1
00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 1: Afro Techen, San Francisco, California. Beverley Jackson was at the

2
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: time vice president Social Media Marketing and Content Strategy for

3
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,160
Speaker 1: MGM Resourts International. She's now vice president of Global Brand

4
00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,799
Speaker 1: and Consumer Marketing act Twitter. She's in a breakout room

5
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: talking about the value of mentorship and the responsibility she

6
00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,040
Speaker 1: feels to leave the door open for those coming behind us.

7
00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,600
Speaker 1: So the job that I'm in right now is really

8
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,120
Speaker 1: interesting because I left the Grammys and people were like,

9
00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,040
Speaker 1: why would you ever leave the Grammys? That was like

10
00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,040
Speaker 1: the best job ever. But I really believe that things

11
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,200
Speaker 1: in your career have an expiration data, and so you've

12
00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,280
Speaker 1: got to know when the milk is bad and be

13
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,080
Speaker 1: willing to walk away from it. And so I walked

14
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,840
Speaker 1: away from that opportunity and walked into an opportunity at Yahoo.

15
00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,840
Speaker 1: And the idea of working for Marissa Mayor and being

16
00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,120
Speaker 1: a part of the tech community in a in a

17
00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 1: mediate way, which is very different than sort of being

18
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,560
Speaker 1: on the edges was superpower our folk. But really the

19
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,920
Speaker 1: life changing opportunity for me was this role at at

20
00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,840
Speaker 1: MGM Resort and in it in a very different way

21
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:11,720
Speaker 1: because at y'all, who I had At the Grammys, I

22
00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,520
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to to help bloggers and help other

23
00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,400
Speaker 1: people who were sort of in the space on their

24
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,840
Speaker 1: come up and attach them to an amazing brand. But

25
00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,360
Speaker 1: at MGM Resourts, one of the things that I'm really

26
00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,920
Speaker 1: doing is I've got a chance to build this team.

27
00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,720
Speaker 1: And there are so many young people that look like

28
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,160
Speaker 1: some of the faces in this room that don't get

29
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,520
Speaker 1: an opportunity because no one on the other side of

30
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,959
Speaker 1: the table looks like me and knows what it's like

31
00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,080
Speaker 1: to be a little brown girl from the West Side

32
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,520
Speaker 1: of Chicago with a sixteen year old mama. I hear

33
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,360
Speaker 1: their stories in a way that's very different, and so

34
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,120
Speaker 1: being able to put people of color into roles that

35
00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,080
Speaker 1: they would not normally have an opportunity to be in

36
00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,400
Speaker 1: or to hear. And that doesn't mean they're not qualified.

37
00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:58,800
Speaker 1: You know, they talk about leaving the door open behind you.

38
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,400
Speaker 1: My butt than the door. My foot is in the door,

39
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,360
Speaker 1: my whole body is in the door. Because one day

40
00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,920
Speaker 1: I don't have kids of my own, and one day,

41
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,400
Speaker 1: and I'm saying this to Brandon, one day I'm not

42
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,919
Speaker 1: gonna be here. And so my legacy is how many

43
00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 1: folks did I bring with me. I'm Will Lucas, Mrs

44
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,760
Speaker 1: Black Tech, Green Money. I'm gonna answer to you to

45
00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,040
Speaker 1: some of the biggest names, some of the brightest minds

46
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 1: and brilliant ideas. If you're black and building or simply

47
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,280
Speaker 1: using tech to secure your back, this podcast is for you.

48
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,280
Speaker 1: Davion Ross, co founder of shot Tracker and entrepreneuring residents

49
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,400
Speaker 1: at r G Adventures, has founded in scale tech companies

50
00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,040
Speaker 1: from the ground up, raising more than forty million dollars

51
00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,320
Speaker 1: in venture capital. Now he's creating change leading r GS Coalition,

52
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,320
Speaker 1: venture Studio and ongoing initiative design to support black founders

53
00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:55,600
Speaker 1: with expertise, resources, funding, connections in education. Davian is a

54
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,160
Speaker 1: former athlete, so I asked him a question on behalf

55
00:02:58,200 --> 00:02:59,959
Speaker 1: of the athletes who see the end of their play

56
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,960
Speaker 1: days in sights, what opportunities in business and tech can

