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Speaker 1: I'm Will Lucas and this is black tech, green money.

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Speaker 1: Marlon Nichols is founding managing partner at MAC Venture Capital,

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Speaker 1: the seed stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary

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Speaker 1: founders building the future that the world wants to see.

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Speaker 1: Prior to MAC Venture Capital, Marlon was founder of Cross

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Speaker 1: Culture Ventures and served as an investment director at Intel Capital.

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Speaker 1: Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, gimblet, Media, Listener, Maven, Mango.

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Speaker 2: DB, and more. There's data that's just.

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Speaker 1: Black entrepreneurs aren't creating scalable businesses at a worth equip

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Speaker 1: and there's reasons for that that we'll discuss. Well, there's

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Speaker 1: some truth in that concept. There's also some very successful

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Speaker 1: big tech companies created by black founders. Marlon talks about

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Speaker 1: a few.

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Speaker 3: There are a number of them, right, start with like

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Speaker 3: Squire Right.

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Speaker 4: You know that they've raised.

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Speaker 3: A lot of cash, I think a multi billion dollar valuation.

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Speaker 3: They've expanded, you know, across the United States and now

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Speaker 3: out on other shores as well. You know, you can

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Speaker 3: take a company like Solo Funds, you know, which is

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Speaker 3: like a community lending right, and they're one of the

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Speaker 3: fastest growing FinTechs. I think of the last ten years,

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Speaker 3: given the volume of loans that they that they process

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Speaker 3: and they're profitable. I mean those are just two two

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Speaker 3: quick examples.

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Speaker 4: I mean the platform that you're part of Glavity.

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Speaker 3: Right, and you know that I've been an investor in

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Speaker 3: for a number of years. You know, Glavity has emerged

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Speaker 3: as one of the more formidable media outlets UH in

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Speaker 3: this country.

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Speaker 4: So there there are a lot of examples, like we

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Speaker 4: could we can go on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so talk to me what is unique or what

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Speaker 1: should what do we hope can be replicated in black

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurs that there are more Rodney Williams, there's more days

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Speaker 1: of Vice, there's more and Morgan the Bonds and like

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Speaker 1: people who are creating scalable ideas. Because historically, if you look,

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Speaker 1: there's this SBA study I like to quote it was

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Speaker 1: done back in twenty twelve, but a lot of these

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Speaker 1: statistics are to the saying it's like most black owned

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Speaker 1: businesses are in the bottom twenty percent for revenue. So

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Speaker 1: eighty percent of our business are are in the bottom

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Speaker 1: twenty percent for sales generation. So what is it about

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Speaker 1: these entrepreneurs that we hope can be replicated in other

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Speaker 1: black entrepreneurs that create, you know, and pursue bigger ideas.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there's a saying right that that we

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Speaker 5: hold there at our firm. It's that, you know, talent

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Speaker 5: is ubiquitous, access to capital is not. And unfortunately that

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Speaker 5: access to capital is even less when it comes to

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Speaker 5: black founders.

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Speaker 3: And I think that's the that's the delta that we're seeing, right,

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Speaker 3: you can't ask someone to sell at the same clip

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Speaker 3: as someone else when you know that other that other

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Speaker 3: person is you know, significantly more capitalize, more better resource,

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Speaker 3: et cetera. So so I think that's the problem. We

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Speaker 3: just need to see more capital go to more of

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Speaker 3: these founders because the talent is there, right, the opportunity

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Speaker 3: is there, They just need the access.

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Speaker 4: To to the to the capital.

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Speaker 3: But I think, you know, it's the question is all

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Speaker 3: is a bit misleading too though, right, because revenue is

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Speaker 3: not the end all be all right at the end

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Speaker 3: of the day, you want to make sure that a

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Speaker 3: company is properly structured, that the the unit economics makes

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Speaker 3: sense right, that it can become a profitable company. And

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Speaker 3: I would argue that while several of these black led

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Speaker 3: companies are slower to grow all they're fast to the

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Speaker 3: profitability because they just have to be.

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Speaker 1: So, so let's let's dig in a little bit there,

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Speaker 1: because you know, pre COVID, there was conversation, as persists

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Speaker 1: today about not enough black founders getting enough capital in

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Speaker 1: order to be infused with you know, the.

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Speaker 2: Resources and you know the artillery.

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Speaker 1: They need to be able to thrive during COVID. There

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Speaker 1: were a lot of promises made to black founders in

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Speaker 1: the black founder community. Post COVID, you know, some of

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Speaker 1: those those promises did not come to fruition. Some of

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Speaker 1: them did, but some of them did not. Can you

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Speaker 1: give us like a state of what venture capital looks

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Speaker 1: like for a black founders today?

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Speaker 3: I mean it looks the same way it did ten

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Speaker 3: years ago if we're being we're being honest right, Like, yes,

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Speaker 3: there were we just came out of a call it

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Speaker 3: a boom economy for for a venture and for tech founders,

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Speaker 3: where there's a lot more dollars being thrown into the space.

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Speaker 3: Deals are getting done a lot faster, just a lot

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Speaker 3: more spend.

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Speaker 4: But if you look.

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Speaker 3: At the the ratio or the percentage of spend that

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Speaker 3: that was going to these uh to these diverse founders.

