Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (2:32)

Many of us play lots of different roles in life partner, employee, caregiver. And many of us also think about another role that could take our life where we want it to be. Degree holder that's where National University comes in. They've been busy since 1971 creating more ways for you to work earning a degree into your hectic life. NU confers more graduate degrees to diverse populations than any other institution in the country, with more than half being earned by women. With flexible online formats, NU makes higher education possible and ACHIEVABLE for busy working adults. Learn more today at nu.edu. this episode of therapy for Black girls is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether you are booking your next trip or a weekend escape, Chase Sapphire Reserve is your gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When you use your Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get eight times points on all purchases made through Chase Travel and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets you into the Sapphire Lounge by the Club at select airports nationwide. Travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Trust me. Discover more@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply Parents.

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Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (3:54)

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Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (4:25)

With over 3.5 million black owned businesses in America, we continue to see the landscape of Black entrepreneurship grow and expand. And as a Black entrepreneur myself, I know firsthand the importance of seeking out support in order to take your business to the next level. That's why today I'm so happy to have Jewel Burke Solomon on the podcast. She's the Managing Partner at Collab Capital, an early stage venture capital fund she launched to close the funding gap for Black entrepreneurs. Prior to that, Jewel was head of Google for Startups US where she created initiatives that have deployed over 45 million in non dilutive capital to Black and Latino led businesses since 2020. She's also the Founder and CEO of Partpic, a startup acquired by Amazon in 2016 which streamlined the purchase of maintenance and repair parts using computer vision technology.

Co-host or Interviewer (5:15)

Jewel is a seasoned expert in the.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (5:18)

Venture capital space and whether you're a business owner looking for funding, a Black woman wanting to fund businesses you believe in, or you just want to make sense of the industry, Jewel drops a ton of gems in our conversation. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation, please share with us on social media using the hashtag tbginsession here's our conversation.

Co-host or Interviewer (5:43)

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Jewelry.

Jewel Burks Solomon (5:46)

Thank you for having me.

Co-host or Interviewer (5:47)

Yes, I'm very excited to chat with you all about venture capital. Let us just start this conversation with the basics. So if you were trying to explain venture capital to a five year old, can you give us the definition of what are we talking about when we say venture capital?

Jewel Burks Solomon (6:02)

So it's really about equity. Let's just say I have a business and I want to grow and scale my business, there's a few different ways I could get there. If I want to scale quickly and I want to approach a huge market, one of the ways that I can go about getting there is to take on venture capital investment. And as a venture capitalist, what I'm expecting if I'm the investor, is that your business is going to approach a huge industry. When I say huge, I mean multi billion dollar industry. And I'm going to take a percentage of your company in exchange for money to help you grow and scale into that big huge industry. So it's really an exchange of value, a piece of the company for dollars and hopefully additional resources, support, connections, that type of thing. So that's how I would explain. I don't know if that's well down enough for a five year old, but that's how I would explain it to someone who was unfamiliar.

Co-host or Interviewer (7:08)

Got it. So I'm sure we're going to get into this a little bit later. But when I think about like, I guess another way to scale a business would be to like get a loan from a bank maybe.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (7:16)

Right.

Co-host or Interviewer (7:17)

And in that case the bank is not like getting a piece of your company, but you would be paying them back with interest. In the case of venture capital funds, you are not like paying them back with interest. They are getting a part of your business.

Jewel Burks Solomon (7:31)

Right. The structure of most venture capital firms is equity based financing. So there is no expectation that you will pay back with interest. The expectation is at some point in the future your business is going to grow and scale enough and exit either through selling it to another larger company or going public on NASDAQ or New York Stock Exchange. And in return, your investors will receive back 10x plus what they invested. What I like to share with people is it's important to understand how venture math works before you try to raise venture capital funding. So to give an example, I lead a fund. Our first fund was $51 million. Every investment that we make, we're trying to underwrite that. The company that we invest in could return the fund. So that Means that we invest a million dollars. We're expecting that company to return back $51 million to us. So that's 50x, you know, the investment. So that's a huge expectation. That means that you have to be approaching a huge market and you have to be doing it at a pace that can get those returns back within, call it seven to 10 years, is the expectation from a time horizon. So that's also an important factor to keep in mind for people who want to understand venture capital or entrepreneurs who may want to raise venture capital.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (8:57)

Got it. Got it. So talk to us a little bit.

Co-host or Interviewer (9:00)

About your entrepreneurship journey. So did you always plan to be an entrepreneur? I know you founded a company part pick and then sold the company. Had that always been the plan, or did Little Jewel imagine that you would be doing this?

Jewel Burks Solomon (9:15)

I like to share with people that I got entrepreneurship honest. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so I watched my mom build a business from the time I was 7. She has an insurance agency along with a number of other businesses. So I watched her build up. And then my father actually inherited family businesses from my grandfather. And so I was working in the family businesses, which was convenience stores, a laundromat, all different types of brick and mortar businesses. So saw that from a very young age and really didn't have exposure to much else besides entrepreneurship. So I always thought I was going to be an entrepreneur just because that's all I really knew. I didn't know what form that would take. And so it was new for me to be exposed to tech entrepreneurship in particular. And that came when I was in college. I went to Howard University and I interned my first year on Wall Street. So I kind of got exposure to the financial markets from that internship. And then my second year I interned at Google. And that really opened my eyes to all the things that were going on in Silicon Valley. And so I kind of wanted to marry what I knew from home in terms of entrepreneurship, the way my parents did it with what I was seeing when I interned out at Google and then ultimately went to work full time at Google. So that's really how I got into this world of tech entrepreneurship. Just pulling together the things that I saw over my early life and then getting excited about what I could potentially build from scratch.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (10:54)

Got it.

