By Tony Lawson Real estate developers shape how cities grow, where housing is built, and how neighborhoods evolve. Their work involves assembling land, structuring financing, […]
Category: Black Enterprise
What the Coco & Breezy Licensing Deal Reveals About How Independent Brands Scale   Â
The eyewear category does not operate like most consumer goods markets. Products move through independent optical practices and specialty retailers that are supplied almost entirely […]
Black-owned Architecture Firms Shaping the Built Environment — Vol. 1   Â
By Tony Lawson Architecture sits at the front end of infrastructure. Decisions made during the design stage shape how institutions operate, how public investment is […]
Ground Work: J. Byron Brazier on Building Durable Development   Â
Woodlawn Central is an ambitious development project on Chicago’s South Side, a large-scale, mixed-use development steps from the Obama Presidential Center, Lake Michigan, and the […]
Inside WWT: The $20B Tech Firm Built Outside Silicon Valley   Â
World Wide Technology is a St. Louis-based enterprise technology services firm founded in 1990 by David Steward. The privately held company generates approximately $20 billion […]
Attorney Talk: Cedric Powell on Legal Strategy in Middle-Market Private Equity   Â
Middle-market private equity is evolving. Cedric Powell, a partner in Squire Patton Boggs’ Global Corporate Practice in Washington, DC, sees the shift as structural. The […]
Lendistry to Distribute $100 Million Visa Small Business Fund   Â
By Tony O. Lawson National CDFI lender Lendistry will manage $100 million in small business financing on behalf of Visa. A global payments company allocating […]
The Billion-Dollar Bet That Reshaped Pat McGrath Labs   Â
In 2018, Pat McGrath became one of the few Black founders in beauty to see her company valued at $1 billion. Pat McGrath Labs had […]
The Debt Advantage: Rethinking How Founders Finance Growth   Â
Equity funding has become the dominant narrative in startup financing. Venture capital attracts outsized attention relative to its actual deployment. It is a selective, concentrated […]
The Black Bank Deposit Gap: Why Asset Growth Remains Constrained   Â
Discussions about Black-owned banks frequently focus on individual action. Open an account. Move deposits. Demonstrate support. Less attention is given to the structural factor that […]