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Not that I'm suggesting you do or don't do this, or that it's right or fair, which usually has some form of 'eligibility' for awarding contracts to business, th
by bmelton 9y ago
Not that I'm suggesting you do or don't do this, or that it's right or fair, which usually has some form of 'eligibility' for awarding contracts to business, the usual workaround is to hire a figurehead CEO who is a minority (or disabled war veteran, or whatever other status the government determines worth worth investing in).
I say figurehead because that's usually what they are, but there's nothing to suggest that you couldn't find an eligible co-founder or, to really work the system, find an eligible co-founder who is politically connected in some way.
- fogzen 9y agoThanks. I wasn’t looking for individual advice I just wanted to point out that the major barrier to entrepreneurship is not lack of ideas but a lack of access to capital for new businesses.
- bmelton 9y agoFWIW, outside of the bay area, it's not nearly so easy to get access to capital anyway. Not trying to throw shade on anyone, but it seems far less likely that "ideas" that have no product, no users, etc. would be funded in the DC/Baltimore VC markets, but seem fairly routine over there. Bootstrapping seems pretty much the same everywhere. Pare down your living costs, build a true MVP in your spare time, start selling in your even sparer time until you can either show enough traction for a small business loan or hope to catch lightning in a bottle with virality. It isn't easy, it takes a lot of talent, persistence, and luck, but it isn't impossible, and if you can manage to build something people want, it isn't reserved purely to the capital class. Of course, it will always be easier for them to take the same idea, reach out to their network for capital, hire a team to implement it, and all of that increases their chances for success.