Co-host or Interviewer (10:54)

And how did that lead to you building part big.

Jewel Burks Solomon (10:57)

So spent a couple of years at Google. Actually loved what I was learning. Didn't love living in the Bay Area, so wanted to be closer to my family. So I moved to Atlanta and took a Job at a parts distribution company called McMaster Car. And that place was pretty much polar opposite to Google. They were very behind the bar when it came to technology. They were still operating primarily based on a catalog. And this was like in 2012. So I saw that it was a huge business. They were selling millions and millions, if not billions of dollars worth of parts every year, but they were still not taking advantage of the latest technology. And so I took what I learned at Google. And at Google, I had seen basically the idea that you can build something from an idea using code. And then I took the problem that I was seeing in my new job, which was that people could not identify the products that they wanted to purchase from us. And I had this kind of light bulb Oprah talks about. Aha moment. I had one of those moments where I was like, people should be able to search for the parts they want to buy from us with an image. Very simple idea. And I called it something very simple. Part pick, take a picture of a part. We tell you what it is and where to buy it. That was it. Very simple idea, but very difficult application at the time. So this is computer vision technology. I didn't know too much about it. I was not an engineer, but I knew enough to be dangerous and to find the right people that can help me build it. And at the time, I happened to be studying for the gmat, and a friend of mine had let me use his little buzzcard to get into Georgia Tech's library. And so I was already kind of like hanging out on campus. I was young, I was 23 at the time, so I still could float like I was a student and started to go to different events that were happening on campus with the hopes of meeting the right technical people who could help me build out my idea. And that actually worked. Met one person who introduced me to the next person. Eventually met Dr. Nashley Cephas, who became my CTO. And together we were able to build really novel technology to solve this problem of part search with an image.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (13:21)

Wow.

Co-host or Interviewer (13:23)

So you were on almost like the cutting edge of, like, us being able to search through screenshots to shop online now.

Jewel Burks Solomon (13:31)

Yeah, it's funny, now I tell people, I'm like, everybody's talking about AI, but me and my team, we built artificial intelligence for this particular use case. We started in 2012, so 12 years ago. So this technology has been around. It's just now it's come to the forefront. But, yeah, we were early, early in the game. Wow.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (13:54)

So, Jewel, talk to us.

Co-host or Interviewer (13:55)

You already mentioned that you are a managing partner at a capital fund and you had a $51 million fund. We're still getting into the details of all of that. But walk us through what is a typical day as a managing partner at Collab Capital.

Jewel Burks Solomon (14:10)

So my life right now is consumed with fundraising. I'm raising our second fund. The first fund was 51 million. I'm raising fund two, which has a hundred million dollar target. So that means I'm meeting with limited partners who are the people who invest in Collab and other funds and convincing them that we have a thesis that is going to be differentiated from anything else they can find in the market. And our thesis is that we are investing in black led innovation companies across the US we invest across three sort of thematic focus areas. Future of care with the focus on women's health, mental health and elder care. Future of work with the focus on economic mobility. So how do we get more people in high paying jobs using technology and then community infrastructure. So really thinking about all the things that folks need to thrive in communities, I think access to transportation, access to clean water and healthy foods, Access to digital broadband technology. So we invest across those thematic focus areas and all of those go under a big umbrella around increasing black prosperity. That's our mandate. We are looking for people who are aligned with those ideas and showcasing to them of our portfolio. So we've now invested in 38 companies across Fund 1. These are the types of companies that we invest in. Here's how they're performing and getting them excited that we'll continue to do that work moving Forward into Fund 2. That takes up the bulk of my time today. In addition, I'm supporting the 38 portfolio companies that we've already invested in. So helping them think about how do they scale and grow, helping them track their metrics and making connections on their behalf, connecting them to corporations to become their customers. We just got done with our founder retreat so planned a two day event for the portfolio so they could come together. I do some wellness activities as well as hear from speakers who have already gotten to the point where they're trying to get to. Those are the two big parts of my job today is fundraising for Fund 2 and then supporting the existing portfolio. And the last part is then continuing to invest. So we've already closed part of the second fund. So we're continuing to write checks into new investments for Fund 2. So yeah, that's kind of day in the life for me.

Co-host or Interviewer (16:40)

So I want to make sure I get this structure right. So you are venture capitalists and other businesses can come to you and Collab Capital to say, hey, I have this business, I want you to fund it. But then you are also getting money from other people to be able to pass this money down to these other businesses.

