Quentin Gause

🚨🚨Counting down the days until one of the biggest events of the year for black entrepreneurs!! The Black Commerce Conference is THE place to make incredible connections, gain valuable industry insight, and have an awesome time!! I look forward to making new lifelong connections and learning from unique individuals! 🚀💫 #blackentrepreneurs #events #blackentrepreneurship #hbcuentrepreneur #hbcupride #hbcunews #howarduniversity #blackownerbusiness #genz #genzintheworkforce

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Headshot ©2023… Banky Alao Startup Founder | Growth & Marketing Leader. 📸 @chyder5 @chyder5studios Book your professional headshots session. Studio Location: Lekki Phase 1 #headshotsmatter #headshots #professsionalheadshots #professionalheadshots #corporateheadshots #lagosnigeria #lekkiphotographer #businessportrait #personalbranding #branding #personalportrait

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🛎 This strikes a deep chord with me! The advantages of engaging in the No Backboard Basketball League—both in training and competition—are clear and intrinsic to the sport. 😍 A common initial reaction is, "You've got to be able to shoot!" 🏀 Indeed, the benefits are obvious, and all market trends point towards "let's go." 🔝 💸 There's increasing investment in youth sports, aiming to unify a fragmented multi-billion-dollar industry. 💰💰💰 💥 The Name, Image, and Likeness (#NIL) regulations are opening new avenues for business and personal growth for high school and college athletes. 🌎 🏀 Globally, basketball's popularity is on the rise, yet American players are facing increasing competition from international athletes at the high school, college, and professional levels within the United States. 📉 🏗 Basketball training facilities are becoming ubiquitous, with both franchises and independent gyms emerging nationwide. 🗽 Consider other sports like Arena Football, Indoor Football, 7v7, Flag Football, and A7FL, which are established or gaining traction. 🏈 🎾 ⚽ 🤔 😲 However, traditional funding sources and the investors I've discussed this with present significant "hurdles to capital," leaving me puzzled. So, investors, don't be dismissive—otherwise, you might just miss out on a substantial opportunity. #blackowndedbusiness #investing #venturecapital

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UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, known as the United Fund, is a philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for Black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private HBCUs. UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944, by Frederick D. Patterson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and others. UNCF is headquartered in DC. In 2005, UNCF supported approximately 65,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities with approximately $113 million in grants and scholarships. About 60% of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and 62% have annual family incomes of less than $25,000. UNCF administers over 450 named scholarships. UNCF’s president and chief executive officer is Michael Lomax. Past presidents of the UNCF included William H. Gray and Vernon Jordan. Though founded to address funding inequities in education resources for African Americans, UNCF-administered scholarships are open to all ethnicities; the great majority of recipients are still African-American. It provides scholarships to students attending its member colleges as well as to those going elsewhere. Graduates of UNCF member institutions and scholarships have included many Black people in the fields of business, politics, health care, and the arts. Some prominent UNCF alumni include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Alexis Herman; Spike Lee; Samuel L. Jackson; General Chappie James; and Dr. David Satcher. UNCF adopted as its motto the maxim “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” This maxim has become one of the most widely recognized slogans in advertising history. The motto was notably mangled in an address to the organization by VPOTUS Dan Quayle, who stated: “And you take the UNCF model that what a waste it is to lose one’s mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.” The motto, which has been used in numerous award-winning UNCF ad campaigns, was created by Forest Long, of the advertising agency Young & Rubicam, in partnership with the Ad Council. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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Building a tech-enabled company comes with a mix of different challenges, emotions, and intricacies. I embarked on the journey to innovate in the creative industry 445 days ago. A journey I knew there was no turning back from. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and nights felt like a thousand years. I met some amazing people along the way, learned some hard lessons, got beaten down, felt alone, and became stronger than ever. I burnt the midnight oil with my head constantly searching for solutions with so much conviction that one existed. Good news, We found it! Growth comes with pain, and I felt every bit of it. It’s a humbling experience, and I wish everyone gets to feel it at some point. Design Launchpad first phase is live at www.designlaunchpad.co, and now you get the opportunity to learn design from the best African Designers in the world and connect with designers right from your own comfort. We moved mountains to make this a reality. The Cherry on Top: We created three learning tiers for you so you can grow without worrying about the learning complexities of the design industry. Ready to get started Visit www.designlaunchpad.co today!

