I attended a second breakout session this morning on Expanding and Empowering AA and NHPI Entrepreneurship.
See also: Forum on Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Entrepreneurship
What's happening: I flew to Washington DC to attend a forum supported by the White House on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Why it matters: As one of three Native Hawaiian tech CEOs that I know of, I felt it was worth attending.
The speakers were:
- Andrew Chau: Co-Founder and CEO, Boba Guys
- Raji Sankar: Co-CEO, Choolaah Indian BBQ
- Lydia Zhang: Owner and Business Partner, Peter Chang Restaurant Group
- David Zhao: Founding Partner, Chubby Cattle International
My takeaways:
- Peter Chang Restaurant Group was open the entire time during the pandemic.
- PPP loans were mentioned quite often. We were also recipients.
- All entrepreneurs in both panels were in the food and beverage space. It would have been nice to see a more varied spectrum.
- "Founding and starting a business is actually easier than scaling a business." Andrew Chau
- The entrepreneurs on the panel mentioned they are all JPMorgan customers.
The bottom line: It was refreshing to see a panel of all entrepreneurs for a session focused on entrepreneurship.
Hoala Greevy
