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  • March 2021
  • Teaching Plan
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The Black New Venture Competition

By: Karen G. Mills, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin A. Sinozich and Gabriella Elanbeck
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:10
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Abstract

Black entrepreneurs encounter many unique obstacles when raising capital to start and grow a business, some stemming from deep systemic discrimination. During their second year at Harvard Business School (HBS), MBA students Kimberly Foster and Tyler Simpson decided to do something to make a difference for early-stage Black technology entrepreneurs seeking funding. In just four months, they created the inaugural Black New Venture Competition (BNVC), which attracted 300 applicants and became the largest student-led business plan competition for Black entrepreneurs in the United States. Over the course of creating the competition and its complementary educational program, the Black Tech Master Series (BTMS), Foster and Simpson identified some of the biases and barriers in the evaluation and funding of early-stage Black ventures. Although the event attempted to address these issues, and successfully raised some startup capital to direct towards the participating entrepreneurs, the organizers still had concerns, including what would happen when these Black founders faced traditional white VC investors in their next funding round. After the competition, Foster and Simpson needed to decide what to keep and what to change for future iterations of the BNVC. Were they, and their successors, even thinking big enough for BNVC 2.0?

Keywords

Analytics; Startup; Start-up; Startup Financing; Financing; Startups; Start-ups; Business And Community; Business And Society; Business Growth; Discrimination; Women; Women-owned Businesses; African Americans; African-american Entrepreneurs; African-american Investors; African-American Protagonist; African-American Women; Early Stage Funding; Early Stage; Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Innovation Competitions; Entrepreneurial Financing; Business Plan; Business Startups; Diversity; Gender; Race; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Small Business; Leadership; Information Technology; Competition

Citation

Mills, Karen G., Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin A. Sinozich, and Gabriella Elanbeck. "The Black New Venture Competition." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 821-094, March 2021.
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About The Authors

Karen Mills

General Management
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Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Entrepreneurial Management
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Martin A. Sinozich

Entrepreneurial Management
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More from the Authors

    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

    By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Tom Quinn
    • March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Pittsburgh: A Successful City?

    By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms

    By: Mercedes Delgado, J. Daniel Kim and Karen G. Mills
More from the Authors
  • On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Tom Quinn
  • Pittsburgh: A Successful City? By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman
  • The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms By: Mercedes Delgado, J. Daniel Kim and Karen G. Mills
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