WEBVTT - EYL #148 Black Owned Digital Bank 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.600 An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.480 in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:11.840 accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.840 filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.680 some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.320 Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.120 Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.680 crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.960 one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.920 are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.000 one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.680 never return. But if you register using our CBP home 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.120 app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally. 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:55.240 Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.840 border and families will be protected. 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:02.240 Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security. YO, 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.240 make no mistake. I started out just like many of you. 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.640 Are none of five worker at your school right behind me. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:09.560 This is the where it all started for me. 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:11.880 But I learned skills over the years and I want 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:13.520 you to learn some too. I want you to learn 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.440 how to become financially free. I want you to set 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:17.720 a legacy to your family. I want you to build 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.160 generational wealth. You can do all that and more. 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.640 Shut out in Best Best Wife, buck. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:27.720 Earns what's going on? 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.160 Traditional universities are outdated and don't teach you how to 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.880 become an entrepreneur. They just teach you how to become 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:34.760 an employee. 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.560 You go to school for four years and you leave 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.600 with nothing but debt. But here why EYL University. Our 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.200 curriculum is much different. 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.880 Our university teaches you real world skills that you can 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.440 use to gain financial freedom right away. 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Go to 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.640 eyluniversity dot com right now and sign up to become 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:17.080 an earner. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.239 Don't wait, don't hesitate it over there now. 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:25.799 My graduates from my school being force back drop bag 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.240 drop Mike, drop back, drop drop. 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.680 All right, guys, welcome back EYL Atlanta Edition. This is 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.799 our second home for sure. We spend so much time 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.120 out here. So this is gonna be a dope episode 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.960 because there's something that we have never covered as far 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:52.040 as the banking industry. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:53.200 Shout out to Killer Mike. 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.400 We had the honor speaking to Killer Mike, and obviously 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.560 everybody knows that he's involved with Greenwick Bank, and he 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:02.320 gave us like a kind of an overview of the 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:06.560 whole situation, but we never actually spoke to like somebody 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:07.679 that's actually running the bank. 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.440 Yeah, we got questions. He was like, y'all gotta ask Ryan. 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:12.920 Ryan on here, y'all gotta ask Ryan. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:14.120 Okay. 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.960 So Ryan Lover is the co founder and chairman of 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.399 Greenwood Bank. If you're not familiar with Greenwork, Greenwood Bank 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.040 is Greenwood Bank is a black owned fintech bank that 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:28.240 is launching very very soon, and he's the founder of it. 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.000 So this is the first time that we've actually spoken 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.320 to somebody that's actually running a bank. So we have 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.440 a lot of questions and he has a long history 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.920 outside of the banking industry, started Bounce TV. 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.600 I think that's what makes this even more impressive, Like 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.520 he doesn't have a banking background, but as a bank Yeah. 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.480 Yeah, So he was gracious enough to invite us in 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.080 his home and we're head to do this interview. I'm 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.960 sure it's going to be a legendary situation. So thank 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.320 you for having us. Appreciate it man, thank you for 0:03:57.800 --> 0:03:58.520 coming to my home. 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.760 Man, and uh, it's some time with me to talk 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:07.680 about Greenwood and my long history, uh in the entertainment, 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.240 in the media, now in the banking world. 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.560 Yeah, we forgot one thing. He's an HU guy. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.040 Oh yeah, Howard Universe. 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:20.240 Shout the Howard. 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.400 Absolutely the Bison's should I say the. 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:26.359 Yeah Hampton you. 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:30.839 Know we're the real h first and foremost you said, yeah, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.599 you know exactly. Guys that went to Hampton must couldn't 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:35.480 have gotten into. 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:37.880 Howard shout Envy. 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.120 You have it all all right, So let's get into this. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.400 So you're the head of the bank. But before that, right, 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:51.120 you find you found Bounce TV. Right, So how do 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:55.640 you make your way from going to Howard bounce, TV, banking. 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.520 It's like a lot of different parallels here. That's not 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.040 really yeah, and that's. 