The pandemic has forced many small businesses to shut down for good, and unfortunately, the African-American business community has been the hardest hit. In 2020 alone, 41 percent of Black-owned businesses have been forced to permanently close their doors, compared to less than 20 percent of white-owned businesses. Statistics show that Black-owned businesses are more […]
Why 2020 Hasn’t Followed The Same Funding Patterns As 2008
As the global health crisis of 2020 continues to play out, there have been many comparisons with the economic events of 2008. When the first wave of the pandemic hit and the stock markets crashed in March, another global financial crisis seemed inevitable. So founders will have to be forgiven for assuming their chances of […]
5 Investment Opportunities Accelerated By The COVID-19 Pandemic
Human history is one of continuous innovation and increasing productivity. Sometimes there are bumps and sluggish periods of growth along the way, but our unique ability to make and improve our own tools generally keeps progress marching forward. And whenever there is a crisis—be it war, pandemic, or financial free-fall—the demand for innovation and increased […]
4 Tips To Drive Ethical Product-led Growth During A Crisis
Not all companies have been exactly sailing through the pandemic, but those that are have something in common. Products like Zoom and Slack are surging in popularity not by pouring emergency money into paid ads (when is the last time you saw one of their ads, if ever?); the fuel to their fire is the […]
10 Social Selling Best Practices for the New Normal
COVID-19 drastically changed how non-essential businesses promote their products and services to their customers. Marketing strategies that may have been effective pre-COVID may no longer deliver the desired results now, especially as people’s habits for shopping and buying seemingly changed overnight. Because of the changes in the lifestyles and behaviors of customers, social selling has […]
Jeff Kofman, CEO and Founder of Trint on Maintaining Growth Through COVID
COVID-19 has been a challenge for businesses of all kinds. Many have had to readjust strategies and pivot business models to last. While it has been a trying time for many, one company has found success through the pandemic. Trint, an artificial intelligence speech-to-text company, saw record revenue and growth in the first two months […]
Work in the Time of Coronavirus
How authenticity at work affects business The Crunchbase “Female Founder Series,” is a series of stories, Q&As, and thought-leadership pieces from glass-ceiling-smashers who overcame the odds, raised funding, and are now leading successful companies. The Coronavirus crisis in the U.S. has been wildly destabilizing, affecting our daily routines and planned adventures, even those we consider […]
How the Future of Personal Finance is Self-Driving Money
In the era of COVID-19 and global lockdowns, most of us have been forced to adapt to living our lives remotely. All the essentials in our day-to-day lives such as school, work and doctors appointments have entered the digital sphere. Financial services are also experiencing this trend, as noted by a spike in fintech use. […]
Stars in a Stormy Sky: Startups Thriving During COVID-19
When the coronavirus emerged as a global crisis, nobody could have predicted the scale of economic devastation. Restaurants, entertainment, sports and brick-and-mortar retail have been hit especially hard, and many businesses have gone under with public life remaining limited. And in all but a few industries, startups are especially vulnerable. But, some startups are thriving. […]
How the Shift to Remote Work Is Changing Silicon Valley for the Better
When Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced in May that employees would be able to work from home—or from wherever they’d like—indefinitely, it marked a major change in the tech industry. Soon, other Silicon Valley companies, including Square, Slack and Upwork, followed suit, announcing their own plans to shift to a remote model. And as COVID-19 […]
