Welcome to How It Happens, a new series where we chronicle businesswomen who are absolutely bomb, wholehearted alignment with their mission to create amazing businesses and brands in their own out-of-the-box way.
Our first feature is Brittani Hunter, the Millennial Mogul behind Mogul Millennial. Knowing that I was searching for a good list of funding resources for Black women, a friend told me about Mogul Millenial, and I enjoyed it from the first click. Hunter’s site not only chronicles the successes and trials of entrepreneurship but also provides information on funds, hosts events, and gives an inside look at what it’s like to raise money, along with some great tips and tricks from people who have done it. I subscribed to the newsletter immediately. Women who look like me need funding, and I’m always happy to be able to point to another source with great information.
The Founder – Before her association with Snapchat, a16z, Mozilla, or LinkedIn, Brittani Hunter was a dog mom with a passion for her pup, which led her to create a dog perfume company (I really love that idea). While trying to find business information that felt familiar and relatable to her, she found that none of it really resonated, so she began chronicling her journey on LinkedIn, sharing information and resources she’d garnered on the way. Eventually, this hobby of learning in public turned into what we know today as Mogul Millennial.
The Team: Writers and content producers with varied perspectives. While it started with Hunter as the sole writer and editor, she recognized that her ideas were limited and wanted to provide information from as many sources and perspectives as possible to ensure that the audience was receiving what they were looking for.
The Audience – The first customer was the readers – those who were also interested in building their businesses and learning how to do so well. Hunter found herself looking at the stats from larger publications and trying to compete with their readership, getting more and more people on the site but eventually realized that having eyes on the site without a real product to sell would lead to collapse. With participation in Snapchat Yellow, the model expanded as she recognized that audience leverage made it possible to not only run ads as she’d previously been doing but allowing her to serve the audience with greater depth and experience by allowing businesses to connect with them through her platform, events, content making it B2B2C.
The Differentiator – From a values and ideology perspective, they sell business resources from a millennial standpoint. The business information that we would find in Forbes, Entrepreneur, or even Black Enterprise but in a way that is engaging for those who are seeking to understand what it looks like now to be a business owner who is also breaking barriers. We may be first-generation entrepreneurs, and our networks may not yet be flush with the kinds of friends who want to be our first investors, but we still have a vision. It’s about access to resources, accessibility in language and concepts, and community – seeing ourselves beyond the many studies that have constantly said that millennials have been born into a world where they have less, but if they only drink less coffee, they’ll be fine. This brand considers that building a business is not just about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps and working twice as hard but helping readers strategically plan and position themselves for funding to take their business to new heights. We see ourselves and can connect with each other and any business that partners with Mogul Millennial that recognizes her audience as theirs.
How Does it Make Money? B2B – Native ads, content series, newsletter, job board, funding database, and event partnerships. B2C – subscription access to funding resources with the ability to filter searches. This is especially cool because her partnerships with funds allow her paid community to have exclusive access to workshops and events with leading Black startup founders and investors.
Why do I love this brand, and what do I see for it in the future? This brand meets a need and has genuine roots – it started not because she was looking to make money but because she saw and experienced a hole in the market that she needed to be filled. She built to the need. Not only did it end up creating a source for information, but it also helps the business get funding as well by exemplifying those who made it, opening the doors to how and giving access to lists, criteria, and deadlines for submissions. This is not about taking but about giving, ensuring everyone has resources to get if they so desire. This is an example of creating something where we can win together. The site offers real business insights and resources without sacrificing authenticity. It sounds like a conversation among friends, complete with GIF usage to bring the point home. I think the next step in this company’s evolution is either providing services to help Black founders fundraise through consulting or capital campaign management or partnering DEIA efforts with VCs, accelerators, and funds to create a better ecosystem for the Black founder.
I see you, sis! Keep being great!
