Companies to Watch: Black Founders Powering New York Tech

In honor of Black History Month, we talked to a group of Black founders about growing their businesses in NYC, what it’s been like working through a year of COVID-19, and the work still left to do in cultivating a more inclusive sector year-round.

SWEETEN

What does your company do?
Sweeten founder and CEO Jean Brownhill: Sweeten delivers homeowners and business owners a superior renovation experience, by personally matching vetted general contractors to each project, while offering guidance and up to $50,000 in financial protection — at no cost to the client. We simultaneously deliver general contracting firms an efficient growth engine, by streamlining marketing, lead acquisition, and bidding, and by vetting all renovation projects for budget and readiness.

Sweeten’s sophisticated digital platform empowers owners and contractors alike with transparency, data, and an expansive online library of renovation knowledge. Sweeten’s general contractors excel at transformative renovations of all types, with budgets from $15,000 to over $3 million. Sweeten is headquartered New York, NY, but has a global workforce. We have expanded into nine major American cities and have completed thousands of renovations.

Why did you found your company in NYC?
JB: I grew up in New London, CT -— right across the Sound, so New York has always been close to my heart. My high school guidance counselor first told me that I should look into architecture. That was the first time I had heard of the profession; no one in my community in Connecticut was an architect. My mom found the Cooper Union, where every student received a full tuition scholarship at the time. That really changed things - we had no money for me to go to college, and I couldn’t believe anyone could go for free. After being accepted to Cooper Union, that is when my real love affair with New York began. I learned everything there. Most importantly, I learned how to be inquisitive and relentless in my curiosity.

I bought my first home in Bed-Stuy and have lived in New York ever since. I have traveled the world, but when I think of “home”, New York is the only place that comes to mind. This city is unique in so many ways and I am constantly inspired by its architecture, art, and energy, and resilience. When it came time to found my company, I could think of no better place than right here.

Let’s jump right into the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, the construction industry was certainly impacted, but with virtually everyone suddenly spending their work hours at home, did you also see new interest in renovation projects — setting up office spaces or generally helping people acclimate their spaces to work-from-home? Have you added customers/clients you didn’t expect?
JB: Sweeten aims to help homeowners from all walks of life, so no new clientele emerged that we didn’t expect. What did surprise us was how creative people could be when reimagining their spaces to be all-in-one mini-offices, mini-schools, and mini-gyms. Prior to the pandemic, renovations centered around kitchens and bathrooms. Projects now often include an under-utilized space, such as basement, laundry room, hallway, attic, or garage, in addition to a kitchen or a bathroom.

I think the pandemic forced people to reexamine their homes in ways that they previously never had to when they were out at the office 8-12 hours a day. Before people were likely “surviving” in their homes; now people focus on thriving!

Are you spending more time at home? Have you made any changes or updates to your own space due to this “new normal”?
JB: Like everyone else I absolutely had to rethink how I lived and worked. In my old apartment, I realized I had trouble separating my work-life from my home-life. As an entrepreneur, you already work long days; coupled with not leaving one room for 16-18 hours a day, it became maddening. Over the summer of 2020, I moved apartments in my building to get more space and carve out a dedicated work zone with a door - when I am in that room, I am working. When I leave that room, I am back in my personal life. I needed that physical separation for my mental sanity.

The fundraising process for female founders is an uphill battle — that’s even more true for Black female founders, who continue to get the smallest share of total venture funding in the US. As a trained architect turned startup founder, what was securing your Series A like?
JB: The stats are at best, unfortunate. My story speaks to two things: tenacity and authenticity — both are needed when raising outside capital. I recognized early on that I would need outside investors to build the Sweeten platform. I started with $250,000 from friends and family, which took two years to raise, mostly in $2,000 checks. For our first institutional round, I had to meet with 257 investors before closing that first round. Exhaustion doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.

Along the way, I realized that my perception of how a leader should act had become a stumbling block. It took a lot of stress, rejection, and frustration, but I ultimately realized the importance of authenticity in the fundraising process. When I changed the way I interacted with investors — and the way I communicated those interactions to employees — I greatly improved my outcomes with both groups. I was trying to be someone I wasn't, because I thought it was who VCs wanted me to be. What I finally realized is that's not possible; they have to trust you. They're giving you a lot of money, and if you're anything other than completely authentic in your presentation, it will never work.