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Speaker 3: It's the same, right, it's still the one point two

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Speaker 3: five percent of whatever it is, right, So yeah, it's.

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Speaker 4: More money, but it's more and it's more money overall.

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Speaker 3: For the industry, but the portion that's going to these

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Speaker 3: founders is still the same.

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Speaker 4: So I don't think there's there's there's much change.

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Speaker 3: I mean there's there's a lot of talk, and you know,

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Speaker 3: there are organizations that you know, say they're they're fighting

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Speaker 3: for for these changes to happen, but it's and then

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Speaker 3: we're seeing minor progress, but it is minor. It's not

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Speaker 3: fast enough. So it almost feels like there's no Ford

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Speaker 3: momentum here.

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Speaker 1: You know, I've heard a few entrepreneurs who talk about,

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Speaker 1: look that you know, we're not looking for charity when

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Speaker 1: we're coming to the venture capitalists looking for dollars, you know,

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Speaker 1: in the vcs on side to your point, you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk a lot about it's often revenue, but it's

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Speaker 1: not always revenue. Sometimes it's about growth. Can you talk

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Speaker 1: about what are the things that maybe coded that we're

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Speaker 1: not translating or that we could be translating actually very

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Speaker 1: properly and clearly, But what are some of the things

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Speaker 1: thrown at us that cause us to be misled on

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Speaker 1: what vcs are actually looking for. When they say you're

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Speaker 1: not going to pass for X reason, it could be

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Speaker 1: why reason.

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Speaker 3: I mean, there's no way to read someone's mind. Right

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Speaker 3: with any investment, there are hundreds of reasons why you

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Speaker 3: could say no.

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Speaker 4: Right the I think you know a high quality A

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Speaker 4: B C.

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Speaker 3: That's truly engaged and seize the opportunity. We'll look at Okay,

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Speaker 3: what are the three things that need to go right

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Speaker 3: in order for this to to have the kind of

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Speaker 3: outcome that you know we want to see, and we'll

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Speaker 3: underwrite the deal based on you know, how likely it

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Speaker 3: is to mitigate the risk associated with those with those

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Speaker 3: three things.

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Speaker 4: So it's you know, I don't.

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Speaker 3: Have a great answer for that for that question, right,

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Speaker 3: every investor is going to be different. Some investors are

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Speaker 3: going to be genuine in their feedback other or others

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Speaker 3: are not. And I just don't think it's in a

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Speaker 3: founder's best interest to, you know, spend time to dissect that.

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Speaker 3: The bigger thing is they said no, and so who

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Speaker 3: else do you need to what? You know, you got

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Speaker 3: to shake the tree some more, right and see or

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Speaker 3: other trees and see if you can get some money

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Speaker 3: to fall out, Right, You're not if it's going to

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Speaker 3: be hard. It's always hard to change someone's mind, whether

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Speaker 3: we're talking about in our personal lives or professional lives. Right,

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Speaker 3: So if you know, I wouldn't spend time trying to

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Speaker 3: kind of turn a no into a yes.

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Speaker 4: I would go and find my community. I go find

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Speaker 4: my yes.

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Speaker 1: But what would you say that there are things also

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Speaker 1: that we can learn from those no's in order to

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Speaker 1: shape our pitch.

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Speaker 6: Potentially if they if they give you that feedback, right,

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Speaker 6: you know, uh, and if they truly heard your your pitch,

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Speaker 6: like take the just let's take the race out of.

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Speaker 3: It for for for a moment, right, Like investors are people.

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Speaker 4: People have good days, they have bad days.

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Speaker 3: They have days when they're sharper, days when they're when

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Speaker 3: they're not as sharp. Right, So what day are you,

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Speaker 3: you know, sitting in front of this this individual that's

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Speaker 3: got to make this decision?

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Speaker 4: Right?

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Speaker 3: If you were there, you know, he could have just

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Speaker 3: had a fight with his wife that morning. And that's

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Speaker 3: what's fun is mine And so it's not not one

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Speaker 3: hundred percent present in your conversation, right, So what you're

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Speaker 3: pitching just went over went over his head, he ultimately

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Speaker 3: or her head, and they ultimately said no, right, you're

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Speaker 3: going to spend your time worrying about like, okay this

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Speaker 3: this person said no, blah blah blah.

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Speaker 4: Now it's different if.

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Speaker 3: You go and you talk to five investors and all

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Speaker 3: five of those investors say, you know what, I just

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Speaker 3: don't think that there's a big enough market opportunity here.

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Speaker 4: So now you know.

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Speaker 3: Now you're now it's you're seeing a pattern, right, They're

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Speaker 3: not understanding that or they don't see the large market

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Speaker 3: opportunity that you see, and so why is that?

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Speaker 4: And what can I what can I shift?

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Speaker 3: But I would not change my entire pitch or you know,

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Speaker 3: elements of my company because one person or one firm

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Speaker 3: said said, no, we were wrong.

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Speaker 4: All the time.

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Speaker 1: There's a line in your bio off your website that

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Speaker 1: I love and I want to call out, and it

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Speaker 1: says his unique eye for global and cultural trends, along

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Speaker 1: with shifts and consumer behavior has helped them uplift and

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Speaker 1: accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of

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Speaker 1: their breakthrough moment. That line got me thinking.

