Speaker 1: I'm Will Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money.
Speaker 1: Locker Versus a Web three platform that empowers creators and
Speaker 1: brands to tell culture defining stories and deliver unique access
Speaker 1: and experiences. They're built as the cultural hub for the
Speaker 1: future of the Internet. Recently, co founders Trade McDonald, Carlos McFall,
Speaker 1: and Marcus Rants even partner with Savanna Change to launch
Speaker 1: the technology and amplify the platform. We're currently in the
Speaker 1: world where AI has taken over all technology conversations, but
Speaker 1: there's still some excitement in corners of the Internet about
Speaker 1: Web three. With that, what particularly is still interesting about
Speaker 1: NFTs and crypto to locker Verse, people in our community
Speaker 1: to really get left behind when they're these big jumps
Speaker 1: in technology, and so for me, it's us having a
Speaker 1: seat at the table and really shaping that space. You know,
Speaker 1: I think anybody that calls himself an expert in the
Speaker 1: space currently, I think it's not matured enough. And so
Speaker 1: for us at locker Verse, we were really excited about
Speaker 1: how do we infuse culture into this space, how do
Speaker 1: we do it in a responsible way and really focus
Speaker 1: on not only the creators but also their fans and consumers.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, trade touched on it, but you know, really
Speaker 1: important to us when we jumped in this was you know,
Speaker 1: being from diverse backgrounds and being people who are oftentimes
Speaker 1: left behind in these cultural or technological revolutions, is to
Speaker 1: really drive the space and really bring our culture to
Speaker 1: it and not just you know, have a seat at
Speaker 1: the table, to actually build the table. And that's what
Speaker 1: we set out to do when we decided to make
Speaker 1: a lot of diverse we said we wanted to make
Speaker 1: that platform. We wanted to make the highway and the
Speaker 1: bridge for our people to be at the center of
Speaker 1: this technological revolution. And so that's kind of what we're
Speaker 1: focused on on a daily basis. Yeah. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: there are still so many people who are let's say,
Speaker 1: not sold about the value of particularly art NFTs. There's
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously those among us are obviously so, but
Speaker 1: there's still so many people who are like, well, why
Speaker 1: would I buy this digital asset when I can when
Speaker 1: I can invest that money into a physical asset. And
Speaker 1: my argument is like, look, you know kids, and if
Speaker 1: you if you gave my kid, I show my kid
Speaker 1: a dollar versus a rollbuck, they would have a challenge
Speaker 1: deciding which one they want, right, And so we're living
Speaker 1: increasingly digital lives, and why would we not have things
Speaker 1: that show what we care about in this digital space?
Speaker 1: You know, talk about that if you could. And I
Speaker 1: think an important part there is your child is educated
Speaker 1: on both of those, right, the physical asset and the
Speaker 1: digital asset. And I think that's what's really missing from
Speaker 1: the space. Right If you go back and look at
Speaker 1: some old clips when there was the start of the internet,
Speaker 1: you know, people would make fun It's like why would
Speaker 1: you ever stream a baseball game? Have you heard of radio? Right?
Speaker 1: And so then it which is educating on you know,
Speaker 1: what the internet can do, and I think this is
Speaker 1: just the next evolution of that. It's really the underlying
Speaker 1: blockchain technology that's important, not so much the tokens or
Speaker 1: or the crypto, but what the underlying technology can really
Speaker 1: do for fans, for creators. And we hope to continue
Speaker 1: to shake that. Could you continue because I want to
Speaker 1: talk because when we talk about NFTs, traditionally we're just
Speaker 1: talking about art, but NFTs, you know, it could be
Speaker 1: so many different types of NFTs, And so if you
Speaker 1: could talk about what it matters to you guys when
Speaker 1: you talk about what the actual technology of the blockchain
Speaker 1: could do when you talk about non functibility of a token,
Speaker 1: our thesis behind this is really about providing utility to people,
Speaker 1: utilizing the NFT and utilizing the blockchain technology to actually
Speaker 1: deliver something of value to folks. And when you talk
Speaker 1: about you know, your your child looking at a digital
Speaker 1: asset and a dollar's kind of the same. Vein, I
Speaker 1: think it's really important to note. You know, people are
Speaker 1: spending more time than ever online and people digital persona
Speaker 1: is as important now is there is their real world persona.
Speaker 1: And so when people talk about acquiring physical assets, that's great,
Speaker 1: you know. And we used to look at folks. I
Speaker 1: remember going to people's houses. They had all these DVDs
Speaker 1: or vhs. Is I'm the law just taking up space.
