Taking some action

Rob Forbes | 09-15-2020

I haven’t posted anything on Studio Forbes for two years.  But current events have motivated me to write and hopefully take some action. I have an idea for a new venture, and I need to recruit people outside my immediate circle to make it a reality. You might be able to help me out, so please read on.

What disturbs me personally: The increasing gap in wealth between the rich and poor. It makes me reflect on our economic inequity rather than appreciate my own well-being. Amazon seems to be swallowing us all and riding herd over our local stores.  I don’t like shopping with them, though I do it in a pinch.  The monopoly power of Apple makes me question them as a design–led firm and what design means to most people today.  The tsunami of branding firms in the Bay Area seems driven by the conspicuous consumption of a group already overstuffed with goods. This makes me challenge my own career as a marketing guy selling stuff. I have been less fixated on (though properly distressed by) other critical issues like our political nightmare and climate change, but I feel less complicit in creating those disasters, and less skilled at helping to clean them up.

Those issues were festering with me before the pandemic hit, before social distancing forced the closing of local shops, hotels and eateries and tossed so many of my friends out of work. This was before the specter of evictions, capsized careers, ruined livelihoods, deaths, and loss of healthcare devastated so many. Then the George Floyd killing with its haunting video sparked public outcry internationally, and The Black Lives Matter movement focused the world on the persistent issues of systemic racism in the US.  They clarified the fact that police brutality, like the pandemic, is not spread equally across our population. Black and other disadvantaged communities are disproportionately punished, and we are all complicit in this reality. Conversely, the pandemic has delivered more wealth and power to those who need it least, and the disparity between haves and have-nots has become even more extreme. Check out the real estate boom in tony suburbs since March when the virus hit.  Or check out Apple’s or Amazon’s stock price if you need an easy data point.

“I don’t know what most white people in this country feel, but I can only conclude what they feel from the state of their institutions.” – James Baldwin.

It’s easy to feel powerless or guilty about all this. Many of us feel disconnected in our white demographic urban bubbles.  My boomer bracket seems to be taking some action politically at least. This election cycle  the Democrats are at least weaving some progressive notions into their platform, unlike 2016. We can vote and send in a check to help flip the Senate.  But how do we become more involved with solutions to the messes we have created? 

Here is my angle. I’ll try to form an organization to provide pro bono services and financial grants to businesses and startups led by minorities in the US. The venture might be naïve and beyond my skill set.  I need partners for sure. But I have founded a few companies that required fundraising in the millions, business strategy, and a ton of networking, organization building, marketing, and bootstrapping.  This I can do. I have reached out to enough people in my peer group to sense that there is interest and support.

The issues I am sorting out include the following:  Can experienced white entrepreneurs and businesspeople get involved effectively with small businesses led by minorities? Is there a fit?  How do we acquire the skill set, language, and cred to address their needs?   How do we understand the problems that we wish to help solve? Can we be relevant?  Is my modern design-centric DNA too narrow and elitist to have value to this group?  With DWR and PUBLIC bikes I knew the customer: I was the customer. Not the case here.  But this is a design problem – Eames said “design addresses the need”. Is there a greater need than treating humans as humans?

“It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own. It ends with justice, compassion, and empathy that manifests in our lives and on our streets.” – Michele Obama.

The only way to learn if I can add value and help solve this design problem is to become engaged with these groups and listen and learn. This can only be accomplished with involvement and direction from the minority-led small business community.  So before raising funds, I need an advisory board led by the members and customers in the minority demographic, with an equal balance of women and men.  It’s not a problem that older white businesses people can solve. We will likely be more successful as catalysts for change and connectors than as business mentors. I’m reaching out in numerous directions here; this Studio Forbes post is but one angle.

If you know POC entrepreneurs and/or small business founders who could serve as advisors, mentors, partners, or in need of our services or support, please refer them to me. It’s a start. All feedback and referrals are greatly appreciated. Please send them to me at rob@studioforbes.com.

All feedback and referrals are greatly appreciated.

Best,

Rob Forbes