• About
  • Advertise
  • Bespoke Research
  • Contact
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
No Result
View All Result
Times Of Entrepreneurship
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Rest of US
  • Global
  • Finance
  • Mentorship
  • Deep Tech
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Rest of US
  • Global
  • Finance
  • Mentorship
  • Deep Tech
Times Of Entrepreneurship
No Result
View All Result

Weekly newsletter: A Financial Cliff; 500 Startups’ Thailand View; Skewed Venture Returns

Good afternoon, Times of E readers.

by Elizabeth Macbride
October 12, 2020
in Newsletter
Reading Time: 11min read
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride:

“We see our clients projecting a financial cliff,” I heard today from Aurora, Ill.

I was lucky to observe a roundtable discussion with eight founders and Congressmen French Hill (R-AR), Bill Foster (D-IL) and David Schweikert (R-AZ). The entrepreneurs were all in the b-to-b space; some serve Main Street or grassroots entrepreneurs. The roundtable was put on the Center for American Entrepreneurship. The Congressmen, who floated ideas for more R&D funding and government-backed venture investments, hoped for a rosier view than was presented by the entrepreneurs – which is troubling, given that entrepreneurs are typically overly optimistic.

My takeaways:

• The risk faced by Main Street entrepreneurs is high. “We see our clients projecting a financial cliff,” said Jimi Allen, founder of Aurora-Ill.-based marketing agency Bureau Gravity. As goes small business, goes the economy. Outside health care and government, our main private industry employers now are companies in retail, leisure and professional services: 62 million jobs out of 169 million. 

• One of the entrepreneurs, Danny Ellis, co-founder of Ann Arbor, Mich-based SkySpecs, noted how much less worried his employees in Denmark were. There, he said, everyone has state-run health care, retirement and daycare systems.

• The federal aid programs sustained many businesses through the spring and summer. Now, all bets are off, as even some venture-backed companies lose momentum. Whatever Congress does, ought to be done rapidly, said Rita Hansen, the co-founder of Onboard Dynamics in Bend, Ore.

• The panel reflected funding realities across the country. Women and people of color, who make up the majority of today’s new entrepreneurs, were not able to access the aid programs or capital from sources such as the private equity markets, which are more open to white men.

I was touched by the obvious capability of the entrepreneurs on the call. They cared for each other, and the different perspectives each was bringing to the table.
It was a stark contrast to what’s happening in Washington, D.C., where the federal stimulus and a Supreme Court nomination seem to have become a set of personal political joysticks in the hands of a mentally unstable, ill president. The uniform wish I heard from everyone on the call: Let’s get back to the business of building.

Please send me your ideas for my interview series of 25 women founders around the globe in DeepTech at [email protected]. I’ll be gathering names for a few weeks.


— Elizabeth MacBride, founder of Times of Entrepreneurship

Times of Entrepreneurship Stories of the Week

Local Alike Beat Airbnb To The Thai Market. But Could It Survive The Pandemic?

The 40-employee company adopted three goals: No layoffs, no COVID-19 among the staff, and two new business verticals.

Read the Story»

Venture Returns Are More Skewed Than People Think

Most investment rounds fail to return 1x capital to investors.

Read the Story »

Innovations In Telemedicine, Communications Could Change The COVID-19 Picture

A concerted focus on the Marshallese community in Northwest Arkansas helped slow the pandemic.

Read the Story »

Important Stories from Elsewhere

Trump Crashes Markets By Tweeting There Will Be No Stimulus Until After the Election, Then Reverses
He wants aid to small business, airlines and $1,200 stimulus checks. Earlier, doctors voiced fear his COVID medication causes mania, aggression and psychosis.

Trump Moves To Tighten Visa Access For Highly-Skilled Foreign Workers
Four weeks before the election, the Trump administration has announced stricter rules for the H1-B visa program, which U.S. companies have long valued.

Congress just finished its Big Tech anti-trust report. Now it’s time to rewrite the laws.
The investigation has shown a bipartisan appetite for reform, though several obstacles lie ahead.

Facebook Bans QAnon Across Its Platforms
The change is a significant escalation over its previous actions targeting the group and one of the broadest rules the social media giant has put in place in history.

Why Startups Are Going Public Now
If you really need to go public, tomorrow may be worse than today.

Salesforce Ventures Launches $100M Impact Fund To Invest In Cloud Startups With Social Mission
The company’s second impact fund is twice the size of its first and is focused on areas such as education and reskilling.