Speaker 1: But then all of a sudden, folks were, you know,
Speaker 1: having digital versions of that same content and then streaming
Speaker 1: the content. And so what we look at is we
Speaker 1: transition into this new new world where your digital persona
Speaker 1: and your digital assets are extremely valuable. We want to
Speaker 1: be at the forefront of actually enabling that technology and
Speaker 1: bringing culturally significant projects to the table. And so, you know,
Speaker 1: where we feel that there's a big void is a
Speaker 1: lack of culture in the space, and so we wanted
Speaker 1: to empower these top tier creators who really do define
Speaker 1: the culture to bring their assets to life there and right.
Speaker 1: And that's what we think is going to shape the
Speaker 1: space if we have these cultural drivers all in one
Speaker 1: centralized platform who are able to reach their fans in
Speaker 1: new and meaningful ways and then give them access to
Speaker 1: physical experiences or give them access to exclusive merchandise in
Speaker 1: apparel or maybe content that is behind the scenes. You know.
Speaker 1: We think about folks like CJ. Stroud and him giving
Speaker 1: access to his top fans in terms of the process
Speaker 1: he goes through he's preparing for the NFL draft, or
Speaker 1: folks like that. We saw Conriquez, one of the top
Speaker 1: drivers in music in the Latin entertainment space. Hi of
Speaker 1: an access to fans of this behind the scenes content
Speaker 1: that you can't get anywhere else. And I think this
Speaker 1: blockchain technology is the perfect mechanism to bring that culture
Speaker 1: to life in a new way. And that's what we
Speaker 1: see NFTs as being kind of the ticket, the conduit
Speaker 1: to actually get get folks some real value that they
Speaker 1: can't get in the in the real world. And I
Speaker 1: really yeah, I want to really you know, highlight what
Speaker 1: Love said about the NFT being a conduit. Right, So
Speaker 1: when we go out and talk to talent and try
Speaker 1: to acquire IP, you know, we say, this is just
Speaker 1: another asset offering for your fans and consumers in a
Speaker 1: way that hey, in the future, there will be a
Speaker 1: permanent digital record of what you provided to them. Right
Speaker 1: until laid out some uses the use cases of utility,
Speaker 1: but once you explain that hey, this isn't really no
Speaker 1: different from a T shirt, from a hat, from the
Speaker 1: opportunity to stream with Brawny, this is something that you
Speaker 1: can create that will live permanently on the blockchain, they
Speaker 1: instantly get it. And I think that's why we've had
Speaker 1: some competitive dvantage with acquiring some of the talent in
Speaker 1: IP that we have with the last year. One piece
Speaker 1: to add to that is, I think creators are really
Speaker 1: excited about the royalty aspect of their assets being sold
Speaker 1: on the blockchain because you look at you know, folks
Speaker 1: like myself and Trey. We're rabid sneakerheads, right, But let's
Speaker 1: say we flip a pair of sneakers. The actual person
Speaker 1: behind that product is enabled to be able to share
Speaker 1: in the royalty. And so we look at things like NFTs,
Speaker 1: and blockchain technology is enabling those original creators to receive
Speaker 1: value for the products that they're putting out in the space.