Jewel Burks Solomon (16:59)

Yes, yeah, that's exactly right. So I mean, I Wish I had $51 million or $100 million just to invest in businesses not quite there yet. We are fiduciary, so we represent other investors. Sometimes it's corporations, foundations, high net worth individuals who want to invest in businesses that maybe don't have the network or don't have the bandwidth. Maybe they're running other businesses and don't have the time to find, to source and then support these businesses. That's what we do is on their behalf, find great businesses and build a portfolio that they can feel confident will deliver returns over time.

Co-host or Interviewer (17:42)

So Jul, you brought up an important point that I want us to dig a little deeper in because you mentioned that you all at Collab Capital have a primary focus on funding like black and brown companies and as a way to extend wealth. And we know that there was a recent appeals court that ruled the Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm focused on supporting women of color entrepreneurs and saying that they could not issue grants specifically for black women. And I had the privilege of being at a conference with you. Accelerate her shout out to Kim in Miami and heard you talk about the stance that you are taking and that.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (18:17)

Collab Capital is taking in terms of.

Co-host or Interviewer (18:19)

Wanting to continue with this mission because you feel like it's important, even though there is a concern around these court cases.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (18:26)

So can you say a little bit.

Co-host or Interviewer (18:27)

More about what this case means for funding and the stance that you all are taking at Collab?

Jewel Burks Solomon (18:33)

Yeah, I think the case is really unfortunate. It's a testament to the times that we're in where anytime there is progress, we had a black president. And of course with everything that happened with the murder of George Floyd, there was a lot of funding that went into black causes and businesses and funds, et cetera. And anytime that kind of progress or seeming progress happens, there's always a backlash. And we look back in history and we've seen it countless times. We can just basically set our watch to. There's always going to be a backlash to progress. And so I think unfortunately the Fearless Fund was a target in what has been a string of lawsuits around this kind of quote unquote, anti DEI in my business. It's extremely unfortunate because Fearless Fund is close in terms of proximity. We are both funds based out of Atlanta focused on investing in their focus is women of color. Our focus is black founders more broadly. So, yeah, it's been difficult to watch what they've had to go through. I think there's a few distinctions that help us, in a sense, not be afraid to continue our work. So in the Fearless Mind case, they are specifically targeting their grant program, which sits outside of their fund and in their nonprofit. And the case is reckless and ridiculous as I think it is. It's particularly talking about the fact that in the website language, it states that specifically this program is for black women, and it's a contract associated with that. And that was what the case hinged on. In the case of collaboration. We do have language on our website that discusses our focus on investing in black founders, but there's nothing to say that it's exclusive. So if you look at our base of founders, every company does have a black founder, but there's also white founders and Mexican founders and founders of all stripes. So we've worked really hard with our legal team to make sure that we can continue in our purpose and our mission, but not come against some of the kind of challenges, hopefully cross our fingers that Fearless Fund and others have had to face.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (20:47)

Got it.

Co-host or Interviewer (20:48)

Okay.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (20:49)

So according to People of Color in tech, in 2023, Black startup entrepreneurs got.

Co-host or Interviewer (20:53)

Only 1.3% of the 147 billion in VC invested in US startups.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (21:00)

I'm curious to hear you talk about.

Co-host or Interviewer (21:01)

What other ways you've maybe seen the VC industry be not advantageous to black founders. I feel like we consistently hear that black women especially are some of the lowest funded people in the VC industry.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (21:15)

So can you talk a little bit about that?

Jewel Burks Solomon (21:18)

Yeah. Another very unfortunate statistic, and I think it's good to ground it in context of venture capital as an industry is very insular and is very network driven. Well, most venture capitalists invest in places where they feel comfortable, where they have proximity, where they know the people, where they can validate someone's background. And so what that has created over, call it 70 years that the industry has been operating is you have majority of the capital concentrated on the coast and majority of the capital concentrated in alumni networks of Stanford, Harvard, mit, Ivy League schools. So because what we know about the statistics for those universities, they're not very diverse over time. You have these kind of buddy networks that become the venture capitalists and then invest in the deals that they see that they have proximity to, which are oftentimes led by people who look like them. So that's what's happened over time. And when you say the 1% of venture capital dollars going to black founders, the other side of that equation is 1% of venture capital dollars managed by black investors. So there's a correlation there between who's writing the checks and who's receiving the dollars. So I think that's why it's so important, the work that I do and other black fund managers. Not to say that all black fund managers are investing exclusively in black entrepreneurs, but just to say that as we diversify the base of people who have access to deploying the capital, we can expect to see more diversity on the side of entrepreneurs are actually getting the funding. But it just takes time. I mean, like I said, It's 70 years and it's probably been less than 10 years that there's been any level of concentration among the investors who actually have dollars to deploy, who are black.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (23:24)

So what kinds of changes do you.

Co-host or Interviewer (23:25)

Think need to be made to make it easier or more accessible for black founders to get VC funds?

Jewel Burks Solomon (23:31)

I think part of it, as anything, is education. As we started the conversation and I talked about what venture capital is and what the expectations are, there was a moment in time where venture capital was being promoted heavily. I think I'll put it on the social media. What was the name of the movie that was about Facebook? I can't remember what the name the social something, but something.

Co-host or Interviewer (23:57)

We'll have to look it up.

