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Speaker 1: I'm Will Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money.

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Speaker 1: Locker Versus a Web three platform that empowers creators and

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Speaker 1: brands to tell culture defining stories and deliver unique access

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Speaker 1: and experiences. They're built as the cultural hub for the

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Speaker 1: future of the Internet. Recently, co founders Trade McDonald, Carlos McFall,

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Speaker 1: and Marcus Rants even partner with Savanna Change to launch

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Speaker 1: the technology and amplify the platform. We're currently in the

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Speaker 1: world where AI has taken over all technology conversations, but

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Speaker 1: there's still some excitement in corners of the Internet about

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Speaker 1: Web three. With that, what particularly is still interesting about

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Speaker 1: NFTs and crypto to locker Verse, people in our community

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Speaker 1: to really get left behind when they're these big jumps

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Speaker 1: in technology, and so for me, it's us having a

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Speaker 1: seat at the table and really shaping that space. You know,

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Speaker 1: I think anybody that calls himself an expert in the

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Speaker 1: space currently, I think it's not matured enough. And so

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Speaker 1: for us at locker Verse, we were really excited about

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Speaker 1: how do we infuse culture into this space, how do

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Speaker 1: we do it in a responsible way and really focus

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Speaker 1: on not only the creators but also their fans and consumers.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, trade touched on it, but you know, really

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Speaker 1: important to us when we jumped in this was you know,

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Speaker 1: being from diverse backgrounds and being people who are oftentimes

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Speaker 1: left behind in these cultural or technological revolutions, is to

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Speaker 1: really drive the space and really bring our culture to

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Speaker 1: it and not just you know, have a seat at

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Speaker 1: the table, to actually build the table. And that's what

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Speaker 1: we set out to do when we decided to make

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Speaker 1: a lot of diverse we said we wanted to make

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Speaker 1: that platform. We wanted to make the highway and the

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Speaker 1: bridge for our people to be at the center of

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Speaker 1: this technological revolution. And so that's kind of what we're

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Speaker 1: focused on on a daily basis. Yeah. Yeah, and then

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Speaker 1: there are still so many people who are let's say,

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Speaker 1: not sold about the value of particularly art NFTs. There's

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously those among us are obviously so, but

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Speaker 1: there's still so many people who are like, well, why

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Speaker 1: would I buy this digital asset when I can when

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Speaker 1: I can invest that money into a physical asset. And

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Speaker 1: my argument is like, look, you know kids, and if

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Speaker 1: you if you gave my kid, I show my kid

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Speaker 1: a dollar versus a rollbuck, they would have a challenge

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Speaker 1: deciding which one they want, right, And so we're living

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Speaker 1: increasingly digital lives, and why would we not have things

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Speaker 1: that show what we care about in this digital space?

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Speaker 1: You know, talk about that if you could. And I

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Speaker 1: think an important part there is your child is educated

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Speaker 1: on both of those, right, the physical asset and the

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Speaker 1: digital asset. And I think that's what's really missing from

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Speaker 1: the space. Right If you go back and look at

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Speaker 1: some old clips when there was the start of the internet,

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Speaker 1: you know, people would make fun It's like why would

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Speaker 1: you ever stream a baseball game? Have you heard of radio? Right?

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Speaker 1: And so then it which is educating on you know,

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Speaker 1: what the internet can do, and I think this is

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Speaker 1: just the next evolution of that. It's really the underlying

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Speaker 1: blockchain technology that's important, not so much the tokens or

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Speaker 1: or the crypto, but what the underlying technology can really

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Speaker 1: do for fans, for creators. And we hope to continue

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Speaker 1: to shake that. Could you continue because I want to

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Speaker 1: talk because when we talk about NFTs, traditionally we're just

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Speaker 1: talking about art, but NFTs, you know, it could be

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Speaker 1: so many different types of NFTs, And so if you

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Speaker 1: could talk about what it matters to you guys when

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Speaker 1: you talk about what the actual technology of the blockchain

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Speaker 1: could do when you talk about non functibility of a token,

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Speaker 1: our thesis behind this is really about providing utility to people,

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Speaker 1: utilizing the NFT and utilizing the blockchain technology to actually

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Speaker 1: deliver something of value to folks. And when you talk

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Speaker 1: about you know, your your child looking at a digital

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Speaker 1: asset and a dollar's kind of the same. Vein, I

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Speaker 1: think it's really important to note. You know, people are

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Speaker 1: spending more time than ever online and people digital persona

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Speaker 1: is as important now is there is their real world persona.

