November 14, 2024 • 57 mins
Takeaways:
- The future of queer entrepreneurship looks optimistic, with increasing focus on community and innovation.
- Understanding the three types of LGBTQ+ businesses helps entrepreneurs strategize effectively for their ventures.
- Purpose-Driven businesses not only generate profit but also foster meaningful social change within communities.
- Diversity and inclusion are crucial for creating supportive environments in both businesses and society.
- Engaging with LGBTQ+ businesses can lead to greater visibility and resilience in the marketplace.
- The significance of allyship cannot be overstated; it plays a vital role in supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Coca Cola
- Meta
- Apple
- Startout
- Carlo for Capital
- Grindr
- Tinder
- Pride of Lionesses
- Hoshen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(06:17):
I would love to ask you both,what do you think is going to be
the future of queer entrepreneurship?
Because we've been talking alot about the past and about the
present, but as you know, manyof our episodes are available also
for years after.
Do you think it's going to getbetter or worse?
I think it's going to be better.
I'm always optimistic, by the way.
(06:38):
Yeah.
Let's talk more and about theLGBT communities around the world.
I'm Michael Ross and this isStraight Friendly.
(07:08):
Hello.
Hello and welcome back to ourentrepreneurial series here on Straight
Friendly Global.
On our previous episode, we'vebeen talking generally about the
four sectors of or organizations.
Nonprofits, the governmentalreferral sector.
And here we will be focusingwith the second sector with businesses.
(07:30):
We have our guest speakers, Band Savit Ben Shimol.
Hello.
Hello.
We really recommend you alsoto listen to our previous episode
where we've been talking aboutgovernmental and nonprofits in relation
to LGBTQ entrepreneurship andactivism, and even also innovation.
(07:51):
In this episode, we'll bereading even more about innovation.
So with us, Saeed Ben Shimal,who's an expert in diversity and
inclusion as a consultant.
She's a former CEO of Pride ofLionesses, an organization of parents
of trans children and motherof a young transgender man.
Hello, Salet.
(08:12):
Hello.
Great to be here.
We have with us Barak Crips,who up until recently been the vice
CEO of Hoshen, an Israeli nonprofit, deals with education and
social change and changemaking, where they create workshops
and courses in order tounderstand their LGBTQ communities
and is also specializes withdigital marketing.
(08:36):
Hello, Bagh.
Hello.
Hello.
Nice to be here again.
Good to have you both here.
So before we will dive intothis subject of the types of different
LGBTQ+ businesses andentrepreneurship, let's start.
First of all, we're generallytalking about the second sector,
(08:56):
what is known to be theprivate sector.
So the goals forentrepreneurship in the private sector
is to maximize profit.
So if we will think about hugecorporates that we might know about,
such as Coca Cola, that we allknow when you have investors, it's
(09:17):
a lot about maximizing theprofit, sometimes can contradict
with social change.
Yet it also has so much of animpact all around the world.
I mean, like all over theworld, we do know about corporate
organizations.
We even see how in these dayswhen we are bypassing through a technological
(09:41):
revolution, revolution also of data.
But in some cases,technological companies even have
much more effect on money thansome of the governments that we might
think about.
So like for instance, if wewill compare between the yearly budgets
(10:03):
of a third world countries,either if in, in Africa or in some
other places.
So for corporates like Meta,Facebook and so on Apple, sometimes
they have much more budgetsand so much of effect.
We will be dealing also ofcourse with startups and technologies
here in this episode.
(10:27):
For the private sector, wehave to emphasize also solo entrepreneurship.
Many times when we talk aboutbusiness and also we'll check the
materials and the studies andthe research all around the world
related to business and entrepreneurship.
(10:47):
So many, many times wediscourse first of all, very masculine,
we have to say, and very muchabout huge corporates.
But actually current datashows that most of the entrepreneurs
and the businesses areactually solo entrepreneurs, which
is very interesting.
We're in times also wheredigital content and digital tools
(11:11):
allow us to create differentinitiatives and have impact.
Just like here with thispodcast, without being a huge corporate
of, of of media and sponsorsand commercials.
Actually today we have manytools that allow and shape the whole
(11:33):
way people do business.
Current research also findsthat actually more than 80% of the
solo entrepreneurs are notwilling to recruit huge teams.
Usually they would just liketo recruit and work well with a bookkeeper
(11:53):
or tax consultancy and maybesometimes administrations.
This is a very important alsofor our discussion here because when
we talk about businesses, it'snot just about corporates and the
big companies, but sometimeswe might think about when talking
about business.
So the income models are dependent.
(12:15):
Income sources are dependentmainly on paying customers, on having
clients.
So the competition is much,much, much harder.
But at the same time, theefficiency, the agility works much,
much faster.
We can have examples ofbusinesses like a small nail salon
(12:39):
which is growing to differentbranches and startups as we have
been talking about.
So definitely like the prongsare efficiency, competition, innovation.
But with the cons, it's verydifficult to manage a business.
Very, very difficult.
And we'll also be dealing herewhat it's like to manage a business.
(13:01):
As a minority.
Most of the businesses that weknow about already in the first year,
the majority actually fellmany times.
The reasons for the, for thefailure are actually not for not
having a good business, notbecause of not having a good product,
(13:21):
but many times it's about cashflow issues, it's about issues of
experience and sometimes alsoissues of legislation.
So before we dive into thedifferent types of LGBTQ businesses
and entrepreneurship, let'sgenerally talk about business.
(13:45):
Let's do, let's do business,let's do business, let's talk about
the money, let's talk aboutthis, let's Talk about money.
Have the money.
Yeah.
And actually both of you havesome experience with businesses and
corporates.
And I think also Stavid, youhave a very interesting story, but
before having your currentbusiness, right.
Like these days, you are alsoa previous episode, you've been talking
(14:09):
about your involvement as anIsraeli NGO that unites mothers of
transgender kids and children.
These days you have also yourown business.
So you are actually soloentrepreneur as well, a business
one.
But before all of that, youwere working in another kind of corporate,
(14:34):
right?
Yes, different kinds ofcorporate companies in different
states.
And I think that is veryinteresting because diversity is
everywhere and they havegeneral challenge if you're talking
about money.
Okay.
So it's known that if you havediverse, it increases, you know,
(14:56):
all your incomes becauseeverything is more interesting and
more innovative and it looksdifferent and you can address different
sectors and clients.
If you have diverse employeesin your company, in one hand, they
(15:19):
are trying to think, okay, wewant to have diverse LGBTQ individuals
and also other diversitysections, different genders, different
religions.
And on one hand, you want tohave your employees from a big range
(15:40):
of the community.
On the other hand, you havethe problem that sometimes you don't
want your client to see thatyou are much better.
And I give lectures incompanies and I consult other companies
all about, of course, story ofmy life and other things that is
(16:03):
important to understand if youare trying to be diverse and inclusive
about your employees and in general.
And sometimes I hear.
But we think that this isgoing to be not comfortable for all
our employees to see that weare talking about transgender.
(16:27):
And being a mother of atransgender, it's too much.
Maybe for some people, or ifyou want to be a very innovative
company, but at your customerservice, you want to have a transgender
individual, you can also havea problem because you might lose
money if you, you know, ifyou're too progressive.
(16:52):
And I think this is the doublechallenge because as we said, it's
all about money.
And in one hand, you want toincrease your income, you want to
make change in the world.
I can see all over the placefrom lots of companies, Israeli and
global, that it's importantfor them to show that they are open
(17:17):
minded and their love foreveryone, but also complicated.
Not that easy because theyhave diverse people inside the company
and among the customers.
And it's not always easy to bethat, you know, okay, I'm going with
(17:39):
the flag.
Talk about the flag.
Put the flag in front of your building.
Is it okay?
Everybody's gonna like it.
Sometimes it's not that easy.
And you have to make bigchoices and they're interesting choices
that not always arecomfortable for everybody else.
(18:02):
But if you're a startupcompany and like, okay, so we are
like 10, 12 people and you'reall like, okay, very cute and you
understand everybody and soit's easier.
But as big as the companygets, it can be more complicated.
But I can tell you that frommy experience, more and more comments
(18:32):
to bring that issue up andthey understand how important it
is to have that, that kind ofconversation or put it on the table
as we say, not just to say,okay, let's not talk about it too
much.
Think it, I think, I thinkchallenge, but it gets better.
(18:54):
And I think it's importantbecause also if you want to have
other job opportunities forthe LGBTQ + individuals, you need
companies that can have thosepeople on board.
And we have all the challengesof the non binary people around that
(19:20):
can make everybody uncomfortable.
So I think there are bigchallenges around the whole idea
of inclusion inside companiesand this is something that they all
deal with.
I do find diversity to be avery, very important topic and we
(19:44):
will definitely deal with thatin this episode.
But I would also love a tohear from you, Barack.
