I would love to ask you both, what do you think is going to be the future of queer entrepreneurship? Because we've been talking a lot about the past and about the present, but as you know, many of our episodes are available also for years after. Do you think it's going to get better or worse? I think it's going to be better. I'm always optimistic, by the way. Yeah. Let's talk more and about the LGBT communities around the world. I'm Michael Ross and this is Straight Friendly. Hello.
Hello and welcome back to our entrepreneurial series here on Straight Friendly Global. On our previous episode, we've been talking generally about the four sectors of or organizations. Nonprofits, the governmental referral sector. And here we will be focusing with the second sector with businesses. We have our guest speakers, B and Savit Ben Shimol. Hello. Hello.
We really recommend you also to listen to our previous episode where we've been talking about governmental and nonprofits in relation to LGBTQ entrepreneurship and activism, and even also innovation. In this episode, we'll be reading even more about innovation. So with us, Saeed Ben Shimal, who's an expert in diversity and inclusion as a consultant. She's a former CEO of Pride of Lionesses, an organization of parents of trans children and mother of a young transgender man. Hello, Salet. Hello.
Great to be here. We have with us Barak Crips, who up until recently been the vice CEO of Hoshen, an Israeli non profit, deals with education and social change and change making, where they create workshops and courses in order to understand their LGBTQ communities and is also specializes with digital marketing. Hello, Bagh. Hello. Hello. Nice to be here again. Good to have you both here.
So before we will dive into this subject of the types of different LGBTQ+ businesses and entrepreneurship, let's start. First of all, we're generally talking about the second sector, what is known to be the private sector. So the goals for entrepreneurship in the private sector is to maximize profit.
So if we will think about huge corporates that we might know about, such as Coca Cola, that we all know when you have investors, it's a lot about maximizing the profit, sometimes can contradict with social change. Yet it also has so much of an impact all around the world. I mean, like all over the world, we do know about corporate organizations. We even see how in these days when we are bypassing through a technological revolution, revolution also of data.
But in some cases, technological companies even have much more effect on money than some of the governments that we might think about. So like for instance, if we will compare between the yearly budgets of a third world countries, either if in, in Africa or in some other places. So for corporates like Meta, Facebook and so on Apple, sometimes they have much more budgets and so much of effect. We will be dealing also of course with startups and technologies here in this episode.
For the private sector, we have to emphasize also solo entrepreneurship. Many times when we talk about business and also we'll check the materials and the studies and the research all around the world related to business and entrepreneurship. So many, many times we discourse first of all, very masculine, we have to say, and very much about huge corporates. But actually current data shows that most of the entrepreneurs and the businesses are actually solo entrepreneurs, which is very interesting.
We're in times also where digital content and digital tools allow us to create different initiatives and have impact. Just like here with this podcast, without being a huge corporate of, of of media and sponsors and commercials. Actually today we have many tools that allow and shape the whole way people do business. Current research also finds that actually more than 80% of the solo entrepreneurs are not willing to recruit huge teams.
Usually they would just like to recruit and work well with a bookkeeper or tax consultancy and maybe sometimes administrations. This is a very important also for our discussion here because when we talk about businesses, it's not just about corporates and the big companies, but sometimes we might think about when talking about business. So the income models are dependent. Income sources are dependent mainly on paying customers, on having clients. So the competition is much, much, much harder.
But at the same time, the efficiency, the agility works much, much faster. We can have examples of businesses like a small nail salon which is growing to different branches and startups as we have been talking about. So definitely like the prongs are efficiency, competition, innovation. But with the cons, it's very difficult to manage a business. Very, very difficult. And we'll also be dealing here what it's like to manage a business. As a minority.
Most of the businesses that we know about already in the first year, the majority actually fell many times. The reasons for the, for the failure are actually not for not having a good business, not because of not having a good product, but many times it's about cash flow issues, it's about issues of experience and sometimes also issues of legislation. So before we dive into the different types of LGBTQ businesses and entrepreneurship, let's generally talk about business.
Let's do, let's do business, let's do business, let's talk about the money, let's talk about this, let's Talk about money. Have the money. Yeah. And actually both of you have some experience with businesses and corporates. And I think also Stavid, you have a very interesting story, but before having your current business, right. Like these days, you are also a previous episode, you've been talking about your involvement as an Israeli NGO that unites mothers of transgender kids and children.
