From Wall Street to Foreclosure—and Back Again

I spent over a decade on Wall Street structuring billion-dollar deals, helping Fortune 500 companies navigate complex financial transactions. I was confident, successful, and well-regarded in elite circles. But in 2012, my personal life told a different story. I faced foreclosure on my home, a mountain of debt, and a humbling realization: I had been playing in a system that didn’t work for people like me—and definitely not for the entrepreneurs in my own community.

That moment of reckoning shattered my assumptions about success and wealth. I saw up close how vulnerable we are when we’re excluded from the financial systems and decision-making tables. But that failure also became the foundation for something new. I didn’t want to just rebuild my life—I wanted to help rebuild a system that was never designed for us in the first place.

That’s how Third Level Ventures was born: from crisis, from conviction, and from an unshakable commitment to underserved entrepreneurs—especially Black, immigrant, and women founders—who are often left behind by traditional pathways to funding and business growth.

Why I Built Third Level Ventures

After earning my MBA from Harvard in 2005, I had every tool and credential needed to succeed. But I also had a deep-rooted understanding of what it means to be underestimated, overlooked, and under-resourced. When I returned to Brooklyn, I didn’t want to be another suit offering generic business advice. I wanted to be in the trenches with founders—especially those who remind me of my younger self—building ventures that could thrive not just in New York City, but globally.

Third Level Ventures (3LV) became my answer to the glaring gaps I saw in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. While plenty of incubators and accelerators offer classes, templates, or networking events, very few provide the level of personalized, strategic, and capital-ready support that underserved entrepreneurs truly need.

At 3LV, we don’t hand out checklists—we co-create outcomes. We become an extension of our clients’ teams, partnering with them to build scalable, profitable businesses from the ground up.

What Underserved Founders Are Really Up Against

Let’s be real: the barriers faced by minority, immigrant, and women entrepreneurs are not just about funding—they’re about trust, access, and visibility.

Many founders I work with come to me with powerful ideas but no access to startup capital. They have customer traction but struggle to get investor meetings. They’ve built something valuable, yet they’re locked out of rooms where deals get made.

Others have the drive and resilience but lack strategic clarity. They need help refining their offers, positioning their brands, or navigating procurement pipelines. They’ve done the hard part—surviving—but they’re ready to scale, and no one’s given them the blueprint.

That’s where 3LV steps in—not just as an advisor, but as a strategic partner.

A Process That Delivers Results

Our work begins with a deep dive. We don’t assume anything—we ask tough questions and listen carefully. What are your goals? Where are the leaks in your revenue model? How do we de-risk your value proposition? From there, we craft tailored strategies that align vision with viability.

Here’s what makes our approach different:

• Operational Audits: We evaluate a venture’s internal mechanics—from marketing and sales to finance and execution.
• Investor Readiness: We prepare founders to pitch with confidence, backed by solid numbers, market insights, and compelling storytelling.
• Revenue Strategy: We help build pathways to predictable income, whether through government contracts, licensing, or high-value partnerships.
• Execution Support: We don’t just drop a strategy deck and disappear. We stay involved through implementation to ensure results.

Real Impact. Real Entrepreneurs. Real Results.

Let me introduce you to a few founders who’ve trusted us with their growth.

Stephane had a promising renovation business but couldn’t break out of the low-margin cycle. We diagnosed inefficiencies in his procurement and invoicing processes, restructured his pricing, and helped reposition his brand. Within 90 days, his margins jumped by 27%, and he landed contracts with the city—ones that stabilized his cash flow and expanded his workforce.

Maureen, a dynamic real estate broker, was sitting on a goldmine of untapped opportunity. But she struggled to attract capital or articulate her vision to institutional partners. Through our Capital Access & Investor Readiness Program, we developed a pitch deck, ran financial projections, and trained her for investor meetings. Today, she’s building a firm that not only sells homes but helps Black and Brown families achieve generational wealth.

Then there’s IS43 Consulting, who had the credentials and the capacity but lacked the network to win public sector contracts. We helped position them for government procurement opportunities, refined their bidding strategy, and brokered introductions. The result? Over $500 million in awarded contracts across state and federal levels.

The Schelton Assoumou Difference

So what makes this work resonate? It’s not just my Wall Street background. It’s the fact that I’ve been where many of these founders are—navigating risk with no safety net. It’s my ability to speak both the language of institutional capital and the lived experience of the underserved entrepreneur.

Schelton Assoumou isn’t just a founder or a strategist—I’m a bridge-builder. I’ve taken the insights from boardrooms and investor meetings and translated them into practical frameworks for founders who would otherwise be excluded from those spaces.

At 3LV, we believe in not just closing the gap but flipping the script—making success accessible, repeatable, and scalable for those who’ve long been denied it.

More Than Numbers: A Movement Toward Equity

Our mission goes beyond metrics. Yes, we’ve generated over $500 million in impact, helped dozens of founders secure funding, and turned side hustles into full-scale enterprises. But the real win is seeing confidence restored. It’s watching founders go from doubt to dominance. It’s building something that outlasts us.

We envision an entrepreneurial landscape where:

• Black and Brown founders get funded at the same rate as their white counterparts.
• Women-led companies receive capital without needing to “prove” their worth ten times over.
• Immigrant entrepreneurs build legacy businesses that uplift entire communities.

This is what drives Schelton Assoumou and the team at Third Level Ventures every single day.

The Road Ahead

We’re just getting started. As we scale our impact, we’re building a national network of partners, launching new capacity-building programs, and expanding our investor pipeline. We’re also exploring tech-enabled platforms to bring our advisory models to even more founders—whether in Newark, Lagos, or the Bronx.

If you’re an entrepreneur ready to scale, or an investor committed to equity, let’s talk. Because real change happens when access meets action—and that’s what we deliver at 3LV.

Let’s Build—Together

Third Level Ventures proves that when vision meets execution, real transformation follows. We’ve built a firm that sits at the intersection of capital, strategy, and community—and it’s changing lives.

If you’re ready to move from potential to performance, let’s build a future where everyone can win. Visit www.ThirdLevelVentures.com or call (212) 555-3060.