As someone who's dealing withdigital marketing, so is Digital
marketing for LGBTQ + people,are you seeing some different tendencies,
some different needs from your clients?
(20:07):
It's interesting.
Well, I can say like forIsrael, in Israel we are very small
community.
In with small communities,it's rather you bring something amazing
and everybody's like, I needto have it or I need to go there.
Or we can be very suspiciousbecause it's really hard to bring
(20:30):
products or new stuff like inthe US for example.
So we don't really have ithere, like abroad.
So we don't have small cafesand we don't have special product
for LGBTQ people, like as theUS for example.
(20:53):
But we do have lots ofculture, a lot of culture.
We have lots of parties, wehave lots of events and recently
we have some studios for likebeauty salons.
But again, I'm talking aboutlike a couple of few like four free.
So I think in order to speakwith a community, you need to speak
(21:17):
their own language, like howit's working right now.
You need to understand whatthey're missing, what they need and
how to approach them.
So you need to understandagain the community.
And sometimes it can be veryeasy because it's a small community.
So you don't need to go likefar fetched, you know, like think
(21:42):
like Crazy, because it's here,it's around the corner here in Tel
Aviv or in Jerusalem.
But as I said before, like, wehave lots of culture in Israel, which
is very interesting, becauseyou can see a lot of people are creating,
like, small parties or events,and they can become huge.
(22:07):
For example, I've heard astory a long time ago about some
guy who got a small club inTel Aviv.
He brought some drag queens.
He created, like, events,great events.
And with the days he become of Nissim.
So of Nissim right now is likethe largest DJ in Israel, probably
(22:33):
the one who collaborated withMadonna and his couple of times in
a year, in normal year, notlike now, creating mega party for
the LGBTQ+ community andactually for everyone, like, right
(22:54):
now.
So everybody's, like, going there.
But he started small.
He started in a basement in asmall street in Tel Aviv.
He had an idea.
He had an idea and he hadpassion, and he wanted to create
culture for the community.
(23:14):
But it's a business.
This is what's reallyimportant to understand that.
And right now, nowadays,again, you can see a lot of people
are trying, a lot of people,like, creating parties, events.
They are becoming also very creative.
They are going right now todo, like, parties in the desert,
for example.
It's a new concept that we arehaving right now.
(23:37):
Let's go outside of the cityand have, like, a rain.
And we need to understand it'sa business, but sometimes hit the
community.
So we don't really see it,because we are like, it's the same
people.
They're like, I know them,they're friends of mine, the dj.
But they earn money for this,and I love it.
It's really.
(23:57):
It's shifting us.
And also for you, like yousaid, like in the previous episode
about, like, voguing.
It was so inspiring for you.
Let's see what happened.
In the US, voguing becamepageants, became drug pageants, became
RuPaul Drag Race.
It's huge.
It's global.
(24:19):
So you need a good idea.
You also can see how it allaffects everything.
I mean, like, for instance,the example of RuPaul's drug race
brought to the conscious in somany countries, voguing culture and
also the drug culture.
So we definitely see thesekind of correspondences between the
(24:44):
different sectors.
I have to admit that for me,as an entrepreneur and also as a
lecturer, for me, the issuesof LGBTQ economies and startup and
businesses is, for me, themost interesting one.
So I will really try to holdmyself and be focused here in this
(25:06):
discussion.
Which I'm very passionateabout this subject.
And actually, while you wereboth talking, I realized that I want
to present actually somethinghere, something which I was not planning
to do.
We have to take intoconsideration the fact that LGBTQ
plus people are a minoritygroup, just like any other kind of
(25:30):
a minority.
It can be a Jewish minority insome other country.
It can be also characterizedby race, by color, by language, by
gender and gender.
And many other women all overthe world are Exactly.
And just because of being women.
(25:50):
So we do, we do know aboutalso in business also, but both for
clients and for entrepreneurs.
But there are some veryinteresting data and research that
deals with minorities.
I think what's also veryinteresting here is the fact that
we have to take intoconsideration a term which is called
minority stress that everykind of minority suffers from as
(26:13):
a minority, let's say even.
Let's say the example of womenwho are actually not a minority.
We have more women than men insocieties, yet culturally.
And we cannot also muchdifferentiate with the impact of
(26:35):
the LGBTQ movement andrevolution correspondence with other
revolutions, also withfeminist movements as well.
Now, what we see that if aperson holds several identities of
a minority, what I callusually having a double minority
(26:58):
identity, so in one hand itcreates some problem, but also what
I say always inentrepreneurship, and especially
for business entrepreneurship,that every problem is an opportunity.
So if we divide for a momentbetween entrepreneurs and the clients.
So for the clients who arelgbtq, we do know, according to research,
(27:19):
that most of LGBTQ people makedaily decisions in order to avoid
discrimination, anddiscrimination is related not only
to the clients.
And as Barack, you also havementioned about having the language,
(27:39):
actually you both mentioned guide.
But also it's not only aboutthe diversity, but it's also about
having a language, a dialect,someone who understands.
And we do know that for peoplewho are minorities, especially also
for LGBTQ + people, if theywent to some business where they
felt comfortable, mostprobably that they will return to.
(28:01):
And I also want to share heresome very current data which is related
to entrepreneurship.
And we've been talking aboutinvestment and about this big corporates
and like very, very masculine environment.
And it's actually very muchalso affecting entrepreneurs who
deal with LGBTQ plus issues.
As someone who was working oncreating a global startup, I can't
(28:23):
tell you about.
There's so many experiencesthat I had around that.
And throughout my journey, Idiscovered many different organizations
and VCs, venture capitals,very blessed and help LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
There's even one organizationwhich is called Start out that help
(28:44):
entrepreneurs who are LGBTQ+to form their startups.
And I would love to share heresome data.
I was talking about it also atsome global conference of New York
University about the future ofthe workspace based and what we can
see here that Start has foundthat starting LGBTQ+ founders, they
(29:05):
created 36% more jobs.
Wow.
And had 44% more exits.
That is amazing.
That is really amazing.
It is related also to the, tothe discourse of minorities as we
know.
22%, another minority, let'ssay the Jewish minority.
22% of Nobel Prize winners areJewish, which is another example
(29:30):
of minorities.
Actually minorities anddouble, double, double minorities
can have so much of impact.
So I will just finish herewith the data and then we will continue
with our discussion here.
And we didn't even get to thetypes of businesses.
So what you can see also herethat LGBTQ + funders create 114%
more patents, yet with 16%less funding compared to the average
(29:58):
founder.
And actually some othercurrent studies show that less than
half percent of the 2.1trillion in startup funding goes
to LGBTQ founders.
Initiatives like Startout andCarlo for Capital are crucial in
providing the support thesefounders needed.
(30:22):
And LGBTQ founders face uniquechallenges in the startup world.
An organization like Startuphelp them and they offer them vital
resources and network to helpovercome these barriers.
And promoting diversity instartup funding isn't just about
fairness.
(30:42):
It's about fosteringinnovation and supporting LGBTQ funders
to ensure a richer and moreinclusive tech landscape.
That just like with the queerrevolution, it will not affect only
startups and only LGBTQ pluspeople, but it can affect the entire
world.
Wow.
That was a.
(31:03):
I told you I'm passionateabout this subject.
Yes, absolutely amazing.
And you know, I noticed thatyou made that slide.
Barack was while sleeping.
That was great.
Because this is insane.
I love it because, you know, we.
I think that information is soimportant because sometimes we say
(31:24):
things and if there is somebase that we are talking about, it's
like those amazing, amazingnumbers that it just makes it more
and more crucial.
We need to do something aboutit and we need to talk about it and
we need to open the door formore LGBTQ people to have the courage
(31:50):
to make that first step.
This is so important.
They need to have theopportunity because as you mentioned,
the minorities, they suffer from.
I think the key word iscourage is something that we as LGBTQ
community need to find inorder to be ourselves.
(32:12):
And when we find it and whenwe like changing our all environment
and perspective of the World,first of all, we're changing us,
then we're changing the environment.
If I have it in me, I canapply it to my future.
I need to listen to myself.
(32:32):
I'll need to listen to whatinto my guts, you know, and to use
my imagination, my brain.
And then the world is ready.
I think this is what we haveand minorities as well.
Usually minorities can be likethe underdogs and we need lots of
problems.
We are trying to survivethrough the day from all the heterosexual
(32:59):
around them and all the sufferthat they can go through.
So their minds are not clear.
But right.
When you can be yourself andyou don't need to pretend to be someone
else and try to make otherpeople to write you so you can put
(33:19):
that aside side and okay, justtry to trial.
This cannot happen if youdon't have the opportunity.
And this is like.
It goes both ways because youneed to have the courage to bring
yourself out and the peoplewith the money need to give you the
chance and the opportunity tookay, open the door for you.
(33:40):
Let's do it.
Let's say I give you some money.
Let's just.
And this is like, this is theboth ways.