These days you have also your own business. So you are actually solo entrepreneur as well, a business one. But before all of that, you were working in another kind of corporate, right? Yes, different kinds of corporate companies in different states. And I think that is very interesting because diversity is everywhere and they have general challenge if you're talking about money.
Okay. So it's known that if you have diverse, it increases, you know, all your incomes because everything is more interesting and more innovative and it looks different and you can address different sectors and clients. If you have diverse employees in your company, in one hand, they are trying to think, okay, we want to have diverse LGBTQ individuals and also other diversity sections, different genders, different religions.
And on one hand, you want to have your employees from a big range of the community. On the other hand, you have the problem that sometimes you don't want your client to see that you are much better. And I give lectures in companies and I consult other companies all about, of course, story of my life and other things that is important to understand if you are trying to be diverse and inclusive about your employees and in general. And sometimes I hear.
But we think that this is going to be not comfortable for all our employees to see that we are talking about transgender. And being a mother of a transgender, it's too much. Maybe for some people, or if you want to be a very innovative company, but at your customer service, you want to have a transgender individual, you can also have a problem because you might lose money if you, you know, if you're too progressive.
And I think this is the double challenge because as we said, it's all about money. And in one hand, you want to increase your income, you want to make change in the world. I can see all over the place from lots of companies, Israeli and global, that it's important for them to show that they are open minded and their love for everyone, but also complicated. Not that easy because they have diverse people inside the company and among the customers.
And it's not always easy to be that, you know, okay, I'm going with the flag. Talk about the flag. Put the flag in front of your building. Is it okay? Everybody's gonna like it. Sometimes it's not that easy. And you have to make big choices and they're interesting choices that not always are comfortable for everybody else. But if you're a startup company and like, okay, so we are like 10, 12 people and you're all like, okay, very cute and you understand everybody and so it's easier.
But as big as the company gets, it can be more complicated. But I can tell you that from my experience, more and more comments to bring that issue up and they understand how important it is to have that, that kind of conversation or put it on the table as we say, not just to say, okay, let's not talk about it too much. Think it, I think, I think challenge, but it gets better.
And I think it's important because also if you want to have other job opportunities for the LGBTQ + individuals, you need companies that can have those people on board. And we have all the challenges of the non binary people around that can make everybody uncomfortable. So I think there are big challenges around the whole idea of inclusion inside companies and this is something that they all deal with.
I do find diversity to be a very, very important topic and we will definitely deal with that in this episode. But I would also love a to hear from you, Barack. As someone who's dealing with digital marketing, so is Digital marketing for LGBTQ + people, are you seeing some different tendencies, some different needs from your clients? It's interesting. Well, I can say like for Israel, in Israel we are very small community.
In with small communities, it's rather you bring something amazing and everybody's like, I need to have it or I need to go there. Or we can be very suspicious because it's really hard to bring products or new stuff like in the US for example. So we don't really have it here, like abroad. So we don't have small cafes and we don't have special product for LGBTQ people, like as the US for example. But we do have lots of culture, a lot of culture.
We have lots of parties, we have lots of events and recently we have some studios for like beauty salons. But again, I'm talking about like a couple of few like four free. So I think in order to speak with a community, you need to speak their own language, like how it's working right now. You need to understand what they're missing, what they need and how to approach them. So you need to understand again the community. And sometimes it can be very easy because it's a small community.
So you don't need to go like far fetched, you know, like think like Crazy, because it's here, it's around the corner here in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem. But as I said before, like, we have lots of culture in Israel, which is very interesting, because you can see a lot of people are creating, like, small parties or events, and they can become huge. For example, I've heard a story a long time ago about some guy who got a small club in Tel Aviv. He brought some drag queens.
He created, like, events, great events. And with the days he become of Nissim. So of Nissim right now is like the largest DJ in Israel, probably the one who collaborated with Madonna and his couple of times in a year, in normal year, not like now, creating mega party for the LGBTQ+ community and actually for everyone, like, right now. So everybody's, like, going there. But he started small. He started in a basement in a small street in Tel Aviv. He had an idea.
