My First Introduction to Tech Entrepreneurship
On April 15th, 2018 I was selected to be Founder Gym’s first Writing Fellow. I was quite intimidated knowing that this fellowship would thrust me head first into tech entrepreneurship, a world I know nothing about. I went to law school, not business school. I smiled shyly as I walked into the room. Mandela, the founder of Founder Gym, was sitting poised and with a smile.
I was attending Founder Gym’s inaugural FG Huddle, a space for members to learn and build community offline. Founder Gym’s Cohort is 100% virtual, so I, like everyone else was seeing one another in-person for the very first time.
As guests arrived, I was immersed in a world of knowledge that is tech startups and venture capital. It stunned me that one of the biggest hurdles diverse tech founders have is how to secure investment for their business.
I had no idea that Less than 10% of venture-backed founders are women. Less than 2% are Black, and less than 1% are Latinx.
Founder Gym aims to radically change that figure by doing things differently. It re-invents the traditional education model by incorporating best practices from entrepreneurship, education, and sports psychology into a virtual five-week cohort experience. Founder Gym prepares underrepresented founders for investment success by creating a strong tight knit community of new founders, experienced founders, and venture capitalists. And it’s working!
Within its first seven months of operation, Founder Gym has already trained 70 founders across seven countries, who have gone on to raise over $10 million in startup capital.
As featured panelists at the FG Huddle, Cohort 1 Trainers and seasoned venture capitalists Shauntel Garvey of Reach Capital and Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures, shared that securing funding requires founders to build ongoing relationships with investors, even at the earliest stages of their company’s development. Beyond that, a founder needs to ensure their business was backed by results.
Charles said that tech founders must know how their business is doing, not just in hopes and dreams, but in tangible facts and figures.
At that moment, I realized that founding a tech company demands more than just a “can do” attitude and scouring the internet for teeny bits of helpful information.
Aspiring tech founders need mentors on the inside to open the door to success in Silicon Valley.
The night was more than I could have hoped. I was left with a zeal and zest for pursuing my own passions, devising a plan to get there, and realizing there’s now a community that can help me be successful. Not bad for my first taste of tech entrepreneurship.
Want to see what else happened at the FG Huddle? Check this out!
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