A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride:
A lot of my peers in the media are writing about Robinhood this past week. The company is in the crosshairs after it stopped some of its customers from trading. The media uses the following description:
Robinhood is a Silicon Valley start-up promising to democratize investing.
Let’s deconstruct this.
First, the company’s name: Robinhood. The irony is that the name exactly describes what the company does, but in reverse. Robinhood of Sherwood Forest stole from the rich to give to the poor. Robinhood of Silicon Valley took from the poor – at least, the little people, individual investors — to give to the big institutions. Robinhood offered commission-free trading. It made money (admitting this only after regulators fined it for not being transparent) by packaging its orders and selling them to bigger institutions.
“Is a Silicon Valley startup” A company that is seven years old and can raise $3.4 billion in a week to build up its capital reserves (according to CNBC) does not deserve the scrappy, underdog patina that comes with the word “startup.”
Robinhood doesn’t have any tech innovations that I can see, not in software or hardware, so using the Silicon Valley connotation of tech innovation isn’t appropriate. But today’s Silicon Valley is defined by the venture capital finance mechanism that propels fast-growth companies, so it could be called a Silicon Valley company, or a new Silicon Valley giant.
“Promising to democratize” Promising is a reporter’s way of saying “I doubt it.” There’s never been a doubt here, however. Robinhood made trading easier and free. But its clients never had a say in the rules that governed its system, as became obvious last week when the company pulled the plug on their ability to trade some stocks.
“Investing.” Since when is trading investing? Young people, especially young men, are highly susceptible to the addictive hubristic pull of stock trading. But it’s almost inevitable that you’ll lose money over time because you’re trading against computer algorithms. This is not investing. This is gambling.
Typical of the recent history of Silicon Valley, Robinhood has been brazen from the beginning, with its language, business model and marketing. That makes it easier to throw to the wolves – er, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — now. Meanwhile, the Wall Street companies Robinhood serves, many of them as apt to take advantage of individual investors, will remain safely in the background.
— Elizabeth MacBride, founder, Times of Entrepreneurship
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Events
Reclaiming a Sense of Self Through Employment
Date: February 4, 2021, 1 pm
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Hiring Our Heroes, in collaboration with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University will be presenting research on how 3,300 military spouses are obtaining meaningful employment.
100 Days: Main Street’s Priorities
Date: February 4, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Jessica Fulton, vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, talks with small businesses across the country about their priorities for the first 100 days of the Biden administration. Main Street Alliance Government Affairs Director Didier Trinh moderates.
Texas State Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Women Entrepreneurship Founder Series
Date: February 5
Location: Virtual
Information available here
The kick-off event will feature Dr. Amanda Elam, CEO of Galaxy Diagnostics and Diana International Research Fellow at Babson College. Her keynote will focus on the progress and promise of entrepreneurs worldwide.
Strengthen Your Business with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses + United States Chamber of Commerce
Date: February 8, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Learn how to manage cash flow in a challenging environment, assess the financial health of your business, evaluate different funding options and use financial metrics to thrive.
Venture for ClimateTech
Date: February 9, 2021, 11 a.m. to noon ET
Location: Virtual
Information available here
This session will provide an introduction to Venture for ClimateTech, a new global non-profit venture studio accelerator for climate tech innovators. This session will feature ClimateTech senior manager Chante Harris and CEOs from successful climate tech companies.
Entrepreneurship Rocks: Music as an Entrepreneurial Venture
Date: February 9, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Greg Harris, CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, discusses the intersection between music and entrepreneurship.
The Inclusive Innovation Economy: Ideas + Actions
Date: February 11, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
At this event, hosted by the MIT Sloan School of Management, government and civic leaders will converse on how public policymakers can create long-term solutions that support inclusion in the innovation economy.
Technology Powering the Return To Work, Play, Spectate
Date: February 11, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
This is the first of two sessions hosted by tech enterprises and startups at the Innovation Institute for Fan Experience to discuss new technologies to help those holding live events resume them safely.
Startup 302
Deadline: February 12, 2021
Information available here
More than $200,000 grant-based and in-kind prizes are being awarded in this competition, targeting startups with at least one member of the founding team from underrepresented groups. The goal is to address the lack of funding that goes to startups led by women and minorities.
Ignite Startup Workshop: Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs
Date: February 16, 2020
Information available here.
The Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin and special guest Raj Raghunathan, professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business, are offering this free workshop on design thinking for entrepreneurs.
Grants for Startups: The Definitive Freelance and Startup Guide
Date: February 18, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Learn about grant funding for entrepreneurs, and how you can manage a freelance grants business from OpenGrants CEO Sedale Turbovsky. The event organizer is the Carlsen Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Sacramento State.
7th Annual Booth-Kellogg Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference
Date: Feb. 16-19, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
The Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Group at Chicago Booth, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Kellogg Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative are hosting this annual event bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, MBA students, faculty and others to network and share insights.
Values and Ventures Competition
Deadline: February 22, 2021
Information available here.
Texas Christian University’s Values and Ventures Competition, which takes place from April 16-17, invites undergraduates from around the world to pitch ideas for conscious capitalism ventures that make a profit while solving a problem. The grand prize is $100,000.
8 Week Entrepreneur Training Program
Date: Next cohort starts February 23, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
This curriculum is designed to empower aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools and skills to successfully navigate the path to small business ownership. The program is provided by Operation Hope and Shopify.
Diversity & Inclusion in Entrepreneurship
Date: February 24, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
This summit will provide students at University of Texas at Austin and the larger community with insight on ways that entrepreneurs from underserved communities can successfully launch entrepreneurial ventures. The event is powered by the Texas McCombs Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center and Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute.
Baylor New Venture Competition
Date: March 25-27, 2021; Applications open September 1, 2020
Location: Baylor University; Waco, Texas
Information available here.
Baylor New Venture Competition offers applicants business plan feedback, mentorship, and a chance to compete for more than $250,000 in prizes. Collegiate entrepreneurs from around the globe are eligible to participate in the competition, hosted by Baylor University.
Sustainability Mena
Deadline: Applications close March 30, 2021
Location: Virtual
Information available here
Village Capital, with the support of the International Finance Corp., is launching an investment readiness program for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey-based startups tackling the region’s sustainability challenges.
US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency Cares Act Grant Technical Assistance Program
End date: May 31, 2021
Information available here.
This program, facilitated through eight COVID-19 Technical Assistance Centers in major cities with large Hispanic and minority populations, will provide ongoing readiness and support to help the minority business community navigate the pandemic.
Rolling:
MassCEC’s InnovateMass Program
Deadline: Rolling
Information available here.
This program offers up to $250,000 in grant funding and technical support to applicant teams deploying new clean energy technologies or innovative combinations of existing technologies with a strong potential for commercialization. Applicants must run Massachusetts-based companies or have a location in the state and have a technology that fits specific guidelines.
Chandler Innovations
Deadline: Rolling
Location: Chandler, Arizona
Information available here.
Entrepreneurs who live or work in Chandler, Arizona, are eligible to apply for this business incubator. Business ideas must be tech-based.
