2020. A Turning point for Black Founders

In 2018 I started a company called Legacy71. It’s initial premise was to be a ￡1m equity crowdfunded incubator for Black tech founders here in the UK. Inspired by the likes of Backstage Capital, Plexo Capital and Cross Culture Ventures in the US. Having worked as a pitch coach for years for incubators and private clients looking to raise Seed and Series A capital across Europe, I was struck by how many Black founded companies were sidelined or invisible in these spaces. So I wanted to change that.

So I approached a number of organizations including the likes of Founders Factory, TechHub, TechLondon Advocates, Wayra, Google and others just to see what provisions were in place to ensure there was more representation for tech founders who looked like me and were wholly underrepresented give or take a few outliers who were constantly rolled out. With very few exceptions most had not given it a second thought. 

In Feb of this year, 2020, I decided to close down Legacy71 for a number of reasons including the pandemic. But also a realisation that there were a number of organisations including educators like YSYS, 10x10, Foundervine and Cornerstone who are doing good work together to identify Black founder talent and educate them on what is necessary to succeed. In addition to this, there were funds led by Black teams like the aforementioned Cornerstone Capital, Good Soil, Impact X, CGV Ventures and also collectives like 10x10VC which highlight Black venture capitalists working in other organisations. And not to forget the stellar work done by Lendoe.

For me, it was more important to leverage my talent around leadership development and communication in partnership with such organisations than reinventing the wheel. So I take great joy in working alongside companies who are shifting the narrative in this space.

One of the said companies is Extend Ventures. Founded by Erika Brodnock, Patricia Hamzahee and Tom Adeyoola, Extend Ventures is a team of serial entrepreneurs, strategists, investors and bankers committed to democratising access to the funding and support required to build scalable businesses for underrepresented founders entrepreneurs and founding teams. Alongside other founding members including Tosin Sulaiman, Glen Learmond, Maatin Adewunmi, Kekeli Anthony and Rahmon Agbaje, I am excited about how we will leverage this data and develop strong narratives to inform better funding and support.

Too often serious data around the plight of Black founders has been rolled up in reports that focus on BAME, the nebulous grouping of non-White British ethnicities here in the UK. The Lammy Review, McGregor Review, Race Disparity Audit and reports from The Runnymede Trust have all done great jobs in explaining the wider issues faced by Black and other ethnic minority groups, but the data missing specifically around Black business is too important. This is why an organisation like Extend make a business difference for me around this new paradigm.

I think it would be remiss of me to not highlight the work of organisations like Capital Enterprise, Diversity VC and Ada Ventures, of whom I have not had direct working experience with, I am conscious that they actively are involved in pushing for more financing representation for Black founders.

As a caveat, I do believe way too much of the emphasis, especially in the tech ecosystem for Black founders, is around funding and often too much around the narrative for venture funding. I would also contend that a joined up narrative around alternative financing whether startup loans, invoice finance, equity crowdfunding, royalty-based financing and other instruments should get equal voices. Whether that is in conversation with some of the larger platforms that provide this or in fact with many of the banks who are currently declaring their desire to work better with Black founders and the wider community. Which brings me to the second part of my paradigm.

It is important for Black founders to have a lot of support around selling and also the efficacy of their business models. 

Let’s start with business models. 

One of the frustrations for example in the hair and beauty industry is the lack of understanding from traditional equity finance about how this sector works. As of 2018, the black hair and beauty industry was worth an estimated ￡88m in the UK and then ran into several billions when you factor in the worldwide market. Ironic how so many larger venture companies who press for unicorns miss out on this simple maths.

That aside it is incredibly important for Black founders to be part of a wider community that double down on their understanding of efficient business models. While subscription, ecommerce, brick and mortar and advertising tend to be the default approaches for large swathe of startups and founders, being aware of aggregation, online marketplaces, data licensing, on demand and even “razor and blades” models are just as important. 

Not many people realise that pitch coaching is just as important (if not more) for sales as it is with investment. It is in these sessions that way too often ambitious but misinformed founders don’t realise the options or blends available. More and more investors and educators in these spaces are sharing these insights with new and emerging founders but more needs to be done.

Having identified the business model(s) available getting those sales strategies have to be of primary importance. Call it sales, customer acquisition, growth or whatever nomenclature of the day is in you have to close deals. Too often I see decks or have conversations with founders who think that their sales and marketing start and end with Google or Facebook/Insta Ads. Nope. 

Sometimes you have to pick up the phone, network and have those meetings instead of just hiding behind emails. You have to produce content, speak at conferences, appear on podcasts or webinars, or whatever other specific strategies you have as part of your sales pipeline but it has to be done.

And for the love of all things great, Black founders as a wider community have to stop thinking our first port of call is to give people discounts. If people cannot afford the products or services on offer then they are not your customer. Simples.

I am currently working with two amazing entrepreneurs on a mastermind geared specifically towards addressing the business and personal concerns for Black founders. Modelling some of the existing roundtables and mastermind groups that exist for successful and growing businesses, rather than staying in silos and wondering where our knights in shining armour may appear from, this is about creating spaces for shared problem solving, decision making and unapologetic spaces to tackle specific challenges that may not occur in other demographics.

These safe spaces, in turn, allow Black business leaders to challenge a lot of these deficit narratives around “having to work twice as hard to get half as much” or “You can’t see be what you can’t see” which on so many levels don’t allow full potential to be attained. By building a sense of resilience and strength amongst peers it will in turn allow said entrepreneurs to go out into the wider market and wider networks with a renewed focus and sense of confidence.

For many on the outside looking in, it may be questionable as to why emphasis should be placed on Black founders in this way. To be honest we don’t care anymore what others think as we are too busy focusing on building collective wealth to have to explain the obvious.