HBCU Founders Accelerator Spring 2023 Cohort Spotlight: Meet Donovan Wright from Guilde

In April, we launched the first cohort of the HBCU Founders Accelerator Program. Over the next several weeks, we’re thrilled to spotlight each of the teams, their founders, and their remarkable journeys. Up next, meet Donovan Wright from Guilde!

Can you tell us a little about your background and what inspired your entrepreneurial journey?

I've been a residential real estate investor for the past six years. I bought my first rental to renovate in 2017 with very little hands-on experience or knowledge of the industry. Unfortunately, this led to mistakes that cost me $25k due to budget overages and delays. I wanted to make sure that never happened to me again and set out to figure out how to prevent it from happening. In this search, I learned so much more about the construction industry in general. I also got to know several contractors really well and figured solving my problem would actually help them as well.

What problem is your startup solving and what inspired you to tackle this particular issue?

Currently, contractors spend on average 4 hours building an estimate for a lead or quote for a client. This adds up to a huge productivity and cost drain when you have to do it for multiple leads in a given month. Especially when the fastest estimate typically wins the job, but that type of situation doesn't lend itself to accuracy. The more accurate and detailed the estimate, the longer it takes.

When speaking to my contractor on my first rental that went bad, his story of trying to keep his crews busy and a pipeline of business full inspired me to figure out how to help him with this chokepoint in his businesses. From his perspective, he knew he needed to get a number in front of me as soon as possible to win the job. However, since he's a small shop, time away from the site is directly tied to his bottom line. This wasn't some evil contractor who was trying to rob me, but a small business owner stuck between a rock and a hard place who needed help.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have faced while building your startup, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I faced is atypical for nontechnical black founders; I needed funding to build a product to get traction but couldn't get funding due to not having traction. I overcame this through sheer will by winning grants and pitch competitions. Folks will tell you that there are so many low-cost or no-code solutions for an MVP, but the reality is that doesn't apply to every startup. Sometimes you need a product, especially when you're unlikely to get customers or investors with a drawing on a napkin. After building the initial MVP and getting to test it, I decided to pivot from a marketplace solution to B2B SaaS. This has fundamentally shifted the company's trajectory and made it easier to be hyper-focused on our problem and customer.

Can you discuss any ethical or social responsibility initiatives Guilde actively engages in? Where do you see your company in 5 years?

Currently, we are partnering with a few organizations to increase the representation and scalability of black-owned construction businesses. We offer them access to our platform to bring technology into their processes and help them scale through increased efficiencies. In five years, I see Guilde being a major part of innovating the construction industry through data and AI. The impact would be helping more small to midsize contractors grow without the need for additional overhead. I want Guilde to do for contractors what DoorDash and Uber Eats has done for non-chain restaurants.

How have your background and previous experiences influenced your approach to entrepreneurship?

The key thing I've learned through my background that influences my approach as a founder is persistence and tenacity. I've found that often enough, it's not the most talented, smartest, or even hardworking person who wins. It's the person who is willing to keep chipping away and survive the inevitable difficulties that come up. It's with this that I decided to pivot. It's how I approach sales and product development. It's why I run Guilde so lean from a capital perspective to maximize our runway. Many of the world's best startups are where they are now just because they were able to stick around to figure things out.

What are you most excited about with the Nex Cubed HBCU Founders Accelerator? 

I'm most excited about the customized advisors and direction. I've already seen it improve aspects of my startup. Being able to focus on things that only matter to you in a program geared that way is of huge benefit. It was this that made me get interested in the program and apply. Many other programs I looked into said that they offered this, but Nex Cubed was the only one that presented a method of guaranteeing it.

What advice do you have for other diverse entrepreneurs?

My advice to other founders like myself would be to focus on one singular problem and fall in love with it then surround yourself with people who fall in love with your passion for the problem and want to see you solve it as bad as you want to.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned as a startup founder so far?

Identifying the atomic unit of your startup enables focus which makes decision-making easier. When I first launched Guilde as a marketplace, it was impossible to focus due to serving two users who are on opposite sides of the aisle. We didn't have an atomic unit that our MVP was built around. Pivoting to creating the best estimating tool in the industry and being focused on that singular problem has enabled me to prioritize what we need to be doing as a startup, what features matter, and identifying the atomic unit that our MVP is built around and all KPIs flow to.

What advice would you give to other HBCU students/grads who are considering entrepreneurship?

If you are considering going down the path of entrepreneurship, my advice would be to start right this moment. Especially if you are still on campus. There is no better time to start a company than when you're surrounded by talent and have far more bandwidth to get stuff done. Start looking for a problem or cause you love and socializing it with your peers who may have the same passion you do.

Where can readers/listeners/viewers learn more about your business?

www.tryguilde.com and @tryguilde on all socials