Speaker 1: And so when we look at you know, you acquire
Speaker 1: a CJ. Stroud NFT and that gives you access to
Speaker 1: exclusive content, experienced merchandise, apparel. When that NFT is sold, CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud gets to share in the upside and receive a
Speaker 1: royalty payment for that. But if you're looking at traditional assets,
Speaker 1: like let's just take that sneaker example, his sneaker got
Speaker 1: sold one time without being tied to the blockchain. No
Speaker 1: royal payment there. And so when we look at empowering creators,
Speaker 1: especially diverse creators who are oftentimes not able to benefit
Speaker 1: from the fruits of their work it's certainly not on
Speaker 1: a perpetual basis, we think this tool is the perfect
Speaker 1: mechanism to really create that empowerment. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if you call it a wallet, but to me,
Speaker 1: it feels like a wallet that provides me, you know,
Speaker 1: access not only to my digital assets, but also the
Speaker 1: communities I belong to, not just the keys to those communities,
Speaker 1: but the communities are housed there also, so for the
Speaker 1: people who haven't experienced locker Verse themselves yet, you know,
Speaker 1: describe what spending you know, thirty minutes or an hour
Speaker 1: on the technology might be like Gosha, Yeah, so our
Speaker 1: core we're community platform, right, and so the idea is
Speaker 1: a fan, you come and join the community, and once
Speaker 1: you're in that community, you have the opportunity to either
Speaker 1: purchase a digital collectible from a particular talent or creator,
Speaker 1: but then also experience their traditional consumer product goods. But
Speaker 1: what's really important for a locker Verse if you really
Speaker 1: want to meet folks where they are right. And so
Speaker 1: for example, we had an event at the Celebration Bowling
Speaker 1: and Land and we had a QR code up on
Speaker 1: the screen. We gave away the first ever ESPN digital
Speaker 1: collectible for a college football game. And what we found
Speaker 1: is where people started to interact with each other in
Speaker 1: the app and then they would meet up in person
Speaker 1: at our activation. And so we found that to be
Speaker 1: really really fruitful. And so if you go into our app,
Speaker 1: not only will you find your community and find your creators,
Speaker 1: but you may also have an opportunity to build relationships
Speaker 1: with people that you might not necessarily have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to unless you found found that person in our communities
Speaker 1: when you consider things like the Nil or Carlos, when
Speaker 1: you think when you think of things like the Nil name,
Speaker 1: image and likeness and opportunities, athletes particularly have to be
Speaker 1: rewarded for their talents these days, how does your platform
Speaker 1: Let's say I'm a college student or a high school
Speaker 1: student and I've got skills, right, I got some game,
Speaker 1: you know, talk about what is there for me on
Speaker 1: lockervers to be able to take advantage of, you know,
Speaker 1: my value in the marketplace. Absolutely, so when we set
Speaker 1: out to build locker Verse, we really thought about how
Speaker 1: we were going to empower these top tier creators. And
Speaker 1: as we define creators, that's athletes as entertainers, musicians, writers,
Speaker 1: anybody who's using their creative genius to better the world
Speaker 1: or empower themselves. And so when you think about, you know,
Speaker 1: a NIL player, these top tier athletes that are coming
Speaker 1: out of high school, they're now able to get paid.
Speaker 1: Some of them stay by stay getting paid at the
Speaker 1: high school level. They really need to engage their community
Speaker 1: of super fans. And there wasn't really a platform out
Speaker 1: there where that type of engagement could occur, so traditional
Speaker 1: social media doesn't really fit that mold, and the few
Speaker 1: platforms that engage in community building don't have the additional
Speaker 1: attributes of our platform, and that is the ability to
Speaker 1: disseminate content, the ability of mint and sell NFTs, the
Speaker 1: ability to sell merchant ice in apparel, the ability to
Speaker 1: have your podcast all in that same place, and then
Speaker 1: again with the NFTs and blockchain technology, that ability to
Speaker 1: really create a digital asset that ties you to real
Speaker 1: world experiences, this exclusive content and really gives you, as
Speaker 1: a superfan, the ability to engage with that top tier
Speaker 1: creator that you're already a fan of. So what we
Speaker 1: set out to do was really capture these cultural driver
Speaker 1: NIL athletes. So you know, having six McDonald's all Americans
Speaker 1: in last year's class and two in this year's class,
Speaker 1: including Bronnie James, and having on our platform their a
Speaker 1: b ability to connect directly with their community of superfans
Speaker 1: and then sell to those fans NFTs, give them exclusive
Speaker 1: merchandise and experiences, and then really empower each other behind.
