◼ECONOMICS BloombergBusinessweek June 29, 2020Chapters of organizations such as 1 Million
Cups, which brings local entrepreneurs together (vir-
tually for now) for monthly Alcoholics Anonymous-
style meetings, are popping up around the nation.
Visits have tripled to the online education portal
for entrepreneurs run by the National Association
of Women Business Owners. Zebras Unite sprang
from a 2017 post on the website Medium calling
on the founders of startups to create an alterna-
tive for entrepreneurship that’s more equitable and
ethical than the Silicon Valley startup model. With
5,000 members in 45 chapters on every continent,
it now hosts an annual camp and podcast, and helps
its members pool their ideas, resources, and fight-
ing spirit to support each other like a herd of zebras
(which is called a dazzle, in case you didn’t know).
For too long, we bought into the notion that all
we needed to do was create and support the entre-
preneurs building the biggest businesses, assuming
the trickle-down of money, jobs, and innovation
would benefit everyone. But a healthy economy
needs a full complement of enterprises: the high-
tech, rapidly growing companies and midsize
manufacturers; the MBA-educated innovators dis-
rupting markets; and the small businesses run by
minorities, immigrants, women, and seniors that
make our neighborhoods vibrant. Silicon Valley
talks a lot about the “ecosystem” for startups, but
we need to remind ourselves that the healthiest
ecosystems are diverse. They need microbes and
ants—not just elephants.
Mara Zepeda, a co-founder of Zebras Unite, sees
the present crisis as a once-in-a-generation oppor-
tunity to transform American entrepreneurship.
“We’re in this moment right now that feels like
Noah’s Ark, and we’re trying to get in two by two.
We have to save these community businesses that
are vital to our lives and our neighborhoods and are
just the heartbeat of who we are,” she says. “This
isn’t one of those survival-of-the-fittest moments. It’s
not competitive. We have to come together.”
More than anything, we need to restore the
belief, so deeply ingrained in America’s iden-
tity, that entrepreneurship remains desirable and
attainable. So if someone like Anglin is willing to
bear the risk Cantillon first wrote about three cen-
turies ago, she can take her idea out into the world
and work for herself. “I don’t allow my experience
to deter me from moving forward,” she says. “I take
the hits and keep going mainly because of my two
girls. I’m hoping by the time they get to my age,
theirexperiencewillbedifferent.”A New Crop
Of Startups
Stokes
Optimism
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PHOTOGRAPH BY NYDIA BLAS FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK● Data show a bounceback in new businesses,
though it’s geographically unevenAmid the worst job marketin decades and
projections that the economy will contract by as
much as 35% this quarter, entrepreneurs appar-
ently missed the message of doom. New busi-
nessformationhasreboundedquicklyinparts
ofthecountry,raisinghopesfora stronger-than-
expected recovery.
The number of Employer Identification
Number (EIN) applications, which new busi-
nesses file with the IRS, tanked in mid-March as
the pandemic forced most of the nation into lock-
down. Filings remained low for several weeks, but
they’re growing again across much of the country,
led by Southern states that have been less severely
affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
In Atlanta, transportation planning consultant
Jen Price is moving ahead with her dream of open-
ing the Atlanta Beer Boutique, a “beer cafe” show-
casing local brews and beer appreciation classes
catering to women. (Price is the author of the
self-published Chick’s Guide to Beer.) She’s awaiting
a date to go before the city’s liquor license review
board. Price, 45, has been encouraged by Atlanta’s
nascent economic recovery. “You see tons of peo-
ple out,” she says. “I’m very surprised by the num-
ber of people who are busting to get out and who
are excited to get out. I am not sure exactly what
to expect.”
A smattering of data suggests the country is
slowly climbing out of the abyss, even if the recov-
ery is threatened by rising numbers of Covid-19
cases in some states. Unemployment fell in May to
13.3% from 14.7% the previous month, surprisingTHE BOTTOM LINE The U.S. has placed too much emphasis
on tech startups as the model for successful small businesses,
excluding women and minorities.“I’m very
surprised by
the number
of people who
are busting
to get out
and who are
excited
to get out”