And this is exactly why theallyship is so important.
Because the money is everywhere.
And you cannot just wait forthe LGBTQ community to support themselves.
(34:02):
They need us the sexualcontrol to understand how important
it is to give them theopportunity that they need.
And as I always say, it's likejust open the door for them.
It's our job, my job.
You don't have to fight yourown fight.
(34:24):
And this is important if youwant to improve the whole community.
There is a very interestingdiscussion here that what we are
having because usually whenwe're talking about business, think
about money, we might havesome negative feelings, but we see
actually that according toreal data, when doing the right thing,
(34:45):
doing the right thing can bealso very financially beneficial.
Doing the right thing,definitely, as I.
Said in the previous episode,you don't need money to create art.
And to be entrepreneur is creating.
It's to create something thatyou imagine it.
(35:06):
And to imagine is kind of aform of an art.
So of course we look for themoney we want.
We need money to exist.
Right?
But you cannot think about it.
You need to come with yourpassion first of all, and then you'll
get it.
This is from my perspectivethough, giving.
(35:28):
Her also another example.
So.
And first of all.
So I decided to stop with eachof the startup.
But let's say in the startupworld, you must fundraise you cannot
have a technological teamwithout having the investment, with
a huge investment of at leastseveral million US dollars.
(35:50):
Yet we do see somediscrimination there.
And I would like to emphasizethat with some example, how diversity
is so much important inbusiness and queer entrepreneurship,
how much it can affect theworld, because the need once again
of this kind of entrepreneurs.
And also I agree very muchwith what you said here about the
(36:11):
courage and about doing theright thing as well.
Also would like to give anexample in the startup scene about
dating apps.
Many of us, this is a singleone or the polyamorium one, probably
know Tinder, right?
(36:33):
One of the most popular dating app.
So actually Tinder was createdafter some other app.
The first dating app in theworld, which was based on geographical
location, is actually Grindr.
And Grindr started as a verysmall business.
(36:54):
By the way, Yoel, one of thefounders and the main founder, who
is Health Israeli.
Many times as Israelis, we arevery proud of some of the entrepreneurship
with the sherry tomatoes andthe chips and the ways that got global.
So who knows?
Also a Grinder here, althoughhe's also an American.
(37:15):
And what is very, veryinteresting about Grindr, that it
was the first app to usegeographical location.
And the innovation hereprobably comes for a reap because
of a real need.
Because if I walk into thestreet, let's say, and I see someone
and I'm not sure if they areLGBT or not, and if I will make some
(37:35):
kind of mistake, I can go forsome social sanctions.
So it's really, reallyinteresting how we can see the impact
that LGBTQ entrepreneurs canhave, not only for LGBTQ plus people,
but generally affecting societies.
(37:56):
And also we are aware of somedifferent research that can show
that if you want to understandwhat area or what neighborhood will
be probably in the futuregentrified, just go and check whether
the LGBT people are hanging.
It's really interesting about Grindr.
I want to take us back to thehistory of the gay community.
(38:20):
If we think about it, duringthese Most of the 80s 90s people
went to the docks or to theparks to find people like them.
So if we think about it, theywere walking or cruising in some
areas and they were lookingfor people like them, irradiates,
(38:45):
you know.
So basically, if we thinkabout it, what Grindr did took this
kind of behavior and made it digital.
Well, so it's really.
So it's really interesting tothink about it like this.
Well, entrepreneurs and peoplewith startup, usually they take kind
of behavior and they make itbetter, make it futuristic, digital,
(39:10):
let's say.
So it's really interesting andthis is why it works.
It just like didn't brought ussomething that we don't know.
They just made it smarter.
Let's talk for and about theLGBT communities around the world.
I'm Michael Ross and this isstraight friendly.
(39:53):
The production of this episodecame to reality thanks to the support
of the Friedrich Naumannfoundation for Freedom in Jerusalem.
So we've been talking a lotabout entrepreneurship and about
business entrepreneurship.
I think that this wholediscourse is very, very, very interesting
for all of us.
But we promised we will alsotalk about the three types of LGBTQ
(40:18):
businesses.
And I have to say this is somemethodology which I created when
I was working on creating some startup.
By the way, one of the mainreasons I decided not to do the startup
right now, I decided to pause it.
I was way too much, toooverloaded with a lot of burnout,
(40:41):
actually.
And we will talk about itmaybe in some other episode because
this is something which isalso very crucial for entrepreneurs
of any kind of how, how not toburn out.
Because we want people to bewith entrepreneurship, but it will
be sustainable.
We want and need more and moreentrepreneurship in order to make
(41:02):
the world that we live in tobe a bit, a little bit better, at
least a little bit.
And as we all know, we have,we can have a lot of impact and especially
LGBTQ + entrepreneurs or anykind of entrepreneur who want to
do some impact.
So another reason that Idecided about postponing the staff
(41:26):
of a startup is actually theevents of October 7, which are very
painful to all of us.
And this is something which wehaven't been talking that much in
these recordings, but wedefinitely among us in the preparations
(41:47):
we were discussing that.
And I think this is probably acomplete different subject that we
will keep for another time.
But we do have to emphasizethe fact that boycotting people who've
been minorities, who areminorities, and being boycotted by
(42:08):
others, sunny being boycottedby some of our allies or who we thought
to be allies, and being very,very difficult.
And actually it also happenedin the production of this podcast
that we've been boycotted.
And it's very, very fortunatebecause actually a lot of what we
(42:29):
do is about connectingdifferent people.
So we definitely see how manysubjects also are involved in entrepreneurship.
But anyway, when I was workingon creating my own startup, so I
had to do a lot, a lot ofresearch and to understand better
(42:50):
what LGBTQ+ businesses are,and I created this kind of free definitions
or free separations orcharacteristics, just as we had about
four Sectors So to try a bitto explain about the different types
of LGBTQ plus businesses.
(43:10):
Actually it's related not onlyto businesses, but let's.
Let's focus with.
With businesses.
We are about also to finalizethis episode.
So I'm in advance I would saythat may I might be not completely
politically correct, but justfor the practice of understanding
better the economies.
(43:31):
So here are the three types.
So the first type of LGBTQbusinesses or economies.
So usually when people talkabout that, it's about what I call
being friendly.
A gay friendly business.
We can say in many differentcities around the world, some stickers
(43:51):
that mention that people arewelcome there, which is a nice thing
to see compared with somerecent events that took place just
before COVID around thoseyears 2019 and 20.
So we saw for instance inPoland how there were stickers of
(44:13):
actually of LGBT free zoneswhich were not allowing or saying
that we don't have LGBT peopleor LGBT people are not welcome here.
So while having this kind ofawful, awful, awful situation.
So we do see the importancefor that.
Yet being friendly like forinstance companies that change their
(44:36):
logo and branding aroundFriedman, it is an important thing.
But there is also a whole andlot of industry around that do this
business that presents to beLGBT friendly or gay friendly.
Do they have also workers whoare transgender, for instance, do
(44:57):
they deal with the differentissues and pain that happened around
LGBTQ plus communities?
And usually in most of thecases where the academic discourse
deals with queer economies.
So this is actually what isbeing dealt with.
And that's why I heard manytimes from different activists that
(45:20):
they say that there is no sidething as a queer economy.
And I would say that Idisagree with that.
And I think that one of themistakes that people do is when they
talk about LGBTQ plusbusinesses, they talk about the first
kind.
The second kind of LGBTQ plusbusinesses deals with the orientation,
(45:41):
the sexual or genderorientation of a, of a business owner.
So like for instance, if Iwant to have a lesbian plumber, for
instance, or I would prefer togo to a hairdresser who is also gay.
Now for sure, probably I willfeel more comfortable in a place
like that.
But this has nothing to dowith a product.
(46:03):
And the third type of LGBTQbusinesses are focused with a product
actually.
And I would say that for mepersonally, this is the kind of businesses
which are the most interestingfor me where I care about the product
and actually started.
Also we can also emphasize forher case as a person who.
(46:29):
So tell us, tell us a little.
Bit about that in the third sector.
I think I.
I had a vision seven years agowhen my son started his transition.
We had to go through ourjourney, insane journey of understanding
(46:55):
that we had and all we wentthrough for the first year.
And I understood how difficultit can be and how my son could never
have choices and opportunitiesthat he has now if we could not make
a change.
(47:16):
So I decided that I'm going,you know, to make this my life project.
And this is what I do for thelast six years.
I give lecture and I go andhave workshops in companies and in
(47:42):
different places just to helpthe retrospectual individuals in
the company.
How to understand the lgbtq,LGBTQ plus individuals.
Because this is something inyour mind that you have to with.
(48:02):
I told you just before, we allhave binary mind.
We cannot understand ifsomething like it doesn't work, if
I see something that it's notin my mind.
So I need to make my mind flexible.
(48:23):
And this is what I do.
