New York.- John Henry de padres dominicanos, tiene 23 años y vendió su empresa a la edad de 21, por un millón de dólares para ayudar a nuevas empresas en Harlem.
Tiene en marcha un acelerador de negocios sin fines de lucro en la ciudad de Nueva York, llamada Cofound Harlem. Es gratis para las empresas que deseen el programa. Consiguen tutoría y US$50,000 en servicios de especie como ayuda legal y contable, herramientas de marketing de correo electrónico y almacenamiento en la nube, a cambio de un compromiso de cuatro años de permanecer en Harlem.
Tres de las cuatro empresas que llegaron a través del programa a principios de este año son están todavía en el negocio, incluyendo Bandhub, un sitio de colaboración de música con 80.000 usuarios que ha obtenido US$500.000.
Henry describe en esta entrevista la forma en que se inició en los negocios como un joven de 18 años de edad, portero, la forma en que vendió su primera empresa de US$1 millón y algunas de las lecciones de emprendimiento que va a compartir en un nuevo podcast.
He Sold A $1M Business At 21. Now He's Helping Harlem Startups And Podcasting Entrepreneurship Tips
John Henry.
John Henry, 23, is running a non-profit business accelerator in New York City called Cofound Harlem. It’s free for companies who make it into the program. They get mentoring and $50,000 worth of in-kind services like legal and accounting help, email marketing tools and cloud storage, in exchange for a four-year commitment to remain in Harlem. Three of the four companies that came through the program early this year are still in business, including Bandhub, a music collaboration site with 80,000 users that has raised $500,000. Henry describes how he got his start in business as an 18-year-old doorman, how he sold his first company, and some of the entrepreneurship lessons he’ll be sharing in a new podcast.
Susan Adams: Tell me about your background.
John Henry: My parents come from the Dominican Republic. My mother was a custodian and my father was a presser at a dry cleaner. They taught me that the way you do anything is the way you do everything. They took an enormous amount of pride in what they did, even though my mom was cleaning toilets.
Adams: How did you come to start your own business?
Henry: I moved to New York from Florida to become a jazz musician and was working as a doorman while going to school full time. I was the best doorman you could have. I learned tenants’ names, their kids’ names and all their preferences. The real currency was not the $14 an hour I was making but the value of the relationships. A resident in the building offered me my first business opportunity.
Adams: What deal did you strike with him?
Henry: He had a chain of 15 dry cleaners. He said you seem like a smart kid. We’ll clean any clothes you bring us at a wholesale price and you can charge the market rate. He’d charge me $3 to clean a jacket and I’d charge $12.
0 Comentarios