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Speaker 2: About the growth of Spill and.

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Speaker 1: Some of the comments I was reading when Finds had

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Speaker 1: to put out the statement like, look, we're embracing of

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Speaker 1: black culture, you know, LGBTQ culture, you know, but we're

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Speaker 1: not just for that, And I was thinking about how

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Speaker 1: can he navigate and how can the company navigate when

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Speaker 1: a portion of those users were like, look, we want

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Speaker 1: this to be specifically for us, by us, you know,

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Speaker 1: and so how do you how do you think you know?

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Speaker 1: Or is there a space for specifically culturally relevant technologies

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Speaker 1: to be specifically culturally relevant technologies and stated is there

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Speaker 1: a market there or or should that even be an ambition?

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Speaker 4: I mean, it's it.

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Speaker 3: Should it be sub to the founders of that of

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Speaker 3: that company and what.

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Speaker 4: They and what they set out to build.

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Speaker 3: I know, for Spill, they're not trying to be the

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Speaker 3: best black social network.

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Speaker 4: They're trying to.

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Speaker 3: Be the best social network, right. And the way that

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Speaker 3: their math or their calculation is that if we build

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Speaker 3: for the most marginalized, which also happened to be the

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Speaker 3: most influential groups on social media platforms, and ultimately we're

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Speaker 3: going to be building for everyone, right, And so that's

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Speaker 3: and so that's the that's the approach right along with

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Speaker 3: making sure that you know, they optimized for trust and safety,

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Speaker 3: so that those marginalized communities when this thing blows up

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Speaker 3: to what it's going to blow up to be, feel

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Speaker 3: like they can still have their have their voice, They

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Speaker 3: can say what they need to say in a safe space,

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Speaker 3: not be attacked, not experience racism or you know other

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Speaker 3: other types of you know, negative things. Right, that's what

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Speaker 3: that's what spill is about.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 3: So it's building a platform, a place.

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Speaker 4: Where you can go and be in your.

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Speaker 3: Community without negatively impacting other.

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Speaker 4: Communities around you.

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Speaker 1: There is if if you ask five vcs who invest

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Speaker 1: at the steed stage, you might get four different answers

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Speaker 1: on what steed stage is. So can you can you

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Speaker 1: define you know, at what stage you're investing in and

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Speaker 1: what and what it means financially?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean for for us C stages, you know,

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Speaker 3: they built a product and they're just about to take

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Speaker 3: it to market or they've recently taken it to market.

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Speaker 4: That's that's how we define it. Right. So it's you don't.

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Speaker 3: Have to be generating revenue depending on your type of business,

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Speaker 3: right if you're if it's an e commerce business and

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Speaker 3: you call only self a seed stage.

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Speaker 4: Company, you better be moving products, right if you know,

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Speaker 4: if you're a.

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Speaker 3: Marketplace and you are a seed stage company, you better

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Speaker 3: have people on both sides of the marketplace because that's

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Speaker 3: the that's the product.

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Speaker 4: Right, There's no other way to determine if this thing.

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Speaker 3: Has a chance of finding product market fit if it's

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Speaker 3: not doing you know those those things right now.

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Speaker 4: If you're a deep tech company, you.

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Speaker 3: Know you're building reusable rockets, that's a little bit different, right.

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Speaker 3: I'm not expecting you to have customers, right, but I'm

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Speaker 3: expecting you to have certain certain things that give us

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Speaker 3: confidence that you're going to be able to finish this

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Speaker 3: product and bring it to bring it to market. I

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Speaker 3: think that's the the difference between Preceed and Seed is

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Speaker 3: pre Seed is closer to I d A right, a

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Speaker 3: little bit a little bit a little bit more than that,

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Speaker 3: but it's closer to there, whereas as Seed you're getting

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Speaker 3: you you're closer to launch, You're you're you're closer to

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Speaker 3: this thing being uh, you know, a real asset or

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Speaker 3: a real product or real solution about to hit the market.

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Speaker 1: So a lot of founders will say like, look, you know,

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Speaker 1: I have not launched yet, but I still can't get

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Speaker 1: any traction.

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Speaker 2: What typically typically.

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Speaker 1: In general terms, might be missing from a pitch. If

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Speaker 1: you have not launched yet and you consistently get knows.

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Speaker 3: You're probably talking to the wrong investors, you know, because

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Speaker 3: you're you're clearly talking to folks that are looking.

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Speaker 4: For proof points that you don't yet have.

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Speaker 3: So you've got to find the right group of investors

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Speaker 3: to start to pitch to.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 3: So if that sounds like you're probably a pre seed

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Speaker 3: company pitching to seed companies or maybe e been multi

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Speaker 3: stage investors, and that's not That's not what's.

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Speaker 4: Going to do it for you.

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Speaker 3: You probably need to focus on a high network individuals,

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Speaker 3: angels and preceed funds like legitimate preceed funds.

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Speaker 1: I've heard a lot of VC talk about, you know,

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Speaker 1: they are investing in the horse and not the idea necessarily,

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Speaker 1: because you may pivot a couple of times as you

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Speaker 1: try to find that product market fit.

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Speaker 2: What would you say to that, you.