The tech sector and VCs have a lot of work to do in supporting diverse founders. What advice would you give new entrepreneurs — but also investors — for how to make progress on that front in the next decade?
JB: For investors, I would say the first and most important step is to look inside their organization. Is it diverse? Do you have teammates from different races, genders, education levels, income levels? If not, it will be really hard to break the cycle of pattern-matching. People are inherently more skeptical of the unfamiliar, but that can cause firms to pass over great opportunities. Long story, sort: be intentional about hiring for diversity.

For entrepreneurs, I would say: look to the cornucopia of options that are now available instead of only focusing on the traditional venture route. There are fundraising platforms, pitch contests, accelerators, grants, etc — all are viable sources of funding. While it may seem small or not worth it, remember you are also doing it for the networking, the pitch practice, the inspiration — you never know where it will take you.

What’s on the horizon in 2021? Are there any projects you set to side when the pandemic began you hope to get back to this year?
JB: Actually no; we didn’t deviate from our strategy or set anything to the side in 2020. The downtime of the pandemic actually cleared the way for us to focus on those backburner projects and accelerate their development. We invested in ourselves knowing we had a v-shaped recovery in front of us. We are now better positioned to capitalize on the continued wave of home improvement.

Okay, some rapid fire questions. First: where do you get your favorite pizza slice?
JB: Speedy Romeo in Brooklyn. The Kind Brother is a combination of some of my favorite ingredients, but in pizza form. What could be better?!

Where do you get your favorite bagel?
JB: I go to Murray’s Bagels every Sunday and get an everything toasted with tofu cream cream with lox.

What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting (remember in-person meetings)?
JB: Our old office was on the border of Little Italy, Soho, Chinatown, which is a fun neighborhood with a lot of options. A few blocks away was the Public Hotel — the food is great and the space has a good energy -— perfect for any business meeting.

What’s your favorite remote work office hack?
JB: I think everyone can agree that it is easy to get “zoomed out,” so I started taking some of my calls as audio-only and going for a walk during that time. The fresh air and movement really helps to break up a back-to-back day.

What’s one new thing your team is doing to stay connected while everyone works from afar?
JB: We have done a lot of things to stay connected, but some of the favorites have been pop-up outdoor happy hours in a local park. We can socially-distance while still getting some face time. Virtually, we do team-building activities like Escape the Room, Family Feud, trivia nights, and starting slack channels about what we are watching, reading, cooking, etc.

What's one norm that was new to your team in 2020 that you're definitely going to keep post-pandemic?
JB: We are a diverse team located in several time zones, so we needed to be thoughtful about the experience of our global colleagues. The pandemic forced us to set up systems that created better alignment and standardization to support asynchronous work. We plan to stay remote-first so all this preparation allowed us to double down on what was important to us — hire the best people, support them no matter where they live and be agile.

GOALSETTER

What does your company do:
Goalsetter founder and CEO Tanya Van Court: Goalsetter is a banking and finance app to help kids and families become the next generation of savers and investors.

Why did you found your company in NYC?
TVC: I already lived in New York, and when I founded my company, the start-up ecosystem in New York was becoming as hot as Silicon Valley. And living in New York is so much better than living in Silicon Valley.

Let’s jump right in to the pandemic. COVID-19 has been a financial rollercoaster for a lot of NYC families — particularly families of color and those from low-income neighborhoods. Has Goalsetter seen any changes in its user activity in response, or are you thinking about product in a new light given some of these challenges
TVC: We think that what Goalsetter is doing is even more important given these challenges. The pandemic has shed a lot of light on the financial insecurity that so many families face, and the significant chasm between the haves and have nots. That’s exactly the gap that we hope Goalsetter will help to close for the next generation. We already have a savings account with a teen and tween debit card and fun, game-based financial literacy quizzes, and we are going to add investment accounts to let kids begin to invest in the stock market early. Those people whose understanding of money was limited to the uses of money — saving, sharing or spending — suffered during the pandemic. Those who understood how to build wealth built more wealth during the pandemic. Our plan is to make sure that every kid in America falls into the latter category when the next pandemic hits.