And also I advise to familiesand I accompany either managers and
companies or families or LGBTQindividuals themselves how to deal
with the situation that theyneed to deal with and how to make
(48:48):
their life and how to improvethemselves and their families and
their companies.
And, you know, I believe thatthis is something that's needed and
it's needed from me as aheterosexual woman.
And this is what I.
My business is all about.
(49:09):
This.
This is what I do.
Diversity and inclusion andconsulting in all over the country.
And I really believe that thisis key to having a better community.
And it's on us, myresponsibility to do that, not my
(49:32):
son's responsibility.
He doesn't need to go andfight the darkness.
I need to do that for him.
So this is my business.
And as you said it, girlsinside me, we had our conversation
previous, and you know how Ithink this is important.
So I am proud to be the thirdsection that this is my business.
(49:57):
Proud of being.
You are a mocker.
You are a real mocker and afighter in alliance, right?
Then think like if companieswant to change their logos in June,
(50:18):
they should for that, inviteyou to their offices.
Like, let's make it law.
Let's make it like acommunity, like LGBTQ + community
law.
One of my friends, if you want.
To change it, you know, I have.
Few hashtags during the Pridemonth at June, and one of it is Pride
(50:41):
all year round, because it'snot only.
And the other one, it's notonly a colorful cupcake because you
know what becomes a big partyand the place have colorful cocktails
on the table and makedifferent fruits purple, red.
(51:02):
Okay, that's not the point.
Because this is one day.
This is not the whole point.
Go to your company and say,okay, we have a party and that's
it.
There is 365 days a year thatpeople need to work at your company.
You have to take care of youremployees, you have to take care
(51:23):
of your client, and you have ajob of making this work better.
You cannot just provideproducts to the world.
You can do something andthat's really important.
And it's really important.
And it's on us, the community,to go to the office where you work,
(51:49):
to the HR or so on and demandto bring people like Sarit or LGBTQ
organization to talk to dosomething that can impact community.
The era of cupcakes isofficially done and that's it.
(52:15):
I like cupcakes.
I like colors.
I love it.
I love those disgusting,colorful donuts.
But, you know, and it bringsus to the surface the gay friendly
businesses, because if youwant to be friendly, you just, it's
not okay.
You have a flag, change yourlogo to the gay flag colors and it's
(52:41):
not over with that.
And it's really important.
Right?
But on advertisementperspective, it's also really important.
People have the people know it.
Like the social media sees it.
If you are not an LGBTQ + allyduring the year or if it doesn't
(53:06):
match your DNA, your companyDNA, people will notice it and people
will comment on these logos.
We have again, like zerotolerance for people who are trying
to pink wash the community.
It's really, really important.
Like times have changed, butagain, it's on us.
(53:30):
It's on us, the community inthe company.
Well, I can say, but like, forme, as someone who also gives lectures
and deals with LGBTQ plusstuff all around the year, but it's
extremely, extremely difficultwhen you have like one season in
(53:57):
the year.
And like, if people reallywant to make business, I think it
has to be like all around the year.
I think there should be somemore advocacy around it.
I know.
Like, for me, honestly, Pridemonth is the worst month of the year.
Like, I'm dead too much.
And that's also deal withactivism, not only with business.
(54:18):
Right.
But.
Right.
But it's also really good forthe company.
Let's say we're talking aboutentrepreneuring, like what's good
for your business?
Business, like to have thisDNA like to say, like, hey, I'm liberal,
I'm here for the community.
I'm here for the people.
This is how you do marketingnowadays, like almost every company
(54:43):
have few agendas, not only oneagenda like before.
Like I'm here for recycling,I'm here for whatever you can have
couple of agendas.
And the LGBTQ plus agenda isit says you are a liberal country
(55:05):
company and you see the peopleand people sees that and then they
feel safe and they want to buyfrom you, they want to interact with
you.
So it's amazing.
It's really something that can.
You can use in favor to createbenefits for your company.
(55:28):
Right.
But again, there's ways to doand I guess and I believe that almost
every LGBTQ+ community allaround the world can provide the
information and the knowledgeand how to do it correctly.
Yeah.
(55:56):
So I would like also to sharesome of my little bit experience
as an entrepreneur who'sfocused very much actually in the
product which are designed forthe LGBTQ plus before and solving
real problems.
And we will actually in thatway also we will get to the conclusion
(56:19):
at the end of the episode.
And these two episodesactually I would say share from my
personal experience as anentrepreneur who comes from Israel.
And that market size is also avery important issue of yours.
First of all, when we talkabout the LGBTQ + population, so
(56:43):
depends on what research wewill be based on.
But even if I will bepessimistic and I will point to the
lowest number, we're talkingabout the fact that 7% of the populations,
no matter where LGBTQ +people, doesn't matter if it's in
Israel, it's in France or withNigeria, it's ratio of if they will
(57:05):
feel comfortable or not and ifthey will come outside of the closet
or not.
And one of the reasons thatthe name of Strange Friendly is like
that is because for mepersonally, I think that it's also
very important to look on somelarger market and audiences which
are not only gay friendly orlesbian friendly, not only in GPT,
(57:27):
but also the surroundings arealso very much affected.
Their families, as theirfriends, their managers and so on
and so on.
So I do believe that there'salso a much larger market for them.
Yet as an entrepreneur I cansay that especially let's say with
(57:50):
content creation, eventuallyas an entrepreneur who runs business,
you must have some enoughincome in order to cover expenses
and have a revenue and tomaximize revenue.
And when you create a product,let's say, which is only for Israelis,
it's very difficult.
I can give an example when wehad to import from Europe to Israel
(58:13):
out to vin, which is a gay TV channel.
And I mean like how manypeople already in the country that
9 million citizens live in it,how many LGBT we already have.
It will be less than a million.
And I can share it from myexperience, what I see as someone
who's a digital nomad, who'straveling all around the world and
(58:36):
working with so many differenteconomies and countries, but I do
something which I a little bit miss.
I don't see enough in smaller countries.
And maybe this is also raisingsome ethical questions.
But I see how in somecountries, for instance in the United
States and in Canada, howthere are different organizations
like Chamber of Commerce,let's say in the United States States
(58:58):
versus the nglcc, which helpsand connect between lots and lots
of like dozens of thousands ofLGBTQ plus entrepreneurs from.
From all around.
There's so many programs likethat also in Canada, and it's quite
big.
I have to say that whenever Isee that, I'm amazed by the size
(59:20):
of it as well as we also havebeen kind of venture capitals.
But I feel like it isdependent on sizes, market on market
size.
And maybe this is somethingwhich something in economy maybe
I believe should be a littlebit fixed.
And we do know how and we'vebeen talking about how like the minorities,
(59:42):
double minorities are some ofthe best entrepreneurs, but as they
are going throughdiscrimination for in fundraising
for startups, maybe there'salso a need to make things to be
more accessible for this kindof founders.
Just some idea I do see startout and some other organizations
(01:00:02):
that also help LGBTQ entrepreneurs.
Who wants to create a startup,but it doesn't deal with the subject
itself, with the product.
And I think real goodentrepreneurship is about finding
real problems and real good solutions.
And I'm lacking of seeingenough think tanking and organizations
(01:00:26):
that are locating different.
We're entrepreneurs fromdifferent countries where they can
have a think thinking of howcan we create the next startup that
will fight loneliness withinthe LGBTQ communities.
And we definitely see also howdating apps affected not only loneliness,
(01:00:48):
but the use of drugs, ofalcohol, smoking, and so on.
That's my personal observationfor that.
So would you like to addanything before we're done or actually
we're done here.
(01:01:08):
I'm having so much fun withyou guys.
It was amazing and a great.
So thank you very, very, very much.
So spontaneous, so amazing.
I had guts feeling that it'sgonna work out and I had so much
fun and it was such aninteresting discourse which I can.
I believe that it will affectso many entrepreneurs around the
(01:01:30):
world.
I hope that we broke at leastone stereotype or two and gave some
practical information.
So thank you very, very, very much.
I had the best time.
Thank you very much.
Michael and Barak, love you both.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you guys.
(01:01:50):
And maybe last question.
I would love to ask you both.
What do you think is going tobe the future of queer entrepreneurship?
Because we've been talking alot about the past and about the
present, but as you know, manyof our episodes are available also
for years after.
Do you think it's going to beget better or worse?
(01:02:11):
I think it's going to be better.
I'm always optimistic, by the way.
Yeah, I'm always, always optimistic.
I think it's going to bebetter and I think we're going to
see more like, yeah, like tomake our society better.
This is what I feel alongsidehigh tech, of course, but I think
(01:02:37):
we need it.
We need to connect, to makereal connection between people.
And I think we're going to seeit, hopefully.
And I wanted to add one morething before we finish.
If you want to make somethingnew, you need fuel.
(01:02:58):
You need to be financially and mentally.
