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This episode features Nichelle McCall-Brown, a startup strategist and venture-backed Tech Entrepreneur who makes up the .02% of black women founders in tech to raise venture capital. Entrepreneurship: I started my career in the non-profit sector and I never knew that I would become an entrepreneur let alone in tech. After graduating from school, I found myself unemployed and decided that I would never leave my financial future in the hands of anyone else. Nichelles original business was a consulting practice and it took her a year before she got her first contract. She decided to shift and connect with a mentor who had experience starting, scaling and selling several software companies who taught her how to start a company that was worth investing in and could actually make money. Nichelle then started Bold Guidance, a software company to help students navigate the college application process on their mobile devices. That mentorship enabled her to understand her right paying customer and how to create a solution that is addressing the customers main challenges. Seeking Funding: Nichelle scoured both coasts of the country looking for funding by attending conferences and events that had pitching competitions such as Essence Festival and South by Southwest (SXSW) to connect to investors. These events were also great for networking with other entrepreneurs for brain share around how to seek out investment and sharing. She found her initial funding in Ohio from the accelerator program and funding for early-stage tech entrepreneurs managed by a non-profit in Ohio with funds from Ohio State.

Key Take-Aways:

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• Accepting investment is a union, it becomes a marriage. Early investors invest in the founder more than they are investing in the business idea. Make sure that the relationship is mutual because not all money is good money.
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• Funding is good but get into the mindset of building your business without needing funding. Build a business that has the best form of investment, which is revenues for organic self-investment to scale and grow there possible based on your business model.
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• Women-focused funds: I Fund Women Conference to network and find investors in the tech space: AfroTech Black Women Talk Tech Women Tech Founders South by Southwest Black entrepreneur-friendly venture funds: Hustle Fund Precursor Ventures Harlem Capital Catalyst Fund Accelerators: BIG Backstage Capital Current Ventures: Nichelle founded Bold Startups to help organizations and individuals uncover Bold Startups and launch profitable service-based and online businesses.
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• She is the creator of #MoneyMilestones, an online intensive program to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses, so they can be full-time and financially free! She has been helping entrepreneurs boldly launch and grow businesses since 2007 and managed two business accelerators, where entrepreneurs have made collectively over $3.6M in revenue within a few years. Nichelle is in the process of launching as the Co-Founder of Bramework, a software company that creates top-ranking blog posts in minutes for small businesses and is currently seeking funding for this new tech venture.
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How to connect with Nichelle: Website: http://nichellemccall.com/ Email: nichelle@nichellemccall.com Social media: LinkedIn: Nichelle McCall-Browne Instagram: @Nichelle_McCall Twitter: @Nichelle_McCall

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