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3-Minute Briefing: Burunda Prince (MBA 1987)
Topics: Entrepreneurship-GeneralDemographics-Race-African American, BlackLeadership-GeneralDemographics-Women
3-Minute Briefing: Burunda Prince (MBA 1987)
Topics: Entrepreneurship-GeneralDemographics-Race-African American, BlackLeadership-GeneralDemographics-Women
3-Minute Briefing: Burunda Prince (MBA 1987)
Photo by Melissa Golden
My parents were both public school teachers, but they also owned a repair shop called Satellite TV. After school and on Saturdays we’d all go over to the family business. That was my first insight into the hard work of entrepreneurship.
At RICE, we help Black entrepreneurs succeed in any industry and at any stage in the entrepreneurial journey. We’re about sustained, generational investment and wealth creation to build stronger Black communities—which is better for everyone, whether you’re Black or not.
We have 54,000 square feet of space in a building where Herman Russell started his real estate and construction business in Atlanta 70 years ago. He was an incubator and accelerator before the terms were even coined.
Our Big IDEAS curriculum helps develop a step-by-step plan for creating a sustainable business. The process is continuous, experiential, and individualized.
Atlanta attracts talent to its colleges and universities. An entrepreneur’s dollar goes much further here. Some cities are known for specific verticals, but Atlanta has fintech, health tech, and representation in sports, film, and music.
RICE is a startup, too. Our vision is much bigger than Atlanta. We want to create a blueprint of best practices that will help Black entrepreneurs across the country and, frankly, around the globe.
My dad taught me Socratic thinking—that the process of getting to the answer was as valuable as the answer itself. My mother taught me to run through walls. When I completed the math in my high school, she navigated a lot of bureaucracy so I could take classes at Georgia Tech. She said, “You can’t be an engineer and be done with math.”
I’ve never, ever believed that any of my experiences have been for myself alone. If I can support entrepreneurs on their journey, if I can increase their probability of being successful, then I’ve contributed something of immense impact that’s way beyond who I am.
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