Capital flows towards growth, so one of the biggest mysteries in the history of capitalism is how little capital has flowed to the U.S. Latino cohort. The Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) says if Latino entrepreneurs had access to a proportional amount of capital as the overall market, it would add $1.5 Trillion to the country’s GDP. Of course, that would also mean there would be a lot more wealth in the Latino community. Clearly, we all have a stake in solving this problem.
A few months ago, Sol Trujillo and I launched L’ATTITUDE Ventures. At first, we thought it would be great to have a little capital to invest in the companies that were showcased at Match-Up. Match-Up is the “Shark Tank” inspired session that had its first event at L’ATTITUDE in 2019. However, we quickly realized our original vision would only be a drop in the bucket to what was needed and we didn’t want to wait for other venture capital firms to finally “get with the program”… This week L’ATTITUDE Ventures received a $25M investment from a major financial institution, which brings our total raise to $40M. With this start, L’ATTITUDE Ventures should reach its goal of raising $100M by the end of the year, and it would make us the largest fund solely dedicated to Latino entrepreneurs in the world.
Two decades ago, I was a small mortgage banker, with very little capital and no connections whatsoever. I started NAHREP to create a platform where people like me could make those connections. Most of NAHREP’s 40,000 members see the organization as a place to learn and make business relationships, but there have been a few like Jason Madiedo, Patty Arvielo, Leo Pareja, Juan Martinez, Felix DeHerrera, and Armando Tam who thought bigger, and recognized the enormous power NAHREP has as a platform for ambitious entrepreneurs. I want to build on this.
For years, I have been thinking about the next iteration for NAHREP. The Hispanic Wealth Project and L’ATTITUDE have helped evolve the organization by expanding the vision of many of our members, but I think the next big thing has to be institutionalizing the process of helping Latino entrepreneurs scale their businesses. NAHREP has many members who own successful companies, and we want to expand that, but my goal is to also create billion-dollar companies…transformative companies. The types of companies that revolutionize industries and create multi-millionaire founders. To accomplish this, mentorship is important, and academic training is great, but capital is king. Latino entrepreneurs need capital.
The world of angel investing, private equity, SPAC’s and venture capital are relatively new to me. Like a lot of people, my only knowledge was what I read about in Forbes magazine. Silicon Valley is ground zero for venture capital and is known for providing early funding for companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Amazon, and hundreds more, but you will see more Latinos in Antarctica than you’ll see there.
Latinos are prolific at starting new companies, but the large majority of those companies are small and tend to stay small. One of the reasons this is true, is Latino entrepreneurs have historically had very limited access to capital. The world of angel investing, which is money for very early-stage companies that generally comes from individuals or small funds, is all about relationships. A friend of mine asked me to stop using the phrase “access to capital” and instead use the phrase “connection to capital” because the entrepreneurs who get capital don’t just have access – they usually have a personal connection to someone with capital. Latinos need those connections, but rather than wait for them to come to us, Sol and I decided to raise the capital ourselves and invest it in the most promising Latino entrepreneurs in the country. I’m super excited. Stay tuned for a big announcement on L’ATTITUDE Ventures!
A friend recently told me, “If demographics were all that mattered, we would have already won.” Latinos are driving homeownership growth and contributing enormously to the American economy. Yet we are still asking for a seat at the table. I believe the reason comes down to wealth: how much we control and what it allows us to do. In Episode 97 of The Latino Brand, I explain why wealth belongs at the center of our agenda. It gives us the resources to fund the businesses, institutions and political campaigns that shape our future. I hope you’ll watch.
I’ve always believed sports are one of the most powerful stages in American culture. The people we celebrate—and the people who own the teams and institutions behind them—help shape how the country sees leadership, success, and possibility. In Episode 96, I share why José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones’ purchase of the San Diego Padres feels bigger than baseball, and why this moment could mark a tipping point for Black and Latino visibility, wealth, and power.
There is no shortage of data showing the impact Latinos are having on the U.S. economy, from GDP and entrepreneurship to workforce participation and homeownership. So why hasn’t that growth translated into the kind of economic and political power our numbers suggest it should? In this episode, I focus on two things we can actually control: building wealth and owning our narrative. Cultural influence matters, but ownership is what turns influence into lasting power. And if we want the next generation to inherit more than momentum, we need a strategy for converting our work ethic, growth, and economic contributions into the institutions and assets that shape this country.