In the News
3 Ways to Safeguard Your Business as Coronavirus Spreads
3/18/2020
Many have speculated about whether the current coronavirus outbreak will spark an economic recession. Renowned venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently shared their experience of best practice, advising that, “Having weathered every business downturn for nearly 50 years, we’ve learned an important lesson: Nobody ever regrets making fast and decisive adjustments to changing circumstances.”
The Top 10 Mistakes That Keep Women Entrepreneurs From Scaling to $1 Million
1/23/2020
Where are the million-dollar women? In 2018, just 1.7 percent of women-owned businesses generated more than $1 million in revenue, and the challenges are even greater for women of color entrepreneurs. Why is it that even though women own 40 percent of all businesses in the U.S., making "real money" is more the exception than it is the rule? What's getting in our way when it comes to business ideas that make bank?
How the Founder of Schmidt's Naturals Went From Zero to a Nine-Figure Exit
1/15/2020
In 2010, Jaime Schmidt took a local class on how to make shampoo. At the time, she was pregnant with her son, eager to experiment with crafting her own natural, nontoxic products. One thing led to another, and soon she succeeded in creating a natural deodorant “that actually worked,” branded as Schmidt’s. Fast forward seven years, and the deodorant she began selling at farmers markets became a top seller on shelves at Target, Whole Foods and Walmart.
Schmidt's Naturals sold to Unilever for an undisclosed amount in 2017 (but Schmidt puts it in the "nine figures"). Now, she's focused on her next cause: supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs.
This Female Founder Fought to Stay in the Game And She Just Raised $3 Million in Funding from Serena Williams, Mark Cuban and Arlan Hamilton
7/15/2019
Hanna is the co-founder of Mahmee, a data-driven maternal and infant health tech company dedicated to building out the missing digital infrastructure to connect mothers and babies to the care they need. On Monday, it was announced that the company had raised $3 million from Serena Williams through Serena Ventures, Mark Cuban, Arlan Hamilton’s ArlanWasHere Investments, Pipeline Angels, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Honeycomb Portfolio, UpFront Ventures Community Fund.
Out of $85 Billion in VC Funding Last Year, Only 2.2 Percent Went to Female Founders. And Every Year, Women of Color Get Less Than 1 Percent of Total Funding.
12/12/2018
“You’ve clearly got what founders are made of, but I hope you're not planning to get pregnant anytime soon.”
As the co-founder of comprehensive maternity healthcare company Mahmee, CEO Melissa Hanna is an expert when it comes to fielding questions about prenatal and postpartum care, but she was shocked that she would be asked to discuss her own body as part of the fund-raising process for her business.
It was 2015, and she was meeting with a thirty-something, white, male venture capitalist who was close to putting $100,000 of early-stage funds into the company.
As soon as he said it, Hanna recalls, he “kind of cringed a little bit, even knowing that he’d said that out loud. But then he said, ‘Yeah, you know, I mean, female founders …’ and left it hanging in the air.”