WEBVTT - Colin Kaepernick Talks AI Startup Launch

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Colin Kaepernick he made headlines back in twenty sixteen for

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<v Speaker 2>his political views and activism both on and off the

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<v Speaker 2>football field. Today, the former NFL quarterback making headlines once again,

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<v Speaker 2>but this time for dipping his toes into the vast

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<v Speaker 2>lake that is artificial intelligence. Kaepernick launching a new company

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<v Speaker 2>that uses AI tools to help create us navigate some

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<v Speaker 2>of the barriers to come with producing, marketing, and distributing content,

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<v Speaker 2>and he's got the backing to do it. Four million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars raise in seed funding led by VC firms seven

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<v Speaker 2>seven six. Without further ado, we're happy to be joined

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<v Speaker 2>exclusively by Colin Kaepernick, founder and CEO of the AI

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<v Speaker 2>company Loomy. All right, Colin, let's get right to it here.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, give us the idea, the genesis of this idea,

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<v Speaker 2>because I'm told it had something to do with the

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<v Speaker 2>media company that you had started prior to this.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 4>Absolutely, the media company I had started prior to low

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<v Speaker 4>me as well as the publishing company prior. We faced

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<v Speaker 4>a lot of barriers there and helping creators both create

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<v Speaker 4>the expense distribution and also the gatekeeping within the industries.

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<v Speaker 4>So we looked at those barriers and found a solution

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<v Speaker 4>to be able to help create or solve that and

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<v Speaker 4>to be able to do that at scale, and I

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<v Speaker 4>think that's really important. And the last piece that's important

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<v Speaker 4>there is creators also own all of the work that

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<v Speaker 4>they create, so they no longer have to be commissioned hires.

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<v Speaker 4>They no longer have to create for somebody else. They

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<v Speaker 4>have freedom to create what they want and have that independence.

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<v Speaker 2>This sounds like one of those opportunities when we talk

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<v Speaker 2>about kind of whether you want to use the word

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<v Speaker 2>democratization or kind of removing those barriers. And we've seen

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<v Speaker 2>this already. Of course, social media has a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people who wouldn't otherwise have had opportunities to become stars

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<v Speaker 2>or make a ton of money, but to do so

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<v Speaker 2>in a way that bypass those traditional avenues. Here, how

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<v Speaker 2>will Loomi help to do that using some of these

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<v Speaker 2>AI tools.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, So the interesting part is sometimes creators have gaps

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<v Speaker 4>in their skills. So sometimes illustrators they need help with writing,

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<v Speaker 4>or writer writers they need help with generating images. And

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<v Speaker 4>if you're a creator like me who doesn't have either

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<v Speaker 4>of those skill sets, we'll help you with both of

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<v Speaker 4>those to get to a final product from an original idea,

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<v Speaker 4>and then once you have that final product, we'll help

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<v Speaker 4>you publish it, distribute it, and then also merchandise your stories.

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<v Speaker 4>And one of the goals here is we want to

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<v Speaker 4>create economic and financial stability for creators. So many creators

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<v Speaker 4>we've talked to our living paycheck to paycheck, project to

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<v Speaker 4>project and they have massive followings and there's something fundamentally

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<v Speaker 4>wrong about that in our perspective that they should be

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<v Speaker 4>the primary beneficiaries and we want to be the ones

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<v Speaker 4>to an able.

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<v Speaker 1>So I got to ask you about the investment four

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars in seed funding led by seven seven six,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course Alexis o'hanian involved as well.

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<v Speaker 3>How did that come together?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, so interesting, we did. We did the full road

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<v Speaker 4>show going out in fundraising. Had talked to a lot

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<v Speaker 4>of people and Alexis seven seventy six. They have been

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<v Speaker 4>phenomenal to work with, are very aligned on the vision,

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<v Speaker 4>and they share the perspective that very similar to how

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<v Speaker 4>putting a camera on an iPhone turned everybody into a photographer,

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<v Speaker 4>that AI tools can help democratize storytelling and turn everybody

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<v Speaker 4>into a creator and that's what we believe the future

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<v Speaker 4>looks like. They've been phenomenal in helping us bring that

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<v Speaker 4>vision to life. And we also have some other phenomenal

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<v Speaker 4>investors from Kopor Capital Impellent as well as tech executives

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<v Speaker 4>from Anthropic, Nike, Meta that are on board with us.

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<v Speaker 4>So we've been able to get a lot of support

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<v Speaker 4>and have great people on this journey with us.

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<v Speaker 1>So at the end of the day, Loomy is a

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<v Speaker 1>tech company when it comes down to it, And you

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<v Speaker 1>named a couple of luminaries from the tech world. Did

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<v Speaker 1>you tach contacts made during your playing career in the

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<v Speaker 1>Bay Area where you did have access to a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of these guys.

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<v Speaker 4>There have been a lot of people that have helped

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<v Speaker 4>me on this journey to get to this point. It

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<v Speaker 4>has been years of development, years of building relationships, and

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<v Speaker 4>also years of understanding the impact of AI, how it

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<v Speaker 4>can actually be utilized and how it can benefit creators,

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<v Speaker 4>and all of that has finally come together into what

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<v Speaker 4>is Loomy now?

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<v Speaker 2>What do you what are you talking about right now, Colin?

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<v Speaker 2>When it comes to building up this company in terms

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<v Speaker 2>of hiring as well as greater investments here, what's in

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<v Speaker 2>the pipeline right now.

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely.

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<v Speaker 4>So we're currently the process of expanding our team. We're

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<v Speaker 4>hiring for both software software and mL engineers and also

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<v Speaker 4>looking at the product and design piece to make sure

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<v Speaker 4>that we're giving creators the best experience. So we're focused

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<v Speaker 4>on that, but also very focused on talking with creators,

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<v Speaker 4>building with creators, getting them on the platform, to make

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<v Speaker 4>sure that we're building the best experience for them.