Speaker 1: What's so important at the end of the day is
Speaker 1: this ability to have community, and I think that's something
Speaker 1: everybody's yearning for and we wanted to have that in
Speaker 1: a simplified, centralized fashion, all under the same umbrella. And
Speaker 1: that's what Locker versus. So when you think about um
Speaker 1: these growing opportunities for fans to participate with athletes they love,
Speaker 1: teams they love, and etc. You know, things like sports
Speaker 1: betting is you know, proliferating across the country. What are
Speaker 1: some of the things that major league organizations, the MLB,
Speaker 1: the NFL, NBA have been plagued with over the past
Speaker 1: few years that makes them want to look at other
Speaker 1: ways to engage their fans, right, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that's a that's a great question for us. You know,
Speaker 1: it's really how do we generate user generated content, unit,
Speaker 1: user generated even communications? And so for example, what we're
Speaker 1: doing with the Nipsey project will have cover album art
Speaker 1: by some of the premier artists that we were that
Speaker 1: we're working with, but we're also going to allow the
Speaker 1: community to actually create their own user generated art, right,
Speaker 1: and then we would take that and propel that into
Speaker 1: that particular project. So we're still tinkering with a few
Speaker 1: different ideas. But you know, something that we learned at
Speaker 1: Celebration Bowl and something that that he has been was
Speaker 1: really excited about is that when we when we saw
Speaker 1: the engagement in the app during the game, they really
Speaker 1: liked that, right because now you had fans that were
Speaker 1: at the activation at the game communicating with each other,
Speaker 1: talking trash back and forth within our application. And so,
Speaker 1: you know, I think there's this technology lent itself for
Speaker 1: further fan engagement, but then also testing some of those
Speaker 1: things around sports betting and gaming. Yeah, you mentioned Nipsey
Speaker 1: a couple of times here, and you've got assets inside
Speaker 1: your your metaverse with unreleased tracks from people like Nipsey, Hustle,
Speaker 1: you know, PEMPC, DJ's Screw. How do you get stuff
Speaker 1: like that? Yeah, I think I think all of this
Speaker 1: is just the vestige of really deep relationships with the
Speaker 1: folks behind a lot of that music. Right. So one
Speaker 1: of our advisors to the company is mister Lee, who
Speaker 1: produced Blue Laces, Wanted two and produced some of the
Speaker 1: biggest hits for Pimpsey Um and came out of that
Speaker 1: Houston and Texas rap scene where he had big connections
Speaker 1: to folks like DJ Screw. And so because of all that,
Speaker 1: because of those relationships of trust and the significance of
Speaker 1: the platform, and us just saying hey, we want to
Speaker 1: not just have a seat at the table, but actually
Speaker 1: build the table and have people like us be at
Speaker 1: the forefront of this technology. That's something that was really
Speaker 1: exciting to someone like mister Lee, who's really been an
Speaker 1: innovator in the space, you know, all the way back
Speaker 1: to the days he was producing for folks like Tupac,
Speaker 1: and so he wants to be a cultural driver and
Speaker 1: bringing these significant projects to life, projects that we really
Speaker 1: consider sacred. And so I think our perspective on the space,
Speaker 1: I think our technology, and I think the way that
Speaker 1: we're going about saying hey, we want people from our
Speaker 1: neighborhoods to be able to use this technology and connect
Speaker 1: to the top tier creators that they're already fans up
Speaker 1: in these new and significant ways. That was something that
Speaker 1: was just attractive, and so, you know, we couldn't be
Speaker 1: more fortunate to have partners like mister Lee helping us
Speaker 1: drive this in this space. But then you look at
Speaker 1: the other end of the spectrum with these you know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to say emerging artists, but artists of
Speaker 1: a much younger generation. So highlighting folks like Chase b
Speaker 1: who said, Hey, I really want to be at the
Speaker 1: forefront of this space too. And some of the things
Speaker 1: I want to provide my fans is unique access to
Speaker 1: experiences using blockchain technology and NFTs. But I want to
Speaker 1: deliver to them some values, some significant value. And so
Speaker 1: you know, you think of people who want to record
Speaker 1: with the same folks who are who are having music
Speaker 1: produced for Travis Scott, and Chase is saying, Hey, I'm
Speaker 1: going to give my superfans a beatpack and let those
Speaker 1: folks record on it and give them an opportunity to
Speaker 1: get what they never could have access to just because
Speaker 1: it's probably impossible to be able to afford or just
Speaker 1: connected to get connected to someone like Chase, but because
Speaker 1: he understands the value of what this technology is and
Speaker 1: wants to provide real value to his superfans. He's utilizing
Speaker 1: blockchain technology and the locker Verse platform to deliver those
Speaker 1: experiences and give those super fans and these new creators
Speaker 1: an opportunity to record over over beat's produced by him
Speaker 1: that you otherwise wouldn't have access to. And if I
Speaker 1: can add to that briefly, it's such a new space
Speaker 1: that I think we were able to secure some of
Speaker 1: those relationships because of our past as sports entertainment attorneys,
Speaker 1: right understanding IP and a lot of times when you
Speaker 1: enter into a new space and technology, uh, the underlying
Speaker 1: law is the same. It's really just new terminology. And
Speaker 1: so once we were able to master that terminology, we
Speaker 1: could take our legal background and that allow creators to
Speaker 1: really trust us right that we would do it the
Speaker 1: right way. We would be intentional h and we try
Speaker 1: to you know, not provide any lift on the talent,
Speaker 1: right because in our former life we understood, you know,
Speaker 1: the demands of their main thing, which were a music,
Speaker 1: sport or r. And so we're kind of taking that
Speaker 1: experience combined with the technology, and that's helped us speak.
