Overcoming Funding Hurdles For Entrepreneurs

Summary

Podcast Summary: Earn Your Leisure – "Overcoming Funding Hurdles For Entrepreneurs"

Date: July 20, 2026
Hosts: Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings
Guest: Founder/Entrepreneur (not named in transcript)

Episode Overview

This episode of Earn Your Leisure dives deep into the funding challenges faced by minority and women entrepreneurs, featuring a candid interview with a successful founder. The discussion centers on innovative funding strategies, lessons learned from breaking the mold of traditional venture capital, the realities of growing an education-focused business, and the long-term vision for empowering the next generation through STEM and entrepreneurship.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Facing Funding Bias and Rethinking the Playbook

[02:24 - 04:01]

• The founder describes early experiences seeking venture capital (“the VCs weren’t trying to rock with me”), especially as a minority woman.
• She emphasizes the importance of seeking advice from those who’ve actually built something similar:
  “Stop taking advice from people who haven’t done what you’re trying to do.” [02:45]
• Instead of pursuing traditional VC routes, she targets family offices for “strategic” and “patient” capital.
• The gamble pays off:
  “I did a founder-led seed round where I brought in a million and a half from a family office. And then I went to the other VCs and said, do you want to play?” [03:40]

2. Redefining Investor Relationships

[04:01 - 04:58]

• The founder advocates for “friendly patient capital”—investors aligned with the business’s values, not just profit.
• She maintains close, familial relationships with investors:
  “I call my investors like they’re my dad. I’m like, hey, what are you guys doing? Here’s what I’m working on.” [04:22]
• The family office required not just financial returns but also positive impact:
  “It’s not just the dollar, it’s about the legacy.” [04:36]

3. Scaling Up and Current Funding Goals

[05:05 - 05:13]

• Openly seeking additional funding, aiming to raise another $1 million to bridge toward a Series A:
  “I would like to raise about a million more and plot a path to our Series A.” [05:13]

4. Client Base & Expanding Product Impact

[05:13 - 06:37]

• Clients include major corporations (Siemens, General Dynamics, Microsoft).
• Products (STEM kits and software) are used for capacity building in schools, often provided or sponsored by corporate clients.
• The mission has expanded:
  “It’s really become about how can we help make a district better? ... We’re also now building custom kits... a climate satellite, a buggy coming out… a rocket launch.” [05:55]

5. Customization & Distribution of Educational Kits

[06:37 - 07:26]

• Kits are designed for flexibility, accommodating two to three semesters’ worth of lessons, based entirely on school requirements.
• Most purchases have come from corporations, but the founder is keen to expand relationships with school districts.

6. The Challenge of Market Penetration in School Districts

[07:26 - 08:59]

• No resistance on pricing or value once in front of the right decision-maker.
• The real challenge is outreach cost and the long (6-8 month) sales/deal cycle within districts.
• “We have to support the operation until they can close the deal. And so the challenge in my mind is, how can we do more of these deals and shorten the time?” [08:44]

7. Ultimate Vision: Global STEM, Entrepreneurship & Early Empowerment

[09:03 - 09:51]

• The founder’s dream is a global platform integrating immersive STEM learning with entrepreneurship.
• Innovative future: STEM kits interacting with cutting-edge tech like Oculus VR.
• Deep belief in teaching entrepreneurship young:
  “When I teach the Lingo box in the Bahamas… I couple it with entrepreneurship, and then I give kids money to go out and try to run their business.” [09:22]
• “You don’t have to have a college degree to be a multimillionaire. You just need entrepreneurship skills. It’s like a muscle.” [09:33]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Not Following the Crowd:
  “Stop taking advice from people who haven’t done what you’re trying to do.”
  – Founder [02:45]

• On Investor Alignment:
  “It’s not just the dollar, it’s about the legacy.”
  – Founder [04:36]