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Speaker 3: Know, beauties in the eye of the beholder, right, So

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Speaker 3: like that might that might be the way that they

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Speaker 3: see the world. For me, I think a few things

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Speaker 3: have to align. I have to believe that there's a

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Speaker 3: substantial market opportunity for this solution. I have to believe

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Speaker 3: that there is a unique founder, product market fit here.

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Speaker 3: And I have to believe that the approach that they're

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Speaker 3: taking or the tech technology that they're bringing to market

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Speaker 3: is substantially differentiated and will give them a significant headstart.

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Speaker 3: If we don't have those three things, I can't make

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Speaker 3: that investment.

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Speaker 4: I could.

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Speaker 3: You could be a phenomenal founder, but my investors, like

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Speaker 3: my LPs, they're not, you know, awarding me with their

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Speaker 3: capital to invest in something that I know is going

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Speaker 3: to fail, so that I have the opportunity to invest.

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Speaker 4: Again with that founder in another fund that they may

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Speaker 4: or may not be a part of.

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Speaker 3: Right, They're looking for outcomes for this fund, right, and

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Speaker 3: I take that stewardship like very very seriously. So I

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Speaker 3: you know, if I meet a founder that I think

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Speaker 3: is just a remarkable person, but what they're building just

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Speaker 3: doesn't make sense and I don't think they're gonna win

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Speaker 3: in that business, I'll find other ways to help them

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Speaker 3: and stay close to them and make sure they know

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Speaker 3: that I want to vacu.

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Speaker 4: You, but I want to vack you when you're building

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Speaker 4: the right thing.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot of different titles that work in

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Speaker 1: the venture capital firm. And if I want you to

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Speaker 1: talk about educate us on who is actually suited by

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Speaker 1: and large to make decisions, like particularly to mac you know,

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Speaker 1: are you can you write a check without going to

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Speaker 1: other people you know, getting approvals? And typically what kind

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Speaker 1: of person should we be trying to get entree with

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Speaker 1: in order to get you.

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Speaker 2: Know, actual decisions made.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, different firms do it in different ways.

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Speaker 3: You know, we value our like all the partners in

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Speaker 3: our firm their their opinions, right, Like, we wouldn't hire

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Speaker 3: them if we didn't think they were smart and didn't

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Speaker 3: value their their opinions. So like you know Danny for instance,

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Speaker 3: who works with me very closely on on many of

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Speaker 3: the deals that we do. You know, we're doing a

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Speaker 3: deal right now that he's been tracking for for two

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Speaker 3: years and it's a UK based based company. He just

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Speaker 3: he did the work, stayed close to it, brought me

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Speaker 3: in at the at the right time. I'm the ultimate

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Speaker 3: decision maker. But again, I value his opinion and I've

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Speaker 3: been keep and he's been keeping me a praise of

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Speaker 3: all the work that he's been doing to get to

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Speaker 3: know this founder, this team and this opportunity. So it

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Speaker 3: depends on depends on the shop for us.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, any GP can make the decision in terms of

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Speaker 4: whether they or not whether or not they want to

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Speaker 4: invest in a company, and then our partners just have

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Speaker 4: to get the sponsorship of a GP to to get

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Speaker 4: that deal done.

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Speaker 1: For most startups that you invest in, what is typically

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Speaker 1: the vehicle that makes the most sense we're talking about

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Speaker 1: if you could describe these also, so defining them for

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Speaker 1: the audience a safe or convertible note or an equity play,

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Speaker 1: and you're define those in both what typically makes sense

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Speaker 1: for the kinds of startups you invest in.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, uh, as an investor, the

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Speaker 3: best vehicle is always equity, right because you're actually you're

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Speaker 3: you're getting something tangible is not quite the right work

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Speaker 3: and you can't touch it, but I don't have a

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Speaker 3: better word right now, So you're you're getting something tangible, right,

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Speaker 3: Like I have specific rights, I have specific protections.

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Speaker 4: I own equity in this in this company, so we've made.

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Speaker 3: The trade right So that that's a that's a more

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Speaker 3: secure way to make an investment. You know, safes and

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Speaker 3: convertible notes, It's it's a promise for equity, right.

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Speaker 7: And and during that time while I'm holding this this promise,

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Speaker 7: a lot of things can happen.

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Speaker 3: A lot of decisions can be made where I don't

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Speaker 3: have the ability to weigh in on. For instance, the

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Speaker 3: company can take on a significant amount of debt, and

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Speaker 3: you know those safe holders and convertible note holders for

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Speaker 3: the most part, I can't say anything about that. And

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Speaker 3: the way that the stack works is that debt sits

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Speaker 3: on top of potential equity and and equity, right, and

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Speaker 3: so it's just you have more security and when you

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Speaker 3: do an equity round.

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Speaker 4: Now I get it.

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Speaker 3: Why you know safes and convertible notes exist. It's just

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Speaker 3: it's a faster process and less expensive process for.

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Speaker 4: The for the entrepreneurs. Right, you can.

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Speaker 3: And also it's a part of what makes it fast

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Speaker 3: is it's just a standard document.

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Speaker 4: That's one.

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Speaker 3: But two, you don't have to find a lead investor, right,

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Speaker 3: You don't have to find someone that's going to put

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Speaker 3: the majority of how however.

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Speaker 4: But you're raising right, you're raising three million, you know.

