Latest news with #entrepreneurs
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
The Future-Proof Her Business Summit Offers Tech-Savvy Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs
"GeekPack® Founder and CEO, Julia Taylor, along with some of the expert speakers featured at The Future-Proof Her Business Summit" Top Experts Share Real Strategies for Business Growth without the Overwhelm Colorado - July 17, 2025 - Founder & CEO of GeekPack®, Julia Taylor, is pleased to announce The Future-Proof Her Business Summit, July 21-23, a free three-day virtual event designed to help women entrepreneurs navigate AI overwhelm, uncertainty, and create a roadmap for smart business growth. Participants will learn from experts in mindset, AI, and business growth in a series of short yet informative sessions. The Future-Proof Her Business Summit is designed to help women business owners adapt, grow, and stay relevant during these fast-changing times. Whether you're a solopreneur or heading a small team, these sessions will give you strategies to help navigate change with confidence. The Future-Proof Her Business Summit features an array of engaging guest speakers, including: Julie Chenell (Marketing & Business) Helen Henley (Mindset) Brittany Long (Impact-Driven AI) LaToya Russell (Automations) Christine LaVopa (Health & Fitness) experts from Relay (Cash Flow) real business owners and host Julia Taylor, the CEO and Founder of GeekPack What makes this summit so unique? Intentional Schedule & Structured Flow - Thoughtfully paced sessions ensure participants feel engaged but never overloaded High-Value Expert Sessions & Interactive Chats - No fluff sessions from experts focusing on actionable insights and strategies that can be implemented right away Built-In Reflection & Networking Time - Connecting with fellow business owners to build meaningful connections, personalized support, and daily prompts to anchor in the trainings Actionable, Manageable Steps - Walk away each day feeling more confident, armed with practical next-steps that can be easily integrated into your business By the end of the Summit, participants will have a clear roadmap of how to grow their business with ease; a fresh perspective on how to integrate AI tools into their operations to save time and money; a sense of empowerment that anything is possible; and a community that is there to support, and uplift women who are making the world a better place through business. 'I created these events after seeing so many entrepreneurs spinning their wheels, feeling overwhelmed, and unsure how to navigate rapid AI changes,' states Julia Taylor, Founder & CEO of GeekPack. 'This summit is about giving women a renewed sense of confidence, clarity, and a tangible plan to grow their businesses without burning out.' 'Starting a small business takes grit and ambition, but keeping it going means always having your eye on the money,' says Yoseph West, Co-Founder & CEO of Relay. 'At Relay, every move we make is about enabling anyone to build a long-lasting and profitable business. Partnering with GeekPack is an obvious match. They support a vibrant community of dedicated entrepreneurs focused on building their long-term futures. Together, we're not just simplifying financial management, we're sparking sustainable growth for business owners everywhere." The Future-Proof Her Business Summit is a free, virtual summit running July 21-23, 2025. Each day features sessions with subject matter experts and daily action steps to create business momentum. Participants will walk away with practical strategies, cutting-edge tools, and a clear road map of what to do next for their business. Proudly sponsored by Relay, Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, and our Community Network Partners. Free registration is available at: About GeekPack Since 2018, GeekPack has been transforming the lives of women by equipping them with the skills, strategies, and support to confidently build businesses that thrive in a digital world. With a flourishing community reaching over 162,000 aspiring and growing entrepreneurs, GeekPack's engaging events and programs provide valuable expertise for building successful, future-ready businesses. Founder Julia Taylor's impact has been recognized by the Tory Burch Foundation and the Cartier Women's Initiative, where she was honored as a 2024 Fellow. Learn more at About Relay Relay is an online banking platform that puts business owners in complete control of their cash flow. By helping them clearly understand what they're earning, spending, and saving, Relay empowers entrepreneurs to make smarter decisions about their business and reach peak profitability. Disclaimer: Relay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Thread Bank; Member FDIC.
