ONE X LEAGUE, INC. FOUNDER TALKS ABOUT TURNING DOWN TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAINTAINING OWNERSHIP

I had the honor of speaking with Shadé Akande, the founder and CEO of ONE X LEAGUE, Inc., for my “Ten Minutes With a Founder” Series. She shared her perspective about funding decisions and details about her own journey with funding and investing in her own company, which I believe you’ll find quite inspiring.

The Beginning

“I invested my own funds in ONE X LEAGUE and shared the opportunity to invest with a group of executive women and founders. I created an advisory board and ONE X LEAGUE was on its way”, says Shadé Akande, founder and CEO of ONE X LEAGUE, the largest professional and social league for Black women executives and founders. “It was also very important to me that members of ONE X LEAGUE had an opportunity to own equity in the company, so founding members were extended an opportunity to obtain equity as well.”

The ONE X LEAGUE Experience

Shadé continues, “ONE X LEAGUE is such a special league because the women who are a part of it [the members] are so wonderful. Like most executive organizations, there’s membership criteria but what we’ve always been most intentional about is ensuring that only applicants who are kind become members in ONE X LEAGUE. It’s hands down what’s most important because who shows up (and how they show up) has a direct impact on everyone's experience. And whether we’re enjoying a seminar, dining experience or excursion across the globe, the members truly enjoy each other and we have to protect the quality of the experience at all costs. So much so that we don’t offer automatic annual membership renewals to anyone. Membership renewal is by invite only. And that approach is working (check out our member feedback posted on our IG/LinkedIn).”

The Current Investors

“There are definitely correlations between the members and the investors of ONE X LEAGUE”, says Shadé. “I had and continue to have the same level of intentionality when considering who’s investing in ONE X LEAGUE. At the very least, you have to understand the needs, culture and life experiences of our core members. There’s more to it but that’s a fun conversation for another day.”

The Other Investors

Shadé continues, “I remember the first time that a partner from one of the largest investment groups reached out to me. They inquired about investing in ONE X LEAGUE. Some of what they said was… they were very interested in my company and believed it would be a strong unique addition to their portfolio... ONE X LEAGUE really excited their investors… We were a great match... This investment group partner said all of the things that twenty year old me would have been ecstatic to hear about a company she founded that was now in the purview of an entity with deep pockets – an entity with extremely attractive offers. What to do?

I understand both sides: why founders bring on majority investors/sell and why founders don’t accept money/maintain majority ownership. It’s such a personal decision, especially for Black women founders and women of color in general given how infrequently we’re a part of these conversations.”

The Other Stories

“Making the decision to turn down millions of dollars is such a unique life experience”, Shadé continues. “Necole Kane understands this. She’s the founder and CEO of My Happy Flo and she shared via Twitter that she decided to turn down millions of dollars in acquisition offers for one of her previous brands. She added that she wanted to choose the company’s ending, which is a reality that every entrepreneur has to consider at some point.

And there was also the Kang sisters who founded the dating site, Coffee Meets Bagel. They immediately turned down a $30 million offer from Mark Cuban, because they understood the value and potential of what they were building. I can absolutely relate to that.”

The Number

“They say that every founder has a number. Today, there isn’t a number”, Shadé admits. “And I at least know that, like my fellow founders mentioned, tens of millions isn’t it. So many of us are the first generation to do it. So many of us had to start from zero, bootstraps-free. When I think about legacy and generational wealth, it’s hard to quantify what the number translates to in current dollars.”

You can learn more about ONE X LEAGUE here, follow them on Instagram here, and you can connect with Shade Akande here.