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:03.080 It important to kind of get into. It's a great 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:08.120 question because I was, as I was mentioning, if there 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:14.880 wasn't my if I didn't enter my past chapters in 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.400 different industries, there would be no Greenwood. So, you know, 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:25.040 just to be clear, from the Bay Area in California, 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:31.200 went to Howard University, graduated from Howard. Actually at Howard, 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:35.000 I was bitten by the entertainment bug, right, So there's 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.320 a at Howard University. As you guys know, there's a 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:46.440 long history and lineage of successful black entrepreneurs, all right, 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.960 and I was a part of the culture of successful 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.680 black entrepreneurs that were born at or came out of 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:01.680 Howard University. So Howard University graduated. I have a degree 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:06.880 in accounting. Ironically, uh you know, and I knew, you know, 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.920 after graduating, I wasn't cut to be an accountant. All right, 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:15.919 love business, but accounting just wasn't I believe my calling. 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:22.839 Uh So relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, started a studio called Noontime. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:28.320 So we made records from everybody from Mary J. Blige, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:33.240 Aliyah Sean P. Diddy Combs, a good friend of mine 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.520 who I met at at on Howard's campus, and a 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.560 litany of other hip hop and R and B artists. Uh. 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.400 That was super popular uh in the in the nineties 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.479 in the early two thousand. So that's kind of where 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.880 I cut my teeth. From a business perspective, is in 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.400 the is in the music, music business, right, So I 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:59.560 started Noontime publishing and production company, and from there I 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:05.320 knew that it was important to create content that mattered 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:09.800 to our culture. And I realized that if you create 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:15.720 content that means something that matters, it'll stand the test 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.280 of time. That's kind of where I got my start. 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.560 So we went from New Time to Bounce, is how it? 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.320 Because, I mean, we're talking about Greenwood and the first 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.920 time we're actually talking about somebody who has their own bank. Well, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.880 we've never spoken to anybody who had their own broadcast networks. Yea, yeah, 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:31.200 I mean it was at first. 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.000 No, no, without a shadow of doubt. So spent ten 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:39.600 years in the music business. Noontime was an incredible journey 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:44.680 for me from a music perspective. Then I transitioned from 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:51.080 Noontime into television media. So I worked at a television network, 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:56.120 Turner Entertainment Network, TBST and T Adult Swim Cartoon Network. 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:03.680 Created programming, scripted and unscripted program for those networks. You know. 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:08.120 Spent six years there at Turner and really learned the 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:14.040 media business, utilize my resources and relationships to kind of 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:22.000 broaden at the time Turners involvement and understanding of our culture. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:27.080 And then from Turner in twenty ten, I started a 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:31.520 Bounced TV African American broadcast network. Started off just me 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.640 and my partner. Grew that network to over two hundred 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:42.160 and fifty employees. We Bounced TV is in over one 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:46.160 hundred and ten million households across the country. And I 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.240 got to tell you guys, really what I prided myself 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.560 on what Bounce is is. And I got five children 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:56.400 from twenty two all the way down to zach is eight, 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.480 as so many kids I go age of, but I 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:06.840 prided myself with creating responsible programming that was entertaining that 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.719 all of my children could watch and I did not 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.319 have to change the channel if a show that I 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:21.960 programmed actually was on right. So, so credible content, responsible content, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:28.040 entertaining content, uh, for the for the culture is really 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.840 what we prided ourselves on at Bounced TV and and 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:32.920 it resonated with the community. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:34.960 What kind of shows did did we bring first to 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.200 Turner and then obviously to Bounce. What what are some 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:38.959 of the shows that you know the audience might be 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:39.520 familiar with. 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:46.320 Yeah, so, so you know, I didn't program Tyler the 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.680 Tyler Perry slew of shows, but I was a part 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:56.280 of on the executive side identifying that that that kind 0:09:56.320 --> 0:10:00.160 of content will resonate within our community. So before, for 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:05.480 I was at Turner, there was no Tyler Perry, There 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.360 was no Ice Cuban, Joe Roth, there was there was 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.440 no a Jada Pinkett and Will Smith. But while I 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:20.000 was there, that programming existed because I helped the Turner 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:25.640 Entertainment Networks understand that our culture in our community is 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:30.520 not a fad. It matters and and you know we 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:36.520 are We come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:43.080 have many different interests and you know, Turner should broadcast 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:48.480 content they kind of spoke to a culture that was diverse. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:54.239 So so I was instrumental in helping the network understand 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.000 really who we are as a as. 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:58.640 A white culture. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:07.800 You said it not me, So how do we get 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:09.400 to start in Greenwood? 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:18.640 So you know sold Bounce in twenty seventeen, you sold Bounced, 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.400 sold Bounced TV, so launched a network. 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:22.120 Can we say how much? 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.840 We sold it? For three hundred and two million dollars? 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:31.280 I wrote that two scripts and you know, quite candidly speaking, guys, 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:37.720 I thought about retiring. You know, I love sports, I 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:43.240 loved my family, and you know, I wanted to do 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:49.719 something that didn't necessarily force me to have to wake 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.720 up at five point thirty in the morning and work 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.679 all the way through ten o'clock at night. Right. So, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.560 a good friend of mine, because so you know, I'm 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:05.839 not speaking of Greenwood, I'm not a banker nor a technologist, right. 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:11.120 I am an individual who's built businesses, multiple businesses in 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:15.800 multiple industries for our culture and our community that I 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:21.240 believe have always have always created a content that has 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:29.520 resonated and been consistent, educational, and has helped our community advance. 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.240 So a good friend of mine got a name of 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.560 Paul Judge, who is actually a technologist, said you know, 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.880 I know you just sold a Bounce CV for three 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.560 hundred and two million dollars. You just can't just ride 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:47.000 off into the sunset. You have more resources, more life, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:51.120 more energy that you need to lend to the culture. 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:56.120 He said, listen, man, I don't want to do anything right. 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.080 And he said, listen, you've got a ton of resource relationships. 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:07.080 You need to look into another avenue, another another way 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:12.800 to you know, kind of help our people advance. You 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.720 should think about the neo banking space. Didn't know much 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.720 about the space in any way, shape or form. But 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:24.880 what I didn't know try and Rashad is that I 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:29.560 had built multiple businesses over the course of my life 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.559 and I never utilized banking resources to build any of 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:39.440 those businesses. And to me, that was an atrocity. 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:41.800 When you say that, you mean like, so you didn't 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.240 get loans from banks. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.120 You know, not only did I not get loans from banks, 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:54.319 My first thought about building business was not to go 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.920 to banks to get loans. I never thought about, hey, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:05.640 any alterior are alternative lending facility to build a business. 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:12.439 It's always been utilizing personal resources to build brands and businesses. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:21.200 Unlike unlike my friends who are in counterparts, who are 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:24.080 non African Americans, the first thing they think about is 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.680 going to banks or lending institutions right to further their 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:33.320 ideas and their dreams. I never thought about that. And 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.400 the reason why I never thought about that, rightly or wrongly, 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:42.600 is because we know generationally, you know, banking resources have 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.880 not been kind to individuals of color, have not been 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:52.760 kind to us for a number of reasons. And my 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.640 thought process was, you know, at the point where I 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:02.680 decided to start green Would was not to look at 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:07.240 all the atrocities that have occurred, but more so to 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.000 look at how I can be a part of the 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:14.120 solution versus talk about the problem. Right. So you know, 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.400 again not a not a not a banker, nor a 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.440 technology but I build businesses and I know what business 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.680 owners need and what they and what they want, what 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.440 they deserve to have, and I want to be at 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.200 Greenwood a conduit for that. 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.160 So when you're when you're doing this, I can imagine, 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.360 like you said, you had sold the company and obviously 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.520 up one hundreds of millions, and they might I'm assuming 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:40.080 it might have been a little bit opressiittive like I 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:43.000 have to do something because I've accumulated this, I've had 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.960 more resources than the average person in my community. After 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.080 that happens, right, what's the next step do you find 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.640 a team once Paul convinces you, now sure, yes, I 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:54.160 need to do this. 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:56.800 Who's a team and how do you go about finding them? 