Jewel Burks Solomon (23:58)

Yeah, we'll have to look it up. But that movie, in my opinion, and there's been a number of other movies that kind of glamorize and glorify Silicon Valley and present the young white dude in the hoodie getting a big check to go and build something out of his basement. That's the archetype that we've seen so many times. And I think one that does have an impact as far as what people want to pursue, how they think it should be done, how easy it seems. In that movie, Mark Zuckerberg just walks into a room and impresses the people with his idea and gets a check. That's maybe what happened for him, but that's not really true to how it actually happens. I think Shark Tank can also be to blame for some of this, is you go on tv, you do a five minute pitch and then you leave with an investment from Mark Cuban. Like that's not really how the industry works. And so I think part of it is, given that that has been many people's introduction to what does it mean to have an investor. There's a certain level of education that has to counterbalance some of what we've seen on in media around what does it actually mean, how does the process actually work, what are the actual expectations? And so that's why I try to at least explain. If I'm investing in a company, my expectation is that company is going to have to grow and scale to be huge in order for me to get the returns that I'm committing to my investors. That whole relationship, I think is just important for people to understand. And once we get that understanding, then I think we will go after much bigger ideas. Right now, when I meet entrepreneurs, I see a lot of people going after good ideas and maybe helpful ideas, but ideas that don't necessarily have global impact and scale. And those are the types of things that I want to fund. And so I want more people to be thinking bigger in terms of the types of businesses that they could potentially build. And then the last thing I'll say on that is the other thing I want is for people to recognize that you don't have to raise venture capital in order to build a great business. I think sometimes people get so locked into the idea of raising money and they forget about the fact that there's plenty of amazing businesses that we all use all the time that never raise a dollar of venture capital. And so it's not a requirement by any means and it actually is a really hard thing to do and it adds a lot of new layers into building a business. So that's something I like to remind people of. It's definitely not a requirement and in most cases it's not a great fit.

Co-host or Interviewer (26:41)

So Joe, I'm sure that there may be somebody listening to our conversation saying like, I think I have an idea, like I think I have something that could scale. Where do you need to start if you are interested in getting VC funding?

Jewel Burks Solomon (26:54)

So I think the biggest thing I will say around where to start is the further you are, the better the deal can be. So the game of venture capital is around a risk continuum. So the riskier the bet is, the worst the deal will be for the entrepreneur and better the deal will be for the investor. The more you de risk the business, the more you have power in dictating what the deal should be. So to put that in more specific terms, when I look at an investment and the business is pre revenue, maybe they have a great team, but they haven't built the technology out yet, I am more likely to want to come in at a lower valuation. So there's nothing tangible that I can use to assess the value of the business. So I'm going to say, okay, I'll give you a couple million dollars on the board because of the team. I believe in the team, but I don't have any way to understand if the revenue projections that you put out there are true because you haven't brought any revenue in yet. So I'm going to more than likely value that company much lower than if they came and said we generated a million dollars in revenue already and here's our plan to scale to a hundred million. We have these relationships with X, Y and Z customers and they plan to engage us further in the coming years. We have this technology that's already built out. In that scenario, I'm going to have to pay a higher price for the business because there's already things that indicate that this business is on a solid growth trajectory. So all that to say as far as you can get without investment, the better because you have more power in the negotiation when it comes down to what an investor is willing to pay.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (28:53)

More from our conversation after the break.

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Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (30:13)

Many of us play lots of different roles in life partner, employee, caregiver. And many of us also think about another role that could take our life where we want it to be. Degree holder. That's where National University comes in. They've been busy since 1971 creating more ways for you to work Earning a degree into your hectic life. NU confers more graduate degrees to diverse populations than any other institution in the country, with more than half being earned by women. With flexible online formats, NU makes higher education possible and achievable for busy working adults. Learn more today at nu.edu. this episode of therapy for Black girls is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether you're booking your next trip or a weekend escape, Chase Sapphire Reserve is your gateway to the world's most captivating destination. When I travel somewhere, I'm typically determined to try the best local pizza and find the best spa experience. With Chase Sapphire Reserve you have access to everything from private dinners hosted by award winning chefs to VIP treatment at the most sought after events. Chase Sapphire Reserve allows you to take advantage of one of a kind experiences while earning three times points on dining worldwide. No matter your destination, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more with Chase sapphire reserve@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply Parents of twins if.

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Jewel Burks Solomon (31:49)

Stop.

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Co-host or Interviewer (32:19)

Are there other marks markers that you're.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (32:21)

Looking for when you're looking at which.

Co-host or Interviewer (32:22)

Businesses to invest in? So you've mentioned further along in the process. So de risking you said are there other things that like a business should have in place and like how are they finding you? Do we just Google venture capitals near me? Like how do you find people to even pitch?

