MC Hammer will be lending his advice to a group of entrepreneurs in a program that will focus on building successful, minority-led businesses in Silicon Valley.
From the Wall Street Journal:
… Hammer … is lending advice to minority entrepreneurs in the New Media Entrepreneurship, or NewMe, accelerator program in Silicon Valley this summer. Starting June 16, seven minority-led start-ups from across the country will live in a rented house in Mountain View, Calif., and can work there or in a shared space in San Francisco. Additional Bay Area start-ups will also be invited to participate, but will not live in the house.
Hammer's advice to start-ups? Don't give away too much equity too early and look for a profitable niche within existing markets.
"You don't have to invent the wheel, but you might want to be the company that invents the rims," said Hammer in a phone interview.
The program is being produced by Angela Benton of Black Web 2.0, strategist-entrepreneur Wayne Sutton and Semantic Seed's Toby Morning. Participants will receive advice and networking opportunities with people of color in the tech world.
This sounds like the first step in the right direction for black entrepreneurs and young startups. And if the participants are all living together, maybe a TV network should look into producing a documentary or, dare we say it, a reality show on this experience. Real-world people making real-world business propositions? It could be interesting. ABC, CNN, BET, VH1? Anybody?
Read the rest of this story at the Wall Street Journal.
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