7 Financial Lessons for Founders
The United States is in the midst of a surge of small business formation. In 2022, about 1.7 million people filed to start new businesses, according to the Economic Innovation Group’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau. That’s up more than 28% over pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Including businesses not likely to employ others, the number…
Welcome to New Builders Dispatch!
We report on and advocate for the founders and innovators making a difference in their communities. We focus on telling the stories of underrepresented founders, through the written word and through events. And we’re broadening to cover the innovative companies and people in the up-and-coming smaller cities in the middle of the United States. If you become a regular reader, you’ll get a rare window onto this under-reported part of the country. New Builders Dispatch is the rebranded Times of Entrepreneurship, a four-year-old publication I founded on February 12, 2020. It’s also a reference to the book I published in…
VC Spotlights
VC Spotlight: Unshackled Ventures Closes $35M To Fund Immigrant Founders
Immigrants start businesses at twice the rate of native-born Americans. But many potential immigrant entrepreneurs face an awful headache: the paperwork required for work authorizations and permanent residencies. Unshackled Ventures…
VC Spotlight: Hustle Fund Focuses On How Entrepreneurs Build Companies
Eric Bahn, Elizabeth Yin and Shiyan Koh, are co-founders and general partners at Hustle Fund. Launched in 2017, Hustle Fund looks for entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas and can hustle,…
VC Spotlight: Aperture Focuses on Diverse Founders in Fintech
Aperture Venture Capital has taken a different route to raise money for its fund. Instead of focusing on obtaining capital from wealthy individuals, more than 95% of the money it…
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Editor’s Note: L’argent a une odeur
A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride: This week, we have stories about Cotopaxi. one of a group of companies destroying the myth that impact-oriented…
INNOVATION
RESEARCH
Commentary: University Entrepreneurship: Education or Venture Creation?
Today, virtually every university on the planet has an entrepreneurship course. Most have centers, some run competitions, and a few…
How Much Nature do You Need? A Data Company from University of Oregon has an Answer
For our Startup Spotlights, Times of Entrepreneurship scouted the most successful startups that spun out of top university competitions and…
Many of The Top Entrepreneurship Programs Are In the Midwest, According To Princeton Review Ranking
A Princeton Review ranking shows building strength among entrepreneurship programs off the coasts.
The Big Disconnect Between Workers and Bosses and What it Means for Entrepreneurship
Knowledge workers love working at home, but their bosses want them back in the office. The big disconnect could mean…
MORE STORIES
Is Entrepreneurship A Human Right? This Longtime Champion Believes It Should Be.
Victor Hwang, a former vice president at the Kauffman Foundation, launched the nonprofit Right to Start in January 2020 to achieve a lofty mission: He wants to make the freedom and ability to pursue one’s entrepreneurial dreams a basic human right, up alongside the rights to speak and worship freely. Since 2021, the group’s support,…
Editor’s Note: One Big Fallacy That Gets In The Way Of Gun Law Reform
A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride: This week, we have stories about the latest trend in the diary milk market, A2. There is innovation in cow milk, too, and a story about a resilient baker in Lawrence, Mass., as well as a story about a key product small businesses should look for from their…
Trailblazer: How Cotopaxi’s Founder Built a Cult Following and a $160M Salt Lake City-Based Company
Davis Smith, CEO of Cotopaxi, a sustainably sourced outdoor gear and clothing company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, exemplifies how entrepreneurship can make a difference in people’s lives. Nine years ago, he founded Cotopaxi as a certified benefit corporation with the goal of helping underserved communities worldwide. Since its launch, Cotopaxi—known for its colorful…
VC Spotlight: Zane Venture Fund in Atlanta Focuses on Diverse Founders in Southeast U.S.
Shila Burney worked for 20 years in the nonprofit sector, for organizations like the American Cancer Society, Points of Light, and the Black Women’s Health Imperative. She also was a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Burney, an Atlanta native, knew that diverse entrepreneurs faced challenges in accessing capital. In 2019, she launched Zane Access, a…
