The New Builders: Face To Face With The TRUE Future Of Business
People starting new businesses today are not who you think they are. Contrary to the myth of the white, male tech founder that dominates our mindshare, most new businesses are started by people who are Black, brown, female, and older.
The number of women-owned businesses has increased 31 times between 1972 and 2018 (in 1972, women-owned businesses accounted for just 4.6% of all firms; in 2018 that figure was 40%). The fastest-growing group of female entrepreneurs is women of color, who are responsible for 64% of new women-owned businesses being created. We believe women will soon make up more than half of the entrepreneurs in America. The age of the average American entrepreneur also belies conventional wisdom: It’s 42.
These New Builders are redefining our business landscape while creating success on their own terms, in businesses that allow them to pursue their passions and to support their communities and families. But we’re failing to support this next generation of entrepreneurs and as a result, entrepreneurship in the United States – despite popular belief – has been declining.
“Examining the deep history of entrepreneurship in this country, often driven by women, immigrants and people of color, The New Builders tells the stories of the unsung entrepreneurs of yesterday and today. In so doing, the book makes a compelling case that these entrepreneurs should have access to the funds and networks that they need to nurture and grow their businesses.” – Katharine Weymouth, Former CEO and Publisher, The Washington Post
Check out updates about book releases, media interviews, and social updates through their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About the Authors
Seth Levine is a partner and co-founder at the Boulder, CO,-based venture capital firm Foundry Group, which as of the end of 2020 had almost $3 billion in assets under management. In addition to his work at Foundry, Seth actively supports entrepreneurs around the country and across the world. He co-founded Pledge 1%, a global network of companies that have pledged equity, time, and product back to their local communities. He is an advisor to funds and to companies around the globe. Seth blogs regularly about venture capital and the capital markets at sethlevine.com.
Elizabeth MacBride is an award-winning business journalist and the founder of Times of Entrepreneurship, a new publication telling the stories of entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley. A former managing editor of Crain’s New York Business, her work has appeared in Forbes, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Quartz, HBR.com, and many others. Elizabeth was a writing fellow at the UN’s Office of the Quartet in Jerusalem and was named a rising leader by the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Program. She is journalist-in-residence at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship.
Contact: David Hahn (Media Connect) at david.hahn@finnpartners.com