He had an idea and he had passion, and he wanted to create culture for the community. But it's a business. This is what's really important to understand that. And right now, nowadays, again, you can see a lot of people are trying, a lot of people, like, creating parties, events. They are becoming also very creative. They are going right now to do, like, parties in the desert, for example. It's a new concept that we are having right now. Let's go outside of the city and have, like, a rain.
And we need to understand it's a business, but sometimes hit the community. So we don't really see it, because we are like, it's the same people. They're like, I know them, they're friends of mine, the dj. But they earn money for this, and I love it. It's really. It's shifting us. And also for you, like you said, like in the previous episode about, like, voguing. It was so inspiring for you. Let's see what happened.
In the US, voguing became pageants, became drug pageants, became RuPaul Drag Race. It's huge. It's global. So you need a good idea. You also can see how it all affects everything. I mean, like, for instance, the example of RuPaul's drug race brought to the conscious in so many countries, voguing culture and also the drug culture. So we definitely see these kind of correspondences between the different sectors.
I have to admit that for me, as an entrepreneur and also as a lecturer, for me, the issues of LGBTQ economies and startup and businesses is, for me, the most interesting one. So I will really try to hold myself and be focused here in this discussion. Which I'm very passionate about this subject. And actually, while you were both talking, I realized that I want to present actually something here, something which I was not planning to do.
We have to take into consideration the fact that LGBTQ plus people are a minority group, just like any other kind of a minority. It can be a Jewish minority in some other country. It can be also characterized by race, by color, by language, by gender and gender. And many other women all over the world are Exactly. And just because of being women. So we do, we do know about also in business also, but both for clients and for entrepreneurs.
But there are some very interesting data and research that deals with minorities. I think what's also very interesting here is the fact that we have to take into consideration a term which is called minority stress that every kind of minority suffers from as a minority, let's say even. Let's say the example of women who are actually not a minority. We have more women than men in societies, yet culturally.
And we cannot also much differentiate with the impact of the LGBTQ movement and revolution correspondence with other revolutions, also with feminist movements as well. Now, what we see that if a person holds several identities of a minority, what I call usually having a double minority identity, so in one hand it creates some problem, but also what I say always in entrepreneurship, and especially for business entrepreneurship, that every problem is an opportunity.
So if we divide for a moment between entrepreneurs and the clients. So for the clients who are lgbtq, we do know, according to research, that most of LGBTQ people make daily decisions in order to avoid discrimination, and discrimination is related not only to the clients. And as Barack, you also have mentioned about having the language, actually you both mentioned guide. But also it's not only about the diversity, but it's also about having a language, a dialect, someone who understands.
And we do know that for people who are minorities, especially also for LGBTQ + people, if they went to some business where they felt comfortable, most probably that they will return to. And I also want to share here some very current data which is related to entrepreneurship. And we've been talking about investment and about this big corporates and like very, very masculine environment. And it's actually very much also affecting entrepreneurs who deal with LGBTQ plus issues.
As someone who was working on creating a global startup, I can't tell you about. There's so many experiences that I had around that. And throughout my journey, I discovered many different organizations and VCs, venture capitals, very blessed and help LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. There's even one organization which is called Start out that help entrepreneurs who are LGBTQ+ to form their startups. And I would love to share here some data.
I was talking about it also at some global conference of New York University about the future of the workspace based and what we can see here that Start has found that starting LGBTQ+ founders, they created 36% more jobs. Wow. And had 44% more exits. That is amazing. That is really amazing. It is related also to the, to the discourse of minorities as we know. 22%, another minority, let's say the Jewish minority. 22% of Nobel Prize winners are Jewish, which is another example of minorities.
Actually minorities and double, double, double minorities can have so much of impact. So I will just finish here with the data and then we will continue with our discussion here. And we didn't even get to the types of businesses. So what you can see also here that LGBTQ + funders create 114% more patents, yet with 16% less funding compared to the average founder.
And actually some other current studies show that less than half percent of the 2.1 trillion in startup funding goes to LGBTQ founders. Initiatives like Startout and Carlo for Capital are crucial in providing the support these founders needed. And LGBTQ founders face unique challenges in the startup world. An organization like Startup help them and they offer them vital resources and network to help overcome these barriers. And promoting diversity in startup funding isn't just about fairness.
