By the way, other demographics are underfunded too and there’s something we can do about it.
If you’re reading this, you probably intuit that black founders have a particularly hard time getting funding of any amount.
Ironically, black founders are often lapping up scraps in an industry that creates hundreds of billionaires in our lifetimes (not to mention the invaluable intrinsic contributions of folks who build great products).
Take a popular and easy-to-grasp example.
Humanity will never be able to repay Steve Jobs for his genius and contributions to the lived experience…(nor can we repay Katherine Johnson, the Hidden Figure who helped John Glen orbit the Earth).
And that’s the point.
Brilliant STEM minds are more accessible today than at any time, in space and time, yet black founders are still not being funded.
There’s something you can do about it.
Even among our own community, we hold black founders to standards of perfection, when all we really want is the opportunity to be mediocre, and surprise you, just like everyone else.
Are YOU funding black founders?
Since 2019, I’ve invested in 6 startups and counting, although I’ve yet to write a check for $25,000 cash and that may be further off than you might think.
You can help black founders too, even if you don’t use their products (or invest cold hard cash).
After all, maybe you know a soul who purchased shares in X car company stock, yet they have never even test ridden it.
This article kicks away the excuses we use to not fund black founders.
Wading into the tech startup waters is a little different than what you might think, and this article is NOT investment or legal advice, but rather business insights based on what I’ve come to appreciate about locally, underfunded tech startups led by black founders, and how you (yes YOU) can help.