Speaker 1: Let's expand on accouncept of ownership in the world where
Speaker 1: assets have typically been leveraged for the greater benefit of
Speaker 1: platforms versus the artists, the league versus the athletes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of talk about what blockchain technologies allow
Speaker 1: for artists to retain staking their work, but the reason
Speaker 1: they gave up so much was there was a faster
Speaker 1: upside and name recognition, fame. What have you co found
Speaker 1: to speak on it? I think one just the society
Speaker 1: is just more educated on ownership and what that means, right,
Speaker 1: you know, you hear it's buzzwords and barbershops, you know,
Speaker 1: masters owning this until there's just a common understanding now
Speaker 1: that hey, I should probably you know, read the fine
Speaker 1: print a little bit more than maybe over a decade ago.
Speaker 1: And I think that's one aspect of it. But then
Speaker 1: the second aspect is that the technology allows creators right
Speaker 1: to really explore areas where maybe a big brand would say, hey,
Speaker 1: we want to put you in this particular box. I
Speaker 1: think a really good example that is Broughty. You know,
Speaker 1: the project with Brownie will not focus on him being
Speaker 1: a basketball player, more so for his love of gaming,
Speaker 1: his love of being a snowboarder. So that's what really
Speaker 1: excited him in Savannah, and it's it's the same with
Speaker 1: some of the artists that we're working with on the
Speaker 1: Nipsey EP project. You know, how can we bring his
Speaker 1: legacy through the yard, But let me try different type
Speaker 1: of style that I wouldn't normally do. Right, because I
Speaker 1: know the underlying technology is efficient, we can do it
Speaker 1: in a really cost effective manner and allow the creator
Speaker 1: to grow as well. So that's that's the part that
Speaker 1: I think is the most fascinating, not just the ownership,
Speaker 1: but really pushing the bounds of creativity and not having
Speaker 1: to rely on a brand to provide budget or provide
Speaker 1: the space for you to create. And it's really putting
Speaker 1: the power back in the hands of the creator. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, so many times with these traditional platforms, you've
Speaker 1: got creators providing all of the value in the platform
Speaker 1: themselves or the traditional brands behind them receiving all the benefit.
Speaker 1: You know, this tooling essentially enables folks to flip that
Speaker 1: that model on its head and say, I'm the creator.
Speaker 1: I'm the one who's whose genius, whose time, whose work ethic,
Speaker 1: whose lack of sleep has gone into creating this product
Speaker 1: that my superfans want to be a part of. And
Speaker 1: instead of the platform themselves or the brand being the
Speaker 1: one that receives all the benefits, those individual creators are
Speaker 1: able to take back some ownership in that. And I
Speaker 1: think that's something that's That's something Trade and I talk
Speaker 1: about every morning when we when we have our one
Speaker 1: on one meeting, is how do we ensure that we're
Speaker 1: giving more value to the creator, empowering them with tools,
Speaker 1: with access, with an ability to connect with that community
Speaker 1: of super fans, and I think if we continue to
Speaker 1: stay laser focused on that empowerment of creator piece, we're
Speaker 1: going to find tremendous success and enable these creators to
Speaker 1: continue to find trement success. Yeah, let's go a level
Speaker 1: deeper because we think about the concept we we just
Speaker 1: talked about record labels selecting who's going to be the
Speaker 1: rising star, or social media platforms determining who was gonna
Speaker 1: get access to the feed? You know, how does how
Speaker 1: do you think about who you decide to partner with
Speaker 1: from a brand ambassadorship. It's one thing for me to
Speaker 1: sign up for an account and put my assets up,
Speaker 1: but how does locker Verse think about we want to
Speaker 1: partner with these athletes, these specific ones who who? How
Speaker 1: do you make that analysis internally of who you want
Speaker 1: to wear the locker Verse you know, franchise. Yeah, for us,
Speaker 1: the first thing we look at is do they have
Speaker 1: an interest outside of what they're known for? Right? You know?
Speaker 1: And then the second thing, what story do they want
Speaker 1: to tell? And how does that story align with our
Speaker 1: thesis and our ethos, which is cultural defining stories. Right,
Speaker 1: So when you look, you know, hey, you signed Bronnie
Speaker 1: James obviously that that's awesome, but we also signed more
Speaker 1: House College, right, and what story do they want to tell?
