There was, Rodz recalls thinking, something odd about the whole thing. She was there to explore what was next after selling her second company, a digital marketing firm.
Gore was the vice president of the United Nations Foundation. Here they were, getting access to career-making connections and ideas, only after they needed them.
"What about all the people," Rodz recalls thinking, "that can't afford this?" They mulled over an idea: What if they built a data-driven online platform that matched female founders with everything from mentors and tech tools to credit and grants? That platform became Hello Alice, which today supports more than a million and a half small businesses.
Since its launch in 2017, it's deployed about $40 million in grants, attracted investors like Serena Williams and Jean Case, and grown to 40 employees. (The platform is free for small businesses to use, and it makes its money offering software that allows financial institutions to engage with the smallbusiness community.) The site has also widened its scope to serve a larger community of entrepreneurs, including LGBTQ+ people, those with disabilities, veterans, military spouses, and especially people of color. "We call our audience the New Majority of small-business owners," Gore says.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Black Americans make up some 13% of the U.S.population but lead only 2% of businesses with more than one employee. Notably, while 20% of Black Americans start businesses, McKinsey & Company has found that the vast majority fail in the first year and a half, and just 4% get past the startup stage.
One big challenge is money. Black Americans often find it difficult to obtain loans and self-fund their small businesses at a higher rate.
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