Jewel Burks Solomon (32:39)

That's funny, I've never used that search term. I know. I'm curious to see what comes there. Maybe if you're in Atlanta, I wonder if I would come up as far as other things to have I think I'm an early stage investor so I invest at the seed stage. Companies that I invest in typically do have a product that's built. So I'm looking for you've built something and you've got someone using it. The other thing that is good to have early in the process is you've been able to convince at least one or two other people to join you in building. So typically I like to invest in teams, not just one individual. So that means if you're a business mind, you've been able to invest a tech mind to join you. I gave the example of in my journey I had Dr. Nashley Cephas, she's amazing computer vision genius and I was able to convince her with very little money at the time, I had not raised any capital, but I was able to convince her to join me. And that was a huge hurdle to get over to find the right technical talent. And so I'm looking for business folks who've been able to convince the technical talent or a technician who's been able to convince a business mind to join them. Typically that's how we like to see the founding teams set up. And then if you've gotten the first three or four people around the table as well, whether that be part time folks that you were going to bring on full time once you raise some capital or once you get the product off the ground, that early team is important. The other thing is a deep understanding of the market that you're approaching. So I think a lot of times people want to build a solution without having done in depth analysis of the problem. And it's really the problem that you have to go deep on and the market that you have to go deep on. The solution should come after you have a really deep understanding of what the problem is and it really deep understanding of the market that you're entering. And so that piece, a very painful problem is how I like to describe it, that people will be willing to pay for a solution to and a very fast growing market. So a market that there's a lot of energy around now or we can foresee there will be in the future. Because we're making bets that a solution that is being built today is actually going to have market application in five to ten years from now. That's how early we're investing. And so we need to have conviction that the market is growing in such a way that a big business can be built in this space where there maybe already isn't a big business that exists today. So those are a few things that you have to be able to convince someone that you might be pitching of which first you have to convince yourself. That's the biggest part of it too is that you believe, even in spite of people saying no or people not really understanding your vision, that you have High conviction. So much so that maybe you are willing to quit your job or stop what you've been working on in the past. Like that was my thing. I was willing to quit my job that was paying me very well because I saw something that I thought was compelling enough that the bet of working on it for, in my case it was four years before I sold it. But that bet was going to be well worth the opportunity cost of me quitting my job at that time.

Co-host or Interviewer (36:13)

And so do we look at venture capital websites to see like an email address? Do we prepare a PowerPoint deck of the stuff that you just talked about, like here's my team, here's my idea. But I also want to go back to something you mentioned because you said you invest at the seed stage. So I also want to know what are the stages of business? Like, I think I've heard a pre seed kind of thing, but I don't know what's after seed.

Jewel Burks Solomon (36:35)

Okay, I didn't answer your question about how do you find the venture capitalists these days? A lot of venture capitalists do have like open applications on their website. So we at Collab Capital we have an open application so you can just apply on the website. We look at all the applications that come through and then reach out to the folks that we're interested in chatting with and we send communication to everyone. So at the very least you can apply and get some good information as far as good next steps. But as far as finding others, there are tons of databases and websites that announce when new funds launch or when they raise a new fund. So I recommend like as resources for finding out when new funds launch and when they've raised fresh funds. That's a great time to reach out to investors when they have fresh capital to deploy. So that's one thing. I think it's also important to get involved in your local communities. I don't recommend going straight to venture capitalists. I think there's a few steps to go before that in terms of investment. Generally, friends and family is first for many of us. We don't necessarily have friends and family that can write 10, 15, 25, $50,000 checks to help us get our ideas off the ground. But sometimes you would be surprised at what a conversation within your family can prompt. So I think that's what I recommend to people to even just tell your family and friends what you're working on and see if there's anyone in your network, maybe not your immediate friends and family, but maybe coworkers or folks that you've worked with in the past, what they may be interested in helping you do. So friends and family is first. And then typically there's pre seed round, which would be maybe you haven't launched yet, but you've built something that people can get their hands around or get their mind around. And that's when I would approach angel investors. You could do angel investors accelerators. Oftentimes in cities like in Atlanta, there are angel groups that you can approach. This is where Google does come in. You can start to Google active angel investors in your area and then once you have a product and you can also start to approach like there are pre seed funds out there that specifically invest very early. First check in and you can look online for pre seed funds. And then seed stage, like I mentioned, is where I invest, which is typically there is revenue, there is a product in market. You're starting to see early signs of product market fit. And you're really thinking about how do you scale from there. Seed is probably where the most investors live. It's like a lot of investors invest at the seed stage. And then after seed there is series A. And that is typically where you have a repeatable formula as far as how you get to your customers, how you retain your customers, how you see the expansion going up to 10, 50, $100 million in revenue. And there's a number of alphabets after that. So A, B, C, D. And those really just depend on those are like the growth stage rounds. So that's when you might hear a funding announcement for $100 million into one company that is them making preparations for eventually, hopefully going public or doing a huge acquisition one day.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (40:03)

So early on in our conversation, you.

Co-host or Interviewer (40:05)

Mentioned that of course not all businesses.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (40:07)

Are right for venture capital.

Co-host or Interviewer (40:09)

So you've already shared that. If you're not expecting like a humongous scale, like a 50x kind of return, your business might not be right. But you also said that there were other reasons that like venture adds additional complications to your business. Can you talk a little bit about those? Like some other things people might want to be mindful of in terms of venture capital?

