Morgan DeBaun quit Intuit to build Blavity after the Ferguson protests
Morgan DeBaun · How I Built Resilience: Live with Morgan DeBaun · Jul 11, 2020 · at 7:41
Morgan DeBaun, founder and CEO of Blavity, discusses her decision to leave Silicon Valley corporate tech and build her media startup full-time in 2014.
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“You know, I quit my job, and I worked on Blavity full-time. We had already launched a version of it over the summer, but I really, at that point, you know, quit my job in, in the fall right after Mike Brown happened.”
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More from Morgan DeBaun
Morgan DeBaun: Founders should plan exit outcomes when initially raising capital
“I know they always say, well, don't worry about the outcome or who you're going to sell to when you're first raising money. I think it's important to think through those things, actually.”
Morgan DeBaun: Brands avoid running ads alongside social justice coverage
“You know, people are very sensitive about running ads or campaigns against black death or murder or social justice, because that's not always ad safe or ad friendly.”
Morgan DeBaun: Venture-backed startups must target $40M to $50M in revenue
“Also, venture funding isn't for every business model, right? You know, you have to very much be on a mission to build a hundred million dollar plus business and be able to Get to 40, fifty million dollars in revenue plus, right?”
Morgan DeBaun: Standalone media companies struggle to raise venture funding
“And I think media alone as an industry is very difficult to get venture funding for we've seen so many media companies go out of business.”
Morgan DeBaun: Venture funding creates constant pressure to sell the company
“Now, when you take venture funding, the only way people get their money back is if you exit. That's a very tough thing that I have to struggle with because that means that we are selling it to someone else and that there's a constant push And drive towards tha…”
Morgan DeBaun: Blavity's 1 million users would raise $5M today, not $500K
“It took me a lot of no's to get 500,000 dollars for Blavity. And I had a million users at the time. If I went out today with that, I would raise five million because there's more venture funds focused on minorities and women of color.”