At the beginning of the month, you announced a partnership with NBA star Chris Paul to open one million savings accounts for Black and Brown kids through the app. Why is it important for kids to have bank accounts in their name at an early age?
TVC: America has a huge problem — it is woefully under-preparing all of our kids for a financially secure future. And this problem extends to every kid in our country. 90 percent of wealthy families lose their wealth by the third generation; 70 percent of middle-class African-Amercan families are projected to have a child who falls out of the middle class. Kids who aren’t taught healthy financial habits become adults who are financially irresponsible. On the other hand, kids who have savings accounts in their names are six times more likely to go to college and four times more likely to own stocks as young adults. We can prepare every kid in our country to become financially free in adulthood, but we have to do more than give them tools that teach them how to send and spend money.  We have to give them tools that teach them how to save and invest instead.

The app encourages parents and their children to learn financial literacy together. If the app had a “lesson plan,” what do you think kids should learn on Day 1? 
TVC: We deliver content in bite-size “aha moments.” One example is that we teach kids that if you put $100K in a savings account at today’s rates, it would be worth a whopping $106K in 30 years. If you put $100K into a mutual fund, it would be worth $761K in 30 years. Another example is that a pair of Nike shoes cost $30 in 1980, the first year that Nike stock went public. If someone bought $30 in Nike stock that year, they would have more than $1.9MM today.  When kids understand those two examples, it literally changes their lives forever.

Let’s also quickly talk about a financial process of your own: you closed a $3.9M seed round last month. As a Black female founder, what was that process like?
TVC:  Grueling. There was a Crunchbase article published last week that said “Kids Fintech Apps are becoming all the rage, as VC’s interest in financial literacy heats up.” We were the only Black female fintech app on the list, and we have raised 10 – 50 times less money than our competitive set, and yet, we are the only ones that offer kids and families financial literacy content. If you look at the overall fintech landscape, there are only a handful of Black women in fintech in the entire country, even though fintech is an incredibly desirable space. There’s something dramatically wrong with the VC ecosystem if it won’t fund a person with two degrees in Engineering from Stanford University, a product leader and executive at Nickelodeon and Discovery Education, and is launching an educational fintech company for kids...because she happens to be Black and a woman. We have to do better as a country, or products like Goalsetter will never make it to market. Because Goalsetter isn’t just great for Black or Brown kids — it’s an amazing next-generation banking solution for all kids.

What’s on the horizon in 2021? Are there any projects you set to side when the pandemic began you hope to get back to this year?
TVC: Spreading the word about Goalsetter and preparing hundreds of thousands of kids to be financially smart. We recently launched a teen and tween debit card, and it has a great rule called “Learn Before You Burn.” Our financial literacy quizzes are attached to the debit card, so that kids are learning how to become the next generation of savers and investors, instead of just debit card swipers.

Okay, some rapid fire questions. First: where do you get your favorite pizza slice?
TVC:  At home. We have family pizza night on Friday nights since the pandemic started, and our home-made vegetarian pizza is beyond scrumptious.

Where do you get your favorite bagel?
TVC:  I don’t do bagels. Don’t hate me or kick me out of Brooklyn, please.

What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting (remember in-person meetings)?
TVC:  Grandchamps, a delicious Haitian restaurant in Bed Stuy.  I’m all about supporting the restaurants in my ‘hood, and Grandchamps is the best.

What’s your favorite remote work office hack?
TVC:  Give me a five-year old a piece of licorice (Red Vines only, says the Cali girl) to get my family to go into the other room when I’m in the middle of a meeting.

What’s one new thing your team is doing to stay connected while everyone works from afar?
TVC:  A daily stand-up meeting that lets us get on the same page every day. But we should probably add a daily sit-down meeting where everyone gets to chill and talk at the virtual, proverbial water-cooler. 

OONEE

What does your company do?
Oonee co-founder and CEO Shabazz Stuart: Oonee is working to bring a vast urban network of bicycle and scooter parking stations to New York and other cities across the country. We believe that this infrastructure is critical to fueling the growth of the micromobility ecosystem.

Why did you found your company in NYC?
SS: New York is my home, and I care deeply about the city and the metropolitan region at large. From an impact standpoint, cycling is increasingly important to New York’s transportation future, but the ecosystem is incredibly underdeveloped, particularly when it comes to parking & service. With Oonee, I saw an opportunity to optimize transportation within the city and to improve the lives of my fellow New Yorkers.