57
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,640
Speaker 1: scratch that competitive it's and keep them in the game,

58
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,000
Speaker 1: albeit from the States. Look, I think the thing is

59
00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,480
Speaker 1: the thing that I love about sports is that the

60
00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,600
Speaker 1: foundations that that that I've learned from sports, whether it's

61
00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:21,000
Speaker 1: like the level of competitiveness to the relationship building. I mean,

62
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,320
Speaker 1: I think that all of those things are fully transferable

63
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,920
Speaker 1: in the business world. So I think that you know,

64
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 1: in my mind, sports is just training for you know,

65
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,960
Speaker 1: the business world when you get to that point. So yeah, absolutely,

66
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,240
Speaker 1: no doubt it is a it is I won't say

67
00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,200
Speaker 1: it's a seamless transition, but it's definitely allows you to

68
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,480
Speaker 1: build the tools and the things that are necessary to

69
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,880
Speaker 1: be successful, you know, in the business world. So how

70
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,200
Speaker 1: can people who are interested in sports from a playing

71
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,760
Speaker 1: perspective find opportunities in technology that allow them to continue

72
00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,480
Speaker 1: their passion. Well, I tell you what, Like, the business

73
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,600
Speaker 1: of sports is a really really tough business, right And

74
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,400
Speaker 1: part of it is because there are a lot of fans,

75
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,200
Speaker 1: right Like, there are a lot of people who have

76
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,080
Speaker 1: a love for the sport, a lot for the game,

77
00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,839
Speaker 1: who would do things like just to be a fan

78
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,880
Speaker 1: and just to be associated with the game, right, So

79
00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,360
Speaker 1: it is challenging from that perspective. But I think that

80
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,960
Speaker 1: if you are in sports, no matter what it is,

81
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,320
Speaker 1: right it could be you know, college sports, it could

82
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,400
Speaker 1: be professional sports. I think that the relationships you build

83
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,600
Speaker 1: allow you to have like a really seamless transition. I've

84
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,040
Speaker 1: seen a lot of athletes did it still, for instance,

85
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,280
Speaker 1: I'm you're not a close relationship with David Stern. And

86
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,280
Speaker 1: when I met David Stern, I mean he's you know,

87
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,000
Speaker 1: everybody knows Dati Stern, right, the late David Stern may

88
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,279
Speaker 1: rest in peace. But he wasn't an athlete, right. But

89
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,640
Speaker 1: when he was actually got done with the NBA, you

90
00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,640
Speaker 1: know what he did, he was an intern for great Croft.

91
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,560
Speaker 1: When I first said him, they were like, yeah, we'd

92
00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,520
Speaker 1: like you to speak to David Stern. Um, sorry, we'd

93
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,720
Speaker 1: like you just to David. He's an intern. And I said, David,

94
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,080
Speaker 1: David who And they're like David Stern, like David Stern intern.

95
00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,560
Speaker 1: So even when you look at someone like that who

96
00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,360
Speaker 1: has been in the midst of sports, like making a

97
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,200
Speaker 1: transition and to venture capital, which is a little bit different.

98
00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 1: But you know, I think that there's an opportunity to

99
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,880
Speaker 1: whether it's interning. I mean you see a lot of athletes,

100
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,360
Speaker 1: like you know, IgA Dollar going intern with different companies.

101
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,080
Speaker 1: I mean, look, we've we've got the we've got the

102
00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,479
Speaker 1: foundational elements, right, I mean playing sports is one of

103
00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,120
Speaker 1: the hardest things, um in regards to the mindset, the physical,

104
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:38,360
Speaker 1: the you know, overcoming adversity. I mean, you have all

105
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,600
Speaker 1: the components that are necessary and now it's just a

106
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,760
Speaker 1: matter of transition it in a different realm. So you

107
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,680
Speaker 1: you were an athlete, and I mean you ultimately co

108
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,359
Speaker 1: founded a couple of tech companies, one being one that

109
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,919
Speaker 1: played in the world of sports was shot Tracker. And

110
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:59,120
Speaker 1: talk about finding opportunities, um, based on what you uniquely

111
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,760
Speaker 1: suited to do? Well, you know as an EI are

112
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,960
Speaker 1: you're an entrepreneur in residents Also, so you're helping other founders,

113
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,680
Speaker 1: what do what do you say when you see people