And I think we all need towork on the both sides of that because
you need to make yourselfbetter and have the character to
do the things, but you alsoneed someone that believes in you
and can give you the push thatyou need.
(01:03:21):
So I can hope for the better,that the best is yet to come.
Especially that being anentrepreneur is living life on a
roller coaster, that's for sure.
Those are very important insights.
Thank you very much.
(01:03:42):
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Have a good one.
I would love to ask you both,what do you think is going to be
the future of queer entrepreneurship?
Because we've been talking alot about the past and about the
present, but as you know, manyof our episodes are available also
for years after.
Do you think it's going to getbetter or worse?
I think it's going to be better.
I'm always optimistic, by the way.
(06:38):
Yeah.
Let's talk more and about theLGBT communities around the world.
I'm Michael Ross and this isStraight Friendly.
(07:08):
Hello.
Hello and welcome back to ourentrepreneurial series here on Straight
Friendly Global.
On our previous episode, we'vebeen talking generally about the
four sectors of or organizations.
Nonprofits, the governmentalreferral sector.
And here we will be focusingwith the second sector with businesses.
(07:30):
We have our guest speakers, Band Savit Ben Shimol.
Hello.
Hello.
We really recommend you alsoto listen to our previous episode
where we've been talking aboutgovernmental and nonprofits in relation
to LGBTQ entrepreneurship andactivism, and even also innovation.
(07:51):
In this episode, we'll bereading even more about innovation.
So with us, Saeed Ben Shimal,who's an expert in diversity and
inclusion as a consultant.
She's a former CEO of Pride ofLionesses, an organization of parents
of trans children and motherof a young transgender man.
Hello, Salet.
(08:12):
Hello.
Great to be here.
We have with us Barak Crips,who up until recently been the vice
CEO of Hoshen, an Israeli nonprofit, deals with education and
social change and changemaking, where they create workshops
and courses in order tounderstand their LGBTQ communities
and is also specializes withdigital marketing.
(08:36):
Hello, Bagh.
Hello.
Hello.
Nice to be here again.
Good to have you both here.
So before we will dive intothis subject of the types of different
LGBTQ+ businesses andentrepreneurship, let's start.
First of all, we're generallytalking about the second sector,
(08:56):
what is known to be theprivate sector.
So the goals forentrepreneurship in the private sector
is to maximize profit.
So if we will think about hugecorporates that we might know about,
such as Coca Cola, that we allknow when you have investors, it's
(09:17):
a lot about maximizing theprofit, sometimes can contradict
with social change.
Yet it also has so much of animpact all around the world.
I mean, like all over theworld, we do know about corporate
organizations.
We even see how in these dayswhen we are bypassing through a technological
(09:41):
revolution, revolution also of data.
But in some cases,technological companies even have
much more effect on money thansome of the governments that we might
think about.
So like for instance, if wewill compare between the yearly budgets
(10:03):
of a third world countries,either if in, in Africa or in some
other places.
So for corporates like Meta,Facebook and so on Apple, sometimes
they have much more budgetsand so much of effect.
We will be dealing also ofcourse with startups and technologies
here in this episode.
(10:27):
For the private sector, wehave to emphasize also solo entrepreneurship.
Many times when we talk aboutbusiness and also we'll check the
materials and the studies andthe research all around the world
related to business and entrepreneurship.
(10:47):
So many, many times wediscourse first of all, very masculine,
we have to say, and very muchabout huge corporates.
But actually current datashows that most of the entrepreneurs
and the businesses areactually solo entrepreneurs, which
is very interesting.
We're in times also wheredigital content and digital tools
(11:11):
allow us to create differentinitiatives and have impact.
Just like here with thispodcast, without being a huge corporate
of, of of media and sponsorsand commercials.
Actually today we have manytools that allow and shape the whole
(11:33):
way people do business.
Current research also findsthat actually more than 80% of the
solo entrepreneurs are notwilling to recruit huge teams.
Usually they would just liketo recruit and work well with a bookkeeper
(11:53):
or tax consultancy and maybesometimes administrations.
This is a very important alsofor our discussion here because when
we talk about businesses, it'snot just about corporates and the
big companies, but sometimeswe might think about when talking
about business.
So the income models are dependent.
(12:15):
Income sources are dependentmainly on paying customers, on having
clients.
So the competition is much,much, much harder.
But at the same time, theefficiency, the agility works much,
much faster.
We can have examples ofbusinesses like a small nail salon
(12:39):
which is growing to differentbranches and startups as we have
been talking about.
So definitely like the prongsare efficiency, competition, innovation.
But with the cons, it's verydifficult to manage a business.
Very, very difficult.
And we'll also be dealing herewhat it's like to manage a business.
(13:01):
As a minority.
Most of the businesses that weknow about already in the first year,
the majority actually fellmany times.
The reasons for the, for thefailure are actually not for not
having a good business, notbecause of not having a good product,
(13:21):
but many times it's about cashflow issues, it's about issues of
experience and sometimes alsoissues of legislation.
So before we dive into thedifferent types of LGBTQ businesses
and entrepreneurship, let'sgenerally talk about business.
(13:45):
Let's do, let's do business,let's do business, let's talk about
the money, let's talk aboutthis, let's Talk about money.
Have the money.
Yeah.
And actually both of you havesome experience with businesses and
corporates.
And I think also Stavid, youhave a very interesting story, but
before having your currentbusiness, right.
Like these days, you are alsoa previous episode, you've been talking
(14:09):
about your involvement as anIsraeli NGO that unites mothers of
transgender kids and children.
These days you have also yourown business.
So you are actually soloentrepreneur as well, a business
one.
But before all of that, youwere working in another kind of corporate,
(14:34):
right?
Yes, different kinds ofcorporate companies in different
states.
And I think that is veryinteresting because diversity is
everywhere and they havegeneral challenge if you're talking
about money.
Okay.
So it's known that if you havediverse, it increases, you know,
(14:56):
all your incomes becauseeverything is more interesting and
more innovative and it looksdifferent and you can address different
sectors and clients.
If you have diverse employeesin your company, in one hand, they
(15:19):
are trying to think, okay, wewant to have diverse LGBTQ individuals
and also other diversitysections, different genders, different
religions.
And on one hand, you want tohave your employees from a big range
(15:40):
of the community.
On the other hand, you havethe problem that sometimes you don't
want your client to see thatyou are much better.
And I give lectures incompanies and I consult other companies
all about, of course, story ofmy life and other things that is
(16:03):
important to understand if youare trying to be diverse and inclusive
about your employees and in general.
And sometimes I hear.
But we think that this isgoing to be not comfortable for all
our employees to see that weare talking about transgender.
(16:27):
And being a mother of atransgender, it's too much.
Maybe for some people, or ifyou want to be a very innovative
company, but at your customerservice, you want to have a transgender
individual, you can also havea problem because you might lose
money if you, you know, ifyou're too progressive.
(16:52):
And I think this is the doublechallenge because as we said, it's
all about money.
And in one hand, you want toincrease your income, you want to
make change in the world.
I can see all over the placefrom lots of companies, Israeli and
global, that it's importantfor them to show that they are open
(17:17):
minded and their love foreveryone, but also complicated.
Not that easy because theyhave diverse people inside the company
and among the customers.
And it's not always easy to bethat, you know, okay, I'm going with
(17:39):
the flag.
Talk about the flag.
Put the flag in front of your building.
Is it okay?
Everybody's gonna like it.
Sometimes it's not that easy.
And you have to make bigchoices and they're interesting choices
that not always arecomfortable for everybody else.
(18:02):
But if you're a startupcompany and like, okay, so we are
like 10, 12 people and you'reall like, okay, very cute and you
understand everybody and soit's easier.
But as big as the companygets, it can be more complicated.
But I can tell you that frommy experience, more and more comments
(18:32):
to bring that issue up andthey understand how important it
is to have that, that kind ofconversation or put it on the table
as we say, not just to say,okay, let's not talk about it too
much.
Think it, I think, I thinkchallenge, but it gets better.
(18:54):
And I think it's importantbecause also if you want to have
other job opportunities forthe LGBTQ + individuals, you need
companies that can have thosepeople on board.
And we have all the challengesof the non binary people around that
(19:20):
can make everybody uncomfortable.
So I think there are bigchallenges around the whole idea
of inclusion inside companiesand this is something that they all
deal with.
I do find diversity to be avery, very important topic and we
(19:44):
will definitely deal with thatin this episode.
But I would also love a tohear from you, Barack.
As someone who's dealing withdigital marketing, so is Digital
marketing for LGBTQ + people,are you seeing some different tendencies,
some different needs from your clients?
(20:07):
It's interesting.
Well, I can say like forIsrael, in Israel we are very small
community.
In with small communities,it's rather you bring something amazing
and everybody's like, I needto have it or I need to go there.
Or we can be very suspiciousbecause it's really hard to bring
(20:30):
products or new stuff like inthe US for example.