It's about fostering innovation and supporting LGBTQ funders to ensure a richer and more inclusive tech landscape. That just like with the queer revolution, it will not affect only startups and only LGBTQ plus people, but it can affect the entire world. Wow. That was a. I told you I'm passionate about this subject. Yes, absolutely amazing. And you know, I noticed that you made that slide. Barack was while sleeping. That was great. Because this is insane. I love it because, you know, we.
I think that information is so important because sometimes we say things and if there is some base that we are talking about, it's like those amazing, amazing numbers that it just makes it more and more crucial. We need to do something about it and we need to talk about it and we need to open the door for more LGBTQ people to have the courage to make that first step. This is so important. They need to have the opportunity because as you mentioned, the minorities, they suffer from.
I think the key word is courage is something that we as LGBTQ community need to find in order to be ourselves. And when we find it and when we like changing our all environment and perspective of the World, first of all, we're changing us, then we're changing the environment. If I have it in me, I can apply it to my future. I need to listen to myself. I'll need to listen to what into my guts, you know, and to use my imagination, my brain. And then the world is ready.
I think this is what we have and minorities as well. Usually minorities can be like the underdogs and we need lots of problems. We are trying to survive through the day from all the heterosexual around them and all the suffer that they can go through. So their minds are not clear. But right. When you can be yourself and you don't need to pretend to be someone else and try to make other people to write you so you can put that aside side and okay, just try to trial.
This cannot happen if you don't have the opportunity. And this is like. It goes both ways because you need to have the courage to bring yourself out and the people with the money need to give you the chance and the opportunity to okay, open the door for you. Let's do it. Let's say I give you some money. Let's just. And this is like, this is the both ways. And this is exactly why the allyship is so important. Because the money is everywhere.
And you cannot just wait for the LGBTQ community to support themselves. They need us the sexual control to understand how important it is to give them the opportunity that they need. And as I always say, it's like just open the door for them. It's our job, my job. You don't have to fight your own fight. And this is important if you want to improve the whole community.
There is a very interesting discussion here that what we are having because usually when we're talking about business, think about money, we might have some negative feelings, but we see actually that according to real data, when doing the right thing, doing the right thing can be also very financially beneficial. Doing the right thing, definitely, as I. Said in the previous episode, you don't need money to create art. And to be entrepreneur is creating.
It's to create something that you imagine it. And to imagine is kind of a form of an art. So of course we look for the money we want. We need money to exist. Right? But you cannot think about it. You need to come with your passion first of all, and then you'll get it. This is from my perspective though, giving. Her also another example. So. And first of all. So I decided to stop with each of the startup.
But let's say in the startup world, you must fundraise you cannot have a technological team without having the investment, with a huge investment of at least several million US dollars. Yet we do see some discrimination there. And I would like to emphasize that with some example, how diversity is so much important in business and queer entrepreneurship, how much it can affect the world, because the need once again of this kind of entrepreneurs.
And also I agree very much with what you said here about the courage and about doing the right thing as well. Also would like to give an example in the startup scene about dating apps. Many of us, this is a single one or the polyamorium one, probably know Tinder, right? One of the most popular dating app. So actually Tinder was created after some other app. The first dating app in the world, which was based on geographical location, is actually Grindr.
And Grindr started as a very small business. By the way, Yoel, one of the founders and the main founder, who is Health Israeli. Many times as Israelis, we are very proud of some of the entrepreneurship with the sherry tomatoes and the chips and the ways that got global. So who knows? Also a Grinder here, although he's also an American. And what is very, very interesting about Grindr, that it was the first app to use geographical location.
And the innovation here probably comes for a reap because of a real need. Because if I walk into the street, let's say, and I see someone and I'm not sure if they are LGBT or not, and if I will make some kind of mistake, I can go for some social sanctions. So it's really, really interesting how we can see the impact that LGBTQ entrepreneurs can have, not only for LGBTQ plus people, but generally affecting societies.
And also we are aware of some different research that can show that if you want to understand what area or what neighborhood will be probably in the future gentrified, just go and check whether the LGBT people are hanging. It's really interesting about Grindr. I want to take us back to the history of the gay community. If we think about it, during these Most of the 80s 90s people went to the docks or to the parks to find people like them.