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Speaker 1: And so when people talk about acquiring physical assets, that's great,

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Speaker 1: you know. And we used to look at folks. I

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Speaker 1: remember going to people's houses. They had all these DVDs

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Speaker 1: or vhs. Is I'm the law just taking up space.

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Speaker 1: But then all of a sudden, folks were, you know,

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Speaker 1: having digital versions of that same content and then streaming

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Speaker 1: the content. And so what we look at is we

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Speaker 1: transition into this new new world where your digital persona

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Speaker 1: and your digital assets are extremely valuable. We want to

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Speaker 1: be at the forefront of actually enabling that technology and

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Speaker 1: bringing culturally significant projects to the table. And so, you know,

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Speaker 1: where we feel that there's a big void is a

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Speaker 1: lack of culture in the space, and so we wanted

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Speaker 1: to empower these top tier creators who really do define

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Speaker 1: the culture to bring their assets to life there and right.

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Speaker 1: And that's what we think is going to shape the

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Speaker 1: space if we have these cultural drivers all in one

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Speaker 1: centralized platform who are able to reach their fans in

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Speaker 1: new and meaningful ways and then give them access to

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Speaker 1: physical experiences or give them access to exclusive merchandise in

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Speaker 1: apparel or maybe content that is behind the scenes. You know.

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Speaker 1: We think about folks like CJ. Stroud and him giving

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Speaker 1: access to his top fans in terms of the process

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Speaker 1: he goes through he's preparing for the NFL draft, or

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Speaker 1: folks like that. We saw Conriquez, one of the top

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Speaker 1: drivers in music in the Latin entertainment space. Hi of

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Speaker 1: an access to fans of this behind the scenes content

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Speaker 1: that you can't get anywhere else. And I think this

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Speaker 1: blockchain technology is the perfect mechanism to bring that culture

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Speaker 1: to life in a new way. And that's what we

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Speaker 1: see NFTs as being kind of the ticket, the conduit

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Speaker 1: to actually get get folks some real value that they

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Speaker 1: can't get in the in the real world. And I

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Speaker 1: really yeah, I want to really you know, highlight what

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Speaker 1: Love said about the NFT being a conduit. Right, So

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Speaker 1: when we go out and talk to talent and try

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Speaker 1: to acquire IP, you know, we say, this is just

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Speaker 1: another asset offering for your fans and consumers in a

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Speaker 1: way that hey, in the future, there will be a

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Speaker 1: permanent digital record of what you provided to them. Right

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Speaker 1: until laid out some uses the use cases of utility,

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Speaker 1: but once you explain that hey, this isn't really no

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Speaker 1: different from a T shirt, from a hat, from the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to stream with Brawny, this is something that you

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Speaker 1: can create that will live permanently on the blockchain, they

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Speaker 1: instantly get it. And I think that's why we've had

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Speaker 1: some competitive dvantage with acquiring some of the talent in

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Speaker 1: IP that we have with the last year. One piece

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Speaker 1: to add to that is, I think creators are really

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Speaker 1: excited about the royalty aspect of their assets being sold

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Speaker 1: on the blockchain because you look at you know, folks

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Speaker 1: like myself and Trey. We're rabid sneakerheads, right, But let's

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Speaker 1: say we flip a pair of sneakers. The actual person

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Speaker 1: behind that product is enabled to be able to share

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Speaker 1: in the royalty. And so we look at things like NFTs,

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Speaker 1: and blockchain technology is enabling those original creators to receive

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Speaker 1: value for the products that they're putting out in the space.

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Speaker 1: And so when we look at you know, you acquire

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Speaker 1: a CJ. Stroud NFT and that gives you access to

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Speaker 1: exclusive content, experienced merchandise, apparel. When that NFT is sold, CJ.

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Speaker 1: Stroud gets to share in the upside and receive a

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Speaker 1: royalty payment for that. But if you're looking at traditional assets,

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Speaker 1: like let's just take that sneaker example, his sneaker got

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Speaker 1: sold one time without being tied to the blockchain. No

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Speaker 1: royal payment there. And so when we look at empowering creators,

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Speaker 1: especially diverse creators who are oftentimes not able to benefit

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Speaker 1: from the fruits of their work it's certainly not on

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Speaker 1: a perpetual basis, we think this tool is the perfect

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Speaker 1: mechanism to really create that empowerment. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure if you call it a wallet, but to me,

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Speaker 1: it feels like a wallet that provides me, you know,

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Speaker 1: access not only to my digital assets, but also the

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Speaker 1: communities I belong to, not just the keys to those communities,

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Speaker 1: but the communities are housed there also, so for the

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Speaker 1: people who haven't experienced locker Verse themselves yet, you know,

