In the past five years, crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have revolutionized the way entrepreneurs go about raising capital for new business ventures. Although these sites have helped turn countless of startup pipe-dreams into a reality, a significant number of entrepreneurs, Blacks in particular, aren’t necessarily feeling the same love…until now.

BlackStartup recently made its debut with a crowdfunding platform that focuses on funding projects and ideas benefiting African Americans.

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Founders Nathan Bennett-Fleming, Olugbolahan Adewumi, Aaron O. Brien, Kyle Yeldell, and Christopher Hollins are determined to close the “Black startup gap,” as they call it, by attempting to fix the root cause: lack of capital.

“I think it is important that we encourage non-profits and social enterprises to raise resources on our platform to address social problems facing the African-American community,” BlackStartup CEO Nathan Bennett-Fleming told NewsOne.

BlackStartup takes a standard approach to crowdfunding: Each project featured on the platform is accompanied with  a project description, specific goals, and a background on the founders. And similar to other sites, participants only receive the money if they reach their complete goal. ”There is no specific type of businesses that we are attempting to promote. We want to support projects, ideas, and causes that are broadly connected to the African-American community,” said Bennett-Fleming.

The site’s Monday launch premiered with seven projects, including a math curriculum taught through playing the piano, a family business that makes homemade hair products, and a website featuring social commentary on daily news.

The Washington, D.C.-based company has had no problem gaining praise and capital, with the site snagging the coveted Yale Entrepreneur Institute’s Fellowship, which doles out $20,000 in capital seed money, an elite mentor, and a 10-week boot camp in New Haven, Ct.

While BlackStartup focuses primarily on supporting Black causes through funding, Bennett-Fleming says he and the founders have the ultimate goal of expanding to help other marginalized groups. ”We are considering broadening our approach to include other minority groups on our platform,” he said. ”We want to use these new technologies to address the Black entrepreneurial gap, the Black opportunity gap, and other economic challenges facing the Black community as well as other marginalized communities.”

If you’re like me, then you’re always looking at start-ups lamenting about how you came up with the idea for the mp3 player back in high-school and someone stole your idea. We have tons of ideas, but don’t quite know how to bring them forth into reality – be it funds, or drive, or whatever stands in the way of a good idea’s fruition. Well keep reading because I have good news for you.

I spent some time with Brian Shields, Co-Founder of Incubate NYC. Incubate is a program developed by Brian and Marcus Mayo, both Morehouse graduates, to help those of us with brilliant ideas to take said idea and give birth to it in reality. It’s a start-up   program specifically designed for first time entrepreneurs. When I spoke with Marcus, he told me what makes the program unique is the support system that comes along with being in the program. Being in the fox hole so-to-speak with others can be profoundly helpful. Seeing how someone else solves a problem can be helpful to you or vice-avers. He also mentioned that three main keys to the success of a particular project are getting started, knowing what to focus on, and sticking with it.

The program is a 5 week “Bootcamp” – which is basically workshop to refine your business ideas and concepts. However, what’s cool is that the program doesn’t stop there. Once the bootcamp is finished, graduates still have access to the Incubate NYC resources and community. It seemed quite unique to me, and I’ll update you guys once I’ve gone through it.

You can follow them @incubatenyc or check them out at www.incubatenyc.com

More technology and reviews at www.TheManly-Man.com

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The talk focused mainly around the changes that take place once a start-up company is bought by a larger company and the repercussions that follow whether positive or negative. West remarked that the biggest hiccup in acquisitions is generally the merge of cultures. To ensure successful mergers, companies have to make sure their values and purposes are aligned and that the proper talent is in place. The panelists agreed that the best shifts happen when the culture of the acquired company is preserved rather than immediately reorganized. The panelists discussed the Flickr acquisition by Yahoo the development disputes they have had. Gizmodo mentions that integration and not innovation was the focus which killed creativity. However, when done correctly, AOL’s purchase of Huffington Post for example, the rewards can be very much worth the effort. According to an article on CapitalNewYork, talent continued to flow into the newsroom despite the merger. They also considered the corporate culture of the Huffington Post and didn’t rush to break it up.

Another hurdle is acquiring top talent. Heidi Messer noted that a talent acquisition strategy became more important to her as she builds her new team. She lamented the lack of focus around that this principle in general with start-ups. What happens when top talent doesn’t come with the company and they leave because of the atmosphere change?

In the end, acquiring a start-up for their talent or their product is risky business. The companies that don’t learn to do it well take a hit, which they may never recover from while the ones who continue to do it successfully can leverage a distinct advantage in the never ending innovation race.

More Tech at www.themanly-man.com

Kamala Harris, the first African American to be elected Attorney General in the state of California joined Roland Martin on Washington Watch to discuss the rights of homeowners in distress due to foreclosure fraud and the $25 billion settlement.

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The study, “Can an Agentic Black Woman Get Ahead?” tallied the results of 84 non-Black persons watching a staged event, where business executives were shown being either critical of an employee or offering words of encouragement.  Afterward, the data and results were collected in an online poll.

The study is awaiting publication in the Psychological Science journal and was co-authored by Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, an associate professor of management and organization at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Rosette spoke with the Herald-Sun of Durham about the study.

“There’s a substantial body of research showing a penalty for women when they display dominant, assertive, angry, commanding or demanding behavior,” Rosette said. “All of those resources presumed that the women under consideration were white but hadn’t necessarily looked at what would happen if the women were of a different race.”

The study contended that because business leadership is typically male and White, Black women in that position would face fewer backlashes because they are not the norm for those roles.  Further, the research proposed the idea that dominant behavior from Black women would have led to more criticism, which the study found to be opposite of the expected.

“Our findings show that Black women are evaluated comparably to white men,” Rosette said. “If that’s the case, why are there not more Black women represented in top leadership positions?”

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Speaking with AdWeek, Combs hinted at launching a tequila brand, saying he has been spending time in Mexico learning about the art of tequila.

Combs also spoke of transitioning out of the music industry onto the big-screen, where he’s also been successful as a television executive producer.

I’ve had six shows on the air at one time. I don’t say that in a braggadocio way. But you should definitely remember this conversation and look back at it and say, “I remember he told me he was going to make some huge announcements.

Read more at adweek.com.

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Despite high rates of unemployment and an uncertain economy Black barbershops and hair salons are booming, according to BlackNews2.

The Census Bureau recently noted their jump in an otherwise glum report about mom-and-pop businesses, stating that the number of hairdressers and barbers and the shops that employ them grew by about 8 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Apparently, getting a haircut is one of the last expenses that consumers are willing to give up. And people who run salons never have to fret that their work might be outsourced. “We don’t have to worry about someone flying to China to get their hair cut,” said Charles Kirkpatrick, director of the National Association of Barber Boards of America. “Barbering is not going away.”

Read More At Black News 2

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Some familiar companies that made the list include Allstate Corp., American Express Inc., AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, and the controversial Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

See The Rest Of The List At BlackEnterprise.com

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Obama Fried Chicken, Obama Beauty Supply and Obama Deli Grocery are just a few of the businesses that have adopted the name of the first black president.

“People like his name,” said Muhammad Seraji, owner of Obama Beauty Supply on Utica Ave.

Seraji sells wigs, weaves and hair-care products, and one of the most popular items is an $89.99 lace-front wig named after the First Lady.

Tell us what you think? Do you have an Obama-named business near you?

Read more at the New York Daily News.


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