What's Happening?
Michael Meo, founder of Build Momentum, is dedicated to supporting ambitious and often overlooked entrepreneurs, particularly those from the LGBTQ+ community, women, and later-career individuals. Build Momentum aims to create connections and provide support to help
these founders transform their ideas into successful ventures. Meo, drawing from his own experiences as a gay entrepreneur, views queerness as a source of creativity and resilience. His organization focuses on building community spaces through events, workshops, panels, and dinners in major tech hubs like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. These gatherings connect early-stage founders with established startup and corporate leaders, investors, and builders, facilitating access to venture capital and mentorship. Build Momentum also hosts QueerTech IRL, a specific initiative to bring LGBTQ+ founders and investors together, fostering a supportive environment for queer entrepreneurs. Meo emphasizes the importance of community in the often-isolating journey of entrepreneurship, ensuring that founders do not have to navigate the startup landscape alone.
Why It's Important?
Build Momentum's work is crucial for fostering a more inclusive and diverse startup ecosystem in the U.S., particularly in Los Angeles. By focusing on underrepresented founders, the organization addresses significant disparities in access to capital, mentorship, and networking opportunities within the venture world. This initiative helps unlock the potential of a broader range of innovators, leading to more diverse solutions and economic growth. The emphasis on LGBTQ+ founders, women, and later-career individuals challenges the traditionally heteronormative and male-dominated venture capital landscape, promoting equitable participation. By creating 'warm inroads' into venture capital, Build Momentum directly impacts the success rates of these entrepreneurs, contributing to job creation and innovation across various industries. The program's success can serve as a model for other regions looking to cultivate a more inclusive entrepreneurial environment, ultimately strengthening the national economy by tapping into previously overlooked talent pools.
What's Next?
Build Momentum has several initiatives planned for the future. The organization is exploring the launch of a West Hollywood-based venture accelerator specifically for founders in health tech, wellness, media, social, and AI sectors. This accelerator is envisioned as a physical space offering desks, community activations, mentorship, workshops, and funding opportunities. Additionally, Build Momentum has recently launched its corporate venture-building practice, aiming to collaborate with influential established companies to create entirely new ventures that drive growth and innovation. The organization also plans to scale the impact of QueerTech IRL through more activations, community events, and enhanced networking opportunities for LGBTQ+ founders and investors. These future endeavors aim to further expand Build Momentum's reach and deepen its impact on the startup community, particularly for underrepresented groups, by providing more structured support and avenues for growth.
Beyond the Headlines
The work of Build Momentum extends beyond simply connecting founders with resources; it addresses deeper cultural and systemic barriers within the U.S. startup ecosystem. By actively championing LGBTQ+ founders, Michael Meo highlights the unique strengths these individuals bring, such as resilience, creativity, and comfort with ambiguity, often developed through personal experiences of identity formation. This perspective challenges conventional notions of what makes a successful entrepreneur and advocates for a more holistic view of talent. The initiative also implicitly tackles the issue of 'code-switching' that many underrepresented founders experience in male-dominated industries, aiming to create spaces where entrepreneurs can be their full, authentic selves. By fostering intentional communities, Build Momentum is not just building companies but also cultivating a more empathetic and inclusive culture within the tech and venture capital sectors, promoting long-term societal shifts towards greater equity and representation.
