Successful Black Entrepreneurs: Hidden Histories, Inspirational Stories, and Extraordinary Business Achievements

By Steven S. Rogers

Learn about the successes of Black entrepreneurs through a collection of unique case studies  

Successful Black Entrepreneurs is an insightful collection of Harvard Business School case studies about Black entrepreneurs succeeding in a variety of industries and through different routes, including start-ups, franchising, and acquisitions. The book also recognizes and celebrates Black entrepreneurial excellence, as it takes the reader through the stages of entrepreneurship, including ideation, raising capital, growing the company, and taking it public. In addition to identifying the positive aspects of Black entrepreneurship, the book also uses data, research, and anecdotes to highlight the challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs, including: 

• An inability to access capital from traditional financial institutions like banks and private equity firms 
• The requirement to practice “racial concealment” in the company of White customers in order to achieve success 

Perfect for students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and established business leaders, Successful Black Entrepreneurs provides practical perspectives from Black entrepreneurs about what it takes to succeed in business.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Feb 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781119806806

Book preview

SUCCESSFUL

BLACK

ENTREPRENEURS

HIDDEN HISTORIES, INSPIRATIONAL STORIES, AND EXTRAORDINARY BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENTS

CASE STUDIES BY HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

STEVEN S. ROGERS

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, RETIRED

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Copyright © 2022 by Steven Rogers. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

Case studies reprinted with the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119806738 (Hardcover)

ISBN 9781119806813 (ePDF)

ISBN 9781119806806 (ePub)

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Preface

ALL OF THE case studies included in this book were taught as part of my course at Harvard Business School. This course, Black Business Leaders and Entrepreneurship, was historic as it represented the first course, in any business school, devoted singularly to the challenges, efforts, and accomplishments of Black entrepreneurs. The course description and syllabus is included in the Appendix.

The primary objective of the course was the same as one of the objectives of this book—to identify, recognize, and celebrate the brilliance of Black men and women who achieved success as entrepreneurs. Of particular note, these people were and are not athletes or entertainers.

Rarely will you see the inclusion of athletes or entertainers on any list identifying successful entrepreneurs. The exception that nearly makes the rule is when such a list identifies Black entrepreneurs. This is problematic for the Black community because it implies that non-Blacks can achieve entrepreneurial success through their intellect and vision, but Blacks rely on their athletic accomplishments or entertainment skills to achieve similar success. It is unfair because it ignores the fact that these Black entertainers typically pursued entrepreneurial endeavors AFTER they had successfully established a brand. Establishing a brand allowed them to then use their names, financial resources, and hired management teams to extend the range of their impact to areas of new products or services. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this business model when it is applied to the universe of entrepreneurial recognition. But achieving entrepreneurial success through branding alone is only applied to Blacks generally. Therefore, it sends a message to the Black community that if a person aspires to be a successful entrepreneur, then the pathway requires becoming a successful athlete or entertainer first.

Therefore, the mission of this book and all of the case studies that I published is to fight the stereotypic conviction that there is a narrow Black entrepreneurial archetype. My fervent belief is that it is imperative for Blacks to embrace something broader, to know that their entrepreneurial role models should be and are other Black men and women who have used their intellect, problem-solving skills, and business acumen to become successful entrepreneurs.

The case studies in this book also differ from the typical Harvard Business School case studies with the inclusion of Black history. Every case reviewed has a section devoted to teaching the reader something historical about the Black community. All of the supplemental information covered was tangentially related to the protagonist covered. For example, the case study on Otis Gates included a section about the Pullman porters, after it was mentioned that Gates's father held that occupation. A similar historical vignette about Tuskegee Airmen was included in the case study on John Rogers because his father was one of those distinguished military pilots.

Finally, I am most proud of the fact that a distinguishing aspect of every case is that the Black entrepreneurs are shown to be more than just symbols of monetary success. These men and women made tangible, public contributions to the Black community. To illustrate my point, you may note that Valerie Daniels-Carter created a community center in the heart of the Black community in Milwaukee, while Otis Gates not only increased housing opportunities but funded after-school programs, adult education, and job coaching in community centers in Boston's Black community.

The inclusion of the community contributions of these Black entrepreneurs was intentional. My intent was to define Black entrepreneurial success as being more than an individual with the ability to make a lot of money. There is a legacy that our Black entrepreneur ancestors have left us that is highlighted throughout this book that the true measure of a successful Black entrepreneur requires a positive answer to the question, In addition to your financial success, what have you done to help the Black community?

One couple who had financial success and helped the Black community was Willa and Charles Bruce, mentioned in Chapter 3. Their successful beach resort was closed after the city government took their land. This was done because they were Black and their customers were Black. On April 6, 2021, the Manhattan Beach City Council voted to begin the process of righting the wrong inflicted on the Bruce family. Their objective is to return the land ownership to the descendants of Willa and Charles. This effort to transfer the land was accompanied by the following statement from a government official, The Bruces had their California dream stolen from them… . And this was an injustice inflicted not just upon Willa and Charles Bruce but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires if they had been able to keep this property and their successful business.¹ I strongly believe the right thing to do is for the county to return this property to the Bruce family.

