297 Days & Counting
[a super flattering (sarcasm intended) freeze frame of a Black woman with voluminous type 4c hair in the foreground; a letter board with "#swimcap @SwimMission 297 DAYS AGO" hanging in the background]
My PitchHU 3.0 cohort experience has been a study in contrasts.
The weeks of substantive scheduled and asynchronous entrepreneurial content sessions and practical assignments, guidance from outstanding Subject Matter Experts, camaraderie within the cohort, etc. between April to June 2023 concluded with a 3-minutes/3-slides pitch presentation from each cohort member evaluated by a panel of prestigious guest judges in finance and business development.
Being awarded non-dilutive funds toward producing more prototypes for additional beta testing of my U.S. utility patented SwimMission Swim Cap had me feeling elated. That was almost 10 months ago. And now I'm tired.
Tired of having my polite emails ignored.
Tired of submitting the same banking information multiple times.
Tired of funds disbursal dates that pass without delivery of the money or any (reasonable) explanations or apologies.
Tired of crying in the shower to vent my frustration.
Private approaches to resolving this delay haven't worked; maybe a public request for immediate access to the awarded funds will.
For anyone asking, Why now? Applications for the PitchHU 5.0 cohort are now open while awardees from the 3.0 cohort haven't received their funds, which suggests similar circumstances for the 4.0 cohort. That offers questionable optics.
My ultimate SwimMission is to expand access to the water safety, medical and mental health, physical fitness, training, fun, and employment benefits and opportunities knowing how to swim provides by "keeping the water out of your hair so your hair doesn't keep you out of the water. (TM)"
Stay tuned!
In the meantime, please take my swim cap survey. Your feedback could help save lives (and hair)! You can stay anonymous. Thanks!
P.S. A month ago my plan to blog about this experience included not naming HU or its incubator program, but their continuing disregard for me and the other cohort members who are awaiting access to the awarded funds while opening applications for the next cohort changed my mind.
Tuesday 4/23/2024 update:
"300" must be a magic number because the funds were delivered this a.m. (and now headed to the prototype maker:-)!
Thank you to everyone who's encouraged, supported, and commiserated with me. You helped me survive the setbacks and disappointments. I appreciate you.
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