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Speaker 3: You don't need someone that's gonna put one point five

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Speaker 3: down to and say hey, everybody else come along. Right,

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Speaker 3: you can get you know, a bunch of fifty K

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Speaker 3: checks if you want to fill up that.

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Speaker 4: Safe and and raise the capital you need to to

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Speaker 4: move forward. Uh.

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Speaker 3: And you know, in some cases that's just what you

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Speaker 3: need to do in order to get to the next,

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Speaker 3: you know, phase of your business. But from an investor's perspective,

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Speaker 3: we prefer that it's an that it's an equity.

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Speaker 1: Run for a lot of founders have talked about, you know,

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Speaker 1: just in you know, Black Twitter VC and all these

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Speaker 1: different things. Like a lot of founders will talk about

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Speaker 1: finding that first investor, that first money.

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Speaker 2: In that you described.

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Speaker 1: You know, so if if a MAC Venture Capital was

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Speaker 1: first money in, that says a lot going to other vcs.

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Speaker 1: Do you have issues being first money in?

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Speaker 3: No, we Well, first of all, it's a responsibility, right

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Speaker 3: if you're gonna if you're gonna lead around because people

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Speaker 3: are going to other investors are gonna watch what you

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Speaker 3: do in the next round of.

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Speaker 4: Of funding, et cetera.

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Speaker 3: So, but it's just the responsibility that that we embrace.

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Speaker 3: I don't I don't need to. I don't need another

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Speaker 3: investor to validate the work.

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Speaker 4: That my team is doing.

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Speaker 3: Right. I think my team is one of the smartest

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Speaker 3: teams out there, and we know how to select high

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Speaker 3: quality founders, you know, building high potential solutions and companies.

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Speaker 3: And so I'll write off that any day of the

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Speaker 3: week versus oh x y Z firm is in so

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Speaker 3: might so it must be great.

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Speaker 4: I mean you look.

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Speaker 3: At like, yeah, so more recent news of like companies

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Speaker 3: that have been you know, found out to be fraudulent, right,

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Speaker 3: that have all these great quote unquote great investors in them, right,

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Speaker 3: and they're all in because one quote unquote great great

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Speaker 3: investor said this is the opportunity and everyone else is

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Speaker 3: piled in. Well, now what right, So now I'm gonna

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Speaker 3: I'm always gonna trust in our work. Now there are

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Speaker 3: you know, groups that we definitely respect, right, but we're

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Speaker 3: always going to do our work to make sure that

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Speaker 3: you know, what this company is saying is what it

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Speaker 3: really is.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, we we lead the vast majority of the

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Speaker 4: deals that we do.

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Speaker 1: I like that you brought up your team because it

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Speaker 1: reminded me of a tweet I just had to find

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Speaker 1: when you said that if Paul Graham had tweeted this

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Speaker 1: out a couple of days ago, and he was responding

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Speaker 1: to Paul Graham as the founder of y Combinator, and

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Speaker 1: he was responding to a tweet by an intern, an

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Speaker 1: intern VC talking about how many emails he was sending

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Speaker 1: per week, and Paul was mentioning, you know, you shouldn't

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Speaker 1: waste time responding to cold emails from associates. They that

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Speaker 1: email they sent you was one of one hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty they sent that week. You talked about your team

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Speaker 1: and how much work they do, and I would like

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Speaker 1: to get your response or reflection on at what stage

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Speaker 1: we should be paying attention, like cause I get emails

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Speaker 1: all the time about companies that I may be involved with,

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Speaker 1: and how do you know what's to take Seriously.

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Speaker 4: I think everyone deserves a response. Now what that response is,

439
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Speaker 4: you know, can be different.

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Speaker 3: Right, Like we respond to every entrepreneur that reaches out

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Speaker 3: to us.

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Speaker 4: Right if you.

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Speaker 3: Reach out to me, will it be me that response

444
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 3: to you and we have no connection, Probably not, but

445
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 3: it'll be someone on our team. If you send us

446
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,360
Speaker 3: your your deck, we're one going to look at it

447
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 3: and if it makes sense for us, you're you're gonna

448
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 3: get not just you know, a pass email, but you're

449
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,200
Speaker 3: gonna get an email inviting you to have a conversation

450
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 3: with someone on our team, and then we'll figure out

451
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,439
Speaker 3: what goes from there. I think the same should be

452
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 3: true for for for founders. Right one, I think, you know,

453
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 3: the idea that an associate doesn't carry any weight is

454
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 3: it's just ad a bad way to conduct yourself in

455
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:43,480
Speaker 3: this space because oftentimes those associates are the gatekeepers, and

456
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 3: oftentimes those associates work really closely with the general partner,

457
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 3: and that general partner genuinely trust their their opinion, right

458
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:59,719
Speaker 3: because by and large that associates opinion was built uh

459
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,879
Speaker 3: from the opinions and the guidance over probably over years

460
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 3: from that general partner. They trained them to basically evaluate

461
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:09,800
Speaker 3: these deals.

462
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,200
Speaker 4: So you know, if I think.

463
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 3: You're doing yourself a disservice if you just ignore every

464
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 3: associate that that reaches out to you, because that associate

465
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 3: might actually have the keys to the to the kingdom

466
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 3: and you just ignored her. Right, So I think again,

467
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 3: I think everyone deserves a response. I think what entrepreneurs

468
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,359
Speaker 3: need to do really well is to figure out, you know,

469
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 3: what signal versus noise, right, and and move accordingly after that.