Over the last year, we’ve seen a real boom in bike ridership, understandably, because of the pandemic. But then the question then is, where do we put them all? Was Oonee Mini your answer to that?
SS: The boom in bikes has actually been taking place for years, we’ve seen double digit growth every year in NYC since 2000. Even prior to the pandemic, there was little sign of that growth slowing down.

Our approach to bike parking & service infrastructure centers on flexibility; we need solutions for high density, medium density, and low density environments. The pod itself is our medium density solution, appropriate for places where 20-80 parking spaces are needed, the mini is our lower density solution for between 6-20 spaces. We are also working on a high density solution and expect to have an update there soon. Our goal is to build a system that provides bike parking everywhere and utilizes all of these form factors where appropriate.

We do expect the Mini to account for a majority of our scale, though. There are roughly three million free curbside parking spaces within New York CIty. If just five percent of those were allocated to designs like the “Mini” more than a million secure bike parking spaces would be created for New Yorkers. Because it accounts for so much real estate, especially in residential areas, the curb represents the most significant opportunity to provide parking.

Oonee already has larger bike-parking stations set up throughout the city, but how are you deciding where to place the new Mini pods?
SS: In the short term we are piloting the Mini in partnership with community based organizations and elected officials on an opportunistic basis. As with any new product in the public right of way, there are always going to be tweaks to be made. In the long term we’re seeking to work with cities and public agencies to create scaled bike parking systems via a planning process that includes needs assessment. Like any other transportation system, we believe this would be the most effective way to design a solution that serves everyone efficiently and effectively.

Are New York’s streetscapes due for a redesign? What insights do you hope we take from the past year to make sure our broader transit infrastructure is efficient and accessible, even post-pandemic?
SS: Absolutely. Seventy five percent of car trips in New York City are under five miles. We need to transition those trips to public transportation, cycling, and micromobility, as well as walking. The result will be a city that just works better for everyone; less traffic congestion, even for drivers; and increased accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists. Over the long term, New York will also be far better optimized for the climate change future under this paradigm.

If anything, the past year has taught us that we can quickly re-orient our streets to support this change; drivers and communities will adapt; and the changes will likely be wildly popular.

If you were chairing a future MTA board meeting, what one public transit issue would you want to be at the top of the agenda?
SS: Without question, the number one issue facing the MTA is the high costs of capital projects compared to global peer cities. It costs more than a billion dollars to build just a mile of new subway track; in fact, the MTA has overseen the first, second, and third most expensive subway projects in the world on a per mile basis in East Side Access, the Second Avenue Subway, and Hudson Yards extensions, respectively.

This status quo threatens the viability of any serious public transit project; the city simply cannot afford to build projects at these costs. The spillover impact will affect everything from housing to the economy as New York’s transit network effectively becomes frozen in time and is unable to keep up with the needs of a growing metropolis.

What’s on the horizon in 2021? Are there any projects you plan to prioritize, either because COVID-19 put them on the backburner or moved them to the frontburner?
SS: After our MVP, we’ve been working with a number of public and private entities in New York to roll out secure bike parking deployments on scale. We expect to have announcements soon.

Okay, some rapid fire questions. First: where do you get your favorite pizza slice?
SS: Di Fara Pizza in Midwood.

Where do you get your favorite bagel?
SS: Bergen Bagels.

What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting (remember in-person meetings)?
SS: Alchemy in Park Slope.

What’s your favorite remote work office hack?
SS: Tilting the camera up on Zoom so they can’t see the laundry hamper in the background.

What’s one new thing your team is doing to stay connected while everyone works from afar?
SS: Outdoor dining check-ins. Some facetime is essential.

What's one norm that was new to your team in 2020 that you're definitely going to keep post-pandemic?
SS: I think we’re more comfortable with distance-based remote working than we were pre-pandemic. I think traveling is healthy for the soul, but in the past the “vacation days” system was not optimized for this. Today, we are much more comfortable with members of our team traveling for a week or two and continuing to work normal hours. We’ve found that this freedom improves workplace satisfaction and even productivity. I think it also just makes our team happier. This arrangement probably would not have been possible even ten years ago, but thanks to the advancements in internet communications technology, it’s possible to have real time hi-def calls and communications from practically anywhere.

Retro style New York Manhattan with Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge Park in the front.: by IM_photo/Shutterstock.com