Mathison

Mathison is the only end-to-end DEI Operating System for diversity, equity and inclusion. Mathison has had two consecutive years of over 400% annual growth, 50,000 underrepresented candidates sourced for employers and over 10,000 employees engaged in DEI training
Seed Apps
Founded 2019
BCV Lead: Zeeza Cole

Partner Zeeza Cole interviews Mathison founder Dave Walsh

Zeeza Cole
How did you originally get in touch with BCV? What were your early conversations like?

Dave Walsh
We were referred through an investor. The first few conversations were amazing. Everything moved really quickly and next thing we knew we were a proud BCV portfolio company.

ZC
How would you describe the nature of your relationship with BCV today?

DW
I have an incredible admiration for Sarah Smith. She’s done so much for Mathison and is a friend, mentor, investor. In that order. I CANNOT speak more highly of Sarah.

ZC
What’s the best advice you’ve received about being a founder?

WC
You cannot do everything. The best leaders are those that focus on finding the best people and empowering them to drive the business forward. Too often you are the bottleneck to scale, especially at an early stage.

ZC
What inspired you to become a founder?

WC

I’ve always been fascinated with learning things as quickly as possible. I get excited being out of my comfort zone and knowing I’m learning something new every day. That curiosity drove me to entrepreneurship.

I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur from a very young age. In early childhood I was fascinated by technology and gadgets. When I was 19 years old I told my dad I wanted to own a tech start up by the age of 25. At 27 I called him and told him I was 2 years late.

Being a founder is one of the most challenging but rewarding things you can possibly do. A rollercoaster of emotion and incredible privilege. I’m so thankful to be building something that does good in the world and has a purpose.

ZC
What would you want other founders to know about working with BCV?

DW
They care. They look after you, they are an incredible value add that help elevate your company to the next level and beyond.

ZC
What do you appreciate most about working with Bain Capital Ventures?

DW
Every interaction with BCV has been amazing. The best way to describe my appreciation is that they put the founder first. I feel supported every day and can approach Sarah and Zeeza and the whole team with anything. It’s a really amazing relationship built on trust.

BCV Team