Fast Company
3 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Can't get a business loan? This new credit card might change that
Entrepreneurs and prospective business owners, looking for ways to finance their budding companies, often run into a problem: Their personal credit scores are low, making it difficult to access the loans they may need to lease a storefront or buy equipment. A solution may be on the way. Fintech company Nav is launching new features to its signature credit card to help entrepreneurs build their personal and business credit simultaneously. The card—called the Nav Prime Card—is designed to help small business owners get their operations off the ground. Many of those entrepreneurs rely on their personal credit, at the very early stages, to get those operations going. As such, it's a product designed for 'Main Street' small businesses, rather than startups or those seeking VC or investor financing. The Nav Prime Card itself actually launched in 2023, and the features that allow for simultaneous credit-building (which are optional) are launching this summer. In effect, the Nav Prime Card helps those small business owners build their own credit scores and the credit profile of their businesses at the same time, and there's nothing else like it on the market, says Nav's CEO and co-founder, Levi King. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter. Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters A credit product born of small business experience 'The whole thing was born from my experience as a small business owner,' he says. 'I started out fixing electric signs,' he says, and found issues trying to get the equipment he needed—such as a truck—due to his business having a small or no credit profile, and his personal credit not quite cutting it for lenders. So, the idea was born to help small business owners in similar situations get access to the credit they need, and boost their personal and business credit profiles. 'When you start a business, the credit bureaus have a record that you exist, but you'll appear 'high-risk' because you're brand new and have no credit history,' he says. So, Nav developed the Prime Card, creating something that didn't yet exist, and in a sort of gray area that many other fintech leaders weren't paying attention to. 'I could see the opportunity before other people,' King says, referring to his days operating an electrical sign business. 'If you're in Silicon Valley, you get an MBA at Stanford, you're not looking at small businesses. My background, as a small business owner, helped me see a future that others couldn't.' A big potential impact There's a big potential pool of customers, too, who could be interested. Nav cites data that shows almost 70% of small business owners have a credit score below 670. And people are starting businesses like never before—the most recent Census Bureau data shows that almost 5.5 million new businesses were launched in the U.S. during 2023, which is an increase of almost 57% from 2019. So far, too, King says that the people who have tried the card 'love it.' Investors love it, too. Randy Komisar, a member of the Board of Directors—and a Silicon Valley heavyweight who founded Claris and TiVo, was also the CEO of LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, among many other things—says that King's vision presents a big opportunity and solves a real problem for small businesses. 'I want to use the power and resources available to me to try and solve this problem: How can we make the small business sector stronger and more viable, and use technology to help?' he says. 'When Levi came to me with his idea,' he continues, 'I saw it as an opportunity to have a similar impact to Intuit—for what Intuit did for bookkeeping.' While it's unlikely that Nav will grow to the mammoth scale of a company like Intuit, Komisar believes the company's future is bright, as it aims to address 'real' problems for small business owners. 'I'm very enthusiastic about a plan that uses credit information to allow small businesses to manage their growth and sustainability in a way that they're ill-equipped to do with the tools today,' he says.
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Advice: Sometimes You Get What You Pay For
The Rules From A VC Who Doesn't Fit The Mold VC has a mantra - pay it forward. It's the notion that, in this innovation gig, we are all in it together and therefore sharing what we know with others benefits the entire ecosystem. For the most part, this philosophy is hugely generous and benefits both the entrepreneur and the investor. Many would go so far as to credit this philosophy as being the core differentiator that has made and continues to make Silicon Valley a great place for innovators and innovation to flourish. People are generous to a fault, with bits of advice filling the air up and down Sand Hill Road. Investors, in particular, have embraced this philosophy so much so that there is an old adage: 'If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice.' Unfortunately, what I have found over the years is that some of the advice shared with entrepreneurs, specifically by investors, amounts to nothing more than a sound bite. I still recall from more than twenty years ago the first bit of advice I heard VCs consistently give entrepreneurs. Every panel it seemed had investors express some version of the sentiment, 'raising VC is like a marriage.' Now, I love a good sound bite as much as the next investor. A well-phrased, brief statement can shortcut a shared language into a shared understanding. However, this particular sentiment has always proved problematic for me for the simple reason that marriage does not have a universal language nor does it have a shared experience across cultures, genders, and individual experiences. So, let me give my take on what I think raising VC means for an entrepreneur and her business. All of this is to say, I don't have a pithy sound bite for raising venture capital, primarily because of #1 on my list. This is serious stuff and cannot be - nor should it be - boiled down to a cute phase that ultimately leads to confusion, frustration and broken promises.
