What It’s Like to Be a Black Entrepreneur Right Now
E-commerce founder Nicole Gibbons on micro-aggressions, tokenism, and leading her company through this complicated moment
Nicole Gibbons knew she was in rare company when her direct-to-consumer paint startup Clare raised $2 million from the likes of First Round Capital in 2017. Black female entrepreneurs receive less than 1% of VC funding raised by startups.
In an industry that champions quick pivots and failing fast, Gibbons — who launched her New York City-based company in 2018 after working as an interior decorator and global head of PR for Victoria’s Secret — feels intense pressure to make no mistakes and faces microaggressions so often she says she’s learned to live with them. She spoke with Marker about the challenges of being a Black founder, doing business in the time of Covid-19, and what companies should be saying about Black Lives Matter. (This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.)
When I started pitching Clare I knew the statistics — I knew that Black women are underfunded. I had one VC who declined to take a meeting and said, “I can tell you put a lot of creativity into your idea,” like it was an arts and crafts project. I did feel dismissed at times and I wonder: If I were a white man would I have…