Speaker 1: How does more House look going into the metaphors and
Speaker 1: going into the future and tell What we try to
Speaker 1: look at is Frank we call it franchise will Ip
Speaker 1: and say hey, you know, how can this impact so
Speaker 1: many different people regardless of where they are? And then
Speaker 1: what story we're trying to tell? And I think we've
Speaker 1: done a great job of identifying that talent early on.
Speaker 1: We didn't go out and just say, hey, let's go
Speaker 1: with the with the individuals that have the biggest names
Speaker 1: or the biggest followings. And I know we mentioned quite
Speaker 1: a few of those folks, but if I cannot mentioned
Speaker 1: beyond Caa Pastel who's a Hebrew Brandley protege and she's
Speaker 1: under ten thousand followers on Instagram, but she consistently is
Speaker 1: talking about, you know, the story that she wants to
Speaker 1: bring to life of of you know, her characters, right,
Speaker 1: and being black in Chicago and that artist, So we thought, hey,
Speaker 1: let's let's partner with her. She has a lot of
Speaker 1: interesting views that we can't wait to share. And I'll
Speaker 1: say that for the project, but you know, we really
Speaker 1: kind of dig under the rock and see what we
Speaker 1: can find. You know, what I love about what you're
Speaker 1: doing is it's like you can it's a real startup.
Speaker 1: And like when you think about what you could build
Speaker 1: versus what you could partner with other people to build
Speaker 1: and plug in. You know, even from like on the
Speaker 1: merch side, you know there's a Shopify partnership, and so
Speaker 1: I think about you could have built your own e
Speaker 1: commerce platform. You know, speed matters, you know these days,
Speaker 1: and focusing on what actually matters is more important than
Speaker 1: things that are you know add ons or you know
Speaker 1: amenities or such a thing. But can you talk about
Speaker 1: why you decided to be such a be such an
Speaker 1: ambassador of partnerships versus believing you've got to do everything
Speaker 1: on your own in the beginning, like so many of
Speaker 1: us make that error. I would say, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of us make that mistake because they don't even
Speaker 1: know where to start to form a relationship with a partner, right,
Speaker 1: And a lot of times those partners are not receptive
Speaker 1: to black lead tech companies. Right. So, but you know,
Speaker 1: I think we had a we had a competitive advantage
Speaker 1: with some of the names, and so those calls were easier,
Speaker 1: and I think we should acknowledge that privilege. And so
Speaker 1: for us, you know, we would go out and seek
Speaker 1: those partnerships, but we would also drive and say, hey,
Speaker 1: we're going to be responsible for creative. We're going to
Speaker 1: bring you the stories and we're going to tell it
Speaker 1: our way. And they were receptive to that because we
Speaker 1: were very protective of our talent in IP. But you're
Speaker 1: absolutely right, speed matters. Um. You know, we started this
Speaker 1: essentially right when the NFT crash was happening, but it
Speaker 1: allowed us to move slowly and be intentional and seek
Speaker 1: out the right partners as well. Um, and you know,
Speaker 1: we're excited to partner with who we have, but I'll
Speaker 1: turn over the last to kind of ship one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it was a really significant jump
Speaker 1: for Trailing myself to leave an actual partnership right where
Speaker 1: you you know, we're at a law firm. It's been
Speaker 1: around for one hundred and fifty years, and it finally
Speaker 1: reached that point where we had corner offices and said, hey,
Speaker 1: telling our wives and our young families were about to
Speaker 1: do something different, and if we were going to make
Speaker 1: that move, we weren't going to just do it to
Speaker 1: to just throw out some NFT projects. We said, there's
Speaker 1: an opportunity in this space for creators and our people
Speaker 1: to be at the center of the technological revolution, and
Speaker 1: we felt uniquely suited to actually be the ones driving it.
Speaker 1: So we wanted to aim big, and we wanted to
Speaker 1: build the platform that was that actually going to be
Speaker 1: the bridge to that. And so we knew if we
Speaker 1: were going to really service this bridge, we had to
Speaker 1: find the right partners that were already in Web three
Speaker 1: and find the ones that we're already in Web two
Speaker 1: and say, hey, do you believe in our mission? Do
Speaker 1: you believe what we're trying to do, and do you
Speaker 1: believe it's important? And if you share that ethos and
Speaker 1: if you're trying to reach that promised land with us,
Speaker 1: get on board, right, come on into the Locker Verse.