114
00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,400
Speaker 1: with ideas and like, you know, you you're perfectly suited

115
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,039
Speaker 1: to do this thing, or excuse me, you're probably not

116
00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,880
Speaker 1: the right person to execute this opportunity. Yeah, no, I

117
00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,400
Speaker 1: think and and sports is a great analogy to that, right, Like, so,

118
00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:23,400
Speaker 1: I think one of the things when I was in college,

119
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 1: coach came in right and Coach said, um, hey, everybody,

120
00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,440
Speaker 1: here's a piece of paper, and he asked all these questions, right,

121
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: And one of the questions he said, Hey, if we're

122
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,159
Speaker 1: down by two, who do you want shooting the ball?

123
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,880
Speaker 1: WHOA if you're down by three, who do you want

124
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,320
Speaker 1: shooting the ball? Which five do you want to have

125
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,960
Speaker 1: in the game, and what he was getting at is like,

126
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,039
Speaker 1: it's so important for us to understand our strengths and

127
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: our roles and our responsibilities. That's literally what he's getting at.

128
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:53,960
Speaker 1: But he was trying to set it instill a mindset

129
00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,920
Speaker 1: in us and understanding, you know, how our roles need

130
00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,760
Speaker 1: to fit the current situation. And I think that's the

131
00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,000
Speaker 1: same here, right, Like, if you're going into sports, you

132
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,160
Speaker 1: need to find a thing that you know you are

133
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,240
Speaker 1: strong at and and and fit in where you fit

134
00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 1: in so that you can actually meet your like, your

135
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,200
Speaker 1: full potential. So from my perspective, I think the transition

136
00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,320
Speaker 1: makes a ton of sense. I think just really understanding

137
00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,080
Speaker 1: that the where you're strong at. I mean, I hear

138
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,440
Speaker 1: a lot of companies say they like to you know,

139
00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,200
Speaker 1: Enterprise was was very adamant about this. At one point

140
00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,880
Speaker 1: in time. They used to hire all of their sales

141
00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,480
Speaker 1: reps from athletes, and that's one of the reasons why

142
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 1: they became an n C double, a Corporate Champion and

143
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,120
Speaker 1: a corporate partner because that was their legion and what

144
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,040
Speaker 1: they found and their statistical data that you know, athletes

145
00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,200
Speaker 1: work really well in sales. Now that does not bottle

146
00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,119
Speaker 1: neck us, But you know, they found that that works

147
00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,880
Speaker 1: for them. And I think that we just need to

148
00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,920
Speaker 1: look at our skill sets understand where we're fitting. And

149
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 1: you know, I like to tell people it's it's really

150
00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,280
Speaker 1: important to put yourself in a position where you can

151
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 1: use your natural inclination in your natural abilities, because it

152
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,960
Speaker 1: becomes organic, it's not forced. And I think we excel

153
00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,400
Speaker 1: when we put ourselves in those situations. Do you think

154
00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,040
Speaker 1: too many of us, you know, just see opportunities and

155
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,160
Speaker 1: pursue those and we really don't have because what it

156
00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,640
Speaker 1: takes to get from a venture capitalists like, Okay, why

157
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,960
Speaker 1: are you the one to do this? Yeah, there's a

158
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,120
Speaker 1: myriad world of problems out here to solve, but why

159
00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,520
Speaker 1: are you the one? So when you talk about from

160
00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,320
Speaker 1: an E I R. A venture capital perspective, what is

161
00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,480
Speaker 1: that conversation like to an entrepreneur who has an idea

162
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,120
Speaker 1: just because they saw, you know, a need in the

163
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:38,480
Speaker 1: world and they may not be the one however, to

164
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,360
Speaker 1: to solve that problem. Man, you're bringing up one of

165
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:47,720
Speaker 1: the toughest discussions that venture capitalists and founders have And

166
00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,520
Speaker 1: and I'll put at you like this a lot of times,

167
00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,600
Speaker 1: is it's it may be that you're not the one,

168
00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,960
Speaker 1: but it could also be like you're not the one

169
00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,520
Speaker 1: for where we are, you're not the one for this season.

