Like any entrepreneur, 30-year-old Tristan Walker had dreams of becoming successful and changing the world which is probably what inspired him to create products that targeted issues unique to people of color.
Walker graduated from Stanford Business School and later worked with Foursquare. According to USA Today, he then became the first African American entrepreneur in residence at venture capitalist firm, Andreessen Horowitz, but still desired to take a leap of faith.
The then, 24-year-old decided to fund his own start-up, Walker & Company Brands and the first product of the line was the “Bevel”. It’s a single blade razor specifically designed to combat irritation and razor bumps due to course or curly hair. “Up to 80 percent of black men and women have this issue because we have course curly hair,” Walker said. “And 30 percent of men and women of other races have this issue as well.”
Finding funding was hard for Walker at first, because the investors that he pitched to had no idea about what people of color face with grooming. “If you think about Bevel, it’s addressing a) problem up to 80% of black men and women have. But the folks I was pitching weren’t black men and women.” Fortunately enough, Walker was still able to raise $6.9 million anyway! The young CEO says that this razor was just “the first manifestation of [his] vision” as he’s most recently expanded into the electric razor family with his new Bevel Trimmer!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
Source: http://justtristan.com/, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/13/tristan-walker-aims-to-change-the-world-starting-with-razors.html, http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/09/28/tristan-walker-bevel-funding-target-stores-magic-johnson-andre-iguodala-walker-company-brands/72838894/, http://www.vibe.com/2016/01/bevel-trimmer-nas/