• On Early Entrepreneurship:
  “I want students trying to build their first startup when they’re 12 or they’re 13, because by the time they’re 20, they’re going to be beasts.”
  – Founder [09:47]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Starting out and VC struggles: [02:24 – 04:01]
• Founder-led capital raising and advice: [03:10 – 03:50]
• Patient and impact-driven investment: [04:01 – 04:58]
• Product and impact expansion: [05:13 – 06:37]
• Sales cycle and outreach challenges: [07:26 – 08:59]
• Vision for Lingo and global education impact: [09:03 – 09:51]

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Episode Tone & Language

The episode is candid, motivational, and pragmatic, blending hard-won lessons about startup funding with an ambitious, optimistic vision for the future. The founder speaks with clarity and purpose, emphasizing impact, resilience, and the necessity for minority founders to trust themselves and seek “friendly patient capital.”

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Takeaways

• Think beyond traditional VC: Consider strategic, values-aligned investors like family offices.
• Build relationships, not just transactions: Long-term investors should share your vision and values.
• Prepare for a long sales cycle: Particularly in education, patience and runway are key.
• Empower early: Teaching entrepreneurship alongside STEM can transform life trajectories.

For entrepreneurs facing funding hurdles, this episode offers both actionable funding tactics and a rallying call to redefine success—on your own terms.

Transcript

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human earners.

[Podcast Host]

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[Founder/Entrepreneur]

I really liked being an outsider in the sense it was similar to when I started to start the business from NASA. At first people were telling me, hey, you've Got to go with a pitch deck. Go to the valley, go to VCs. But the VCs weren't trying to rock with me. They didn't think that there was a market for what I was looking to do. Business had been around for 10 years. You're wrong. Right? So we. One of the things that I'd like to say is stop taking advice from people who haven't done what you're trying to do with lingo. I'm like, I don't think I want to raise venture capital. I know what the stats are, they're terrible. How do I look at the model and how do I flip the model on its head? Because that's what I do. And when I looked at it, I said, VCs get their money from family offices. Why don't I try to hit up a couple family offices? Now I know why people don't tip, typically hit up family offices. But I was determined once again to try and I had the time and oh, by the way, I had the patience because I'm already running a business that's successful that I've had for 10 years. So let's try to figure this out. So I made a list of family offices who were in businesses that I thought that could be strategic investors. And the gamble that I made was, well, if I can get a multi billion dollar fee family who has the right investment mindset and is willing to support me and understands the long term of what I'm looking to do, can I also bring in traditional capital? And the answer was yes. So I did a founder led seed round where I brought in a million and a half from a family office. And then I went to the other VCs and said, do you want to play?

[Podcast Host]

How'd that work out?

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

It worked out well because if I've already brought in a million and a half and you're going to chip in $100,000, that million and a half is going to help your hundred thousand dollars. So I basically de risked the round for you. And that's one of the areas that I've been big on telling other minorities to pursue is what I call friendly patient capital. I call my investors like they're my dad. I'm like, hey, what are you guys doing? Here's what I'm working on. And part of the things that were not, you know, non negotiable for this family was that you were going to do good and you are going to do well. Right? It's not just the dollar, it's about the legacy and so when I tell them that kids in Ghana are doing our kits, have the video, love it. They're like, that's what you're supposed to do, right? Go out and make that impact. Whereas some people who have, you know, domestic VCs are not necessarily as lucky to have people who think in that way.

[Podcast Host]

So, okay, so you raise the money that helps you with infrastructure and employees, I'm assuming. So are you raising more money? What's the goal?

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

Yes, you can definitely hit me up if you want to send a check. I accept.

[Podcast Host]

Check, new round. How much are you trying to raise?

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

I would like to raise about a million more and plot a path to our Series A. And I'll tell you why. Some of our clients are big firms talking. Siemens, General Dynamics. General Dynamics has been a customer's ours for the last three years. Microsoft buys from us, right? We have big companies who have engineers who buy from us.

[Podcast Host]

What do they. They buy the software, they buy the kits so they can teach their employees.

