Mark Cuban Offers Advice To Black Women Founders: ‘Stop Looking For Funding’ – Essence

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban has made his fortune from smart investments, namely with growth-oriented companies. After scaling his net worth to a reported $5.7B, it’s safe to say he knows what it takes to build a successful business. 

Just ahead of taking the stage at SXSW in Austin, TX alongside Tabitha Brown and entrepreneur Justin Fenchel for a panel discussion on entrepreneurship presented by fintech Clover, Cuban told ESSENCE what he thinks Black women founders should do instead of seeking funding. 

“I would tell you not to look for funding,” Cuban tells ESSENCE. “You have to figure out a way to use sweat equity to build it on your own, even if it means starting smaller and slower, because there is a learning process, and it’s twofold. One is learning about your business and making it loanworthy. Then two is learning the language of those making the loans.” 

Cuban also acknowledged the funding gap Black women founders face. Black women business owners who apply for funding face a 3x higher rejection rate than that of white business owners according to recent data. What’s more, just 2% of venture capital funding in the United States goes to female-only founding teams. 

Devastating, yes. But Cuban says founders can take this opportunity to lean into knowing the financial side of their business more intimately so when they’re loan-ready, they won’t be taken advantage of. 

“You can’t rush it,” he continues. “You have to take whatever time to get it right, because if you go into that bank, if you go somewhere to try to get a loan and you don’t get it, you still got to be in a position to work and go forward. What’s even worse, and this is something I think is the most important point—there’s a lot of predatory lending out there, and it’s awful. {The lenders}  see people who may not have the financial literacy or understanding, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll make you a loan.’” 

Tabitha Brown also shared her insight for aspiring Black women founders aiming to grow their businesses, especially in a tumultuous political and economic climate. 

“If you’re dreaming of it, if you think about something more than twice in a day, you’re supposed to do something with it,” she says. “The thing that keeps you up at night, it ain’t keeping you up for no reason. I’m supposed to do something with it. So despite the climate of the world, because the climate is always going to change. It’s inevitable. But you can still do all the things you desire. So I say, still go for it. Don’t rush it, okay? One day at a time. But if you can do one small thing towards it every day, you’re still going forward. So I say, go forward. Go forward. Even in this climate, it’s still going to be all right.”