Presented by Dell
In his dorm room at the University of Texas, Dell Founder and CEO Michael Dell launched PCs Limited with just a thousand bucks. Soon the company became known as Dell Computer Corporation, and thirty years later it has become a behemoth, with more than 100,000 employees around the world. But to this day, Michael Dell still considers himself an entrepreneur, at the head of the biggest startup in the world, and a venture capitalist with a mission: to give entrepreneurs access to the capital, worldwide markets, talent, and technology that underlies all successful businesses.
The clarion call for small businesses
It’s a mission with a serious global impact. The worldwide workforce is booming, which means by 2030, the world will need 600 million new jobs. Small and struggling areas across the world will always especially rely on an influx of jobs for their survival. And while big enterprises offer a lot of seats to potential employees, the vast majority of jobs will be driven by entrepreneurs and their startups and small businesses.
Right now, entrepreneurs and small, fast-growing businesses create between 70 and 90 percent of the world’s jobs. And these small companies create jobs, foster local economies by boosting opportunity and wealth in their communities, and mobilize ambitious innovators to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
Startups + enterprise partnerships
Some dismal statistics haunt small businesses. In the U.S., 20 percent of businesses will fail the first year; 30 percent the next. Fifty percent will go down in their fifth year, and 70 percent fail in their tenth year. But Dell believes that while the economy is always a question mark for hopeful business owners, there’s never been a better time to start a business.
Not only is startup capital and growth funding abundant from banks, individual investors, and VCs, the technology infrastructure that’s absolutely essential to business success is more powerful and sophisticated than ever before. Corporations are more aware than ever that partnering with startups drives innovation and helps them stay relevant, and entrepreneurs know that strong corporate partnerships are often a startup’s most powerful growth hack.
Dell, which has more than 30 years’ experience helping startups thrive, offers tailored technology solutions for entrepreneurs, especially at the crucial launch stage, when the technology foundation needs to be laid with an eye toward the future.
Dell Technologies Capital is an early stage fund that invests in companies developing innovative solutions relevant to the Dell Technologies family of businesses, including Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware. The main investment focus areas include storage, software defined networking, management and orchestration, security, machine learning/artificial intelligence, Big Data/analytics, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and DevOps.
Leveling the playing field for women and vets
There’s an opportunity gap for women and veteran entrepreneurs, and Dell is leading multiple initiatives that specifically support these groups.
For women, that includes the Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN), celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The initiative connects female founders around the globe with sources of capital, knowledge and technology, and hosts an annual summit to come together and share best practices, resources and like-minded experiences.
In addition, Dell, along with SpringBoard Enterprises, co-founded Women Funding Women, an organization which addresses the challenges women entrepreneurs face to receive venture capital.
To change the game for veteran entrepreneur community, where currently an astounding 24 percent of veterans want to become entrepreneurs, but only six percent achieve that goal, Dell works closely with Bunker Labs. The initiative educates and connects current and retired military members to the resources they need to start their own businesses.
How to scale technology infrastructure
Once entrepreneurs get their feet on the ground, they can encounter technology roadblocks that can slow their ability to scale. There are three key things a business needs to grow from a one-person shop to an enterprise:
The first: Secure, cloud-enabled infrastructure that’s simple to deploy and easy to manage.
The second: modern and consistent operations. In today’s tech world, it’s available with a multi-cloud approach, use of consistent building blocks, and full automation to deliver a secure IT experience with robust outcomes.
The third and final key is what Dell calls modern service delivery, which lets businesses unlock data, use it to power the highest-value initiatives, fine tune those objectives on the fly, and feel confident that all decisions are backed by data.
Financing solutions for scaling business
Compared to equity-only firms, startups initially using business loans have higher average revenues and survival rates three years later.
To that end, Dell Financial Services offers financing for VC and Angel-backed startups to provide financial and scalable technology resources to encourage innovation and bolster both speed-to-market and job creation. Entrepreneurs get free expedited delivery, exclusive offers, and up to 6 percent back in rewards.
Companies that meet certain criterion, as approved by Dell Financial Services, can be approved for credit of a portion of their funded amount. Even if you’re not VC-funded or Angel-backed, Dell Financial Services offers a variety of other service options to leverage technology to scale your business. And with Dell Small Business Technology Advisors, entrepreneurs get the tech, advice, and one-on-one partnership to help your startup grow.
To learn more about how to partner with Dell to build the kind of startup that beats the odds, transforms economies, and disrupts industries, go here for exclusive member savings and more.
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