So we don't really have ithere, like abroad.
So we don't have small cafesand we don't have special product
for LGBTQ people, like as theUS for example.
(20:53):
But we do have lots ofculture, a lot of culture.
We have lots of parties, wehave lots of events and recently
we have some studios for likebeauty salons.
But again, I'm talking aboutlike a couple of few like four free.
So I think in order to speakwith a community, you need to speak
(21:17):
their own language, like howit's working right now.
You need to understand whatthey're missing, what they need and
how to approach them.
So you need to understandagain the community.
And sometimes it can be veryeasy because it's a small community.
So you don't need to go likefar fetched, you know, like think
(21:42):
like Crazy, because it's here,it's around the corner here in Tel
Aviv or in Jerusalem.
But as I said before, like, wehave lots of culture in Israel, which
is very interesting, becauseyou can see a lot of people are creating,
like, small parties or events,and they can become huge.
(22:07):
For example, I've heard astory a long time ago about some
guy who got a small club inTel Aviv.
He brought some drag queens.
He created, like, events,great events.
And with the days he become of Nissim.
So of Nissim right now is likethe largest DJ in Israel, probably
(22:33):
the one who collaborated withMadonna and his couple of times in
a year, in normal year, notlike now, creating mega party for
the LGBTQ+ community andactually for everyone, like, right
(22:54):
now.
So everybody's, like, going there.
But he started small.
He started in a basement in asmall street in Tel Aviv.
He had an idea.
He had an idea and he hadpassion, and he wanted to create
culture for the community.
(23:14):
But it's a business.
This is what's reallyimportant to understand that.
And right now, nowadays,again, you can see a lot of people
are trying, a lot of people,like, creating parties, events.
They are becoming also very creative.
They are going right now todo, like, parties in the desert,
for example.
It's a new concept that we arehaving right now.
(23:37):
Let's go outside of the cityand have, like, a rain.
And we need to understand it'sa business, but sometimes hit the
community.
So we don't really see it,because we are like, it's the same
people.
They're like, I know them,they're friends of mine, the dj.
But they earn money for this,and I love it.
It's really.
(23:57):
It's shifting us.
And also for you, like yousaid, like in the previous episode
about, like, voguing.
It was so inspiring for you.
Let's see what happened.
In the US, voguing becamepageants, became drug pageants, became
RuPaul Drag Race.
It's huge.
It's global.
(24:19):
So you need a good idea.
You also can see how it allaffects everything.
I mean, like, for instance,the example of RuPaul's drug race
brought to the conscious in somany countries, voguing culture and
also the drug culture.
So we definitely see thesekind of correspondences between the
(24:44):
different sectors.
I have to admit that for me,as an entrepreneur and also as a
lecturer, for me, the issuesof LGBTQ economies and startup and
businesses is, for me, themost interesting one.
So I will really try to holdmyself and be focused here in this
(25:06):
discussion.
Which I'm very passionateabout this subject.
And actually, while you wereboth talking, I realized that I want
to present actually somethinghere, something which I was not planning
to do.
We have to take intoconsideration the fact that LGBTQ
plus people are a minoritygroup, just like any other kind of
(25:30):
a minority.
It can be a Jewish minority insome other country.
It can be also characterizedby race, by color, by language, by
gender and gender.
And many other women all overthe world are Exactly.
And just because of being women.
(25:50):
So we do, we do know aboutalso in business also, but both for
clients and for entrepreneurs.
But there are some veryinteresting data and research that
deals with minorities.
I think what's also veryinteresting here is the fact that
we have to take intoconsideration a term which is called
minority stress that everykind of minority suffers from as
(26:13):
a minority, let's say even.
Let's say the example of womenwho are actually not a minority.
We have more women than men insocieties, yet culturally.
And we cannot also muchdifferentiate with the impact of
(26:35):
the LGBTQ movement andrevolution correspondence with other
revolutions, also withfeminist movements as well.
Now, what we see that if aperson holds several identities of
a minority, what I callusually having a double minority
(26:58):
identity, so in one hand itcreates some problem, but also what
I say always inentrepreneurship, and especially
for business entrepreneurship,that every problem is an opportunity.
So if we divide for a momentbetween entrepreneurs and the clients.
So for the clients who arelgbtq, we do know, according to research,
(27:19):
that most of LGBTQ people makedaily decisions in order to avoid
discrimination, anddiscrimination is related not only
to the clients.
And as Barack, you also havementioned about having the language,
(27:39):
actually you both mentioned guide.
But also it's not only aboutthe diversity, but it's also about
having a language, a dialect,someone who understands.
And we do know that for peoplewho are minorities, especially also
for LGBTQ + people, if theywent to some business where they
felt comfortable, mostprobably that they will return to.
(28:01):
And I also want to share heresome very current data which is related
to entrepreneurship.
And we've been talking aboutinvestment and about this big corporates
and like very, very masculine environment.
And it's actually very muchalso affecting entrepreneurs who
deal with LGBTQ plus issues.
As someone who was working oncreating a global startup, I can't
(28:23):
tell you about.
There's so many experiencesthat I had around that.
And throughout my journey, Idiscovered many different organizations
and VCs, venture capitals,very blessed and help LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
There's even one organizationwhich is called Start out that help
(28:44):
entrepreneurs who are LGBTQ+to form their startups.
And I would love to share heresome data.
I was talking about it also atsome global conference of New York
University about the future ofthe workspace based and what we can
see here that Start has foundthat starting LGBTQ+ founders, they
(29:05):
created 36% more jobs.
Wow.
And had 44% more exits.
That is amazing.
That is really amazing.
It is related also to the, tothe discourse of minorities as we
know.
22%, another minority, let'ssay the Jewish minority.
22% of Nobel Prize winners areJewish, which is another example
(29:30):
of minorities.
Actually minorities anddouble, double, double minorities
can have so much of impact.
So I will just finish herewith the data and then we will continue
with our discussion here.
And we didn't even get to thetypes of businesses.
So what you can see also herethat LGBTQ + funders create 114%
more patents, yet with 16%less funding compared to the average
(29:58):
founder.
And actually some othercurrent studies show that less than
half percent of the 2.1trillion in startup funding goes
to LGBTQ founders.
Initiatives like Startout andCarlo for Capital are crucial in
providing the support thesefounders needed.
(30:22):
And LGBTQ founders face uniquechallenges in the startup world.
An organization like Startuphelp them and they offer them vital
resources and network to helpovercome these barriers.
And promoting diversity instartup funding isn't just about
fairness.
(30:42):
It's about fosteringinnovation and supporting LGBTQ funders
to ensure a richer and moreinclusive tech landscape.
That just like with the queerrevolution, it will not affect only
startups and only LGBTQ pluspeople, but it can affect the entire
world.
Wow.
That was a.
(31:03):
I told you I'm passionateabout this subject.
Yes, absolutely amazing.
And you know, I noticed thatyou made that slide.
Barack was while sleeping.
That was great.
Because this is insane.
I love it because, you know, we.
I think that information is soimportant because sometimes we say
(31:24):
things and if there is somebase that we are talking about, it's
like those amazing, amazingnumbers that it just makes it more
and more crucial.
We need to do something aboutit and we need to talk about it and
we need to open the door formore LGBTQ people to have the courage
(31:50):
to make that first step.
This is so important.
They need to have theopportunity because as you mentioned,
the minorities, they suffer from.
I think the key word iscourage is something that we as LGBTQ
community need to find inorder to be ourselves.
(32:12):
And when we find it and whenwe like changing our all environment
and perspective of the World,first of all, we're changing us,
then we're changing the environment.
If I have it in me, I canapply it to my future.
I need to listen to myself.
(32:32):
I'll need to listen to whatinto my guts, you know, and to use
my imagination, my brain.
And then the world is ready.
I think this is what we haveand minorities as well.
Usually minorities can be likethe underdogs and we need lots of
problems.
We are trying to survivethrough the day from all the heterosexual
(32:59):
around them and all the sufferthat they can go through.
So their minds are not clear.
But right.
When you can be yourself andyou don't need to pretend to be someone
else and try to make otherpeople to write you so you can put
(33:19):
that aside side and okay, justtry to trial.
This cannot happen if youdon't have the opportunity.
And this is like.
It goes both ways because youneed to have the courage to bring
yourself out and the peoplewith the money need to give you the
chance and the opportunity tookay, open the door for you.
(33:40):
Let's do it.
Let's say I give you some money.
Let's just.
And this is like, this is theboth ways.
And this is exactly why theallyship is so important.
Because the money is everywhere.
And you cannot just wait forthe LGBTQ community to support themselves.
(34:02):
They need us the sexualcontrol to understand how important
it is to give them theopportunity that they need.
And as I always say, it's likejust open the door for them.
It's our job, my job.
You don't have to fight yourown fight.
