Stanford’s SOLE Summit’s 10 Year Success

💫 Wonderful gathering of talent and opportunity at Stanford's SOLE Summit.

I first met Marlene Orozco, PhD and Jerry Porras when I was looking for advice on how to engage my university in a LatinX/LatAm investment conference that I was planning to organize.  I clearly saw a value play for investors and wanted to bring together founders and funders to showcase talent and facilitate investment opportunities.  I was interested in learning more about related initiatives at Stanford University.

Marlene’s doctorate and post-doctorate work at Stanford centered on gathering essential data on Latino entrepreneurship in the US.  Jerry, an esteemed tenured Professor at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and co-author of Built to Last (successful habits of enduring visionary companies), had the backing of two Stanford University Presidents to build out the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) and host the LBAN/Latino Business Action Network.  This was not a DEI initiative.  This was a clear business opportunity in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Last Thursday, I attended the 10th annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) Summit held at Stanford.  Marlene, Associate Director of SLEI Dr. Rosalia Zarate, and GSB Accounting Professor George Foster presented research that capital allocators, strategic partners, and other stakeholders can act upon. [https://lnkd.in/g-rshAyu]

·      The value of goods and services produced by US Latinos is over $3.6 trillion (2022), making it the 5th largest economy globally, surpassing the GDPs of the UK and India.  Latino owned businesses are driving this economic growth.
·      Latinos are starting businesses at a faster rate across all industries and all states.  44% growth 2018-2023.
·      Latino-owned businesses have rebounded in profitability post-pandemic.  84% in 2024 vs 53% in 2020 in comparison with 80% and 62% for non-Latino owned, non-minority owned businesses.
·      Latino-owned businesses continue to lead in providing opportunities for employee growth and advancement.  89% provide employer-paid benefits.
·      Latino-owned businesses receive less transparency about the criteria on which funding decisions are made (about them).  Funding received per requests is about half of comparable groups.  I have seen worse statistics.

I attend the summit in person annually to build friendships, enjoy community, learn from relevant panel discussions, and engage in business with very talented people who work hard at everything they do.

Adelante!