470
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,000
Speaker 4: But respond.

471
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 1: There's a lot of talk coming particularly out of Silicon Valley,

472
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 1: that that Silicon Valley.

473
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 2: San Francisco, Oakland is.

474
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,120
Speaker 1: Still the best place to be for building a startup.

475
00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:58,840
Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on that, but I

476
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 1: want to preface it by saying this, And I wonder

477
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,400
Speaker 1: if a lot of that, particularly because it comes from

478
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 1: at least what I hear, comes from venture capitalists, some

479
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,679
Speaker 1: of the big ones, And I wonder how much of

480
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:15,399
Speaker 1: that is strategic for them in that the startups come

481
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: to them versus them having to go do the work

482
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: to find them, you know, so they create a pipeline

483
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: and they don't have to go, you know, do what

484
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 1: other firms have to do. So how much of that

485
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:31,159
Speaker 1: is actually authentic And if it's not authentic, what is

486
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: what is true?

487
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 4: Yeah? I don't think it's not true, right, because you know.

488
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,480
Speaker 3: It's just it's obviously it's easier to raise money when

489
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 3: you have, you know, a concentration of capital around you.

490
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 4: It's easier, right, you don't have to you don't have

491
00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 4: to go that far. But you know, on the other.

492
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,440
Speaker 3: Side of my mouth, I'm going to say that all

493
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,920
Speaker 3: of the multi stage investors that you know are kind

494
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 3: of storied in Silicon Valley are now setting up offices.

495
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,720
Speaker 4: In LA in New York and Miami and all these

496
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 4: other places. Right, so it's not as true as it

497
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:15,959
Speaker 4: once was.

498
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 3: Like you can successfully build a company outside of Silicon Valley,

499
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 3: and you can successfully raise capital from all of those

500
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 3: firms that you want to raise capital from if you're

501
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 3: not based there.

502
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 4: Do I think it's easier? Sure, I mean you can.

503
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,439
Speaker 3: It's easier to get a coffee meeting if you're just

504
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 3: down the street.

505
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 4: Right.

506
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 3: So the numbers are what they are, right, And I

507
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 3: don't think that I don't think the idea of Silicon.

508
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,000
Speaker 4: Valley is ever going to go away. I just think

509
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 4: it's going to be more dispersed.

510
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,720
Speaker 1: Do you have a particular philosophy or thesis on the

511
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 1: kind of startups you invest in the industry sectors?

512
00:28:59,280 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 4: I mean.

513
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 3: We're intentionally industry sector agnostic. It's more fun that way

514
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,080
Speaker 3: for for for us now they're you know, there are

515
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 3: things that we do.

516
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 4: More of, right, so like.

517
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 3: Uh, you know B two B software centric companies.

518
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 4: That's the majority of the companies that that we'll invest in, right,

519
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 4: But we'll.

520
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 3: Invest in the occasional social network's built, right, We'll invest

521
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 3: in the occasional media company Blavity will invest in, you know,

522
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 3: a company that's building sustainable, re usable rockets, stoke right like.

523
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:45,440
Speaker 3: But the thing that if you're looking for through line right,

524
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 3: that through line is something that we call cultural investing,

525
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 3: which is our thesis, which says that if you follow

526
00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 3: the big swings in in emerging behavior and determine which

527
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 3: of those behaviors are going to become commonplace or part

528
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 3: of popular culture, and you invest in businesses that are

529
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 3: moving in that direction as well, you'll end up investing

530
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 3: in tomorrow's next great companies.

531
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 4: And so everything that we look at right has to

532
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 4: has to.

533
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 3: Have that, you know, that that theme running running through it,

534
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 3: whether it's reusable rockets, whether it's reinventing the tampon, whether

535
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,600
Speaker 3: it's a B two B SaaS platform, whether it's a

536
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 3: social network, what whatever, right, whether it's a digital health

537
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:43,280
Speaker 3: company right. Their approach and the way that they're they

538
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 3: see the world has to add up with how we

539
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:47,959
Speaker 3: see behaviors trending.

540
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 1: There was a VC who I heard do a talk

541
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: I don't remember specifically who if I remember the point

542
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 1: they were making and they were talking about not having

543
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 1: technical founders, and they were saying how if you're not

544
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 1: good enough at selling somebody to come along on this

545
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 1: journey with you as a co founder, investing their time,

546
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: investing their knowledge, without actually paying them, then you probably

547
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 1: need to rethink your ability to sell a market And

548
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 1: so I wonder what your thoughts are foundationally on the

549
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 1: need for a technical founder or outsourced if that's the

550
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 1: play for a particular business, does it matter to you

551
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,920
Speaker 1: or And secondarily I don't always like to ask two

552
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 1: sided questions, but this one secondarily also is does that

553
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: correlate the ability to sell specific seats on your team

554
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: to specific individuals to the ability to you know, sell

555
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 1: a marketplace.

556
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 4: I'll say it's important, right.

557
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 3: I agreed with that person's statement up until come and

558
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:00,120
Speaker 3: work for you, work.

