The Black upStart
The Black upStart trains aspiring African-American entrepreneurs to start successful and profitable businesses. We involve aspiring business owners in building a product, testing that product and teaching each cohort how to start a business to sell that product.
We serve (a) African Americans who have not yet started a business but have a great idea or (b) African Americans who have started a business that grosses less than $50,000 in revenue.
We competitively select a cohort of up to 10 African-American entrepreneurs interested in starting an enterprise and lead them through the process of:
(1) Brainstorming a viable business idea;
(2) Building a minimum viable product;
(3) Developing a business canvas; and
(3) Testing their product or service with customers.
Our goal is to teach African-American entrepreneurs to:
(1) Identify and evaluate opportunities in new or existing markets;
(2) Build and test your minimum viable product with potential customers; and
(3) Learn how to start and scale a business strategically.
Participants Receive:
(1) Crowdfunding Training - we teach you how to turn your contacts into capital;
(2) Curriculum Materials - we administer a curriculum validated by faculty and entrepreneurs;
(3) Personal Coaching - we provide one-on-one coaching;
(4) Landing Page Development - we build your landing page & train you on how to maintain it (Bootcamp Only); and
(5) Customer Validation Access - we recruit a pool of potential customers to test your business idea.
Past Bootamp Photos:
Click Here to See Past Photos
Click Here to See Past Cohort