The founders of Portland’s Sneaker Week are launching a new business series to teach local creative entrepreneurs about topics like signing contracts, intellectual property rights and more.
Sneaker Week co-founder Herbert Beauclere said the five-part Laced With Game series, in partnership with the law firm Rational Unicorn, is about educating Portland’s creative community on business tactics in an accessible manner.
That is part of why the classes are entirely donation-based, Beauclere said, with all proceeds going toward local nonprofits like The Numberz FM, Friends of Noise and Sidewalk PDX.
“There's a location where there's some (business) information that’s available, but if you're not familiar with the (Small Business Association), you might feel intimidated by going into the center and speaking to someone that might not speak your language or might not be as relatable,” Beauclere said. “There's a great community and there's a great network here, and instead of going at this by yourself, having people that'll be there with you that are learning with you is really important in cultivating that entrepreneurial fellowship.”
The first class Nov. 17 will cover the basics of forming a business, and the next class Dec. 15 will focus on developing contracts. The series is five parts, Beauclere said, in order to give the entrepreneurs time to implement the skills they learn from the class before adding more instruction on.
Rational Unicorn’s founder Michael Jonas said his law firm specializes in creative law and preventative business law, making it a perfect partner for Sneaker Week’s series. Jonas’ passion has always been in creative entrepreneurship, he said, and part of Rational Unicorn’s core mission is educating small business owners on ways to keep their business theirs, rather than someone else's.
“I am very excited about the opportunity and I think giving people knowledge that they should have, that they deserve, I think is a really important component here,” Jonas said. “This is sort of like ‘I don't have access to the right professional person, so I signed away my intellectual property rights’ thing, it makes me very angry. So if I can have any part in that not happening and making sure that people own their things and they make profit from it is very, very important to me.”
Sneaker Week was co-founded by Herbert Beauclere and Megan Davis, and celebrates various aspects of sneaker culture every year. Each day of the week has a theme, and it is all about the culture surrounding sneakers rather than just the shoes themselves.
Those interested in the Laced With Game series can sign up for classes here.