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Everyone Wants a Bitcoin Treasury
The basic idea is that the US stock market will pay $2 for $1 worth of crypto. If you have a pot of crypto, you should merge it with a small US public company, because then your pot of crypto will be worth twice as much. This creates weird dynamics. I mean, it is a weird dynamic, but it creates further weird dynamics. Two are: On the first point, we talk a lot around here about small public companies that get gobbled up by crypto entrepreneurs so they can pivot to being crypto treasury companies. But this is inefficient and haphazard: If you want to take a pot of crypto public on the stock exchange, why should you have to find some defunct public biotech company, negotiate with its executives, strike a deal, lay off the biotech researchers, etc.? Why shouldn't an investment bank just be in the business of supplying pristine public listings, so instead of pivoting some biotech/toy/liquor/whatever company to crypto, you can just start with a blank slate?
Finextra
7 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
GLEIF launches VLEI hackathon
The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) announces today the official launch of the vLEI Hackathon – a global innovation challenge in digital organizational identity. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. This new initiative aims to catalyze innovation and promote cross-industry collaboration to develop novel applications for the verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI). The vLEI is a digital, trustworthy attestation of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) tied to the ISO-Standard 17442. This highly secure digital credential links an organization's identity with that of a natural person and the specific role they hold within the organization. By enabling peer-to-peer verification, the vLEI allows transactions, data, and credentials to be verified, trusted, and shared through peer-to-peer mechanisms without dependence on intermediaries or centralized platforms. This lays the foundation for the future of the digital economy – empowering legal entities everywhere with the confidence and freedom to trust and be trusted globally. GLEIF invites developers, entrepreneurs, policy stakeholders, and innovators around the world to take part in the vLEI Hackathon and explore its potential across three key thematic areas: Digital Assets & Financial Infrastructure Industry, Commercial & Finance Processes & Operations Trade, Supply Chain Resilience, and SME Finance Participating teams will develop and submit their solutions via the APIX Platform, where full details of the challenges are available. Following independent assessment by an international judging panel of experts, winners and runner-ups will be invited to present their solutions at exclusive in-person events this year in New York at Chainlink SmartCon, which brings governments, financial institutions, and blockchain projects together to discuss the technologies transforming global markets (3rd November), during the Hong Kong Fintech Week (7th November), and at GLEIF's digital ORG ID Forum co-hosted with Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in Frankfurt am Main (2nd December). The vLEI Hackathon enjoys the steadfast support of leading organizations, including Affinidi, Apix, Cardano Foundation, Chainlink, Cardano, EPA Asia, Esatus, the Finternet Lab, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, GFTN Europe, Giesecke+Devrient, ICC Digital Standards Initiative, Key State Capital, Swift, Hong Kong PKI Forum, Vayana, and more. Additionally, the vLEI Hackathon will contribute to the further development of the ecosystem supported by Qualified vLEI Issuers (QVIs), including Certizen Technology, China Financial Certification Authority (CFCA), Finema, Global vLEI, Provenant, and TradeGo, which will also play central roles. Alexandre Kech, CEO at GLEIF, comments: "The vLEI is a transformative leap forward in digital organizational identity, one that empowers organizations and individuals alike to operate with greater transparency and confidence across borders, infrastructures, and ecosystems. The vLEI Hackathon is our call to technology innovators everywhere to create innovative vLEI applications that will shape the future of digital trust. With our global partners, we are bringing together diverse expertise from a range of industries to explore and expand the use cases of the vLEI in real-world scenarios." Fernando Vazquez, President, Capital Markets at Chainlink, comments: 'We're excited to collaborate with GLEIF for the vLEI Hackathon and bring verifiable identity credentials onchain, which is the key unlock institutions need to deploy compliant digital assets in production and at a global scale. With Chainlink Automated Compliance Engine and GLEIF vLEIs, developers can now, for the first time, build production-ready digital asset applications with institutional-grade identity and compliance from day one.' Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Head of Strategy at Swift, comments: "With trust and interoperability at the core of financial services, initiatives like the vLEI Hackathon foster solutions that align with the evolving needs of digital finance and effectively build bridges between digital assets and established systems." Prof. Co-Pierre Georg, Director of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, comments: "Our mission is to foster innovations in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Therefore, we're proud to support the important work of GLEIF with this Hackathon, which will bring some of the industry's most creative and innovative minds to Frankfurt School.'