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:01.000 No, that's right. So so just to be clear, you know, 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:07.320 Greenwood is a digital digital company providing banking resources for 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:12.720 the community. That's that's who we are. We are, Uh. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.160 We're going to roll our products out in this fashion, 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:24.840 a debit spending card, credit products, lending products, lifestyle products. 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:30.320 We will be a full service banking platform for our community. 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.320 You know, we're full service banking in your in our 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:43.840 in our consumers hands, Apple and Android pay, mobile deposits 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:50.000 at M services across across the country, two day early pay. 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:55.520 So all of the resources in the in the uh 0:16:55.560 --> 0:17:00.680 functionality that traditional brick and mortars have, Wood will have 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:04.320 as well, as I mentioned, not a banker, not a technologist, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.199 but all the businesses. To answer your question, Troy, all 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:11.120 the businesses that I've built have been built on an idea, 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:17.120 hard work, UH, strong prayer. Right. I'm a family man, love, 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:22.720 love the Lord, but also surrounding myself with people who 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:26.480 are professionals and who know what they do in their 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:31.960 areas of expertise. Right, So my my record company that 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:36.040 we built Noontime. I'm not a rapper singer, can't dance 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.320 my way out of a paper bag, right, but I 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.760 can identify talent and I I and I identified some 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:49.480 of the top producers writers in the industry to create 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:57.480 the platform and the success at Noontime and joy Bounce TV. 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.760 Same thing. Uh, you know, it's all about building a 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:08.920 media company with professionals that have done that have worked 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.719 in the media business for decades. Same thing with banking, 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:19.000 right you know. I won't go into detail, but there 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:23.159 was a myth that that there were that there is 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.879 not enough or a lack of banking talent that exists 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:32.639 in the African American community that work in traditional finance. 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:38.280 Not the case. When I decided to launch Greenwood, I 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:45.560 had talent coming from traditional financial institutions and from other 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:50.800 banking sources that wanted to participate with Greenwood as a mission. 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.280 So that's kind of what we did, all right. 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.560 So let's les, let's get into this conversation to meet 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.080 matatoes a right, So how do you start a bank? 0:18:59.080 --> 0:18:59.400 All right? 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:04.240 What's the first board of directors? What is the first 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:05.679 steps to start a bank? 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.840 So in order to start a bank, one you've got 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:18.920 to have capital. So, you know, this same time last year, ironically, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:24.359 after I decided, after I decided that I was going 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:31.640 to start Greenwood Digital Banking for our community, I decided 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:36.240 that one, I'm going to utilize my own personal capital 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.480 to start the bank, but I'm also going to raise 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:46.720 capital from angel investors and not just capital from any one, 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.760 you know. For me, I wanted to partner with people 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.720 who one understood our mission and just so we clear, 0:19:56.520 --> 0:20:04.560 you know, Greenwood is in place. One to eradicate predatory lending. 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.880 I'm going to put all check cashing businesses out of business. Two, 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:16.000 Greenwood is going to recirculate capital in the community. You know, 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.080 an O to to Greenwood, which is and O to 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:25.920 the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Right in the nineteen twenties, 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:30.600 the Greenwood District was a hotbed for African American and 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:35.080 minority businesses that thrived. And the reason why those businesses 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:40.560 thrived is because capital recirculated in the community. So one 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:47.920 dollar recirculated dozens of times before it left it left 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:53.359 the community. Unfortunately, in today's community, one dollar recirculates in 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:58.200 our community recirculates only six hours, right, So my one 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.080 of my missions at Greenwood is to recirculate capital in 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:05.919 the community. The third mission that we have UH is 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:12.400 to deploy capital to deserving borrowers. I mentioned earlier that 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.679 I UH and you know, all candor some of some 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:21.240 other African American business owners that I know don't have 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:26.680 the same access to capital that others have from other communities. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:31.680 We want to eradicate and extinguish that fact of the matter. 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:34.680 So one, you've got to raise capital. 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:35.760 So how much? How much money? 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.400 So we raised three million dollars. That's it. We raised 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:39.680 three million dollars initially. 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:40.720 That's all. That's all it took. 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:45.520 Initially, That's all it took. Right, So we announced October 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:50.120 eighth Greenwood, after we after we raised three million bucks, right, 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:55.680 a kid, you not. The day that we announced that 0:21:55.720 --> 0:22:00.400 we were launching Greenwood. The next day, ten thhis thousand 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:03.159 folks signed up on our waiting list. The next day 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:06.160 after that another ten thousand. At the end of the month, 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:08.520 there was one hundred thousand folks in our waiting list. 