Ayana Parsons has dedicated her career to investing in Black women and women of color. The business leader and mother of two joined host Nancy Redd for this week’s episode of Mompreneurs to reflect on her journey into venture capital and helping others build generational wealth.
In honor of August being National Black Businesses month, MADAMENOIRE recently spoke with Dr. Iman Abuzeid about her company Incredible Health.
According to the Harvard Business Review, less than 1 percent of Black entrepreneurs are receiving less than 1 percent of venture capital. This alarmingly low number is what inspired serial entrepreneur Shelly Bell to launch Black Girl Ventures.
(VentureBeat) — In his best-selling book “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell made famous the natural human reaction of quickly judging other people. This behavior is especially true of VCs and angel investors. The first few minutes of an interaction are crucial. The way an entrepreneur starts an investor pitch meeting can actually determine their success in that […]
(Bloomberg) — Stung by a drought in technology initial public offerings, venture capital investing plunged in 2010, with the number of active firms dropping 47 percent in the first half from last year, according to Ernst & Young LLP. The number of U.S. venture firms making at least one investment a quarter sank to 167 […]
(Black Web 2.0) –Black Web 2.0 has discussed at length some of the unique challenges that African-American tech entrepreneurs face in an increasingly overwhelmed marketplace. One of the most frequently mentioned hurdles is a (suspicious) lack of funding from traditional sources such as angel and other investors. Commenters on our site (and other sites) often discuss how to […]
(Entrepreneur) — If your face was on the ten o’clock news, how many people would look up and say, “I know that person!”? The list is probably longer than you’d think–and includes more prospective investors than you’d imagine. They need not be millionaires, and they need not be loyal relatives. If you’re like many small-business owners, […]
(Entrepreneur) — The venture capital community has an image problem. That’s right. Most people think venture capital is just for high-tech startups, but it turns out that way of thinking is so very last century. The real deal is that only a small percentage of private equity (institutional fund investments in mostly privately held businesses) goes to “seed stage” […]
(Inc) — Recently I asked Sam Ifergan, a venture capitalist who invests in tech companies, fresh off his $75-million exit of Visualsonics, to detail what goes on inside his head when he is asked to invest in a business. You may not have any plans to raise money for your business but understanding how these consummate […]
(Inc) — Serial entrepreneur Brad Oberwager founded Sundia (No. 130) in Oakland, California, in 2004 with the goal of creating the first national watermelon brand. To that end, he began licensing the Sundia brand to watermelon distributors, including Timco Worldwide, which packages and transports the fruit grown on this 5,000-acre farm in Bakersfield, California. Distributors, […]
(Businessweek) — Hamilton “Tony” E. James, president of Blackstone Group (BX), the world’s biggest private equity firm, was in an office park in a Portland (Ore.) suburb last month trying to raise money for a new $13.5 billion buyout fund. Instead of jumping at the opportunity to invest with a premier money manager, members of […]
(Fast Company) — Eight percent ain’t great, but it’s better than nothing. That’s how much of the total pool of venture capital cash female founders raised during the first half of 2010, according to a study by CB Insights. And while the bigger numbers on the male side of the equation have dominated the coverage of the study, […]