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Speaker 1: describe what spending you know, thirty minutes or an hour

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Speaker 1: on the technology might be like Gosha, Yeah, so our

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Speaker 1: core we're community platform, right, and so the idea is

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Speaker 1: a fan, you come and join the community, and once

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Speaker 1: you're in that community, you have the opportunity to either

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Speaker 1: purchase a digital collectible from a particular talent or creator,

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Speaker 1: but then also experience their traditional consumer product goods. But

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Speaker 1: what's really important for a locker Verse if you really

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Speaker 1: want to meet folks where they are right. And so

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Speaker 1: for example, we had an event at the Celebration Bowling

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Speaker 1: and Land and we had a QR code up on

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Speaker 1: the screen. We gave away the first ever ESPN digital

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Speaker 1: collectible for a college football game. And what we found

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Speaker 1: is where people started to interact with each other in

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Speaker 1: the app and then they would meet up in person

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Speaker 1: at our activation. And so we found that to be

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Speaker 1: really really fruitful. And so if you go into our app,

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Speaker 1: not only will you find your community and find your creators,

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Speaker 1: but you may also have an opportunity to build relationships

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Speaker 1: with people that you might not necessarily have the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to unless you found found that person in our communities

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Speaker 1: when you consider things like the Nil or Carlos, when

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Speaker 1: you think when you think of things like the Nil name,

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Speaker 1: image and likeness and opportunities, athletes particularly have to be

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Speaker 1: rewarded for their talents these days, how does your platform

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Speaker 1: Let's say I'm a college student or a high school

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Speaker 1: student and I've got skills, right, I got some game,

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Speaker 1: you know, talk about what is there for me on

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Speaker 1: lockervers to be able to take advantage of, you know,

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Speaker 1: my value in the marketplace. Absolutely, so when we set

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Speaker 1: out to build locker Verse, we really thought about how

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Speaker 1: we were going to empower these top tier creators. And

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Speaker 1: as we define creators, that's athletes as entertainers, musicians, writers,

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Speaker 1: anybody who's using their creative genius to better the world

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Speaker 1: or empower themselves. And so when you think about, you know,

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Speaker 1: a NIL player, these top tier athletes that are coming

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Speaker 1: out of high school, they're now able to get paid.

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Speaker 1: Some of them stay by stay getting paid at the

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Speaker 1: high school level. They really need to engage their community

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Speaker 1: of super fans. And there wasn't really a platform out

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Speaker 1: there where that type of engagement could occur, so traditional

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Speaker 1: social media doesn't really fit that mold, and the few

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Speaker 1: platforms that engage in community building don't have the additional

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Speaker 1: attributes of our platform, and that is the ability to

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Speaker 1: disseminate content, the ability of mint and sell NFTs, the

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Speaker 1: ability to sell merchant ice in apparel, the ability to

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Speaker 1: have your podcast all in that same place, and then

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Speaker 1: again with the NFTs and blockchain technology, that ability to

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Speaker 1: really create a digital asset that ties you to real

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Speaker 1: world experiences, this exclusive content and really gives you, as

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Speaker 1: a superfan, the ability to engage with that top tier

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Speaker 1: creator that you're already a fan of. So what we

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Speaker 1: set out to do was really capture these cultural driver

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Speaker 1: NIL athletes. So you know, having six McDonald's all Americans

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Speaker 1: in last year's class and two in this year's class,

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Speaker 1: including Bronnie James, and having on our platform their a

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Speaker 1: b ability to connect directly with their community of superfans

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Speaker 1: and then sell to those fans NFTs, give them exclusive

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Speaker 1: merchandise and experiences, and then really empower each other behind.

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Speaker 1: What's so important at the end of the day is

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Speaker 1: this ability to have community, and I think that's something

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Speaker 1: everybody's yearning for and we wanted to have that in

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Speaker 1: a simplified, centralized fashion, all under the same umbrella. And

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Speaker 1: that's what Locker versus. So when you think about um

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Speaker 1: these growing opportunities for fans to participate with athletes they love,

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Speaker 1: teams they love, and etc. You know, things like sports

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Speaker 1: betting is you know, proliferating across the country. What are

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Speaker 1: some of the things that major league organizations, the MLB,

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Speaker 1: the NFL, NBA have been plagued with over the past

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Speaker 1: few years that makes them want to look at other

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Speaker 1: ways to engage their fans, right, I mean, I think

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Speaker 1: that's a that's a great question for us. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's really how do we generate user generated content, unit,

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Speaker 1: user generated even communications? And so for example, what we're

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Speaker 1: doing with the Nipsey project will have cover album art