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Black creatives we can’t let society, an industry, or even your own insecurities put you in a box by limiting yourself to only selling a product/services to one specific demographic. You have much more to offer the market place!! #StaySolid Co founder of Rocafella Dame Dash, speaks on this, comment your thoughts on this 💭💭👇🏾👇🏾 #creatives #entrepreneur #blackbusiness

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While it’s cold for small businesses in general in today’s economy when it comes to access to capital, for Black-owned businesses it’s freezing. The numbers are startling. Kudos to my client PuffCuff and its founder Ceata Lash for sharing this story and for her resolve and determination to keep pushing forward despite extraordinary obstacles. We see you Ceata; but I challenge all of us to do one better. For all of us who talk about supporting and loving Black-owned and women-owned businesses, let’s all make sure that we buy a PuffCuff today and put our money where our heart is. If we don’t support us, who will? “In the Atlanta area, Black-owned firms raised a record-high $467 million in 2021, which dropped to about $110 million a year later and only $23 million last year, according to Crunchbase. That 79% decline from 2022 to 2023 is twice that of the general overall decline in VC funding.” #puffcuff #ceatalash #blackownedbusiness #blackenterprise #venturecapital #entrepreneur #smallbusiness

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PNC And Howard University Are Shaping The Future Of Black Entrepreneurship The collaboration supports scholarships, grant programs, and educational initiatives specifically designed to empower aspiring Black entrepreneurs. Contributing over $206 billion annually to the economy and supporting 3.56 million American jobs, companies like Calendly, SheaMoisture, and Esusu Financial are among over 100 Black-owned startups that have achieved unicorn status with over $1 billion-plus valuations. Multi-million-dollar acquisitions like Compass Diversified’s purchase of The Honey Pot underscore the growing economic power of Black-owned companies. While headlines celebrate these successes—as they should—they remain exceptions rather than the norm. Despite the surge in Black entrepreneurship, significant funding gaps persist, with approximately 71% of Black-owned startups denied VC funding compared to only 12% of their white-owned counterparts. Assessing success through the lens of oppressive historical context can skew perspective. Surpassing benchmarks set under discriminatory conditions is a flawed measure demanding broader evaluation. In comparison, only 1% of Black business owners are able to obtain loans during their founding year, compared to 7% of white business owners. Federal Reserve data shows that loan applications from Black business owners are rejected at more than twice the rate of their white peers, and even when they do secure loans, they face higher interest rates averaging 7.8% compared to 6.4% for their white counterparts. These funding disparities paint a troubling picture beneath the surface of celebrated Black business growth.

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See T. Nicole's feature in Essence!

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Let's talk about representation. I've observed numerous brands putting significant effort into showcasing diversity, whether it's featuring Black and POC individuals on magazine covers, websites, or social media. However, it's crucial to question what's happening behind the scenes. When I saw this my jaw dropped. Consider the multitude of people involved in the decision-making process—how many individuals reviewed these initiatives and simply nodded in agreement, deeming them satisfactory? That said, it's important to understand that representation will also not fix systemic racism - just look at our government but that's another conversation! #representation

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Get Your Lifeboat and Escape the Titanic: The Black Wealth Master Plan Discover the Black Wealth Master Plan to secure your financial future. Learn why every black child should be trained in entrepreneurship by age 12 and own shares of stock by age 5. Don't let the racial wealth gap hold you back. Build a capital base and achieve true financial freedom. #BlackWealthMasterPlan #FinancialFreedom #Entrepreneurship #Investing #BlackEconomics #RacialWealthGap #CapitalBase #FinancialEducation #WealthBuilding #FinancialEmpowerment

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This past week while in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to create some professional content at Real Estate Collaboration Hub. It is an amazing space with a lot of options for professionals that are focused on Real Estate Collaboration. My focus is media production and helping personal and professional brands communicate their expertise through creative media. This happens through short form and long form content creation. #contentcreation #digitalmedia #photography #videography #contentediting

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By 2036 the United States is projected to face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians. As a telehealth platform, Ask Me Your MD, Inc. (AMY MD) doesn’t just connect you with a doctor… AMYMD’s model turns one doctor into 10. While also reducing cost for the patient and insurer PLUS reducing the time It takes to see a specialist. The symptom = lack of access to a physicians/specialists. The root cause = we don’t have enough doctors. <—-AMY MD. It’s been a pleasure to see the fruits of Patricia Kelly Marsh, MD labor. …and that non-dilutive funding just hits different 😎 lol ✅ P.S. if you’re in town for the gener8tor healthcare conference next week, stop by for our dinner and showcase to learn more about Ask Me Your MD, Inc. (AMY MD) RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/dJvBecVB Prosper HealthTech Accelerator 🕶️ a vision of Prosper 🔋powered by gener8tor

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