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<v Speaker 3>Without creators, none of this works.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Do you think when we talk about content creators

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<v Speaker 2>and kind of the financial mechanisms that, oh, how they

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<v Speaker 2>make money? Obviously a lot of that is still tethered

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<v Speaker 2>to ads or sponsorships with corporations in some way. Do

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<v Speaker 2>you ever see that evolving to something broader? I don't know.

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<v Speaker 2>I have no idea what that would be, whether it

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<v Speaker 2>be a subscription model, but some way to diversify that

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<v Speaker 2>revenue stream so those creators aren't reliant just on one

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<v Speaker 2>sort of stream of revenue and if that drives up,

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<v Speaker 2>they're basically out of business.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, very much aligned, and that's phenomenal point.

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<v Speaker 4>Our vision of the future is individual creat will look

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<v Speaker 4>like Disney. They'll be able to go from an idea

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<v Speaker 4>to a final story, they'll be able to publish that,

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<v Speaker 4>they'll be able to merchandise it, they'll be able to

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<v Speaker 4>do it across the franchises and stories they create, and

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<v Speaker 4>to be able to collaborate with other creators and do

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<v Speaker 4>that all on one platform. So that's what we're focused

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<v Speaker 4>on building and the experience we're focused on building that

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<v Speaker 4>Loomy for creators.

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<v Speaker 1>Your goal here is definitely to solve problems for creators.

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<v Speaker 1>For storytellers, talk a little bit about how that connects

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<v Speaker 1>with your own story, because obviously you had a story

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<v Speaker 1>to tell and it was something that you wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>have control over, and in some ways it kind of

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<v Speaker 1>got out of your control.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, there's so many opportunities that so many opportunities and

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<v Speaker 4>so many stories that people want to tell, and myself included,

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<v Speaker 4>and it's very difficult to get that done. Oftentimes, once

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<v Speaker 4>you get a green light, it can take eighteen to

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<v Speaker 4>twenty four months before that story comes to life, which

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<v Speaker 4>we want to drastically reduce that time period for creators.

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<v Speaker 4>But the other part is in going traditional paths, oftentimes

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<v Speaker 4>you don't have control over the story. You have input

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<v Speaker 4>on it, but you don't have control and That's something

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<v Speaker 4>that as we've talked to creators, they really want control

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<v Speaker 4>over their stories. So they're authentic, they're genuine, they believe

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<v Speaker 4>in them, and it comes across to readers and viewers

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<v Speaker 4>as they're engaging with the stories as well. So it's

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<v Speaker 4>a great opportunity for creators to be able to pull

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<v Speaker 4>back that control.

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<v Speaker 1>So speaking of stories, you know, I don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>talk politics, but let's just say twenty twenty four is

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<v Speaker 1>vastly different than twenty sixteen when you began your protest

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<v Speaker 1>for civil rights during the national Anthem. I'm curious as

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<v Speaker 1>to how you would characterize the climate for activism in

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<v Speaker 1>sports for professional athletes today versus eight years ago.

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<v Speaker 3>I look at it very similar. It is a extreme importance.

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<v Speaker 4>We know and we see the political landscape and the

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<v Speaker 4>political climate. It's very important that we're active. It's very

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<v Speaker 4>important that we're pushing forward. And you know, on my end,

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<v Speaker 4>as we're doing that, I'm also focused on building a

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<v Speaker 4>phenomenal company and platform with Loomy.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's a very unique time that we're in.

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<v Speaker 2>Are you done with sports calling?

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<v Speaker 3>I'm never done with sports.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm a competitor at heart. It will always compete, and

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<v Speaker 4>this is another opportunity for me to compete.

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<v Speaker 3>It's one of the things that I look at is.

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<v Speaker 4>Any chance I have to be in a space to

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<v Speaker 4>be able to compete, to be able to try to

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<v Speaker 4>be better, to try to be greater.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm always going to do that.

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<v Speaker 4>So I still get up, I do all my training

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<v Speaker 4>four point thirty in the morning, and then I spend

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<v Speaker 4>the rest of my day building loomy and very focused

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<v Speaker 4>on how we create that experience for creators.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, just a quick followup question, Colin, what skills

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<v Speaker 1>from sports, from your training carry over into launching and

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<v Speaker 1>running these different startups? I mean, what's the single most

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<v Speaker 1>important transferable skill? You find?

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<v Speaker 3>People?

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<v Speaker 4>People are the most valuable thing that you'll ever have

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<v Speaker 4>as a company. And we have a phenomenal team. It's

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<v Speaker 4>something I learned playing football. And also you get the

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<v Speaker 4>leadership qualities of playing from playing football, and specifically quarterback.

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<v Speaker 4>How do you get the best out of people? How

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<v Speaker 4>do you put them in positions to be successful and

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<v Speaker 4>to win at what they're doing? And if you don't

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<v Speaker 4>have that, it doesn't work. It doesn't matter how good

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<v Speaker 4>your game plan is. It doesn't matter how good your

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<v Speaker 4>strategy is if you don't have the right people, it

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<v Speaker 4>doesn't work. So we have phenomenal people on our team already,

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<v Speaker 4>we have phenomenal investors that are supporting us, and we're

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<v Speaker 4>looking to expand that team.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, All right, good stuff, Colin, Thank you so much

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us. Colin Kaepernick's CEO and founder of Loomy

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<v Speaker 1>Story AI, and of course, the former quarterback for the

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<v Speaker 1>San Francisco forty nine ers