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Speaker 1: by some of the premier artists that we were that

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Speaker 1: we're working with, but we're also going to allow the

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Speaker 1: community to actually create their own user generated art, right,

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Speaker 1: and then we would take that and propel that into

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Speaker 1: that particular project. So we're still tinkering with a few

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Speaker 1: different ideas. But you know, something that we learned at

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Speaker 1: Celebration Bowl and something that that he has been was

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Speaker 1: really excited about is that when we when we saw

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Speaker 1: the engagement in the app during the game, they really

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Speaker 1: liked that, right because now you had fans that were

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Speaker 1: at the activation at the game communicating with each other,

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Speaker 1: talking trash back and forth within our application. And so,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think there's this technology lent itself for

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Speaker 1: further fan engagement, but then also testing some of those

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Speaker 1: things around sports betting and gaming. Yeah, you mentioned Nipsey

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Speaker 1: a couple of times here, and you've got assets inside

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Speaker 1: your your metaverse with unreleased tracks from people like Nipsey, Hustle,

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Speaker 1: you know, PEMPC, DJ's Screw. How do you get stuff

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Speaker 1: like that? Yeah, I think I think all of this

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Speaker 1: is just the vestige of really deep relationships with the

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Speaker 1: folks behind a lot of that music. Right. So one

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Speaker 1: of our advisors to the company is mister Lee, who

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Speaker 1: produced Blue Laces, Wanted two and produced some of the

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Speaker 1: biggest hits for Pimpsey Um and came out of that

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Speaker 1: Houston and Texas rap scene where he had big connections

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Speaker 1: to folks like DJ Screw. And so because of all that,

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Speaker 1: because of those relationships of trust and the significance of

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Speaker 1: the platform, and us just saying hey, we want to

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Speaker 1: not just have a seat at the table, but actually

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Speaker 1: build the table and have people like us be at

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Speaker 1: the forefront of this technology. That's something that was really

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Speaker 1: exciting to someone like mister Lee, who's really been an

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Speaker 1: innovator in the space, you know, all the way back

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Speaker 1: to the days he was producing for folks like Tupac,

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Speaker 1: and so he wants to be a cultural driver and

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Speaker 1: bringing these significant projects to life, projects that we really

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Speaker 1: consider sacred. And so I think our perspective on the space,

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Speaker 1: I think our technology, and I think the way that

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Speaker 1: we're going about saying hey, we want people from our

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Speaker 1: neighborhoods to be able to use this technology and connect

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Speaker 1: to the top tier creators that they're already fans up

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Speaker 1: in these new and significant ways. That was something that

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Speaker 1: was just attractive, and so, you know, we couldn't be

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Speaker 1: more fortunate to have partners like mister Lee helping us

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Speaker 1: drive this in this space. But then you look at

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Speaker 1: the other end of the spectrum with these you know,

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Speaker 1: I don't want to say emerging artists, but artists of

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Speaker 1: a much younger generation. So highlighting folks like Chase b

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Speaker 1: who said, Hey, I really want to be at the

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Speaker 1: forefront of this space too. And some of the things

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Speaker 1: I want to provide my fans is unique access to

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Speaker 1: experiences using blockchain technology and NFTs. But I want to

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Speaker 1: deliver to them some values, some significant value. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, you think of people who want to record

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Speaker 1: with the same folks who are who are having music

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Speaker 1: produced for Travis Scott, and Chase is saying, Hey, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to give my superfans a beatpack and let those

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Speaker 1: folks record on it and give them an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: get what they never could have access to just because

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Speaker 1: it's probably impossible to be able to afford or just

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Speaker 1: connected to get connected to someone like Chase, but because

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Speaker 1: he understands the value of what this technology is and

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Speaker 1: wants to provide real value to his superfans. He's utilizing

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Speaker 1: blockchain technology and the locker Verse platform to deliver those

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Speaker 1: experiences and give those super fans and these new creators

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to record over over beat's produced by him

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Speaker 1: that you otherwise wouldn't have access to. And if I

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Speaker 1: can add to that briefly, it's such a new space

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Speaker 1: that I think we were able to secure some of

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Speaker 1: those relationships because of our past as sports entertainment attorneys,

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Speaker 1: right understanding IP and a lot of times when you

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Speaker 1: enter into a new space and technology, uh, the underlying

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Speaker 1: law is the same. It's really just new terminology. And

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Speaker 1: so once we were able to master that terminology, we

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Speaker 1: could take our legal background and that allow creators to

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Speaker 1: really trust us right that we would do it the

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Speaker 1: right way. We would be intentional h and we try

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Speaker 1: to you know, not provide any lift on the talent,

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Speaker 1: right because in our former life we understood, you know,

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Speaker 1: the demands of their main thing, which were a music,

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Speaker 1: sport or r. And so we're kind of taking that

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Speaker 1: experience combined with the technology, and that's helped us speak.

