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#ObsessivelyEnthusiasticInvestor #UnreasonablyEnthusiasticInvestor #IrrationallyEnthusiasticInvestor at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. We look for the people we believe are doing the best work in Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology; Attempting the impossible. Then we go all-in on them. With obsessive, unreasonable, and irrational enthusiasm. We back them with evangelical zeal. Join us. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChain #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital #DemandTheImpossible #UnreasonableEnthusiasm #ObsessiveEnthusiasm #IrrationalEnthusiasm  

“Funding of Black owned brands dropped 71% in 2023” 🤯 If you haven’t heard the recent news, let me fill you in. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has blocked a Black-owned venture capitalist firm (Fearless Fund) from awarding grants exclusively to Black women entrepreneurs. So you’re aware, less than 1% of VC funding goes to black women founders even though they make up the largest growing group of entrepreneurs. The owner of the Fearless Fund, Ariane Simone, said the ruling sends a message that diversity in corporate America and education should not exist. I couldn’t agree more with her take. I saw the decline of DEI budgets and programs first hand while at Nextplay LIVE where we partnered with some of the biggest tech and media brands in the world on DEI initiatives. “America is supposed to be a nation where one has the freedom to achieve, the freedom to earn, and the freedom to prosper,” Simone said. “Yet, when we have attempted to level the playing field for underrepresented groups, our freedoms were stifled.” Blocking targeted programs under the guise of promoting fairness is a profound misunderstanding of equity versus equality. Equality means providing everyone with the same resources, regardless of context and particular circumstances. Equality is often illustrated by showing a short and taller person behind a fence trying to watch a baseball game. Despite being given the same size block, only the taller person can see. Equity changes the image by giving the shorter person a taller block, so that now both can see. Equity means recognizing the different needs and starting points of individuals and providing the necessary resources to achieve an equal outcome. Sharing this article below for your education and hopefully inspiration to take action.

The lack of funding for Black-owned beauty brands, despite their market potential, exposes a frustrating disconnect. Investors, now risk-averse, prioritize profitability over innovation, leaving these brands—often solving unique beauty concerns—struggling to scale without adequate financial backing. The demand for proven success and retail traction creates a catch-22, where Black founders face higher barriers and fewer resources. While grants help, they’re not enough. Investors need to reconsider their approach and recognize the long-term cultural and financial value these brands offer, rather than just focusing on immediate returns. https://lnkd.in/eTThfM2U

How to destroy a great company in three years. 1. Mess with stuff that isn’t broken: One of the first things Carlyle did was to try to change the culture and “clean beauty” mission - two things that had been core to the company’s success and made it an attractive acquisition candidate in the first place. 2. Alienate and demotivate the people who got you where you are, tanking your own sales: Anybody who knows anything about Beautycounter knows that its individual sellers were the key to its success. Carlyle ignored their input and slashed their commissions, suddenly and drastically reducing their sellers’ income and their motivation. Dumbest move ever. 3. New male CEO doubles down, telling (mostly) female sellers that they are “overreacting:” Where do I even start? I can’t even… I don’t know why it needs to be said, but there are a few non-negotiables when you are trying to grow a business. Don’t alienate your customers and don’t piss off your team. The new owners of Beautycounter recklessly did both and now a once-great company is done.

I’ve always admired Sara Blakely for her relentless innovation and ability to challenge the status quo. As the visionary behind Spanx and a role model to countless female founders, Sara continues to inspire with her latest invention—Sneex, a comfortable high heel, or “hy-heel,” as they call it. Sara describes Sneex as a “love letter to every woman who has taken her shoes off at a party, who wears flats to work with heels in her bag, who thought her days of wearing heels were over.” The mixed reactions to the launch of Sneex are what really caught my attention. Some love it, others are skeptical about the product, but here’s the thing: STIRRING UP LOVE-HATE EMOTIONS IS THE POINT! When a brand evokes strong emotions, it’s breaking through the noise. Emotions drive action, and Sneex is doing just that. With Sara’s authentic storytelling and powerful personal brand, Sneex is set to redefine what high heels can be and serve an audience that values innovation and is willing to invest $595 in the experience. In branding, it’s not about pleasing everyone — it’s about making people feel something. What emotion does Sneex evoke in you? #Branding #Innovation #SaraBlakely #MarketingStrategy #WomanEntrepreneurship

How refreshing and motivating

Are you talking about extraction and cultural appropriation in your industry? One of the first lessons you get as a business student or entrepreneur is know the competitions/threats to your business. What happens when the underrepresented communities in your industry seek to enter it? How are you treating them as a threat/competition when they want a seat at the table? Under represented and marginalised communities, especially black women are often the very creators, originators, producers and customers of the raw material/product/idea/service global economies rely on while actively being prevented access to the table. How are navigating this in your industry, and in education? #ShoutOut to Kayla A. Joseph LAID Hair Care and #blackwomen soaring and making waves in the #haircare and other industries despite the toughest headwinds.

Throughout 2023, beauty dealmakers were faced with one of the most challenging market environments in over a decade. Dealmaking bottomed out in Q3, when the BeautyMatter Deal Index tracked only 50 deals during the quarter and a record 10 bankruptcies and shutdowns. Activity picked up substantially, however, in Q4, perhaps an indication of a pent-up deal pipeline and renewed optimism as we head into 2024. Story by John Cafarelli. #beautybusiness #beautyindustry #finance #trend #investment #dealflow

As the mastermind behind NYX Cosmetics, Toni Ko gave us at InnerFifth a raw and real look into what it takes to build a financially strong company. In her first year, she hit $2 million in revenue with a 100% markup — but instead of pocketing the profits, she reinvested everything back into the business for the first three years. That’s the kind of strategic persistence we champion here at InnerFifth. Toni wore five hats at once: visionary, package design, product development, aesthetic — doing it all herself in the early stages. She trusted her gut even when she didn’t know she was doing it ‘right’ and taught us all that perfection can sometimes hold you back when you’re just getting started. Her advice to InnerFifth members? Don’t let the numbers stifle your creativity. Trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to take risks, even if ignorance is sometimes bliss. For those who attended, what was your biggest takeaway from Toni’s incredible insights? Let’s hear it below! #EntrepreneurialSuccess #WomenInBusiness #InnerFifth #ToniKo #BusinessStrategy #CreativeLeadership #WomenSupportingWomen

Thank you: James Manso and WWD for being truth tellers. 👊🏾 #REPOST 💛 WWD One step forward, two steps back. That’s the sentiment shared by Black beauty entrepreneurs and executives, who report that the beauty industry has fallen short on its promises to better support Black founders in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The biggest pain point: Access to capital has dried up considerably. Earlier this year, Crunchbase reported that funding of Black-owned brands dropped 71 percent to $705 million in 2023 — the first time since 2016 that the figure didn’t exceed $1 billion. Funding in the U.S. overall, Crunchbase reported, declined at roughly half that rate. Read more at WWD.com - #linkinbio Report: James Manso