So if we think about it, they were walking or cruising in some areas and they were looking for people like them, irradiates, you know. So basically, if we think about it, what Grindr did took this kind of behavior and made it digital. Well, so it's really. So it's really interesting to think about it like this. Well, entrepreneurs and people with startup, usually they take kind of behavior and they make it better, make it futuristic, digital, let's say.
So it's really interesting and this is why it works. It just like didn't brought us something that we don't know. They just made it smarter. Let's talk for and about the LGBT communities around the world. I'm Michael Ross and this is straight friendly. The production of this episode came to reality thanks to the support of the Friedrich Naumann foundation for Freedom in Jerusalem. So we've been talking a lot about entrepreneurship and about business entrepreneurship.
I think that this whole discourse is very, very, very interesting for all of us. But we promised we will also talk about the three types of LGBTQ businesses. And I have to say this is some methodology which I created when I was working on creating some startup. By the way, one of the main reasons I decided not to do the startup right now, I decided to pause it. I was way too much, too overloaded with a lot of burnout, actually.
And we will talk about it maybe in some other episode because this is something which is also very crucial for entrepreneurs of any kind of how, how not to burn out. Because we want people to be with entrepreneurship, but it will be sustainable. We want and need more and more entrepreneurship in order to make the world that we live in to be a bit, a little bit better, at least a little bit.
And as we all know, we have, we can have a lot of impact and especially LGBTQ + entrepreneurs or any kind of entrepreneur who want to do some impact. So another reason that I decided about postponing the staff of a startup is actually the events of October 7, which are very painful to all of us. And this is something which we haven't been talking that much in these recordings, but we definitely among us in the preparations we were discussing that.
And I think this is probably a complete different subject that we will keep for another time. But we do have to emphasize the fact that boycotting people who've been minorities, who are minorities, and being boycotted by others, sunny being boycotted by some of our allies or who we thought to be allies, and being very, very difficult. And actually it also happened in the production of this podcast that we've been boycotted.
And it's very, very fortunate because actually a lot of what we do is about connecting different people. So we definitely see how many subjects also are involved in entrepreneurship.
But anyway, when I was working on creating my own startup, so I had to do a lot, a lot of research and to understand better what LGBTQ+ businesses are, and I created this kind of free definitions or free separations or characteristics, just as we had about four Sectors So to try a bit to explain about the different types of LGBTQ plus businesses. Actually it's related not only to businesses, but let's. Let's focus with. With businesses. We are about also to finalize this episode.
So I'm in advance I would say that may I might be not completely politically correct, but just for the practice of understanding better the economies. So here are the three types. So the first type of LGBTQ businesses or economies. So usually when people talk about that, it's about what I call being friendly. A gay friendly business.
We can say in many different cities around the world, some stickers that mention that people are welcome there, which is a nice thing to see compared with some recent events that took place just before COVID around those years 2019 and 20. So we saw for instance in Poland how there were stickers of actually of LGBT free zones which were not allowing or saying that we don't have LGBT people or LGBT people are not welcome here. So while having this kind of awful, awful, awful situation.
So we do see the importance for that. Yet being friendly like for instance companies that change their logo and branding around Friedman, it is an important thing. But there is also a whole and lot of industry around that do this business that presents to be LGBT friendly or gay friendly. Do they have also workers who are transgender, for instance, do they deal with the different issues and pain that happened around LGBTQ plus communities?
And usually in most of the cases where the academic discourse deals with queer economies. So this is actually what is being dealt with. And that's why I heard many times from different activists that they say that there is no side thing as a queer economy. And I would say that I disagree with that. And I think that one of the mistakes that people do is when they talk about LGBTQ plus businesses, they talk about the first kind.
The second kind of LGBTQ plus businesses deals with the orientation, the sexual or gender orientation of a, of a business owner. So like for instance, if I want to have a lesbian plumber, for instance, or I would prefer to go to a hairdresser who is also gay. Now for sure, probably I will feel more comfortable in a place like that. But this has nothing to do with a product. And the third type of LGBTQ businesses are focused with a product actually.
And I would say that for me personally, this is the kind of businesses which are the most interesting for me where I care about the product and actually started. Also we can also emphasize for her case as a person who. So tell us, tell us a little. Bit about that in the third sector. I think I. I had a vision seven years ago when my son started his transition. We had to go through our journey, insane journey of understanding that we had and all we went through for the first year.