Inside the Hardest B-School Program In The World To Get Into
Contrary to what you might think, it’s not Harvard or Stanford.

As Millions Of Americans Face Wildfires And Hurricanes, This Kentucky Startup Helps Them Rebuild Faster
Louisville-based insurance tech startup WeatherCheck helps people prepare for natural disasters before they happen.

Southeast Asia’s Classifieds Startup Carousell Is On Its Way To Becoming One Of Southeast Asia’s Next Unicorns
The company is focused on becoming profitable in the next three to four years, according to its CEO and co-founder.

Months’ Old Uni Raises $18.5 Million Seed Round To Expand India’s Credit Card Market
The startup plans to tackle issues, like lack of access to credit, that have slowed the growth of credit cards in the country.

You May Have Missed

A Mask-Making Business, Born Of Friendship, Offers A Ray Of Pandemic Light
Two men arrived in Northwest Arkansas at about the same time, two years ago, leaving homelands to shape lives in the United States.

Interesting Events and Competitions 

Business Strategy and Financials In Uncertain Times
Date: October 7, 4-5 pm ET
Information available here.

Learn how to assess the financial health of your business, the best ways to evaluate the impact of an uncertain environment, how to analyze different funding options and more in this webinar from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses.

The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees and Cocaine in Miami in 1980
Date: October 7, 5-6:15 pm
Information available here.

At this book launch, journalist and author Nick Griffin will be interviewed by Alberto Ibarguen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and former publisher of The Miami Herald, about how the city of Miami survived a spate of turmoil in 1980, already a turbulent election year.

Invest South Jersey
Date: October 8, 11:30 am to 1 pm
Information available here.

Capital Analytics will share in-depth research into New Jersey’s South Jersey market in this event, which will also feature discussions of innovation in education and best practices to promote sustainable business growth.

Follow the Entrepreneur (FTE) Investment Campaign and Summit
Dates: Oct. 10-14
Location: Athens, Greece (event will also be live streamed)
Information available here.

VIVA Investment Partners, a Swiss private equity firm, is hosting this gathering, where entrepreneurs will come together with leading global investors to build relationships and identify opportunities to collaborate. 

Imagine H2O’s Water Innovation Week
Date: October 12-14
Location: Virtual
Information available here. 

Industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, customers and advisors will meet to discuss the opportunities that exist in the water sector this year. 

Hong Kong Science And Technology Parks Corporation’s Elevator Pitch Competition 2020
Deadline for applications: October 19, 2020
Location: Virtual
Information available here.

Tech entrepreneurs around the world can compete in this virtual elevator pitch competition, which last year received 650 entrees. Ideas should be in four areas: artificial intelligence and robotics, fintech, health technology and smart cities.

SOCAP Virtual: A Global Impact Summit 
Location: Virtual
Dates: October 19-23
Information available here.

The Future of Work, Accelerated
Date: October 22, Noon-1 pm ET
Location: Virtual
Information available here.

At this event hosted by Columbia Business School, Kay Fernandez, SVP of marketing for Konica  Minolta; Stephen Gorman, professor of business at Columbia Business School and Michael Quiroga, CEO of Visible, will discuss how to build effective relationships between companies, employees and society at large during COVID-19.

This gathering of global change-makers aims to address the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions. 

Young Entrepreneur Convention
Location: Ames, Ohio
Deadline: October 24, 2020
Information available here.

The theme is “founders helping founders” at this one-day event, aimed at business owners in their teens and twenties, at Iowa State University.

Greentown Labs Climatech Summit
Date: Nov. 5-6
Location: Virtual
Information available here. 

Entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, policymakers, startup support organizations and other climate champions will come together to chart a holistic course to building a sustainable future for all.

Nevada Virtual Pitch Competition
Date: Nov. 6, 9 am to 3 pm
Location: Virtual
For more information, write to: [email protected].

Created to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural Nevada, this virtual pitch competition, which will award cash prizes up to $1,000, will include educational resources and learning sessions.

Sight Tech Global
This virtual conference is dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers about how rapid advances in AI and related technologies will create a more accessible world for people with blindness and visual impairments. 
Date: Dec. 2-3, 2020. Registration is free and opening soon. 
Information available here. 

Baylor New Venture Competition
Date: March 25-27, 2021; Applications open September 1, 2020
Location: Baylor University; Waco, Texas
Information available here.

Baylor New Venture Competition offers applicants business plan feedback, mentorship, and a chance to compete for more than $250,000 in prizes. Collegiate entrepreneurs from around the globe are eligible to participate in the competition, hosted by Baylor University. 

