Dawn Dickson, five-time founder
What is the one truth that funding resource outlets like Shark Tank, TechCrunch, and Instagram won’t tell you about raising capital? According to founder, inventor, and serial entrepreneur Dawn Dickson, actually making money from the deal is more complex than you’d think. “Many people don't really understand what it takes to raise capital. They think, ’Oh, I've got a good idea, and I'm going to go raise money.’ However, an even deeper question on her mind for her would-be peers is, “What about making money?”
Known as one of the few Black women in the tech sphere to have raised historic amounts of capital ($6 Million) exclusively through crowdfunding, Dickson’s “bigger picture” is making a noble exit from profitable companies and flipping those earnings to contribute to wealth creation. “I’d say there are at least seven solid ways that you can get money, and I've gotten money in all those ways.”
Pushing the boundaries of the automated retail industry with her software-backed vending machine company, PopCom, Dickson has impacted thousands with her aptitude for curating routes to unique business solutions and financial freedom. In our recent interview, the author, speaker, and BARS! podcast host shared advice for entrepreneurs looking to raise capital and stretch it beyond expectation.
Don’t Ask. Just Do.
At the height of the pandemic, a PopCom team member came up with the idea to repurpose existing machines initially set up for enterprise customers to be used as local pop-up shops for small- and medium-sized businesses. The opportunity would give local entrepreneurs access to high-traffic locations, such as airports, hotels, malls, and convention centers, to gain more visibility in areas with a high barrier to entry.
A prominent champion for BIPOC and women founders, Dickson says she lets the portfolio speak for itself when engaging with corporate partners to invest in underrepresented communities. “We don't have to walk around and say, ‘We want to put Black products in the Columbus Airport.’ We just do.” By opening the opportunity for other brands to utilize PopCom’s machines through their PopShop Local partnerships, Dickson’s team has helped several founders optimize sales, strengthen customer engagement, and become educated on an innovative distribution channel while expanding the tech’s reach across markets.
In 2022, PopCom officially deployed PopShop Local digital pop-up shops at twelve new locations, partnering with a variety of Black- and women-owned brands, widening the reach of the hybrid e-commerce and brick-and-mortar storefronts dubbed as the “iPhone of vending machines.” Dispensed brands have included Flat Out of Heels, Ruby Love, The Brow Dr., Soulflowe, Drink Fresh Juice, Jelcie, Brew and Feed, Coco and Breezy, and Ginger and Honey. Physical art and digital NFTs offered by Artist Christopher "Knxtti" Green and Disrupt.Art. sold out in less than an hour upon debut.
Prepare Yourself For Zero Mistakes
When she was starting in the game, the Web3 and equity crowdfunding pioneer admitted to making the mistake of giving away 8% of her company for $30,000. “I didn't do my research. I didn't dig into all the terms and preemptive rights. I was just eager. And it hurt me later because that person received a significant amount of equity for a meager amount of money.”
“There are so many ways to raise money, but there's a timing that aligns for each of those things,” she continued. “I feel like venture capital shouldn't be approached until you have a clear go-to-market strategy and a way that you're going to get to revenue if you’re not already profitable while on your path to profitability. Because you can leverage that.” She believes that approaching venture capitalists with traction and a long-term attitude are the keys to withstanding possible pitfalls, especially if the business should reach a likely evolution where investors begin questioning its viability.
To combat the lack of knowledge surrounding the foundational aspects of raising capital, Dickson provides one-on-one coaching and education to founders through her website DawnDickson.me. Currently owning 37% of PopCom with 98% of the controlling votes as CEO, she’s been able to steer crucial decision-making that continues to benefit the company and its shareholders. By mapping out focus points such as due diligence, how to incorporate, and the necessary protection plans and timing strategies, Dickson routinely teaches students how to go from zero to a million without costly oversight.
Make. Money.
Over the span of 23 years, Dickson has founded five successful cash flow-positive companies, including Flat Out Of Heels (2011) and PopCom (2017) and successfully exited one, Lifestyle Café (2021). Though often recognized for her monumental funding raises, she shared how the model is not her ideal choice. When asked about her strategies for identifying viable growth opportunities, she listed two critical success factors:
1. Focusing on products and pain points she knows and understands and;
2. Focusing on businesses that can make money the day they open or within a month.
“I don't want a $1 billion business valuation and my net worth based on billions that are all just fluff and air,” she exclaimed. “I want cash in the bank. And that's what my dad would always say. I would say, ‘Dad, I'm on the cover of Black Enterprise. I'm in Forbes,’ and he's like, ‘Yeah? Show me your bank account.’ And I get it because he comes from a different time when valuation did not matter, only cash on hand.”
Growing up, Dickson found examples of her signature style of entrepreneurship through her parents’ thriving businesses, which she described as frameworks that kept them from ever taking outside jobs. Her mother was a housewife generating a significant income through an at-home daycare service, while her father owned home inspection and remodeling businesses. By targeting product- and service-based companies that offer immediate face value and promote customer buy-in and sales retention, she says founders can more efficiently move into the realm of net worth based on tangible assets with high liquidity, i.e., money in the bank.
Plan Your Exit Strategy
Keeping in mind the vision of growing her business profits into generational wealth that will surpass her lifetime, Dickson maintains a long-term focus on well-planned exit strategies that allow herself and her shareholders to prosper upon acquisition.
“I have a couple of acquisition targets that I've been talking to for a few years, and whenever the time is right, I see Flat Out rolling, no pun intended, into another brand,” she revealed. As for PopCom, “We’re definitely in a position as a business where we're growing so fast that we cannot keep up with our own growth,” explained Dickson of the current crossroads of her history-making company. “If you know about companies, what kills [them] is either an insufficient amount of money to support growth or not enough growth. We have so much growth and interest that we can't even keep up with it.”
Not embarrassed or ashamed to admit if PopCom could last through 2023 or not, Dickson was adamant in her optimism that whatever happens, whether more capital is raised or an acquisition deal is inked, neither she nor her partners will be left without. “It has to be beneficial for my shareholders. It just wouldn't make sense for it not to be.”