And I understood how difficult it can be and how my son could never have choices and opportunities that he has now if we could not make a change. So I decided that I'm going, you know, to make this my life project. And this is what I do for the last six years. I give lecture and I go and have workshops in companies and in different places just to help the retrospectual individuals in the company. How to understand the lgbtq, LGBTQ plus individuals.
Because this is something in your mind that you have to with. I told you just before, we all have binary mind. We cannot understand if something like it doesn't work, if I see something that it's not in my mind. So I need to make my mind flexible. And this is what I do.
And also I advise to families and I accompany either managers and companies or families or LGBTQ individuals themselves how to deal with the situation that they need to deal with and how to make their life and how to improve themselves and their families and their companies. And, you know, I believe that this is something that's needed and it's needed from me as a heterosexual woman. And this is what I. My business is all about. This. This is what I do.
Diversity and inclusion and consulting in all over the country. And I really believe that this is key to having a better community. And it's on us, my responsibility to do that, not my son's responsibility. He doesn't need to go and fight the darkness. I need to do that for him. So this is my business. And as you said it, girls inside me, we had our conversation previous, and you know how I think this is important. So I am proud to be the third section that this is my business. Proud of being.
You are a mocker. You are a real mocker and a fighter in alliance, right? Then think like if companies want to change their logos in June, they should for that, invite you to their offices. Like, let's make it law. Let's make it like a community, like LGBTQ + community law. One of my friends, if you want. To change it, you know, I have. Few hashtags during the Pride month at June, and one of it is Pride all year round, because it's not only.
And the other one, it's not only a colorful cupcake because you know what becomes a big party and the place have colorful cocktails on the table and make different fruits purple, red. Okay, that's not the point. Because this is one day. This is not the whole point. Go to your company and say, okay, we have a party and that's it. There is 365 days a year that people need to work at your company.
You have to take care of your employees, you have to take care of your client, and you have a job of making this work better. You cannot just provide products to the world. You can do something and that's really important. And it's really important. And it's on us, the community, to go to the office where you work, to the HR or so on and demand to bring people like Sarit or LGBTQ organization to talk to do something that can impact community. The era of cupcakes is officially done and that's it.
I like cupcakes. I like colors. I love it. I love those disgusting, colorful donuts. But, you know, and it brings us to the surface the gay friendly businesses, because if you want to be friendly, you just, it's not okay. You have a flag, change your logo to the gay flag colors and it's not over with that. And it's really important. Right? But on advertisement perspective, it's also really important. People have the people know it. Like the social media sees it.
If you are not an LGBTQ + ally during the year or if it doesn't match your DNA, your company DNA, people will notice it and people will comment on these logos. We have again, like zero tolerance for people who are trying to pink wash the community. It's really, really important. Like times have changed, but again, it's on us. It's on us, the community in the company.
Well, I can say, but like, for me, as someone who also gives lectures and deals with LGBTQ plus stuff all around the year, but it's extremely, extremely difficult when you have like one season in the year. And like, if people really want to make business, I think it has to be like all around the year. I think there should be some more advocacy around it. I know. Like, for me, honestly, Pride month is the worst month of the year. Like, I'm dead too much.
And that's also deal with activism, not only with business. Right. But. Right. But it's also really good for the company. Let's say we're talking about entrepreneuring, like what's good for your business? Business, like to have this DNA like to say, like, hey, I'm liberal, I'm here for the community. I'm here for the people. This is how you do marketing nowadays, like almost every company have few agendas, not only one agenda like before.
Like I'm here for recycling, I'm here for whatever you can have couple of agendas. And the LGBTQ plus agenda is it says you are a liberal country company and you see the people and people sees that and then they feel safe and they want to buy from you, they want to interact with you. So it's amazing. It's really something that can. You can use in favor to create benefits for your company. Right.
But again, there's ways to do and I guess and I believe that almost every LGBTQ+ community all around the world can provide the information and the knowledge and how to do it correctly. Yeah. So I would like also to share some of my little bit experience as an entrepreneur who's focused very much actually in the product which are designed for the LGBTQ plus before and solving real problems. And we will actually in that way also we will get to the conclusion at the end of the episode.