Jewel Burks Solomon (40:30)

Yes. So the simplest way to put that is when you take on venture capital, you're adding owners. A lot of times people get into entrepreneurship because they want freedom, they want flexibility, they want to right the ship in the way that they want to. And adding investors changes that you have someone that you have to be accountable to. In our context, we ask for monthly reports from our companies that we've invested in. So we're expecting financials. There's a few key performance indicators that we're looking for on a monthly basis. We're looking for quarterly financials. So there are all these things that you, you owe someone because they've given you capital to grow your business. I don't think that I'm this way, but some investors, they want to talk to you on a regular basis. They want to ask you questions, they want to give input. So a little bit of that freedom and flexibility you're compromising when you bring on investors because you do, you have an obligation to someone else and you also have expectations of someone else as far as how the business is going to grow and scale. So those are things I don't know that everyone necessarily thinks about when they take on capital. They may think, oh, this is just money in the business and that can still dictate everything. And that's not always the case. There's also power. Literally. Some investors write into the agreement that they have voting rights in the business. They may have a board seat in the business. As companies grow, there are sometimes situations where board members unseat the CEO or the founder because they think that the business isn't growing in the way that they would expect it to. So that is something that you have to be mindful of as you continue to take on investors and give up ownership in the business. So those are just some of the things that can create different dynamics and complications that I don't know that people always think about on the onset when they're taking on capital.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (42:32)

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Many of us play lots of different roles in life. Partner, employee, caregiver. And many of us also think about another role that could take our life where we want it to be. Degree holder. That's where National University comes in. They've been busy since 1971 creating more ways for you to work Earning a degree into your hectic life. NU confers more graduate degrees to diverse populations than any other institution in the country, with more than half being earned by women. With flexible online formats, NU makes higher education possible and achievable for busy working adults. Learn more today at nu.edu. this episode of therapy for Black girls is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether you're booking your next trip or a weekend escape, Chase Sapphire Reserve is your gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When I travel somewhere, I'm typically determined to try the best local pizza and find the best spa experience. With Chase Sapphire Reserve you have access to everything from private dinners hosted by award winning chefs to VIP treatment at the most sought after events. Chase Sapphire Reserve allows you to take advantage of one of a kind experiences while earning three times points on dining worldwide. No matter your destination, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more with Chase sapphire reserve@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply Parents of Tweens if you're.

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Co-host or Interviewer (45:27)

So I want you to give us another couple of definitions because I feel like VC as with many industries, right, like there's all this jargon that you don't quite know but people like use it all the time. So I want to share a couple of terms with you to see if you can give us some definitions. So while you were working as the head of Google For Startups US, you deployed over 45 million in non dilutive capital to black and Latino led businesses. What does non dilutive capital mean and why is it important for founders of color?

Jewel Burks Solomon (45:55)

Yeah, so non dilutive is the best kind. It's that means that in this case, in the case of the work that I did at Google, it's no strings attached. So there's no equity that you're giving up. There's nothing that you're giving up. It's basically similar to a grant, where you may have some reporting obligations, but other than that, it's money for you to use in the ways that you want to use it for your business. If you can find non dilutive capital or grant capital, that's the best kind because you don't have to worry about giving up equity in your business.

Co-host or Interviewer (46:28)

You shared this term, just briefly before, what is an angel investor?

Jewel Burks Solomon (46:33)

So an angel investor is someone who is investing their own capital, and typically their expectations for that capital are not as high as a venture capitalist who's investing someone else's capital. So I'm an angel investor, don't do as much of it anymore since I focus on investing through Collab. But before I started Collab, I wanted to understand more about investing. So I put my own capital to work and invested in 15 different founders. And my perspective when I did that was, yes, I would love to get returns back from these dollars. But mostly I want to help these entrepreneurs learn more about their business, understand more about investing more broadly. And so oftentimes, angel investors are a little bit more flexible. They're investing a little bit earlier. They really are concerned with helping the entrepreneur. Maybe they have a subject matter expertise that they can bring to support the business at an early stage, but typically they are just investing their own capital into businesses. And maybe the check sizes would be a bit smaller than you would find from a venture capitalist.

Co-host or Interviewer (47:45)

And typically with angel investors, are they also getting equity or is it more of a loan kind of situation?

Jewel Burks Solomon (47:51)

Angel investors, they can be a little bit more creative as far as the deals that they put together. But typically if someone is terming themselves the angel investor, they're investing for equity in the business.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (48:03)

Got it. Okay.

Co-host or Interviewer (48:05)

What does diversification refer to?

Jewel Burks Solomon (48:08)

So that really just means if you're putting together a portfolio of your investments, you want to have different things represented in that portfolio. So I'll use myself as an example. I have a diversified portfolio that has private equity. So that's angel investments that I've made. It also includes the investment that I make into collab. So part of being a venture capitalist is that you have to make a commitment to your firm as well. It's kind of shown that you have skin in the game with your investors. So I invest a percentage of collab, which means that I really have to have high conviction in the investments that we make because I'm. My money is on the line as well. So we have angel investments. I have my investments in collab, I have real estate holdings, I have stock. You Know, just kind of vanilla stock market, Vanguard bonds across the board. That is where regardless of what happens in the market, I have some things that are maybe not going to be as impacted. And the bet is over the span of time you will put together a portfolio that feels that can withstand some of the ups and downs that may happen in the market because you are in a number of different types of asset classes.

Co-host or Interviewer (49:31)

Okay, what is a unicorn startup?

