Michael Jordan is busy hawking underwear, and yeah well I'm too old to know or care about the next generation of role models until Boy gets college age, but the idea behind Mr. Brooks is a no-brainer and wouldn't take much of a fortune to generate one.
Mr. Brooks said he had contacted about 500 angel investors and angel-investor groups and 40 venture capital firms and boutique investment bankers over the last year to raise the $2.5 million he thinks he needs. But only nine have put up any money, including his former wife. The total he has raised so far is $475,000.
To some extent, Mr. Brooks is snared in the Catch-22 paradox that bedevils many entrepreneurs who have come up with a promising product and marketing plan: investors are reluctant to open their wallets until they see a functioning business. But it is difficult to create a functioning business until the investors open their wallets.
In addition, he may be looking in the wrong places. Some of the investors he has contacted get involved only in deals worth at least $5 million.
The idea is at least that big, I think, but borrowing on that level makes for danger. Still the small size of the business makes it very attractive to a guy like me. Here is exactly where I think Aggregation works. Nice and small, and men I know could handle the dimensions of this one.
Mr. Brooks, a native of St. Vincent in the West Indies, said his African heritage might also be an impediment. The issue is not racism, he said, but the fact that he does not have a network of well-heeled friends and acquaintances that he can tap.
Luke Visconti, co-founder of DiversityInc magazine, which covers diversity in the workplace, said aspiring black entrepreneurs are at a clear disadvantage. “There are almost no black-run venture firms and very few black angel investors,” Mr. Visconti said. “Successful black entrepreneurs are scarce, and they are getting hit on every day.”
These are the days - the time is for social power.
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