Rolling:

MassCEC’s InnovateMass Program
Deadline: Rolling
Information available here.

This program offers up to $250,000 in grant funding and technical support to applicant teams deploying new clean energy technologies or innovative combinations of existing technologies with a strong potential for commercialization. Applicants must run Massachusetts-based companies or have a location in the state and have a technology that fits specific guidelines.

Elizabeth Macbride

Elizabeth Macbride

A business journalist for 20 years and a freelancer for more than 10 of that, I write about turning points in the lives of entrepreneurs and their companies. I've recently been named a Fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation.

Related Posts

poet amanda gorman speaking

Friday Roundup: What Biden’s doing for Business, New PPP Funds and a Free, Online Tech Course

by Skyler Rossi
January 22, 2021
0

Poet Amanda Gorman serves on the board of Vital Voices, which educates and promotes women leaders and entrepreneurs worldwide. Good...

Weekly Newsletter: Post-riot presidency, top scientists’ wish lists and sweet potato vodka from Arkansas

Weekly Newsletter: Post-riot presidency, top scientists’ wish lists and sweet potato vodka from Arkansas

by Elizabeth Macbride
January 23, 2021
0

I was inspired a few weeks ago to meet the Williams family of Helena, Arkansas, who have returned to their...

Friday Roundup: Miami Uprising, Schmidt Futures Call For Pitches, New Tech Hub In Ottawa

Friday Roundup: Miami Uprising, Schmidt Futures Call For Pitches, New Tech Hub In Ottawa

by Skyler Rossi
January 15, 2021
0

Pitbull is among those pushing for Miami's rise as a tech and entrepreneurship hub. Good morning, Times of E readers!...

The Great, Predictable Vaccine Logjam

Weekly newsletter: LatinX VCs, Vaccine Logjam, PPP Info

by Elizabeth Macbride
January 15, 2021
0

A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride: It can be a bit dangerous to have a pastor for a dad....

Weekly newsletter: More Wins For Democrats, 2020’S Biggest Funding Rounds, Miami Manifesto, PPP Access

Weekly newsletter: More Wins For Democrats, 2020’S Biggest Funding Rounds, Miami Manifesto, PPP Access

by Elizabeth Macbride
January 8, 2021
0

A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride: This week, we had the news of the election of the first Black...

Weekly newsletter: A Woman-Powered Recovery, Hackers, And Chicago’s Hottest Startups

Weekly newsletter: A Woman-Powered Recovery, Hackers, And Chicago’s Hottest Startups

by Elizabeth Macbride
December 17, 2020
0

When they write about business, my peers in the mainstream media very often get the story partly right and exactly...

Subscribe to Times of E’s Free Weekly Newsletter

Be part of the story. It’s a changing, socially conscious, entrepreneurial world.

Popular

  • Photo of three Black entrepreneurs

    Out Of Delta Dirt, A Bright Clean Splash Of Hope: A Sweet Potato Distillery

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Top 20 U.S. University Entrepreneurship Competitions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Mental Health App Cress Health Finds Partners In Kenya, Beirut, U.S. and Liberia To Make A Fast Impact

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Insight Into The Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Competitions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Top Scientists’ Wish Lists: Human Tissue Replication, Recyclable Face Masks, Rapid-Manufacture Ventilator

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent

poet amanda gorman speaking

Friday Roundup: What Biden’s doing for Business, New PPP Funds and a Free, Online Tech Course

January 22, 2021
Weekly Newsletter: Post-riot presidency, top scientists’ wish lists and sweet potato vodka from Arkansas

Weekly Newsletter: Post-riot presidency, top scientists’ wish lists and sweet potato vodka from Arkansas

January 23, 2021
Photo of three Black entrepreneurs

Out Of Delta Dirt, A Bright Clean Splash Of Hope: A Sweet Potato Distillery

January 26, 2021

Recommended

  • Health
  • Climate
  • Deep Tech
  • Finance
  • Education
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Mentorship
A Pakistani Entrepreneur’s Insight Led To An Untapped Market Of 780 Million

A Pakistani Entrepreneur’s Insight Led To An Untapped Market Of 780 Million

2 years ago
How To Get a Job In Venture Capital

How To Get a Job In Venture Capital

2 years ago
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Bespoke Research
  • Contact

© 2020 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 
Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
No Result
View All Result
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Rest of US
  • Global
  • Finance
  • Mentorship
  • Deep Tech

© 2020 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.