559
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:06,720
Speaker 4: With you for free, Like that's equity, yeah or whatever?

560
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:13,120
Speaker 3: Like situations are people's situations are different, right, So you know,

561
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 3: you try to pull somebody out of Google that's making

562
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 3: you know, a very high high salary that has a

563
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 3: family of four that they that they need to feed

564
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 3: to come and feed that family.

565
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 4: Off of some equity.

566
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 3: That's that's uh, that's asking that's asking a lot right now.

567
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 4: They're in their degrees of it.

568
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm kind of messing around a little

569
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 3: bit here, but I think you get what I'm i'm saying.

570
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 4: You do.

571
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 3: I always look for founders that have that thing, right,

572
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 3: that gravitas, right, because no great company is built by

573
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 3: one person, right. You have to have a team. That's

574
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:04,240
Speaker 3: why I always talk about our team, right, because Mac

575
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 3: is not just me. Mac is our team, and we're

576
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 3: only as good as our quote unquote weakest link, right.

577
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,640
Speaker 3: And so if you're not, if you don't have that

578
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 3: thing that's going to attract the talent, you're never going

579
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:20,880
Speaker 3: to be able to build that company.

580
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 4: Right.

581
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 3: So I don't know that you need to be the

582
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,640
Speaker 3: person that's going to sell widgets or whatever it is. Right,

583
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 3: Maybe that's the person that you're able to bring on

584
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 3: with you, right, And that's a different it could be

585
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 3: a very different skill set from selling those widgets and

586
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 3: recruiting that that talent and having them see your vision.

587
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,560
Speaker 4: Right. But you've got to be able to A founder

588
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 4: has to be able to recruit.

589
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,480
Speaker 3: If you can't recruit, it's not going to work because

590
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 3: now you're just building this thing by yourself. And as

591
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 3: I said, no great company is ever built by one.

592
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 4: Or two people.

593
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 1: How does a founder know what to raise? How much

594
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: do I need?

595
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:11,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's part math science and slash science and part art. Honestly,

596
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:17,120
Speaker 3: it's the advice I get founders is think about your

597
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:22,480
Speaker 3: next major milestones, right, and work backwards from there.

598
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,239
Speaker 4: What do you need to who do you need on

599
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 4: your team to get to that milestone?

600
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 3: What do you need to spend to get to build

601
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 3: and to get to that milestone?

602
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:37,799
Speaker 4: And that's where you start.

603
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 3: Right, and then you add a little bit maybe ten, fifteen,

604
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,000
Speaker 3: twenty percent to that because.

605
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:47,879
Speaker 4: Things never go the way that you expect them to. Right.

606
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,839
Speaker 3: Things you could say, oh I can get to this

607
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 3: milestone a year, it might take you.

608
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,920
Speaker 4: Two years, right, So you want to have capital to

609
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,279
Speaker 4: that can stretch with you, with you as you do that.

610
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,360
Speaker 4: But yeah, I would look at, you know, what's the

611
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:03,360
Speaker 4: what's the next.

612
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 3: Major goal for the company, and kind of work backwards

613
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:07,959
Speaker 3: from from there.

614
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: Lastly, obviously, AI is a humongous conversation. You know, a

615
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: year ago, two years ago, it was Crypto, maybe before

616
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: that it was you know, the metaverse.

617
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 2: I don't know.

618
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:25,760
Speaker 1: So you know, these things come in stages, but AI

619
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:27,839
Speaker 1: is not going anywhere. It's been around fifty years, it's

620
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,040
Speaker 1: even more prevalent, especially in the last six months, when

621
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: you think about what particularly generative AI allows for industry

622
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 1: to move faster, What particular, what specifically should black techies,

623
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 1: black entrepreneurs be thinking about as we work to make

624
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,880
Speaker 1: strides for ourselves in in company building, whether that be

625
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: leveraging technology, leveraging the technology, or building that technology, what particular,

626
00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: what what value do you see that the culture could

627
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:04,480
Speaker 1: bring to this conversation.

628
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,279
Speaker 3: So, you know, we've been investing in AI for a

629
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 3: while now, right before it became what.

630
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,320
Speaker 4: It is what it is right now, or as popular

631
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 4: as it is right now.

632
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 3: And I think this is one man's opinion, but I

633
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,760
Speaker 3: think there are two ways that you put AI companies

634
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 3: in two buckets, right.

635
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 4: One bucket is.

636
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:33,600
Speaker 3: They're they're actually building new technology, right, so.

637
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,040
Speaker 4: In today's world.

638
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 3: Something that is truly competitive with you know, Google and Microsoft,

639
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 3: right and and what and what what they're they've had

640
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:54,279
Speaker 3: built that's gonna be rare, right to find. The other

641
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,360
Speaker 3: bucket is I think what we're mostly seeing, and it's

642
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:07,760
Speaker 3: adding AI to a in a verticalized way, right where

643
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 3: you're adding it to a business that already exists or

644
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,320
Speaker 3: an industry that already exists and it accelerates sales or

645
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 3: whatever something, right, And so for me, when I'm looking

646
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 3: at that, I'm first looking at the potential of the

647
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 3: underlying business.

648
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,759
Speaker 4: Right, can this thing be successful? Forget the AI, can

649
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,240
Speaker 4: this thing be successful? It's just as a standalone business.