Speaker 1: And so we really believed in our journey. We really
Speaker 1: believed in what we were trying to do, and we
Speaker 1: were very intentional about finding the right partners who were
Speaker 1: going to believe in us and help propel that. And
Speaker 1: so you know, we're really thankful for folks like the
Speaker 1: Disney Accelerator for saying, hey, Locker Verse what y'all are
Speaker 1: trying to do is significant. Is it's in line with
Speaker 1: what Disney is trying to do with realizing the significance
Speaker 1: of their IP products, like what they did with Black
Speaker 1: Panther in Cocoa and other significant IP in their ecosystem.
Speaker 1: But when you think about the fandom that exists around
Speaker 1: those projects, how do you get people like that to
Speaker 1: go back to Disney Park so or go back to
Speaker 1: es PN celebration ball. And what we saw was, Hey,
Speaker 1: this technology that we are building, this platform that we
Speaker 1: are building, can really be the bridge between things like that.
Speaker 1: And so when we had the opportunity to work with
Speaker 1: folks like ESPN to deliver the first ever digital collectible
Speaker 1: and then bring folks directly on our platform and have
Speaker 1: them be a part of this Web three experience in
Speaker 1: the way that has never happened before, we just said,
Speaker 1: this couldn't be a better opportunity. But for us, it's
Speaker 1: really about partnering with the right folks and understanding that
Speaker 1: we need partners that understand our mission and believe in
Speaker 1: it and are trying to help us get there together. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's dig in there, because you know, what are
Speaker 1: some of the things that are the most important things
Speaker 1: you've learned about getting the attention of would be high
Speaker 1: profile investors and partners. You know, you've got people like
Speaker 1: you know, NFL Asian David Logetta, like Brandon Brown of
Speaker 1: the Giants, and you know investors from c AA like
Speaker 1: And here's why I ask, it's there's so many projects
Speaker 1: startups founded by people listening to this podcast as who
Speaker 1: would benefit and or need profile. They need high profile
Speaker 1: and what are some what are some of the key
Speaker 1: things you've learned about getting those relationships and managing those
Speaker 1: relationships well to where those people even take the time
Speaker 1: to listen. I think to start, it's it's really about
Speaker 1: listening to them, right and seeing what's going on in
Speaker 1: their space, in their orbit, and finding a way to
Speaker 1: create a common thread or what you're building. And I
Speaker 1: think early on we we you know, we didn't do
Speaker 1: a good, good enough job of educating some of those
Speaker 1: folks just about the space, right. But then we took
Speaker 1: a step back and say, you know, Dave, you know
Speaker 1: what are some of your players concerned with? You know,
Speaker 1: what are they focused on, what are they what do
Speaker 1: they want to do? And then we would listen to
Speaker 1: those answers and then plug that into what we were
Speaker 1: trying to build, and then we would go back and
Speaker 1: explain it. Uh. And you know, Dave always says, I
Speaker 1: don't even invest in companies, I invest in people. So
Speaker 1: a lot of it is also just being there, being consistent,
Speaker 1: not always needing needing something or asking for something, but
Speaker 1: just being prey and in providing uh, you know, guidance
Speaker 1: when it when it's steating. And again, you know we
Speaker 1: we we were attorneys for a decade, all right, and
Speaker 1: so there were some there were some privilege there that
Speaker 1: some of those folks would call us for for solutions
Speaker 1: to problems. And so if you have that advantage, if
Speaker 1: you if you if you think you can provide that,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid to stand on that because it will
Speaker 1: help build a relationship. You know, I'm curious about, you know,
Speaker 1: the structure of the company, and especially when you have
Speaker 1: co founders, you know, identifying roles and so you're not
Speaker 1: stepping on each other's toes and so you leaning into
Speaker 1: what each other is good at. How did you determine
Speaker 1: what your duties would be as you guys go out
Speaker 1: there and beat the pavement to build something special. So
Speaker 1: that you know, you know, trade doesn't feel like Carlos
Speaker 1: is in the way and Carlos is looking at the
Speaker 1: trade like are you on your job? I'm on my job.
Speaker 1: I want to make sure we all do on our job.
Speaker 1: Like how do you determine that? Yeah, A couple of
Speaker 1: things all that, you know. It's like, like I said,
Speaker 1: we were partners at a law firm and uh it
Speaker 1: tried some you know, very significant cases together, built a
Speaker 1: practice together where we were servicing clients in significant ways.