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Speaker 1: Let's expand on accouncept of ownership in the world where

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Speaker 1: assets have typically been leveraged for the greater benefit of

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Speaker 1: platforms versus the artists, the league versus the athletes. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of talk about what blockchain technologies allow

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Speaker 1: for artists to retain staking their work, but the reason

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Speaker 1: they gave up so much was there was a faster

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Speaker 1: upside and name recognition, fame. What have you co found

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Speaker 1: to speak on it? I think one just the society

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Speaker 1: is just more educated on ownership and what that means, right,

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Speaker 1: you know, you hear it's buzzwords and barbershops, you know,

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Speaker 1: masters owning this until there's just a common understanding now

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Speaker 1: that hey, I should probably you know, read the fine

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Speaker 1: print a little bit more than maybe over a decade ago.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's one aspect of it. But then

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Speaker 1: the second aspect is that the technology allows creators right

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Speaker 1: to really explore areas where maybe a big brand would say, hey,

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Speaker 1: we want to put you in this particular box. I

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Speaker 1: think a really good example that is Broughty. You know,

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Speaker 1: the project with Brownie will not focus on him being

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Speaker 1: a basketball player, more so for his love of gaming,

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Speaker 1: his love of being a snowboarder. So that's what really

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Speaker 1: excited him in Savannah, and it's it's the same with

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Speaker 1: some of the artists that we're working with on the

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Speaker 1: Nipsey EP project. You know, how can we bring his

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Speaker 1: legacy through the yard, But let me try different type

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Speaker 1: of style that I wouldn't normally do. Right, because I

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Speaker 1: know the underlying technology is efficient, we can do it

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Speaker 1: in a really cost effective manner and allow the creator

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Speaker 1: to grow as well. So that's that's the part that

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Speaker 1: I think is the most fascinating, not just the ownership,

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Speaker 1: but really pushing the bounds of creativity and not having

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Speaker 1: to rely on a brand to provide budget or provide

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Speaker 1: the space for you to create. And it's really putting

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Speaker 1: the power back in the hands of the creator. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, so many times with these traditional platforms, you've

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Speaker 1: got creators providing all of the value in the platform

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Speaker 1: themselves or the traditional brands behind them receiving all the benefit.

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Speaker 1: You know, this tooling essentially enables folks to flip that

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Speaker 1: that model on its head and say, I'm the creator.

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Speaker 1: I'm the one who's whose genius, whose time, whose work ethic,

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Speaker 1: whose lack of sleep has gone into creating this product

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Speaker 1: that my superfans want to be a part of. And

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Speaker 1: instead of the platform themselves or the brand being the

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Speaker 1: one that receives all the benefits, those individual creators are

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Speaker 1: able to take back some ownership in that. And I

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Speaker 1: think that's something that's That's something Trade and I talk

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Speaker 1: about every morning when we when we have our one

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Speaker 1: on one meeting, is how do we ensure that we're

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Speaker 1: giving more value to the creator, empowering them with tools,

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Speaker 1: with access, with an ability to connect with that community

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Speaker 1: of super fans, and I think if we continue to

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Speaker 1: stay laser focused on that empowerment of creator piece, we're

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Speaker 1: going to find tremendous success and enable these creators to

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Speaker 1: continue to find trement success. Yeah, let's go a level

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Speaker 1: deeper because we think about the concept we we just

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Speaker 1: talked about record labels selecting who's going to be the

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Speaker 1: rising star, or social media platforms determining who was gonna

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Speaker 1: get access to the feed? You know, how does how

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Speaker 1: do you think about who you decide to partner with

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Speaker 1: from a brand ambassadorship. It's one thing for me to

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Speaker 1: sign up for an account and put my assets up,

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Speaker 1: but how does locker Verse think about we want to

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Speaker 1: partner with these athletes, these specific ones who who? How

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Speaker 1: do you make that analysis internally of who you want

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Speaker 1: to wear the locker Verse you know, franchise. Yeah, for us,

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Speaker 1: the first thing we look at is do they have

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Speaker 1: an interest outside of what they're known for? Right? You know?

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Speaker 1: And then the second thing, what story do they want

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Speaker 1: to tell? And how does that story align with our

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Speaker 1: thesis and our ethos, which is cultural defining stories. Right,

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Speaker 1: So when you look, you know, hey, you signed Bronnie

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Speaker 1: James obviously that that's awesome, but we also signed more

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Speaker 1: House College, right, and what story do they want to tell?