650
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,319
Speaker 3: And then now when I layer on AI on top

651
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:43,400
Speaker 3: of that, does it Does the AI truly accelerate this

652
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:47,759
Speaker 3: business in a very significant way? Right, So it's not

653
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,239
Speaker 3: the it's not the AI that I'm underwriting, it's a

654
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,320
Speaker 3: differentiation in the actual underlying business.

655
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 4: And then I'm just looking at the AI to say,

656
00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:59,640
Speaker 4: all right, we.

657
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 3: Have the thing that's that's unique and that that's differentiated,

658
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:09,200
Speaker 3: sustainably differentiated, and we think that this company, they get

659
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,360
Speaker 3: out to a head start, they can really.

660
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 4: Do some damage. Not later on the AI. That's like

661
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 4: you know, Nitro, right, they're they're they're gone. And that's

662
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:23,040
Speaker 4: that's how we think about it. Now.

663
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: Actually I have one more because I was thinking about,

664
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: you know, you have a very very close ties to

665
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:34,880
Speaker 1: the entertainment industry, even invested in entertainment industry, and so

666
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:39,799
Speaker 1: I think about how you know, celebrities. To me, these

667
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,400
Speaker 1: days are founders CEOs. You know, those are the people

668
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 1: who I look to who would be the posters on

669
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,120
Speaker 1: the wall if I was fourteen, right, and so not

670
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,640
Speaker 1: less athletes and musicians, say for a few and so

671
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:58,280
Speaker 1: I think about the growth and representation of black founders.

672
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,000
Speaker 1: You know, when things like afro techs started and when

673
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,480
Speaker 1: I started podcasting, we were just starting to find the

674
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 1: names of successful black entrepreneurs and tech technologists if we

675
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,239
Speaker 1: weren't on the cover of a tech Crunch back then,

676
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:15,000
Speaker 1: which is partially why things like apro tech exist.

677
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,759
Speaker 2: What gets you excited about.

678
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,719
Speaker 1: The or what is important even about people knowing who

679
00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 1: Morgan Debond is or who Rodney Williams is or who

680
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:34,000
Speaker 1: Marlon Nichols is in that that acknowledgment inspires more people

681
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:35,120
Speaker 1: to take this route.

682
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,879
Speaker 4: I mean, that's you just answer there, right, That's just it.

683
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:45,480
Speaker 3: If you can if you can see someone that resembles you,

684
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 3: that comes from similar a similar community, then you can

685
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 3: start to you can start the dream you kind of

686
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 3: you can see yourself in that in that seat, right.

687
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:04,760
Speaker 3: I Mean that's why mus and and sports are such

688
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:11,400
Speaker 3: popular aspirations for young black kids like in the hood,

689
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,279
Speaker 3: because basically I mean today's today's a little bit different.

690
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 3: But back in the day, every NBA player was black

691
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,640
Speaker 3: and came from the hood, right football player, every black

692
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,760
Speaker 3: football player black and came from the hood, right singers

693
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,360
Speaker 3: going back to Motown where they come from, like you

694
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,880
Speaker 3: know what I mean. So now being able to see that, oh,

695
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,560
Speaker 3: you know, you know this five foot two or four.

696
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:39,239
Speaker 4: I remember how Told Morgan is.

697
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:46,879
Speaker 8: A young lady from probably five t h is able

698
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,960
Speaker 8: to build this you know, media empire. I could do

699
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:51,480
Speaker 8: that too, right.

700
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:55,560
Speaker 1: Is it important then for us to have public personas

701
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:56,640
Speaker 1: of course?

702
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:01,120
Speaker 3: Of course, And that's so you know, I don't know

703
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 3: if you follow me or others follow me on on

704
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,799
Speaker 3: social media, but I'd say ninety nine percent of my

705
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,880
Speaker 3: posts are about the companies that we've found that we

706
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:17,239
Speaker 3: funded and those founders, and it's it's to put the

707
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,479
Speaker 3: shine the light on them, right, I don't really matter

708
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,279
Speaker 3: that much, right, it's they're the ones that are doing

709
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 3: the work, right.

710
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 4: I'm just.

711
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:32,960
Speaker 3: Call it a I don't know, a resource right where

712
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,319
Speaker 3: I can give them some gasoline so that they can

713
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 3: you know, drive those cars to you know, through the

714
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 3: finish line essentially.

715
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 4: So it's important to highlight them and.

716
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 3: For and for people to see them, because they're going

717
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,000
Speaker 3: to be way more founders in this world than there

718
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 3: are investors, right And that's the way it always has been,

719
00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:54,359
Speaker 3: that's the way it should be.

720
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,360
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production the Blavity Afro

721
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,160
Speaker 1: Tech on the Black Effect podcast network in i Our

722
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:15,239
Speaker 1: Media is produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas,

723
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,800
Speaker 1: with additional production support by Sarah Ergan and Rose McLucas.

724
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 1: Special thank you to Michael Davis, Vanessa Serano, Maya Mouldrew.

725
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,680
Speaker 1: Learn more about my guess and other tech That's what

726
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 1: this Innovators at afrotech dot com enjoying Black Tech Green

727
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 1: Money share This is somebody look at your money.

728
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:35,919
Speaker 2: Peace and love,