(34:24):
And this is important if youwant to improve the whole community.
There is a very interestingdiscussion here that what we are
having because usually whenwe're talking about business, think
about money, we might havesome negative feelings, but we see
actually that according toreal data, when doing the right thing,
(34:45):
doing the right thing can bealso very financially beneficial.
Doing the right thing,definitely, as I.
Said in the previous episode,you don't need money to create art.
And to be entrepreneur is creating.
It's to create something thatyou imagine it.
(35:06):
And to imagine is kind of aform of an art.
So of course we look for themoney we want.
We need money to exist.
Right?
But you cannot think about it.
You need to come with yourpassion first of all, and then you'll
get it.
This is from my perspectivethough, giving.
(35:28):
Her also another example.
So.
And first of all.
So I decided to stop with eachof the startup.
But let's say in the startupworld, you must fundraise you cannot
have a technological teamwithout having the investment, with
a huge investment of at leastseveral million US dollars.
(35:50):
Yet we do see somediscrimination there.
And I would like to emphasizethat with some example, how diversity
is so much important inbusiness and queer entrepreneurship,
how much it can affect theworld, because the need once again
of this kind of entrepreneurs.
And also I agree very muchwith what you said here about the
(36:11):
courage and about doing theright thing as well.
Also would like to give anexample in the startup scene about
dating apps.
Many of us, this is a singleone or the polyamorium one, probably
know Tinder, right?
(36:33):
One of the most popular dating app.
So actually Tinder was createdafter some other app.
The first dating app in theworld, which was based on geographical
location, is actually Grindr.
And Grindr started as a verysmall business.
(36:54):
By the way, Yoel, one of thefounders and the main founder, who
is Health Israeli.
Many times as Israelis, we arevery proud of some of the entrepreneurship
with the sherry tomatoes andthe chips and the ways that got global.
So who knows?
Also a Grinder here, althoughhe's also an American.
(37:15):
And what is very, veryinteresting about Grindr, that it
was the first app to usegeographical location.
And the innovation hereprobably comes for a reap because
of a real need.
Because if I walk into thestreet, let's say, and I see someone
and I'm not sure if they areLGBT or not, and if I will make some
(37:35):
kind of mistake, I can go forsome social sanctions.
So it's really, reallyinteresting how we can see the impact
that LGBTQ entrepreneurs canhave, not only for LGBTQ plus people,
but generally affecting societies.
(37:56):
And also we are aware of somedifferent research that can show
that if you want to understandwhat area or what neighborhood will
be probably in the futuregentrified, just go and check whether
the LGBT people are hanging.
It's really interesting about Grindr.
I want to take us back to thehistory of the gay community.
(38:20):
If we think about it, duringthese Most of the 80s 90s people
went to the docks or to theparks to find people like them.
So if we think about it, theywere walking or cruising in some
areas and they were lookingfor people like them, irradiates,
(38:45):
you know.
So basically, if we thinkabout it, what Grindr did took this
kind of behavior and made it digital.
Well, so it's really.
So it's really interesting tothink about it like this.
Well, entrepreneurs and peoplewith startup, usually they take kind
of behavior and they make itbetter, make it futuristic, digital,
(39:10):
let's say.
So it's really interesting andthis is why it works.
It just like didn't brought ussomething that we don't know.
They just made it smarter.
Let's talk for and about theLGBT communities around the world.
I'm Michael Ross and this isstraight friendly.
(39:53):
The production of this episodecame to reality thanks to the support
of the Friedrich Naumannfoundation for Freedom in Jerusalem.
So we've been talking a lotabout entrepreneurship and about
business entrepreneurship.
I think that this wholediscourse is very, very, very interesting
for all of us.
But we promised we will alsotalk about the three types of LGBTQ
(40:18):
businesses.
And I have to say this is somemethodology which I created when
I was working on creating some startup.
By the way, one of the mainreasons I decided not to do the startup
right now, I decided to pause it.
I was way too much, toooverloaded with a lot of burnout,
(40:41):
actually.
And we will talk about itmaybe in some other episode because
this is something which isalso very crucial for entrepreneurs
of any kind of how, how not toburn out.
Because we want people to bewith entrepreneurship, but it will
be sustainable.
We want and need more and moreentrepreneurship in order to make
(41:02):
the world that we live in tobe a bit, a little bit better, at
least a little bit.
And as we all know, we have,we can have a lot of impact and especially
LGBTQ + entrepreneurs or anykind of entrepreneur who want to
do some impact.
So another reason that Idecided about postponing the staff
(41:26):
of a startup is actually theevents of October 7, which are very
painful to all of us.
And this is something which wehaven't been talking that much in
these recordings, but wedefinitely among us in the preparations
(41:47):
we were discussing that.
And I think this is probably acomplete different subject that we
will keep for another time.
But we do have to emphasizethe fact that boycotting people who've
been minorities, who areminorities, and being boycotted by
(42:08):
others, sunny being boycottedby some of our allies or who we thought
to be allies, and being very,very difficult.
And actually it also happenedin the production of this podcast
that we've been boycotted.
And it's very, very fortunatebecause actually a lot of what we
(42:29):
do is about connectingdifferent people.
So we definitely see how manysubjects also are involved in entrepreneurship.
But anyway, when I was workingon creating my own startup, so I
had to do a lot, a lot ofresearch and to understand better
(42:50):
what LGBTQ+ businesses are,and I created this kind of free definitions
or free separations orcharacteristics, just as we had about
four Sectors So to try a bitto explain about the different types
of LGBTQ plus businesses.
(43:10):
Actually it's related not onlyto businesses, but let's.
Let's focus with.
With businesses.
We are about also to finalizethis episode.
So I'm in advance I would saythat may I might be not completely
politically correct, but justfor the practice of understanding
better the economies.
(43:31):
So here are the three types.
So the first type of LGBTQbusinesses or economies.
So usually when people talkabout that, it's about what I call
being friendly.
A gay friendly business.
We can say in many differentcities around the world, some stickers
(43:51):
that mention that people arewelcome there, which is a nice thing
to see compared with somerecent events that took place just
before COVID around thoseyears 2019 and 20.
So we saw for instance inPoland how there were stickers of
(44:13):
actually of LGBT free zoneswhich were not allowing or saying
that we don't have LGBT peopleor LGBT people are not welcome here.
So while having this kind ofawful, awful, awful situation.
So we do see the importancefor that.
Yet being friendly like forinstance companies that change their
(44:36):
logo and branding aroundFriedman, it is an important thing.
But there is also a whole andlot of industry around that do this
business that presents to beLGBT friendly or gay friendly.
Do they have also workers whoare transgender, for instance, do
(44:57):
they deal with the differentissues and pain that happened around
LGBTQ plus communities?
And usually in most of thecases where the academic discourse
deals with queer economies.
So this is actually what isbeing dealt with.
And that's why I heard manytimes from different activists that
(45:20):
they say that there is no sidething as a queer economy.
And I would say that Idisagree with that.
And I think that one of themistakes that people do is when they
talk about LGBTQ plusbusinesses, they talk about the first
kind.
The second kind of LGBTQ plusbusinesses deals with the orientation,
(45:41):
the sexual or genderorientation of a, of a business owner.
So like for instance, if Iwant to have a lesbian plumber, for
instance, or I would prefer togo to a hairdresser who is also gay.
Now for sure, probably I willfeel more comfortable in a place
like that.
But this has nothing to dowith a product.
(46:03):
And the third type of LGBTQbusinesses are focused with a product
actually.
And I would say that for mepersonally, this is the kind of businesses
which are the most interestingfor me where I care about the product
and actually started.
Also we can also emphasize forher case as a person who.
(46:29):
So tell us, tell us a little.
Bit about that in the third sector.
I think I.
I had a vision seven years agowhen my son started his transition.
We had to go through ourjourney, insane journey of understanding
(46:55):
that we had and all we wentthrough for the first year.
And I understood how difficultit can be and how my son could never
have choices and opportunitiesthat he has now if we could not make
a change.
(47:16):
So I decided that I'm going,you know, to make this my life project.
And this is what I do for thelast six years.
I give lecture and I go andhave workshops in companies and in
(47:42):
different places just to helpthe retrospectual individuals in
the company.
How to understand the lgbtq,LGBTQ plus individuals.
Because this is something inyour mind that you have to with.
(48:02):
I told you just before, we allhave binary mind.
We cannot understand ifsomething like it doesn't work, if
I see something that it's notin my mind.
So I need to make my mind flexible.
(48:23):
And this is what I do.
And also I advise to familiesand I accompany either managers and
companies or families or LGBTQindividuals themselves how to deal
with the situation that theyneed to deal with and how to make
(48:48):
their life and how to improvethemselves and their families and
their companies.
And, you know, I believe thatthis is something that's needed and
it's needed from me as aheterosexual woman.
And this is what I.
My business is all about.
(49:09):
This.
This is what I do.
