The Journey of a Diverse Founder
Startup Incubator Director Shares Her Perspective on How Diverse Founders Face Barriers and the Need for Equitable Opportunities
I Want to Get Started
Through a collaboration with Village Up and a team of various industry leaders in the San Diego startup tech ecosystem, we came together to critically examine the path of a startup founder. We believed that by taking a deep look into the journey of diverse founders, we could identify and ultimately break down barriers. We began looking at every step of the process from the perspective of an entrepreneur — more specifically, a diverse founder (representing diversity in age, race, gender and gender expression, national origin, color, ethnicity, ability, and other typically non-represented groups) — as she, he, or they make their way through the San Diego startup tech ecosystem.
Join us as we explore each step in the journey to launch a high-growth tech startup from the first spark of innovation, through the long, hard process of acquiring knowledge, researching the idea, and navigating through various institutions, organizations, and meetup groups. We explored the journey through building a team, networking, applying to an incubator, locating capital, and participating in a pitch competition. We also explored the pathways a founder takes as she, he, or they learn to ask for help and find mentors, to recruit and train diverse talent, and to raise funds, all while facing the unique challenges that come along with being a diverse founder.
Through all the steps in this journey, various subject matter experts will explain the unique barriers-to-entry that diverse founders often experience at different points during the process of launching a high-growth venture.
The Role of Education in Entrepreneurial Diversity
One of the first steps in this journey is to acquire knowledge, and entrepreneurs often start by seeking an education in entrepreneurship. Whether that is by obtaining a formal education through a community college or a university, or by accessing training at one of the various small business service centers in San Diego, most entrepreneurs recognize that in order to be successful, they need an education in entrepreneurship.
We are long past the debate about whether or not entrepreneurship is something that can be taught. We now know that obtaining an education in entrepreneurship can mitigate some of the risks associated with starting a new business. There have been countless studies that underscore the import and impact of an education in entrepreneurship and we now know that having a formal education in entrepreneurship significantly increases the chances of starting a successful business.
While the path to becoming a medical doctor or an aeronautical engineer is a clear one, the path to becoming an entrepreneur is often anything but clear. I have been an entrepreneurship educator for over a decade and the students that I see in my entrepreneurship classes are my most diverse students in terms of age, previous work and life experience, and prior education, not to mention the surface-level diversity. People acquire an education in entrepreneurship through certificate programs, both formal and informal workshops, or by obtaining a college degree. No matter what path they take, what is clear is the evidence that shows the importance of being a lifelong learner and getting an education in entrepreneurship.
Access to a quality education in entrepreneurship is often limited for diverse founders. The cost of a college education is going up every year at the same time that the cost of living is rising, all while wages have remained stagnant for the last 15 years. Many minorities do not have the luxury of focusing on school full-time and must spend the majority of their time working to earn a living.
Universities are not doing an effective job at encouraging minorities to attend. A recent study showed that the portion that minorities make up of students in universities is 15.7% less than the share of minorities graduating from high school.
Community colleges are often an educational refuge for minority students due to their low cost, easy enrollment, and flexible class formats. The trouble is that many community colleges do not have the same quality education as is available to students at universities. In fact, many community colleges either do not have an entrepreneurship program, or the focus of their program is on starting or managing a small business rather than a high-growth tech start up.
After teaching for almost a decade at San Diego State University, I realized that I had to personally do something about this gap in availability of resources for diverse founders. I started the Regional Entrepreneurship Center — REC Innovation Lab at Miramar College in March of 2020 to increase equity and inclusivity in the innovation ecosystem and to help everyone have access to cutting-edge technology, the very best education possible, and other resources needed to turn their ideas into high-growth ventures.
The REC Innovation Lab is a start, but much more is needed to develop equitable pathways to opportunities in the innovation economy. I will continue to do my part to help provide support to diverse founders. Stay on top of what we are doing at the REC Innovation Lab and Village Up by following us on social media. You can learn more about the REC on our website: https://recinnovationlab.com/. Let’s all continue to find ways to make entrepreneurship equitable.
Tanya Hertz teaches at San Diego Miramar College and San Diego State University; she is also the Director of the REC Innovation Lab at San Diego Miramar College.
She has been honored with several teaching and entrepreneurship awards. In 2016 and 2019, she was chosen at SDSU as “Most Influential Faculty”; she was recently recognized for advocacy for women and minority entrepreneurs by the Women’s Venture Summit and earned the 2020 Female Founder Advocate award; and for her efforts in inclusive practices and creating spaces where all people can thrive, she was given the Inclusion First Ally Award.