Jewel Burks Solomon (49:34)

So a unicorn is a term that was coined by Eileen Lee maybe 10, 15 years ago and she's an investor, Cowboy Ventures is her firm. And she coined that term to describe companies that reach a billion dollar valuation. So this could be because they've raised $200 million at a billion dollar valuation. It could be because they've gone public and the public markets gave them a billion dollar valuation. But it's really just that moniker around a billion dollars, which at the time when she coined the term, that was that number that would typically return a fund if a company exited a billion dollars. Now we're looking at decacorns, $10 billion in value. The bar just keeps rising. But a unicorn is kind of the goal that a lot of people that get into startups want to reach because that typically can return a fund.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (50:32)

Got it.

Co-host or Interviewer (50:32)

Okay.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (50:33)

What's an incubator?

Jewel Burks Solomon (50:35)

Incubator is typically a place where early stage startups can get resources, support, support. Sometimes it comes with funding, office space really at the early stage. So I was a part of an incubator. Georgia Tech has one of the longest standing incubators, AC dc. And so my business was located there for a few years. But it's typically a great place for very early stage companies to locate so they can get more access to resources, community, that type of thing.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (51:09)

And is that similar to an accelerator.

Jewel Burks Solomon (51:11)

Or is that different similar to an accelerator? And sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. I think accelerator more often does have a funding component. Where for an example, techstars is a well known accelerator, Y Combinator is a well known accelerator and they are typically exchanging. I think the deal with Techstars now is like 120,000 for 6% of the company. It's a pretty good deal for TXARS if the company does well. But for oftentimes those companies that go into those accelerators are so early that they just need that first capital to get things off the ground. And they need the curriculum, which typically is like kind of 10 to 12 weeks where you are in a cooker, pretty much where you have different things that you have to do week to week and then at the end of it you do a demo day where you talk about your company, do a pitch. Oftentimes there's investors and people that you could potentially partner with or hire that are invited to come and watch your pitch.

Co-host or Interviewer (52:12)

Well, thank you for defining all those terms for us, Ju, that's super helpful. So we've already talked about several different ways to receive funding in addition to vc. So you talked about grants, we've talked about loans. Are there other things that people should be on the lookout for in terms of funding for their business?

Jewel Burks Solomon (52:29)

Yeah, so depending on the type of business, there's so many different avenues for funding that you could go. One of my favorites for companies that are entering into research focused businesses or businesses that have a research component is government funding. So there is there ssbci, sbir, there's all these different acronyms but there's a lot of funding available from the government and it's typically grants like funding. So pretty much no strings attached, non diluted funding. As we discussed earlier, those are really great opportunities for people that are doing kind of research driven SBIR in particular for that. SSBCI is funding that is state controlled. So depending on where you are located, you may be able to check in with your local state body and see who is managing the SSBCI funding for your state that is currently actively being deployed. So that's one avenue, government funding. There's also loans of course. One of my favorite things to tell people about is CDFIs Community Development Financial Institutions. CDFIs are local financial institutions that can support support local entrepreneurs. And sometimes they have different mandates around exactly the types of entrepreneurs that they support. But they oftentimes have more creative and flexible lending options than your traditional banks would have. The best place to source funding in my opinion is just through building a business that has customers that pay. So that's something that is under discussed. But you can build a business where you don't have to take outside funding or you don't need outside funding. If you just get customers to pay you more than whatever the cost of your service or good is, that's the easiest way to go about it. Of course pitch competitions, they still happen quite regularly. So depending on what you're doing, that could be a way to get in early funding for your business. So yeah, those are some of the ways that I recommend people to to look at sources of capital for their business.

Co-host or Interviewer (54:44)

Would you be ecstatic to see come through the Collab capital inbox would pitch could somebody send you that would immediately say Absolutely. I want to hear more.

Jewel Burks Solomon (54:54)

Well, I talked about some of our thematic focus areas. One that I'm really interested in finding a deal in right now is in the fertility space. I think that unfortunately this is a growing problem for a lot of people. And right now there are certainly a number of startups that are working on this, but I haven't seen a ton that are led by black founders and addressing some of the maybe specific issues that black families have related to fertility. So that's something I would love to see. There's a lot happening in the climate space and I would love to see more black founders building in the climate space. So pitches around that are interesting to me. Yeah, those are two that are like top of mind for me right now. I think we're seeing a lot in health tech, which I'm excited about. We're doing a lot of deals in that space. And then on the community infrastructure side, unfortunately, we still have a lot of problems related to our water. And so that's an area that I'm interested in finding more companies in as well.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (55:57)

Got it.

Co-host or Interviewer (55:58)

And are there any current funded startups that you're very excited about from black founders that you want to put on the map?