Diversity and inclusion andconsulting in all over the country.
And I really believe that thisis key to having a better community.
And it's on us, myresponsibility to do that, not my
(49:32):
son's responsibility.
He doesn't need to go andfight the darkness.
I need to do that for him.
So this is my business.
And as you said it, girlsinside me, we had our conversation
previous, and you know how Ithink this is important.
So I am proud to be the thirdsection that this is my business.
(49:57):
Proud of being.
You are a mocker.
You are a real mocker and afighter in alliance, right?
Then think like if companieswant to change their logos in June,
(50:18):
they should for that, inviteyou to their offices.
Like, let's make it law.
Let's make it like acommunity, like LGBTQ + community
law.
One of my friends, if you want.
To change it, you know, I have.
Few hashtags during the Pridemonth at June, and one of it is Pride
(50:41):
all year round, because it'snot only.
And the other one, it's notonly a colorful cupcake because you
know what becomes a big partyand the place have colorful cocktails
on the table and makedifferent fruits purple, red.
(51:02):
Okay, that's not the point.
Because this is one day.
This is not the whole point.
Go to your company and say,okay, we have a party and that's
it.
There is 365 days a year thatpeople need to work at your company.
You have to take care of youremployees, you have to take care
(51:23):
of your client, and you have ajob of making this work better.
You cannot just provideproducts to the world.
You can do something andthat's really important.
And it's really important.
And it's on us, the community,to go to the office where you work,
(51:49):
to the HR or so on and demandto bring people like Sarit or LGBTQ
organization to talk to dosomething that can impact community.
The era of cupcakes isofficially done and that's it.
(52:15):
I like cupcakes.
I like colors.
I love it.
I love those disgusting,colorful donuts.
But, you know, and it bringsus to the surface the gay friendly
businesses, because if youwant to be friendly, you just, it's
not okay.
You have a flag, change yourlogo to the gay flag colors and it's
(52:41):
not over with that.
And it's really important.
Right?
But on advertisementperspective, it's also really important.
People have the people know it.
Like the social media sees it.
If you are not an LGBTQ + allyduring the year or if it doesn't
(53:06):
match your DNA, your companyDNA, people will notice it and people
will comment on these logos.
We have again, like zerotolerance for people who are trying
to pink wash the community.
It's really, really important.
Like times have changed, butagain, it's on us.
(53:30):
It's on us, the community inthe company.
Well, I can say, but like, forme, as someone who also gives lectures
and deals with LGBTQ plusstuff all around the year, but it's
extremely, extremely difficultwhen you have like one season in
(53:57):
the year.
And like, if people reallywant to make business, I think it
has to be like all around the year.
I think there should be somemore advocacy around it.
I know.
Like, for me, honestly, Pridemonth is the worst month of the year.
Like, I'm dead too much.
And that's also deal withactivism, not only with business.
(54:18):
Right.
But.
Right.
But it's also really good forthe company.
Let's say we're talking aboutentrepreneuring, like what's good
for your business?
Business, like to have thisDNA like to say, like, hey, I'm liberal,
I'm here for the community.
I'm here for the people.
This is how you do marketingnowadays, like almost every company
(54:43):
have few agendas, not only oneagenda like before.
Like I'm here for recycling,I'm here for whatever you can have
couple of agendas.
And the LGBTQ plus agenda isit says you are a liberal country
(55:05):
company and you see the peopleand people sees that and then they
feel safe and they want to buyfrom you, they want to interact with
you.
So it's amazing.
It's really something that can.
You can use in favor to createbenefits for your company.
(55:28):
Right.
But again, there's ways to doand I guess and I believe that almost
every LGBTQ+ community allaround the world can provide the
information and the knowledgeand how to do it correctly.
Yeah.
(55:56):
So I would like also to sharesome of my little bit experience
as an entrepreneur who'sfocused very much actually in the
product which are designed forthe LGBTQ plus before and solving
real problems.
And we will actually in thatway also we will get to the conclusion
(56:19):
at the end of the episode.
And these two episodesactually I would say share from my
personal experience as anentrepreneur who comes from Israel.
And that market size is also avery important issue of yours.
First of all, when we talkabout the LGBTQ + population, so
(56:43):
depends on what research wewill be based on.
But even if I will bepessimistic and I will point to the
lowest number, we're talkingabout the fact that 7% of the populations,
no matter where LGBTQ +people, doesn't matter if it's in
Israel, it's in France or withNigeria, it's ratio of if they will
(57:05):
feel comfortable or not and ifthey will come outside of the closet
or not.
And one of the reasons thatthe name of Strange Friendly is like
that is because for mepersonally, I think that it's also
very important to look on somelarger market and audiences which
are not only gay friendly orlesbian friendly, not only in GPT,
(57:27):
but also the surroundings arealso very much affected.
Their families, as theirfriends, their managers and so on
and so on.
So I do believe that there'salso a much larger market for them.
Yet as an entrepreneur I cansay that especially let's say with
(57:50):
content creation, eventuallyas an entrepreneur who runs business,
you must have some enoughincome in order to cover expenses
and have a revenue and tomaximize revenue.
And when you create a product,let's say, which is only for Israelis,
it's very difficult.
I can give an example when wehad to import from Europe to Israel
(58:13):
out to vin, which is a gay TV channel.
And I mean like how manypeople already in the country that
9 million citizens live in it,how many LGBT we already have.
It will be less than a million.
And I can share it from myexperience, what I see as someone
who's a digital nomad, who'straveling all around the world and
(58:36):
working with so many differenteconomies and countries, but I do
something which I a little bit miss.
I don't see enough in smaller countries.
And maybe this is also raisingsome ethical questions.
But I see how in somecountries, for instance in the United
States and in Canada, howthere are different organizations
like Chamber of Commerce,let's say in the United States States
(58:58):
versus the nglcc, which helpsand connect between lots and lots
of like dozens of thousands ofLGBTQ plus entrepreneurs from.
From all around.
There's so many programs likethat also in Canada, and it's quite
big.
I have to say that whenever Isee that, I'm amazed by the size
(59:20):
of it as well as we also havebeen kind of venture capitals.
But I feel like it isdependent on sizes, market on market
size.
And maybe this is somethingwhich something in economy maybe
I believe should be a littlebit fixed.
And we do know how and we'vebeen talking about how like the minorities,
(59:42):
double minorities are some ofthe best entrepreneurs, but as they
are going throughdiscrimination for in fundraising
for startups, maybe there'salso a need to make things to be
more accessible for this kindof founders.
Just some idea I do see startout and some other organizations
(01:00:02):
that also help LGBTQ entrepreneurs.
Who wants to create a startup,but it doesn't deal with the subject
itself, with the product.
And I think real goodentrepreneurship is about finding
real problems and real good solutions.
And I'm lacking of seeingenough think tanking and organizations
(01:00:26):
that are locating different.
We're entrepreneurs fromdifferent countries where they can
have a think thinking of howcan we create the next startup that
will fight loneliness withinthe LGBTQ communities.
And we definitely see also howdating apps affected not only loneliness,
(01:00:48):
but the use of drugs, ofalcohol, smoking, and so on.
That's my personal observationfor that.
So would you like to addanything before we're done or actually
we're done here.
(01:01:08):
I'm having so much fun withyou guys.
It was amazing and a great.
So thank you very, very, very much.
So spontaneous, so amazing.
I had guts feeling that it'sgonna work out and I had so much
fun and it was such aninteresting discourse which I can.
I believe that it will affectso many entrepreneurs around the
(01:01:30):
world.
I hope that we broke at leastone stereotype or two and gave some
practical information.
So thank you very, very, very much.
I had the best time.
Thank you very much.
Michael and Barak, love you both.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you guys.
(01:01:50):
And maybe last question.
I would love to ask you both.
What do you think is going tobe the future of queer entrepreneurship?
Because we've been talking alot about the past and about the
present, but as you know, manyof our episodes are available also
for years after.
Do you think it's going to beget better or worse?
(01:02:11):
I think it's going to be better.
I'm always optimistic, by the way.
Yeah, I'm always, always optimistic.
I think it's going to bebetter and I think we're going to
see more like, yeah, like tomake our society better.
This is what I feel alongsidehigh tech, of course, but I think
(01:02:37):
we need it.
We need to connect, to makereal connection between people.
And I think we're going to seeit, hopefully.
And I wanted to add one morething before we finish.
If you want to make somethingnew, you need fuel.
(01:02:58):
You need to be financially and mentally.
And I think we all need towork on the both sides of that because
you need to make yourselfbetter and have the character to
do the things, but you alsoneed someone that believes in you
and can give you the push thatyou need.
(01:03:21):
So I can hope for the better,that the best is yet to come.
Especially that being anentrepreneur is living life on a
roller coaster, that's for sure.
Those are very important insights.
Thank you very much.
(01:03:42):
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Have a good one.
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