Latino business owners have been making significant strides in the landscape of American business and their companies are emerging as a strong driving force in the American economy as well as the national political landscape. In response to these successes, a number of prominent Hispanic leaders have formed an organization, The National Association of State Latino Chambers of Commerce (NASLCC) to assist in continued advancement on this business front.
This week is National Small Business Week, and in celebration, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) launched the third annual round of its Growth Accelerator Fund competition to award accelerators and startup ecosystems that empower aspiring startups.
The beginning of May marks the start of National Small Business Week this year, and just in time comes the 2016 list of the best and worst places in America for Latino entrepreneurs to start up their enterprises. Where should you start building your dream?
Latinos are creating businesses at a faster rate than the average for entrepreneurs. But only about one percent of Latino-owned businesses receive the early funding so important (and common) to many average startups. What gives?
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a group of Silicon Valley chiefs have come out in official support of President Obama's executive actions that seek to protect undocumented immigrants.
On Tuesday, the influential and well-connected startup accelerator and seed funder 500 Startups held demo day for "Batch 15," the latest class of up and coming entrepreneurs now being unleashed upon Silicon Valley. And it's one of the most diverse so far, as women lead a third, 15 percent were founded by Blacks, and 10 percent are led by Latinos.
Venture capital firm Kapor Capital has decided to boost diversity in the next generation of Silicon Valley companies, by building commitments to it early.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich took the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday night to deliver the company's keynote speech, which included an impressive update on the company's progress on diversity.
Peruvian born wunderkind Pedro Espinoza was raised an entrepreneur from the start. But he also had a life-changing experience working with a charity in his youth, and wanted more of that feeling. With SmileyGo, a data-driven startup founded by Espinoza last year, he plans to bring both worlds together, streamlining the connections between big businesses and nonprofits.
A new study from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) shows that while the proportion Latino-owned business is expanding in the U.S. at a rapid clip, an opportunity gap is hampering what could be over a trillion dollars worth of economic activity.
Silicon Valley has a diversity problem, and it's bigger than just the staffing demographics at major technology firms. In particular, there is a dearth of Latino-founded tech startups that grow beyond the initial stages, but Manos Accelerator, in partnership with Google, is seeking to change that.
Silicon Valley's represnatives are only part of the problem with diversity in technology. The other center of power is known as Sand Hill Road, a part of Silicon Valley that's the center of private equity for the tech industry.
"Like many people, I do not like going to the dentist," said Kayla Rodriguez. "No offence to dentists," she continued, "but I've had 17 teeth pulled and had braces twice, so I don't want to spend any more time in that chair than I have to." Kayla's career is inspired by that sentiment, even though she works with dentists all the time.
When it comes to reshaping Silicon Valley to be more inclusive and better reflect the makeup of the rest of the country, Intel is leading the way again.
A new study published late last week shows that immigrants are driving the startup economy in the U.S. -- along with showing a boom in immigrant Latino entrepreneurs starting new businesses.
When Deldelp Medina talks about Silicon Valley, it's like she's talking about the neighborhood kids she grew up with. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Medina shares some of Silicon Valley's quirks, appreciates its strengths, but also isn't afraid to call it out on its failures, since she became acquainted with the center of the technology universe -- before anyone knew it would become that.
Funding and growth remains a big challenge for Latino businesses, from hi-tech startups to the mom and pop restaurant on the corner. One startup founded by two Harvard Business school students, who are also twin brothers, aims to pin its own by growth on helping small Latino businesses reach their full potential.
Latinos have said job creation and fixing the economy is among their most important issues that politicians should address during the midterm election, according to Latino Decisions 2014 Election Eve Poll, and U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet has been helping Latinos enter into small business ventures.
Jennifer Lopez might have garnered the most attention from an audience not used to hearing business pitches from global pop superstars last week at the Venture Capital Association's VentureScape conference. But it's her father David, co-founder of the Latino startup-focused Manos Accelerator, who most challenged the assumptions of those investors in budding businesses.
A study from IHS Global Insight, an economic forecasting firm, said Latinos might account for 40 percent of the U.S. job growth by 2020, and that increase includes the rate of Latino entrepreneurs. During the last two decades, Latino entrepreneurship has tripled, and Latin Post spoke with entrepreneurs who have further built the groundwork for Latino community to succeed particularly in the tech sector.