Hopefully the publicity about this injustice will also teach people about Willa and Charles, two successful Black entrepreneurs who were not athletes or entertainers, but great business people! While I am making you aware of the crimes against these two entrepreneurs, this book also recognizes and celebrates their brilliance, as well as the effulgence of other Black entrepreneurs.

Note

1   John Antczak, Plan Would Return California Beachfront Taken from Black family in '20s. ABC10. April 9, 2021. https://www.abc10.com/article/news/nation-world/los-angeles-county-beachfront-property-black-family-return/507-a1e2a4d6-5e1d-4cc3-a09b-47e44b0b8316

Introduction

AS STATED IN the Preface, a few years ago, while serving as a professor at Harvard Business School (HBS), I created a new course titled Black Business Leaders and Entrepreneurship. After hearing about the new course, a White professor asked, Why do we need this course? What is the difference between Black and White entrepreneurs? In response, I identified the following:

Black entrepreneurs do not have the same access to capital from traditional financial institutions, including banks and private equity firms.

Many Black entrepreneurs who want to sell to White customers must practice racial concealment to be successful.

Successful Black entrepreneurs who are not athletes or entertainers are virtually invisible in the minds of the mainstream public.

All of these forces have a negative impact on Black entrepreneurship, which, in turn, hurts the Black community and the entire country. For centuries, Black entrepreneurs have contributed to the growth of the American economy. That is the reason why all of America should care about the success of Black entrepreneurs. Therefore, this book is not only for Black readers but for every person interested in learning about great entrepreneurs who have made the U.S. a better country.

This book leverages the rich data learnings from HBS coursework and case studies (included in almost every chapter) and applies them to the current social justice and political movements in the world at large. My belief is that the world needs more Black leaders in business generally, and more Black entrepreneurs in particular.

Successful Black entrepreneurs create jobs for Black, White, and other racial groups. They have created companies that provide products and services that have benefited society at large. To emphasize that point, the following list includes Black entrepreneurs who invented or made major improvements to everyday products that remain in common use:

Sarah Boone – the ironing board

Lydia Newman – the hairbrush

Thomas Stewart – the string mop

George Sampson – the automatic clothes dryer

John Burr – the lawn mower

Richard Spikes – the automatic gear shift

Garrett Morgan – the traffic light

John Standard – the refrigerator

As significant as these products may be in your life, the real question is, how many of these people had you heard of? More than likely, the answer is none, even if you are Black. Most of you, of course, will have heard of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Sam Walton, and Charles Schwab, I will wager. Why such a disparity in our awareness, and appreciation?

The largely, heretofore, hidden history of Black entrepreneurship motivated the creation of my course at HBS. Initially, I combined lesser-known facts and stories, along with an HBS case study that I wrote about a Black entrepreneur. I only wrote about successful Black entrepreneurs. My definition of success includes their monetary accomplishments as well as their contributions back to the Black community. These contributions were comprised of jobs for Blacks and/or philanthropic donations to the Black community. I published 24 case studies before retiring from HBS in 2019, which comprises the most case studies with Black protagonists written by a single author in this country, and some of them will be included in this unique book.

HBS has an inventory of over 10,000 case studies that generate over $100 million in annual revenue for the university. Over 80% of all case studies used by business schools throughout the world are from this HBS inventory. I have written over 50% of all HBS case studies that have a Black protagonist. This book will bring many of them together in a collection for the first time. While such a large collection of case studies regarding Black entrepreneurs makes this book distinctively different, the addition of content about the history of Black entrepreneurship, with related issues and materials, will make it substantially more than a simple collection of case studies.

Every chapter will end with one of my case studies, preceded by a brief description of the case and at least two questions that can help you structure your analysis and determine your answers. The case study topic will be directly related to the title of the chapter. Each case was taught at Harvard Business School to MBA students. You will now get the exact same opportunity to read the case, analyze it, identify the problems, and recommend solutions.

The objectives of this book are multifold, including the following:

Provide you with history that you are not likely to have ever heard before.

Kill stereotypes that only athletes and entertainers are successful Black entrepreneurs.

Raise the profile of Black entrepreneurs so that, hopefully, it improves their access to capital.

Help all entrepreneurs see themselves solving problems currently addressed only by Black entrepreneurs.

Inform you that more Black entrepreneurs are needed.

Inspire Black people through entrepreneur role models who look like them.

Promote the idea that entrepreneurship is a skill that can be learned and is not a quality that is defined by race.

By the way, the White professor mentioned earlier is Jeff Bussgang. After learning about the realities of Black entrepreneurship, he decided to be part of the solution. He partnered with a Black woman, Donna Levin—a former entrepreneur who took her company, Care.com, public—to co-teach his popular course Launching Technology Ventures. He also added my case study, Mented Cosmetics, to his course. Finally, he has partnered with two Black HBS professors to create and co-teach a new course