As a Latina founder of a social impact company, raising VC money hasn’t exactly been easy. Especially in Chicago, where I’m based, the VC community, while close-knit and easily accessible, is small, homogenous, and focused on later-stage investments. On the startup side, of the 65 Chicago-based startups backed by Chicago-based venture capital funds, only 16 (about 25%) have a non-white founder, and only 15 (or 23%) have a female founder to Chicago Blend. From firsthand experience, the lack of access to early-stage capital compared to the coasts has an oversized impact on underrepresented
The number of Latinx founders in the US is continuing to growing at a faster rate than any other demographic. Yet we’re all familiar with the drab stats: only 2.4% of total VC funding goes to Black and Latinx founders. We’ve put together a list of some Latinx women founders who have broken through the ceiling: launching thriving and innovative companies developing new technology in software, medical, e-commerce and beyond. Read how they’ve backed their ideas, raised funds and are changing the lives of many. Ariel Lopez, Founder Knac The
Black Entertainment Television (BET) was once crowned the US largest Black-owned cable channel and was a cultural staple across the Black community in the US. BET founded by entrepreneur Robert Johnson was launched in the 1980s. Johnson was inspired to create a Black-oriented network to tell unique Black stories. It was a cultural and financial success. He sold BET to Viacom for a reported $3 Billion losing its Black-owned status. Despite the sale, the significance of having Black stories and characters on TV made a huge impact. BET was so significant because
Two New York-based rap legends show up and show out in the venture capitalism space, making millions outside of music. Both hailing from New York from humble beginnings, the two legends weren’t particularly close while reaching mainstream success in the ’90s. It started with Dead Presidents II and ended in a tour. Their rap beef ignited the hip-hop community in New York City, around the world, and spawned several diss tracks that got pretty intense. They finally declared an end to this feud on stage with the ‘I Declare War”
Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss Black engineer, Katrina Parrot suing Apple for her creation of diverse emojis that they turned down. Can creators protect their ideas from being stolen or imitated? (0:25) They also break down: Is Clubhouse doomed to fail or be a great success? (7:07) Kanye vs Jay Z co-founder debate: who would you pick? (15:55) Gumroad crowdfunds equity and turns customers into investors (25:12) This Episode Is Sponsored By Notion Get your Notion account here. Notion is hiring! Check out their open positions Extras: Techish on Patreon:Advertise
Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss Triller acquiring Verzuz (the popular virtual event series) from Timbaland and Swizz Beatz while giving all 46 Verzuz performers equity in the company. (7:03) They also break down: Are the Grammys relevant anymore? (2:23) Harry & Meghan’s explosive interview (9:12) Clubhouse launches accelerator for creators (14:23) Spain to test a 4 day work week (20:09) This Episode Is Sponsored By Notion Get your Notion account here. Notion is hiring! Check out their open positions Extras: Techish on PatreonAdvertise with TechishPlease rate and review the Techish podcast Subscribe
The Cannabis industry is booming but rife with inequities and discrimination. American marijuana businesses are projected to have between $106 billion and $130 billion by 2024 on the US economy. Often referred to as the ‘Green Rush’, hundreds of lucrative weed businesses have popped up all over the US where weed is now legal. The problem? These businesses are predominately white-owned. A 10+ billion dollar industry, and we own less than 1% of it. The big cannabis players, most of them white-owned and backed by lucrative venture capital, don’t face
Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss how white celebs are getting rich off a new cannabis narrative, yet POC still are still paying the price. (21:25) They also break down: The end of Indie.VC but their legacy carries on (00:10) Brandwatch’s impressive $450M exit! (11:10) Paying for Twitter? Twitter’s new super follow option (16:30) This Episode Is Sponsored By Notion Get your Notion account here. Notion is hiring! Check out their open positions Extras Techish on PatreonAdvertise with TechishPlease rate and review the Techish podcast Subscribe To The Techish Podcast On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms.
Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss Donald Glover’s new creative partnership with Amazon to create his own curated content channel, and how this might affect how we stream. (23:41) They also break down: Coinbase and Stripe make $100 billion valuations (00:10) Digital ownership of memes with NFT (aka Non-Fungible Token) (3:54) Loneliness across cultures and the isolating effects of remote working (7:34) Spotify vs Clubhouse (18:21) Vitamin D benefits (29:16) Extras Techish on PatreonAdvertise with TechishPlease rate and review the Techish podcast Subscribe To The Techish Podcast On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms.
Techish · Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss how Rihanna (and co.) built Savage X Fenty by disrupting the beauty industry with diverse, inclusive, sex-positive campaigns, and a strategic partnership with Amazon. (00:15) They also break down: LVMH shuts down Rihanna’s Fashion House Bitcoin hits 50K! (6:15) Tim Cook vs Mark Zuckerberg (12:20) Daniel Kaluuya sparks convo about power, race, and language in the media (20:31) This Episode Is Sponsored By Aha! They are hiring! Sr. Ruby on Rails Engineer! Apply here Sr. Product Marketing Manager! Apply here