Jewel Burks Solomon (56:04)

Well, we have over 30 really incredible companies that I hate to pick favorites, but I do have some favorites in the portfolio. I always talk about Jasmine Crow Gooder, the work that she's doing to get more people fed. Goodr is a climate company. We don't talk about that part enough. But she's saving food from landfills, and perfectly good food is the number two source of carbon emissions in landfills, which is something that, when I hear that, every time I hear it, it blows my mind. I just love the work that she's doing at Gooder, and that's a proud collab portfolio company. We just actually made an investment in another climate company led by Julia Collins, another amazing black woman founder. Her business is called Planet Forward, and she's really helping all think about every single consumer product that you use. So think about going target. And basically everything that you see has some implication from a carbon emissions standpoint. And most large corporations are now held to standards where they have to get to net zero by a certain year, 2030, 2050, etc. So what planet Forward is doing is giving those companies the data they need to actually action their goals. So they've set out these lofty goals of we want to get to net zero by 2030. They need the data to tell them where they are today, what products they have how those products are contributing to where they are today and what changes they need to make in order to get to that net zero goal. And Planet Forward is giving them all of the back end data and software in order to get to those actual goals. So we're super excited about that company as well.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (57:56)

Incredible.

Co-host or Interviewer (57:56)

We definitely sharing more about their companies in our show notes for sure, so people can look into those. So what resources or other things exist for black women who might be interested in becoming venture capitalists? So if I'm interested in maybe doing some angel investing or going that step, you know, you started at angel investing and then scaled what resources exist for people?

Jewel Burks Solomon (58:18)

Oh, I'm so glad you asked me that, because this is another thing that is a soapbox that I get on a lot, which is that black women in particular should be doing more when it comes to angel investing. Back to what we talked about earlier, as far as the disparities that exist in the venture capital industry and my point about the reason, part of the reason is because the investors don't look like the companies that are building. We can change that. If more black women start investing, likely they will invest in black women. So I really encourage people who have the capacity, and the capacity is not that much. You can start, Angela, investing with $1,000, $5,000, $10,000. So I say that and then the note that I will put on that is you have to be willing to lose that money because investing in early stage companies is a very risky bet. But I definitely encourage people to get excited and started. And really the best way to get started is just to invest in people you believe in. That's the easiest way to get started. And then scaling from there. I think if you determine that you really love investing and you have a passion for the business of investing, which is quite different, I would say, than just investing for fun. If you have a passion for the business of investing, which is more around portfolio construction, which is about understanding the returns, profile and models. So it's very much a finance job. That's something. Candidly, I didn't really know when I got into it how much it is in spreadsheets and building models and being able to defend my ideas and choices and doing research, that is really the professional job of being an investor. That part, if you like that, then the pathways in. I think there is the path that I took, which is I was an entrepreneur, I had a successful exit and I used that as my track record when it came down to raising capital. The other probably more popular way in is to work at a larger firm, build up a track record at a firm and then if you decide you want to spin out, you can do that. A lot of people also entered into this industry having had a more traditional finance background, so maybe worked in banking for a number of years or on Wall street, et cetera. So there's a lot of a number of different ways into the industry. There's programs that I think have done a really great job of helping prepare people like HBCU vc, Black Venture Capital Consortium, Black dc. They have a number of training programs as well, so there are certainly different ways to get more of the knowledge base in order to get into the space as well.

Co-host or Interviewer (61:14)

Thank you so much for all those resources, Jewel. This has all been so helpful. I know our community will really appreciate it. Let us know where we can stay connected with you. What is your website as well as any social media handles you like to share?

Jewel Burks Solomon (61:27)

Sure. So if you are an entrepreneur who wants to submit your business for consideration from Colab, you can visit Collab Capital and just submit an application on the website. If you want to just follow me. My website is jewelburks.com and I am Jewel Melanie on social Media and Jewel burks Solomon on LinkedIn.

Co-host or Interviewer (61:52)

Beautiful. We'll be sure to include all that in the Show Notes so people can find you very easily. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today, Jewel.

Jewel Burks Solomon (61:59)

Thank you.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (62:04)

I'm so glad Jewel was able to.

Co-host or Interviewer (62:05)

Join me me and share her expertise for this episode.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (62:08)

To learn more about her and the work she's doing at Collab Capital, be sure to visit the Show Notes at therapy for black girls.com session404 and don't forget to text this episode to two of your girls right now and tell them to check it out. Did you know that you could leave us a voicemail with your questions for the podcast? If you want to suggest movies or books for us to review or even give thoughts around other topics you'd like to hear, drop us a message at Memo FM Therapy for Black Girls and let us know what's on your mind. We just might talk about it on the podcast. If you're looking for a therapist in your area, visit our therapist directory@therapyforblackgirls.com directory. This episode was produced by Elise Ellis, Inde Chubu and Tyree Rush. Editing was done by Dennison Bradford. Thank y' all so much for joining me again this week. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you all real soon. Take good care. Many of us play lots of different roles in life partner, employee, caregiver. And many of us also think about another role that could take our life where we want it to be. Degree Holder. That's where National University comes in. They've been busy since 1971 creating more ways for you to work earning a degree into your hectic life. NU confers more graduate degrees to diverse populations than any other institution in the country, with more than half being earned by women. With flexible online formats, NU makes higher education possible and achievable for busy working adults. Learn more today at nu.edu. this episode of Therapy for Black Girls is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether you are booking your next trip or a weekend escape, Chase Sapphire Reserve is your gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When you use your Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get eight times points on all purchases made through Chase Travel and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets you into the Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide. Travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Trust me. Discover more@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

Jewel Burks Solomon (64:23)

This is an iHeart podcast.