How to Leave Gracefully

How to Leave Gracefully 👋

“Had I built [my website, The Budget Fashionista] today, I probably would have taken venture funding. The Budget Fashionista was revenue positive, with significant cash flow. I didn’t need investment. Instead I got three small loans of about $15,000 apiece from Accion.

By the time venture did become available for content-based websites, and servers did become cheaper, and podcasts did start to become part of our everyday lives, I finally had interest from both VCs and private equity firms. And they were great offers. If they had come across my path five years earlier, when we were rapidly scaling and in need of more servers (this was before the cloud), it would have been perfect.

But, by that point, I had changed. I was making a lot of money that was 100 percent my money. I had built TBF for over ten years, and taking that money from the PEs or the VCs meant that I would have to stay because they wanted both the talent and the traffic. I would have had an ‘earn-out,’ a standard clause when a company is bought. An earn-out requires key staff to stay on the company after sale, sometimes for up to three years, to help with the transition to a new owner and ensure that the company can be successful once the founders leave. I didn’t want TBF to be my whole life. I felt like I had made the impact I wanted to make. Hell, ‘fashionista’ became common terminology outside New York in large part because of me. I was ready to move on.

So I said no and sold The Budget Fashionista instead…I am glad that I gave myself the option to move on. Now, with Genius Guild, I get to be a venture capitalist myself and invest in what I want to invest in.

I love that my trajectory turned out that way.”

For more essential wisdom on building your company all the way from your initial idea to a successful exit, check out Build the Damn Thing on Amazon!

What I Did in 2023 🎉

It’s been a busy year of travel, speaking, and building.

At SXSW this year, I spoke with Tessa Flippin about my journey as an entrepreneur, inclusion champion, and investor at a Featured Session on “How to Build the Damn Thing,” as well as speaking at the Black Future House Session. I also spoke with Kate Cronin for Moderna’s SXSW panel on how companies can use their platforms for good, was interviewed in a Live Recording for Startup of the Year, and spoke on a panel in the Equality Lounge.

In September, I traveled to New York City for the UN Goalkeepers conference during the 78th United Nations General Assembly. I currently serve as the US representative to the Goalkeepers Advisory Group, a coalition of experts committed to achieving the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. At the conference, I spoke on a keynote panel with model/entrepreneur Karli Kloss and Phoebe Gates on the power of investing in women.

Later that month, I was honored to receive the Heinz Award in the Economy for my work fostering economic, financial, and social opportunities for BIPOC-owned businesses across the U.S. From Teresa Heinz, Chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation: “Kathryn is honored for her vision and tenacity in creating space for Black and Brown women to bring their too-long overlooked gifts, talent and power to the world of tech entrepreneurship and investment.”

My other keynote speaking events this year included “Show Me the Money: Strategies for Cultivating Diversity in Fundraising” at the Women’s Venture Capital Summit and “How Do We Build a More Trustworthy World?” at Concordia College. I was also the first woman to keynote Denver Startup Week, where I spoke about my entrepreneurship journey with Genius Guild and shared guidance from Build The Damn Thing.

I cannot wait to see where 2024 takes me!