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Speaker 1: How does more House look going into the metaphors and

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Speaker 1: going into the future and tell What we try to

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Speaker 1: look at is Frank we call it franchise will Ip

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Speaker 1: and say hey, you know, how can this impact so

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Speaker 1: many different people regardless of where they are? And then

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Speaker 1: what story we're trying to tell? And I think we've

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Speaker 1: done a great job of identifying that talent early on.

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Speaker 1: We didn't go out and just say, hey, let's go

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Speaker 1: with the with the individuals that have the biggest names

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Speaker 1: or the biggest followings. And I know we mentioned quite

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Speaker 1: a few of those folks, but if I cannot mentioned

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Speaker 1: beyond Caa Pastel who's a Hebrew Brandley protege and she's

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Speaker 1: under ten thousand followers on Instagram, but she consistently is

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Speaker 1: talking about, you know, the story that she wants to

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Speaker 1: bring to life of of you know, her characters, right,

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Speaker 1: and being black in Chicago and that artist, So we thought, hey,

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Speaker 1: let's let's partner with her. She has a lot of

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Speaker 1: interesting views that we can't wait to share. And I'll

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Speaker 1: say that for the project, but you know, we really

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Speaker 1: kind of dig under the rock and see what we

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Speaker 1: can find. You know, what I love about what you're

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Speaker 1: doing is it's like you can it's a real startup.

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Speaker 1: And like when you think about what you could build

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Speaker 1: versus what you could partner with other people to build

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Speaker 1: and plug in. You know, even from like on the

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Speaker 1: merch side, you know there's a Shopify partnership, and so

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Speaker 1: I think about you could have built your own e

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Speaker 1: commerce platform. You know, speed matters, you know these days,

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Speaker 1: and focusing on what actually matters is more important than

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Speaker 1: things that are you know add ons or you know

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Speaker 1: amenities or such a thing. But can you talk about

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Speaker 1: why you decided to be such a be such an

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Speaker 1: ambassador of partnerships versus believing you've got to do everything

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Speaker 1: on your own in the beginning, like so many of

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Speaker 1: us make that error. I would say, I think a

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Speaker 1: lot of us make that mistake because they don't even

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Speaker 1: know where to start to form a relationship with a partner, right,

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Speaker 1: And a lot of times those partners are not receptive

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Speaker 1: to black lead tech companies. Right. So, but you know,

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Speaker 1: I think we had a we had a competitive advantage

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Speaker 1: with some of the names, and so those calls were easier,

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Speaker 1: and I think we should acknowledge that privilege. And so

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Speaker 1: for us, you know, we would go out and seek

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Speaker 1: those partnerships, but we would also drive and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: we're going to be responsible for creative. We're going to

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Speaker 1: bring you the stories and we're going to tell it

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Speaker 1: our way. And they were receptive to that because we

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Speaker 1: were very protective of our talent in IP. But you're

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Speaker 1: absolutely right, speed matters. Um. You know, we started this

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Speaker 1: essentially right when the NFT crash was happening, but it

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Speaker 1: allowed us to move slowly and be intentional and seek

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Speaker 1: out the right partners as well. Um, and you know,

432
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,160
Speaker 1: we're excited to partner with who we have, but I'll

433
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,160
Speaker 1: turn over the last to kind of ship one. Yeah.

434
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it was a really significant jump

435
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: for Trailing myself to leave an actual partnership right where

436
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,879
Speaker 1: you you know, we're at a law firm. It's been

437
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 1: around for one hundred and fifty years, and it finally

438
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,000
Speaker 1: reached that point where we had corner offices and said, hey,

439
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: telling our wives and our young families were about to

440
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,680
Speaker 1: do something different, and if we were going to make

441
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,639
Speaker 1: that move, we weren't going to just do it to

442
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:46,040
Speaker 1: to just throw out some NFT projects. We said, there's

443
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,720
Speaker 1: an opportunity in this space for creators and our people

444
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 1: to be at the center of the technological revolution, and

445
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,439
Speaker 1: we felt uniquely suited to actually be the ones driving it.

446
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,080
Speaker 1: So we wanted to aim big, and we wanted to

447
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,639
Speaker 1: build the platform that was that actually going to be

448
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: the bridge to that. And so we knew if we

449
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 1: were going to really service this bridge, we had to

450
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 1: find the right partners that were already in Web three

451
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: and find the ones that we're already in Web two

452
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 1: and say, hey, do you believe in our mission? Do

453
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 1: you believe what we're trying to do, and do you

454
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,639
Speaker 1: believe it's important? And if you share that ethos and

455
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 1: if you're trying to reach that promised land with us,

456
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: get on board, right, come on into the Locker Verse.