Speaker 1: If I had to be in California for a deposition
Speaker 1: and Trade had to be in a hearing in Houston,
Speaker 1: we were able to deliver value kind of across the
Speaker 1: country in unique ways. And so how we really came
Speaker 1: up with that model, which is saying, hey, this is
Speaker 1: my brother and I trust him, and I know nobody's
Speaker 1: going to be able to deliver the value that I
Speaker 1: can in a way that trade may be perfectly suited
Speaker 1: to handle this unique situation. And so instead of us
Speaker 1: being those people who were close to the vest with
Speaker 1: our clients and not trying to let each other in,
Speaker 1: we were always ones that said, hey, I can expand
Speaker 1: my practice, I can be a more significant lawyer, I
Speaker 1: can deliver more value to my client if I partner
Speaker 1: with you and work with you. And so when we
Speaker 1: decided to start the company, we kind of approached it
Speaker 1: with that same ethos. This trade can do things in
Speaker 1: rooms that I can never imagine doing. And I like
Speaker 1: to think there's certain things that I can do that
Speaker 1: trade would would view as being significant as well. And
Speaker 1: so when we said let's build Locker Verse, it was
Speaker 1: all about let's let's find a way to achieve our goal.
Speaker 1: And if you got to play quarterback today and I
Speaker 1: got to play running back or getting the trenches and
Speaker 1: block for you, That's what I'm gonna do. And Trey
Speaker 1: approached it with the same way. And our third co founder,
Speaker 1: Marcus Rance was actually the team teammate of Minus. Stanford
Speaker 1: approached it the same way, you know, when we really
Speaker 1: just looked at the situation and said, who's going to
Speaker 1: be the best one to be the one speaking in
Speaker 1: this situation, or who's going to be the best one
Speaker 1: to actually draft up the documents or established and strengthen
Speaker 1: that relationship with particular talent. And that's how we approach
Speaker 1: it every day. We're not about titles. We're really just
Speaker 1: about achieving a common goal, and we get very strategic
Speaker 1: and in depth and try to approach everything without ego.
Speaker 1: And I think because of that, it's enabled us to
Speaker 1: go much faster and avoid a lot of the pitfalls
Speaker 1: that other folks see in the space because they're so
Speaker 1: centered on a particular title. We're having the right office space,
Speaker 1: you know, We're not about that. We're about actually delivering
Speaker 1: a product of value and delivering a service at the
Speaker 1: end of the day that's going to set our selves
Speaker 1: and set our creators apart. Yeah, and I think it
Speaker 1: started before we founded the company. It started with just
Speaker 1: our relationship not only the practice, but also at Stanford
Speaker 1: as well. Right. I didn't I didn't know our other
Speaker 1: co founder Marcus at Stanford. But as soon as Love said, hey,
Speaker 1: this is the guy, there was no question. Right. So
Speaker 1: it's about trusting your team. And then also when when
Speaker 1: ego does creep in in those moments, you have to
Speaker 1: check it yourself and then ask your your co founders
Speaker 1: and your team. Hey, I think I'm right on this,
Speaker 1: but everybody else is saying I'm not. Let me know
Speaker 1: if you think my ego is getting in the way.
Speaker 1: And we've had those those tough conversations and candid conversation.
Speaker 1: You know, it's by design that we don't have titles
Speaker 1: on our site. We don't have titles and our bios.
Speaker 1: It's co founder. You know, we really are a team
Speaker 1: even you know, we'll go down to the minute detail. Hey,
Speaker 1: this investor is lead. Who has the best relationship, who
Speaker 1: feels the most comfortable you take lead on the meeting.
Speaker 1: So everyone should be prepared to play all roads at
Speaker 1: all times, and it's worked out for us today. Black
Speaker 1: Tech Green Money is a production of Blackvity, Afrotech on
Speaker 1: the Black Effect Podcast Network and I Hired Media, and
Speaker 1: it's produced by Morgan Dubonn and me Well Lucas, with
Speaker 1: additional production supported by Sarah Ergan and Rose mc lucas.
Speaker 1: Special thank you to Michael David Sipping. That's a Toronto.
Speaker 1: Learn more about my guests and other tech dis Rutherlans
Speaker 1: and innovatives at afrotech dot com. Enjoining Black Tech Green Money,
Speaker 1: Share us with somebody, go get your money. Peace and love,