Mark Cuban Says Black Women Entrepreneurs Should 'Stop Looking For Funding'—Here's The Surprising Reason Why

Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and investor in the Fedtech firm Beanstack, encourages Black women entrepreneurs to focus on bootstrapping instead of seeking external funding.

“I would tell you not to look for funding. You have to figure out how to use sweat equity to build it on your own,” he told Essence in an interview published on March 11. Cuban’s journey began with a small personal investment in MicroSolutions, a company he later sold at a significant profit.

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An early career hiccup—when his secretary, Renee Hardy, walked away with $82,000—did little to derail his ambitions, as Cuban recalled in a "Club Shay Shay" podcast. Instead, he regrouped and sold MicroSolutions for $6 million in 1990, a milestone that Cuban highlighted as the strength of building a business independently.

Bootstrapping Builds Resilience

Ahead of the March 7, SXSW 2025 panel hosted by fintech firm Clover, Cuban spoke about the hurdles Black women face in the funding arena in the Essence talk. 

He said bootstrapping lets entrepreneurs retain full ownership and control, which can be key to long-term stability and independence. His remarks come at a time when the business landscape shows promising yet uneven growth. 

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According to a 2025 Brookings report, Black-female-owned employer businesses grew by 71.6% from 2017 to 2022. Their total revenue increased by 82.1%, reflecting significant financial growth. During the same period, these businesses expanded their workforce by 31.8% and increased their annual payroll by 67.9%. 

Despite this growth, only 32,000 of the 70,000 new Black-owned employer businesses were female-owned, indicating that Black women remain underrepresented in business ownership.  According to People Of Color In Tech, startups led by black founders also captured only 0.4% of all U.S. venture capital dollars in 2024.

Adding another layer to the conversation is Quaderno founder and CEO Carlos Hernandez. In a recent post on Saastock, he said, “The lack of money makes you more pragmatic and helps you manage your priorities better.”

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His perspective aligns with Cuban’s advice that establishing a business’s creditworthiness is essential. Cuban said, “One must make the business loan-worthy and learn the language of lenders.” 

This approach encourages entrepreneurs to prepare thoroughly for funding challenges, ensuring that the business remains on solid ground even if initial loan requests fall short. The challenges in accessing venture capital persist even as progress is made. 

According to a Pew Research analysis, published on Feb. 12, of federal data, Black-owned businesses have grown by 57% in the U.S since 2017 to 2022. However, they still comprise a smaller share of overall firms and revenue. 

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