Stephanie Breedlove Co-founder of Care.com HomePay and author of All In: How Women Entrepreneurs Can Think Bigger, Build Sustainable Businesses, and Change the World
Entrepreneurs generate 80 percent of new jobs each
has the power to help move the needle and to reap the rewards that will follow. Access to capital, the ability to year, not to mention they are the creators of new products, compete successfully for capital and the expertise to put services and new wealth. capital to work effectively is instrumental to changing “Strength of economic growth is dependent on growth this picture.” in startups and in transformational entrepreneurs,” says Breedlove prefers to engage in efforts that are the Stephanie Breedlove, an investor in Austin Cocktails. building blocks of systemic change, the types of efforts “Access to capital is a key factor for spurring increased that require long-term commitment but have the entrepreneurial activity and for enhancing the ability to scale.” opportunity to effect large-scale change. Unfortunately, entrepreneurship in the U.S. has been “I believe that change does occur one person, one shrinking for the past 30 years, and the percentage of conversation, one action at a time,” she says. “Our singular working adults who choose efforts matter at epic proportions.” to start a new business What does Breedlove look for in “...every person involved each year has been slowly an angel investment? She employs has the power to help move a preliminary high-level litmus declining. The number of transformational test of sorts using a set of business the needle and to reap the entrepreneurs— criteria: the size of the investment entrepreneurs who start rewards that will follow.” opportunity, how well the product companies to pursue growth or service seizes opportunity and —Stephanie Breedlove rather than for flexibility or size of marketplace. If an idea lifestyle—is also shrinking. At the same time, according to passes the litmus test, she then proceeds to her list of five the Kauffman Foundation Startup Activity Index, Austin things she must see in an opportunity to invest: is ranked the No. 1 city in the country for startup activity. 1. A core component of the founders’ passion must be And women are a big part of that. rooted in the desire to serve before being served. This Data shows women own more than one-third of new means placing a priority on industry, company, clients businesses and are starting them at two and a half times and team before the founders themselves as a strategy for the national average. success. “This is impressive,” Breedlove says of the stat. “But for startups in Austin to defy the statistic of a 90 percent failure rate in the first 10 years of business, the funding ecosystem must be stronger. … I believe that growth and strength of angel investment is pivotal for enabling the transition from startup to scale, the process that generates transformational entrepreneurs.” Yet women do not seek or receive funding at the same rate as men, nor do they seek as much funding as men, despite the fact that women-led companies have proven they deliver higher returns, according to True Wealth Ventures, a female-founded venture-capital firm in Austin that invests in women-led, primarily Texas-based companies focused on health, wellness and sustainable consumer industries. Women also do not engage in investment activities at the same rate as men. But, Breedlove says, women have nowhere to go but up. “We are early in the evolution of women in entrepreneurship, and [we have] great reason to celebrate progress to date,” she says. “Yet we must recognize that the barriers are still sizeable, and every person involved
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2. Founders must have an intense willingness to do whatever it takes. They must be willing to be the CEO, the janitor and everything in between. Proof of this is typically exemplified in the early stages by having personal financial investment in the company. 3. Founders must display a desire for mitigating risk rather than taking risk. Good entrepreneurs are problem-solvers and they usually love it. Successful business development depends on effective problemsolving for mitigating risk. 4. Founders must innately prioritize continuous learning. This is a core trait of every successful entrepreneur. 5. Founders should demonstrate an understanding that all facets of a business must be prioritized for creating sustained value: finance, operations, efficiency methods, culture, client service, product quality, valueadd sales and marketing, etc. The unsexy facets of business are where the magic is made.