Creating more diversity in the Hub's startup culture is an idea getting a lot of attention, but some minorities are already jumping into entrepreneurship and making strides finding investors and creating products and services.
Unfairly or not, the face of startup culture is often well-educated white students or foreign students coming out of elite entrepreneurial-oriented colleges and universities.
"We're seeing some minorities in the startup scene here," said Brad McLean, co-founder and chief technical officer at Boston-based LinkCycle, which uses software to help manufacturers save energy and money operating their machinery.
McLean, 46, who has been in the startup scene around Boston for 18 years, said that when he started out in engineering, there were very few peers that looked like him. But he is having success pitching venture capital firms for LinkCycle, which has offices in the International Place tower in Boston and customers such as Nike and the Portland Cement Association.
"There hasn't been significant change, but there are more minorities doing it," McLean said. "It's difficult to do a startup and we need more minorities pursuing engineering and science degrees coming into the entrepreneurial pipeline, and there needs to be more minority role models and mentors."
Minorities who are taking a leap into the Hub's startup culture are under no illusions that it will be easy. Creating a successful startup is hard for anyone to do. It's not enough to have a great idea, but the idea must solve a problem that needs solving and can be made into a successful business model. Most of all, entrepreneurs must be able to execute a business plan and balance dozens of issues that come with bringing any product or service to market.
It's often said that an entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and believes that he can build an airplane on the way down.
"Working on a startup is like being in a rowboat with a thousand little holes and you must figure out how to plug each one of them before the boat fills up with water," said Ben Cooper, co-founder of SensibleBaby, a company developing a baby monitor in a onesie that lets parents check on their infant with a smartphone app. The company got into the MassChallenge startup contest this year, and while his company did not make the Top 26, it has won a $100,000 prize from Founder.org.
"You wonder sometimes whether you belong," said Cooper, a Rhode Island native who went to Northeastern and has worked as a civilian product engineer for the Army and Air Force. "But I believe I can truly do this and that I belong here You can't focus on adversity but on the end goal."
"There's a lot of opportunities if you open your eyes," Cooper added. "You have to network, be agile and have an open mind. I've found that 90 percent of the people I've met in the Hub startup scene want to help you and it's been great finding mentors who put their own time in thinking about the problems in getting my business off the ground."
Shaun Johnson is already seeing his hard work pay off. Several years ago, he and several other employees of Hub seed-funder TechStars came up with an idea of offering training for people who wanted to work at startups, which need employees who can wear many hats and can hit the ground running.
Begun as a pilot program in 2011, the Cambridge-based Startup Institute not only offers its eight-week training program twice a year here, but already has expanded to New York and Chicago.
"It's not easy to transform yourself or how other people see you," said Johnson, 28, a former Georgetown football player whose work experience had been in data management and social media consulting. "Doing this startup has been a wild experience and we've grown fast because our pitch to our hiring partners is that we're doing this for them, not for us. We're also attracting very diverse classes in race, gender and sexual orientation, and having a black at the top is helping others see that what they want to do is attainable."
Johnson said that one key to helping people find careers in startups is that they can "bring their whole selves to work," their unique experiences and cultural perspectives.
Helen Adeosun is doing exactly that, using her background as a former teacher and nanny to start her own business, which was also chosen as one of the MassChallenge finalists this year.
Adeosun came to Cambridge two years ago to get a master's degree in education at Harvard, but got the startup bug and is developing a business called SitterCycle, a company that helps nannies learn about health care and obtain a certification that will make them more attractive to employers.
Adeosun said she was well aware that there are fewer minorities in the Hub's startup community, but said that did not stop her from pursuing her dream.
"It's not about what keeps you out, but what lets you in," said Adeosun, an Atlanta native and Notre Dame grad, whose idea came from her own struggles as a nanny. "Boston is small and I felt comfortable going out and hitting the scene here. It's all about meeting people and finding people out there that will help you connect the dots."
Shawn Harris agrees. The 38-year-old Boston native and graduate of the University of Massachusetts — who also has an MBA from Babson — is on his second startup as founder of Nyopoly, an online women's fashion store where buyers can haggle over prices and get rewards if their offers are accepted.
"The biggest issue for any startup, including those run by minorities, is where you get the resources so you can execute your business plan," said Harris, who found three angel investors to add to his own resources to get his business off the ground. Nyopoly was chosen as one of the MassChallenge finalists this year.
Venture capital firms will often tell you to start with resources from family and friends, but that may not be an option, Harris added. And they are looking at past patterns of success, whether you can develop the necessary relationships and be able to scale the business for growth.
"And perceptions may make it a bit harder for a minority to get investors to say yes," Harris said. "Many venture firms tend to follow the crowd. You're better off finding angel investors who believe in you."
McLean said that making a strong personal effort is crucial to success.
"The bottom line is to hit the street and pound harder than the next guy or gal because there are hundreds of startups out there," he said. "We love it when we get aggressive people coming to our door. Create a buzz around yourself because while we live in an online world, there's no substitute for making yourself known in person."
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