457
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 1: And so we really believed in our journey. We really

458
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,359
Speaker 1: believed in what we were trying to do, and we

459
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 1: were very intentional about finding the right partners who were

460
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,959
Speaker 1: going to believe in us and help propel that. And

461
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,240
Speaker 1: so you know, we're really thankful for folks like the

462
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,360
Speaker 1: Disney Accelerator for saying, hey, Locker Verse what y'all are

463
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 1: trying to do is significant. Is it's in line with

464
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 1: what Disney is trying to do with realizing the significance

465
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: of their IP products, like what they did with Black

466
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: Panther in Cocoa and other significant IP in their ecosystem.

467
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 1: But when you think about the fandom that exists around

468
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: those projects, how do you get people like that to

469
00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,240
Speaker 1: go back to Disney Park so or go back to

470
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: es PN celebration ball. And what we saw was, Hey,

471
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,199
Speaker 1: this technology that we are building, this platform that we

472
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,239
Speaker 1: are building, can really be the bridge between things like that.

473
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 1: And so when we had the opportunity to work with

474
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: folks like ESPN to deliver the first ever digital collectible

475
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:18,679
Speaker 1: and then bring folks directly on our platform and have

476
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,680
Speaker 1: them be a part of this Web three experience in

477
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: the way that has never happened before, we just said,

478
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,040
Speaker 1: this couldn't be a better opportunity. But for us, it's

479
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: really about partnering with the right folks and understanding that

480
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: we need partners that understand our mission and believe in

481
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,440
Speaker 1: it and are trying to help us get there together. Yeah,

482
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,159
Speaker 1: that's that's dig in there, because you know, what are

483
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: some of the things that are the most important things

484
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:43,640
Speaker 1: you've learned about getting the attention of would be high

485
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 1: profile investors and partners. You know, you've got people like

486
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: you know, NFL Asian David Logetta, like Brandon Brown of

487
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 1: the Giants, and you know investors from c AA like

488
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,360
Speaker 1: And here's why I ask, it's there's so many projects

489
00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 1: startups founded by people listening to this podcast as who

490
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:05,440
Speaker 1: would benefit and or need profile. They need high profile

491
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 1: and what are some what are some of the key

492
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 1: things you've learned about getting those relationships and managing those

493
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,160
Speaker 1: relationships well to where those people even take the time

494
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: to listen. I think to start, it's it's really about

495
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: listening to them, right and seeing what's going on in

496
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 1: their space, in their orbit, and finding a way to

497
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 1: create a common thread or what you're building. And I

498
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 1: think early on we we you know, we didn't do

499
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: a good, good enough job of educating some of those

500
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 1: folks just about the space, right. But then we took

501
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 1: a step back and say, you know, Dave, you know

502
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 1: what are some of your players concerned with? You know,

503
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 1: what are they focused on, what are they what do

504
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,359
Speaker 1: they want to do? And then we would listen to

505
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 1: those answers and then plug that into what we were

506
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 1: trying to build, and then we would go back and

507
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 1: explain it. Uh. And you know, Dave always says, I

508
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 1: don't even invest in companies, I invest in people. So

509
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 1: a lot of it is also just being there, being consistent,

510
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 1: not always needing needing something or asking for something, but

511
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: just being prey and in providing uh, you know, guidance

512
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: when it when it's steating. And again, you know we

513
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 1: we we were attorneys for a decade, all right, and

514
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 1: so there were some there were some privilege there that

515
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: some of those folks would call us for for solutions

516
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: to problems. And so if you have that advantage, if

517
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 1: you if you if you think you can provide that,

518
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,840
Speaker 1: don't be afraid to stand on that because it will

519
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,600
Speaker 1: help build a relationship. You know, I'm curious about, you know,

520
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,479
Speaker 1: the structure of the company, and especially when you have

521
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 1: co founders, you know, identifying roles and so you're not

522
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 1: stepping on each other's toes and so you leaning into

523
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 1: what each other is good at. How did you determine

524
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: what your duties would be as you guys go out

525
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: there and beat the pavement to build something special. So

526
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: that you know, you know, trade doesn't feel like Carlos

527
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,119
Speaker 1: is in the way and Carlos is looking at the

528
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:47,920
Speaker 1: trade like are you on your job? I'm on my job.

529
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,920
Speaker 1: I want to make sure we all do on our job.

