, the transactions come easy. The work flows. This means you...
- Are willing to speak and say what's true, even (or especially) when it's uncomfortable or difficult
- Understand and appreciate when someone has an important personal matter that affects their health, family, or abilities that impacts their work
- Exercise good judgement; you know when to discuss and when to be discreet with important information that affects people
- Put people over process
- Understand the deep importance of rest; have a practice or relationship to rest; respect when people prioritize rest and their health
Trust & respect: We trust in our teammates. We respect divergent views, even in disagreement. Our operating belief is that we are all working towards the same goal, even if we may see different paths to achieve those goals. This means you...
- Assume positive intent; engage in good faith
- Understand that friction and disagreement can be constructive and, sometimes, necessary
- Articulate what is true for you and seek to understand what's true for your teammates
Candor: Communicating openly and directly, even (especially!) when there is disagreement or tension is crucial to who we are as a team. We believe candor is care and, ultimately, facilitates learning and improvement. Candor is core to who we are and how we work. This means you...
- Are willing and able to give, and receive, honest feedback
- Care enough to be candid with your collaborators with so they can grow and excel
- Believe being candid is being kind
Curiosity: We are perennial learners and maintain a steep learning curve. We favor calculated changes in opinions and courses as we learn new things over maintaining a plan or status quo. We are always willing to ask questions, learn more, and seek deeper understanding. This means you...
- Can exist, ideally thrive, in dynamic work environments
- See errors and mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve
- Aren't shy about asking for help or asking questions
- Deeply enjoying reading, listening to podcasts, attending talks, and anything that deepens your understanding and expands your knowledge
Generosity & kindness: We believe we produce our best work when we come from a place of abundance. We are a "build bridges" kind of team. It doesn't cost us to be kind; if anything, it brings value to us and our work. This means you...
- Believe the Golden Rule is a good rule
- Readily help and support teammates and the Unshackled Community when asked and invited to
- Understand our work is important and valuable, but people, their health, and their families matter most
Empathy: It's our responsibility to treat everyone in our community as equals and to level the playing field by minimizing or, ideally, eliminating biases, systemic or otherwise. This means you...
- Maintain a curiosity about people
- Endeavor to understand the potential in others
- Work to remove unnecessary and unfair barriers that impede you and/or others in the Unshackled Community from succeeding
Competition: We believe in fair play. We also believe that friendly, good-spirited competition helps us improve. Competition is an opportunity to rise to occasions; to see how well our team is working together, as well as learn where we might work to improve. This means you...
- Don't shy away from a challenge; you may even enjoy the chance to overcome one!
- Have a strong competitive spirit
- Are rarely interested in upholding a status quo
- Take pride in opportunities to test your mettle
Joy: We surround ourselves with people that know joy is crucial. We know that finding meaning and success in our work is table stakes for the health of Unshackled. We also firmly believe that happiness and exuberance are what pivotal to our health as people. This means you...
- Endeavor to grow and face challenges head on, while also never forgetting to count blessings
- Are clear-eyed and honest about challenges and just as clear-eyed when there's an opportunity to have fun and bring joy to y/our work
- Celebrate every win! Small, big, simple, hard-earned, all of it!