And these two episodes actually I would say share from my personal experience as an entrepreneur who comes from Israel. And that market size is also a very important issue of yours. First of all, when we talk about the LGBTQ + population, so depends on what research we will be based on.
But even if I will be pessimistic and I will point to the lowest number, we're talking about the fact that 7% of the populations, no matter where LGBTQ + people, doesn't matter if it's in Israel, it's in France or with Nigeria, it's ratio of if they will feel comfortable or not and if they will come outside of the closet or not.
And one of the reasons that the name of Strange Friendly is like that is because for me personally, I think that it's also very important to look on some larger market and audiences which are not only gay friendly or lesbian friendly, not only in GPT, but also the surroundings are also very much affected. Their families, as their friends, their managers and so on and so on. So I do believe that there's also a much larger market for them.
Yet as an entrepreneur I can say that especially let's say with content creation, eventually as an entrepreneur who runs business, you must have some enough income in order to cover expenses and have a revenue and to maximize revenue. And when you create a product, let's say, which is only for Israelis, it's very difficult. I can give an example when we had to import from Europe to Israel out to vin, which is a gay TV channel.
And I mean like how many people already in the country that 9 million citizens live in it, how many LGBT we already have. It will be less than a million. And I can share it from my experience, what I see as someone who's a digital nomad, who's traveling all around the world and working with so many different economies and countries, but I do something which I a little bit miss. I don't see enough in smaller countries. And maybe this is also raising some ethical questions.
But I see how in some countries, for instance in the United States and in Canada, how there are different organizations like Chamber of Commerce, let's say in the United States States versus the nglcc, which helps and connect between lots and lots of like dozens of thousands of LGBTQ plus entrepreneurs from. From all around. There's so many programs like that also in Canada, and it's quite big.
I have to say that whenever I see that, I'm amazed by the size of it as well as we also have been kind of venture capitals. But I feel like it is dependent on sizes, market on market size. And maybe this is something which something in economy maybe I believe should be a little bit fixed.
And we do know how and we've been talking about how like the minorities, double minorities are some of the best entrepreneurs, but as they are going through discrimination for in fundraising for startups, maybe there's also a need to make things to be more accessible for this kind of founders. Just some idea I do see start out and some other organizations that also help LGBTQ entrepreneurs. Who wants to create a startup, but it doesn't deal with the subject itself, with the product.
And I think real good entrepreneurship is about finding real problems and real good solutions. And I'm lacking of seeing enough think tanking and organizations that are locating different. We're entrepreneurs from different countries where they can have a think thinking of how can we create the next startup that will fight loneliness within the LGBTQ communities. And we definitely see also how dating apps affected not only loneliness, but the use of drugs, of alcohol, smoking, and so on.
That's my personal observation for that. So would you like to add anything before we're done or actually we're done here. I'm having so much fun with you guys. It was amazing and a great. So thank you very, very, very much. So spontaneous, so amazing. I had guts feeling that it's gonna work out and I had so much fun and it was such an interesting discourse which I can. I believe that it will affect so many entrepreneurs around the world.
I hope that we broke at least one stereotype or two and gave some practical information. So thank you very, very, very much. I had the best time. Thank you very much. Michael and Barak, love you both. Thank you very, very much. Thank you guys. And maybe last question. I would love to ask you both. What do you think is going to be the future of queer entrepreneurship?
Because we've been talking a lot about the past and about the present, but as you know, many of our episodes are available also for years after. Do you think it's going to be get better or worse? I think it's going to be better. I'm always optimistic, by the way. Yeah, I'm always, always optimistic. I think it's going to be better and I think we're going to see more like, yeah, like to make our society better. This is what I feel alongside high tech, of course, but I think we need it.
We need to connect, to make real connection between people. And I think we're going to see it, hopefully. And I wanted to add one more thing before we finish. If you want to make something new, you need fuel. You need to be financially and mentally. And I think we all need to work on the both sides of that because you need to make yourself better and have the character to do the things, but you also need someone that believes in you and can give you the push that you need.
So I can hope for the better, that the best is yet to come. Especially that being an entrepreneur is living life on a roller coaster, that's for sure. Those are very important insights. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Have a good one.