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

They have their employees go into the schools or they provide it as capacity building for the schools that they sponsor. And as I started to do this, we started talking to school districts, shout out to Syracuse School District. And I'm realizing that this mission and this need is even bigger than I knew. Like, when I thought about it, I was like, oh, we're just going to ship out some kits. But it's really become about how can we help make a district better? And that is a problem of a much larger magnitude and it takes more time. And we're also now building custom kits. Like, we're about to drop three whole space lessons. We got a climate satellite, we got a buggy coming out. That buggy's a moon rover and we also have a rocket launch. And in building out all this content, I'm like, you know what, Beau? We need to take a little bit more capital, take our time, and really do something that is going to move the needle.

[Podcast Host]

How many lessons are inside these kids? Because I'm thinking, and this was in elementary, middle school, and obviously high school, probably different, but it felt like they were just for semesters. And so there was a semester worth of lessons and there was a new set of kids. Four semesters, four dupes of kids in a grade every, every year. How many lessons are inside of your kids right now?

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

So it depends on what you want. And this is the beauty of it, because we design this to be flexible. You can have two to three semesters worth in your kit if you want. It's all about what you ask us for. Like, so we developed content for every lesson for the classroom. And you could teach that over a semester. You could teach it over, too.

[Podcast Host]

So school districts aren't really buying it for you. For the most part, it's corporations that's buying it.

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

It's mostly been corporations. If you're out in the district, hit me up. I mean, I think the challenge, right, is there's a lot going on in the district environment, and we've got some good connections, and we're making progress. But this is where I'm not ashamed to say I need help. The people who purchase from us, they love us. But I started to realize what we were really up against when it comes to, like, ads and marketing and all of that stuff. And that's really why I was like, I gotta go back to the drawing board and raise more money. Cause I did not know how expensive it was to really advertise and reach some of these people.

[Podcast Host]

Is it a price point issue? Because I feel like schools waste so much money on some of the most ridiculous things, and they do it repetitively every single year. And so when you're approaching schools or school districts, are they. Are they saying, well, it's the price point, or we don't have it in the budget this year. What is the resistance you feel? Because every school has them. So I'm just trying to figure what would be the resistance.

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

So we actually do not see resistance. Once we get in front of the right person, we. What I see is the amount of money that I have to invest to have somebody reach out form the relationship, do the presentation, put the proposal in front of whoever has to make the decision, close the deal, and then get paid. Can be roughly six to eight months. And that's really where we have to support the operation until they can close the deal. And so the challenge in my mind is, how can we do more of these deals and shorten the time?

[Podcast Host]

So what's the ultimate vision for the company?

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

My vision for Lingo would be to not only be a global provider of immersive STEM experiences, like, I would like to get to the point where some of our boxes interact with Oculus, but to combine that with the entrepreneurship thing. Because when I teach the Lingo box in the Bahamas, and I've had this camp for nearly 10 years, I couple it with entrepreneurship, and then I give kids money to go out and try to run their business. Because I believe that you don't have to have a college degree to be a multimillionaire. You just need to have entrepreneurship skills. And it's like a muscle. The more that you exercise it, the stronger that you're going to get. So I want students trying to build their first startup when they're 12 or they're 13, because by the time they're 20, they're going to be beasts.

[Podcast Host]

Earners what's up? Look, when you think about discovering small brands, what store pops in your mind? Well, it should be Walmart. Seriously, Walmart has thousands of small brands and they're all in one place. Just go online or in store, discover and shop. It could not be easier. Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it. They're true American success stories. And you can find them all at Walmart. Discover thousands of small [e-mail] today. Earners what's up? Look, building wealth isn't just about making money. It's about knowing where your money is working for you. That's why we partner with Empower. Empower is all about helping you invest well so you can go out and live a little. Their free Empower Personal Dashboard gives you a complete view of your financial life in one place. Track your net worth, monitor your budget, analyze your investments, set retirement goals and more. You've worked hard for your money, now make sure it's working hard for you. Download the Empower Personal dashboard or visit empower.com not an empower client, Paid or sponsored when traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather and and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money.

[Founder/Entrepreneur]

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