When Jim Stallings planned the first-ever Black Founders Forum, the president and CEO of PS27 never expected such an overwhelming sponsorship response for a program that serves as a premier networking event for Black founders and potential investors.
The forum will be held June 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Adam W. Herbert University Center on the University of North Florida Campus. Highlights include a pitch competition with five founders competing for a $250,000 investment opportunity. One hopeful contestant is traveling from Las Vegas.
“We want to do something good, and it’s the week of Juneteenth,” Stallings said. “This forum is to celebrate and encourage young entrepreneurs. Sponsors want to lend their voice, time, and money to what they believe is a great cause.”
Barry Givens is among the speakers who will share their journey. The Atlanta-based entrepreneur and investor is an advocate for racial parity in the innovation economy and is one of three founding managing partners at Collab Capital — a $50M early-stage venture fund investing 100% in innovative startups with Black founders.
“Being a founder can be a lonely journey, and it’s important to gather and let entrepreneurs know they have support,” Givens told the Business Journal. “Bringing together likeminded individuals with the same struggle can be refreshing, and being in a room of mature investors is uplifting for founders, especially if this is your first go around.”
Founders have to fight through people who believe they can't succeed, and Givens seeks to motivate by sharing how he and his partners made their success happen.
“None of us had venture capital or finance experience. We came from technical backgrounds,” Givens said. “We didn’t know what we didn’t know but built a strong advisor network and placed people around us that have the foundational knowledge and wanted to help.”
Givens said risk is the name of the game. If your venture is not risky, it’s probably not worth backing.
“You need to be doing something innovative and market changing that others can’t do,” Givens said. “Bring something unique to the table. It takes a special person to be a founder, and you must have a tolerance for risk.”
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