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:13.440 At that point, I knew that we needed more resource 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:17.600 to scale and if we were going to service the 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.680 community the way clearly the community said they needed to 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:26.800 be serviced. So I had no idea that I was 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:30.439 going to go into and move into a Series A 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:35.280 round of funding this soon in our lifespan, we have 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.320 a product that launches at the end of the summer. 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.639 You know, our goal was to raise three million dollars, 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:47.600 raise capital for our angel round, and then launch our 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:54.040 our digital bank, and then slowly but surely acquire customers 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:58.480 to participate right in our In our process, we have 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:02.240 five hundred close six hundred thousand folks on our waiting 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:07.520 list at the moment. That's scale. So I knew that 0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:12.600 we had to raise more capital. We had to scale internally, 0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:17.000 We had to raise capital to market our product. We 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:20.480 had to raise capital to hire as well. So we 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:27.200 started off Rashad and Troy with three employees. We now 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:30.120 have fifteen. By the end of the year, we'll have 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:33.920 twenty five employees. By the end of next year, we'll 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:38.359 have close to one hundred employees running or assisting me 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:41.119 in running Agree with Digital. 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.159 So all right, so three million was initial, but then 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:46.000 you realize that that definitely wasn't gonna be enough for 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:51.400 six hundred thousand customers. So you go and you take 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:55.040 money from Benure capitalists and other angel investors. 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:58.240 Yes, and how much money is you raise? 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:02.560 Yep, So I'm proud to on now ounce. So I'm 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:04.800 proud to announce the amount of money that we raised, 0:24:05.400 --> 0:24:10.320 but I'm more proud that we raised it from a 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:13.719 wide mosaic of investors. 0:24:13.800 --> 0:24:13.960 Right. 0:24:14.200 --> 0:24:17.480 So to answer your question, we raised thirty million dollars 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:22.159 to our balance sheet for Greenwood Series A. But we 0:24:22.400 --> 0:24:26.600 raised that capital from six of the seven top US 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:31.840 banks in the country, all led by truest Ventures, other 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:41.159 entertainment companies, other media companies, venture capitalists, and individuals as well, 0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:47.560 all individuals, companies in corporations who are one passionate about 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:51.879 our mission, who believe in what we're doing, and who 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:57.919 have agreed to in lockstep join arms with us to 0:24:58.080 --> 0:25:03.440 close this why wealth gap that exists in America. Green 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:05.840 was not going to do it all by itself by ourselves, right, 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:09.880 you know. And the wealth gap that exists in America 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:12.919 is not going to be closed in one year, or 0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:15.320 in two years, or in five years for that matter. 0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:18.280 But we are a part of, as I mentioned earlier, 0:25:18.640 --> 0:25:22.320 going to be a part of the solution versus the problem. 0:25:22.359 --> 0:25:26.440 That's interesting because you have JP you have Bank of America. True, 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:29.720 it's like you said, Wells Fargo's involved, PNZ Bank, all 0:25:29.800 --> 0:25:34.480 financial institutions that are now supporting your financial institution when 0:25:34.520 --> 0:25:36.879 you presented it to them, What made them say, you 0:25:36.920 --> 0:25:38.600 know what, we're not going we could do this ourselves. 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:40.840 What made them believe in your vision for Greenland? 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:41.160 Yeah? 0:25:41.200 --> 0:25:46.119 So I think one, they saw the team that we 0:25:46.240 --> 0:25:51.679 put together. We have a world class banking team. I 0:25:51.680 --> 0:25:56.120 think Two, they understood the mission. They understand that we're 0:25:56.160 --> 0:26:00.159 passionate about deploying capital into our community. We circulated in 0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:03.960 capital uh and closing and closing the wealth gap. Three, 0:26:04.520 --> 0:26:09.640 I really believe Rashad and Troy that that they understand 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:15.240 that you know, although we're providing digital banking services, but 0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:20.439 the guys that are running the the digital bank in 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:25.440 Greenwood are not bankers, right. We are business people that 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:34.359 that authentically understand the plight, the situation and where the 0:26:34.440 --> 0:26:39.159 community as businesses want to want to go and grow. 0:26:40.359 --> 0:26:46.199 You know, I understand where Pinky Coal from Slutty Vegan was, 0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:50.120 where she is and where she wants to grow. Right. 0:26:50.920 --> 0:26:57.040 I don't know if another financial institution or even another 0:26:57.280 --> 0:27:02.320 challenge your bank understands where pinky wants to go and grow. 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:07.399 I can give you a number of different examples in 0:27:07.440 --> 0:27:14.600 Atlanta alone of minority business owners that have great ideas, 0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:18.560 that have a wealth of talent, but just don't have 0:27:18.640 --> 0:27:23.400 the access to capital and the resource to become as 0:27:23.400 --> 0:27:26.399 big as they We know that they can be, but 0:27:26.520 --> 0:27:29.040 I do I know, I know those individuals. 0:27:29.160 --> 0:27:31.119 So they're looking at you like it's not a competition. 0:27:31.200 --> 0:27:33.399 You actually have a pulse in the community that they 0:27:33.400 --> 0:27:34.159 don't have a reach too. 0:27:34.560 --> 0:27:37.880 I look at myself as Robin Hood. Okay, I look 0:27:37.880 --> 0:27:40.560 at myself as Robinhood. I don't look at and I 0:27:40.560 --> 0:27:42.240 get the question all the time, or why do you 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:47.280