Second panel on entrepreneurship: AANHPI Forum (White House initiative)

I attended a second breakout session this morning on Expanding and Empowering AA and NHPI Entrepreneurship. 

See also: Forum on Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Entrepreneurship

What's happening: I flew to Washington DC to attend a forum supported by the White House on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. 

Why it matters: As one of three Native Hawaiian tech CEOs that I know of, I felt it was worth attending.

The speakers were:

• Andrew Chau: Co-Founder and CEO, Boba Guys
• Raji Sankar: Co-CEO, Choolaah Indian BBQ
• Lydia Zhang: Owner and Business Partner, Peter Chang Restaurant Group
• David Zhao: Founding Partner, Chubby Cattle International

My takeaways:

• Peter Chang Restaurant Group was open the entire time during the pandemic.
• PPP loans were mentioned quite often. We were also recipients.
• All entrepreneurs in both panels were in the food and beverage space. It would have been nice to see a more varied spectrum.
• "Founding and starting a business is actually easier than scaling a business." Andrew Chau
• The entrepreneurs on the panel mentioned they are all JPMorgan customers. 

The bottom line: It was refreshing to see a panel of all entrepreneurs for a session focused on entrepreneurship.