530
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: Like how do you determine that? Yeah, A couple of

531
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 1: things all that, you know. It's like, like I said,

532
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,359
Speaker 1: we were partners at a law firm and uh it

533
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 1: tried some you know, very significant cases together, built a

534
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 1: practice together where we were servicing clients in significant ways.

535
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 1: If I had to be in California for a deposition

536
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 1: and Trade had to be in a hearing in Houston,

537
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: we were able to deliver value kind of across the

538
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: country in unique ways. And so how we really came

539
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,159
Speaker 1: up with that model, which is saying, hey, this is

540
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,160
Speaker 1: my brother and I trust him, and I know nobody's

541
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 1: going to be able to deliver the value that I

542
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,959
Speaker 1: can in a way that trade may be perfectly suited

543
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,280
Speaker 1: to handle this unique situation. And so instead of us

544
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: being those people who were close to the vest with

545
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 1: our clients and not trying to let each other in,

546
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: we were always ones that said, hey, I can expand

547
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 1: my practice, I can be a more significant lawyer, I

548
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 1: can deliver more value to my client if I partner

549
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 1: with you and work with you. And so when we

550
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 1: decided to start the company, we kind of approached it

551
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 1: with that same ethos. This trade can do things in

552
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,919
Speaker 1: rooms that I can never imagine doing. And I like

553
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: to think there's certain things that I can do that

554
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 1: trade would would view as being significant as well. And

555
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 1: so when we said let's build Locker Verse, it was

556
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,400
Speaker 1: all about let's let's find a way to achieve our goal.

557
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: And if you got to play quarterback today and I

558
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,960
Speaker 1: got to play running back or getting the trenches and

559
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 1: block for you, That's what I'm gonna do. And Trey

560
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: approached it with the same way. And our third co founder,

561
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,640
Speaker 1: Marcus Rance was actually the team teammate of Minus. Stanford

562
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,480
Speaker 1: approached it the same way, you know, when we really

563
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: just looked at the situation and said, who's going to

564
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: be the best one to be the one speaking in

565
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: this situation, or who's going to be the best one

566
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 1: to actually draft up the documents or established and strengthen

567
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,959
Speaker 1: that relationship with particular talent. And that's how we approach

568
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: it every day. We're not about titles. We're really just

569
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: about achieving a common goal, and we get very strategic

570
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: and in depth and try to approach everything without ego.

571
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 1: And I think because of that, it's enabled us to

572
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 1: go much faster and avoid a lot of the pitfalls

573
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 1: that other folks see in the space because they're so

574
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 1: centered on a particular title. We're having the right office space,

575
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: you know, We're not about that. We're about actually delivering

576
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 1: a product of value and delivering a service at the

577
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: end of the day that's going to set our selves

578
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: and set our creators apart. Yeah, and I think it

579
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 1: started before we founded the company. It started with just

580
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,680
Speaker 1: our relationship not only the practice, but also at Stanford

581
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,520
Speaker 1: as well. Right. I didn't I didn't know our other

582
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,479
Speaker 1: co founder Marcus at Stanford. But as soon as Love said, hey,

583
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 1: this is the guy, there was no question. Right. So

584
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 1: it's about trusting your team. And then also when when

585
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 1: ego does creep in in those moments, you have to

586
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: check it yourself and then ask your your co founders

587
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 1: and your team. Hey, I think I'm right on this,

588
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 1: but everybody else is saying I'm not. Let me know

589
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: if you think my ego is getting in the way.

590
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 1: And we've had those those tough conversations and candid conversation.

591
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: You know, it's by design that we don't have titles

592
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 1: on our site. We don't have titles and our bios.

593
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: It's co founder. You know, we really are a team

594
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: even you know, we'll go down to the minute detail. Hey,

595
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,200
Speaker 1: this investor is lead. Who has the best relationship, who

596
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 1: feels the most comfortable you take lead on the meeting.

597
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: So everyone should be prepared to play all roads at

598
00:29:53,320 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: all times, and it's worked out for us today. Black

599
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,320
Speaker 1: Tech Green Money is a production of Blackvity, Afrotech on

600
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: the Black Effect Podcast Network and I Hired Media, and

601
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,240
Speaker 1: it's produced by Morgan Dubonn and me Well Lucas, with

602
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: additional production supported by Sarah Ergan and Rose mc lucas.

603
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,600
Speaker 1: Special thank you to Michael David Sipping. That's a Toronto.

604
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: Learn more about my guests and other tech dis Rutherlans

605
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 1: and innovatives at afrotech dot com. Enjoining Black Tech Green Money,

606
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 1: Share us with somebody, go get your money. Peace and love,