CIAO DATE: 01/02

Coming Together—Bridging the Gap between Investors and Minority Internet Entrepreneurs

Abstract

America has always been a nation of entrepreneurs; a nation of people willing to take risks for higher rewards. Nowhere has this entrepre-neurial spirit been more evident than in the emerging environment of electronic commerce, or e-commerce, and the Internet medium. Thousands of these new businesses are coming to market each year, often spurred by significant investments from venture capitalists. Front page headlines tout the spiking stock prices of high tech initial public offerings, indicating among other things the importance of these ventures to the new economy. And, while there has been a slowdown from the early heady days when venture capitalists funded anyone with a dot-com idea, much less an actual product or service, e-commerce and Internet ventures continue to grow, and new entrants continue to crowd the field.

In all the publicity surrounding these new ventures, however, one disturbing picture comes into focus—players in the dot-com game do not reflect a cross-section of American entrepreneurs. From the seed money stage to that of obtaining the millions it takes to grow a business successfully, minorities have rarely been able to cross the invisible, but very real, color bar to e-commerce success.

Coming Together—Bridging the Gap between Investors and Minority Internet Entrepreneurs (PDF File)