170
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,920
Speaker 1: If that makes as hey, you got us from point

171
00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,360
Speaker 1: A to point D, but we need a different animal

172
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,200
Speaker 1: to get us from point D two two eye, right,

173
00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,440
Speaker 1: So I mean it's it's a tough if. It's a

174
00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,800
Speaker 1: tough discussion with folks when you know you're talking to

175
00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,240
Speaker 1: them about the um, you know, just just figuring out

176
00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,240
Speaker 1: that fit. Because like when when somebody thinks about are

177
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,800
Speaker 1: you the one? Right there? There, it's multiple facets. It's

178
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,680
Speaker 1: a very complex question, right, It's like what one do

179
00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,640
Speaker 1: you have, like the the intellectual fortitude to be able

180
00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:36,439
Speaker 1: to execute on this, right, that's just one component of it.

181
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,120
Speaker 1: And do you have the grit that's necessary because I

182
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,400
Speaker 1: will tell you that this is not a straight line. Um.

183
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,720
Speaker 1: It looks you know, it's up and down. It's an

184
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,520
Speaker 1: emotional roller coaster, right, And that's not for everybody, right

185
00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:51,840
Speaker 1: and and and sometimes you have to live in the

186
00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,240
Speaker 1: world of ambiguity as a founder that that's not for

187
00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,160
Speaker 1: everybody also, right. And then you know there's there's a

188
00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,040
Speaker 1: piece of it that says, do you have the domain expertise.

189
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,960
Speaker 1: Are you able to walk into the environment or the

190
00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,920
Speaker 1: domain that you're solving this problem for and be able

191
00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,480
Speaker 1: to get people to leave you and feel like, hey,

192
00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,080
Speaker 1: you could really execute on this and solve it because

193
00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:15,839
Speaker 1: you noticed like the back of your hand. So it's

194
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,000
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's you just opened up a can

195
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,839
Speaker 1: of worms. It's a complex It's not black and white.

196
00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:23,679
Speaker 1: It's there's a lot of gray. And it's a very

197
00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,199
Speaker 1: complex question in regards to just figuring out like how

198
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,880
Speaker 1: founders in the match. And as I said before, there's

199
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,080
Speaker 1: a lot of times I remember when my young went

200
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,320
Speaker 1: when in my young days, you know, I broke up

201
00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,360
Speaker 1: with my girlfriend right before I I came to the US.

202
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,959
Speaker 1: I'm from Trinidad, came to the US in a basketball scholarship,

203
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,600
Speaker 1: and like I was down, man, and my mom said

204
00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,000
Speaker 1: to me, and it's something that I'll never forget. She

205
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,600
Speaker 1: was like, hey, she was your girlfriend for that season,

206
00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,720
Speaker 1: and you needed her in that season. Now you're going

207
00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,560
Speaker 1: into a new season, You're gonna need different things. You're

208
00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,800
Speaker 1: gonna need different you know. And and and that's that's

209
00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:01,160
Speaker 1: the entrepreneurial journey. Sometimes the business needs something friend what

210
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,199
Speaker 1: is happening in the room the state of venture capital

211
00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:06,760
Speaker 1: room when they're deciding you know who the fund, who

212
00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,600
Speaker 1: not the fund? What is happening in that room when

213
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:18,320
Speaker 1: companies with diverse leadership have statistically outperformed less diverse startups,

214
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,600
Speaker 1: but they still don't get the capital when that you know,

215
00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,280
Speaker 1: the executive team, that startup teams, that founding team is

216
00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,959
Speaker 1: very monolithic, probably don't look like us. What is happening

217
00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,400
Speaker 1: in that room that diverse companies don't get that cap

218
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,560
Speaker 1: because I would imagine like out performing equals dollars, that's

219
00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:44,080
Speaker 1: where I'm gonna put my money. Right. Yeah, well, um man,

220
00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,800
Speaker 1: you you be you be pulling out some bombs. Yeah,

221
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,440
Speaker 1: I mean like these are like these are like heavy,

222
00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:54,440
Speaker 1: heavy heavy topics. Um, look man, it's it's it's uh,

223
00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,200
Speaker 1: it's a problem right And um when you ask what

224
00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,720
Speaker 1: is happening in the room, you know, I have necess

225
00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:07,440
Speaker 1: I can only imagine, um when I've seen. What I've

226
00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:12,800
Speaker 1: seen is that people of colors really struggled to get

227
00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,160
Speaker 1: access to capital because one they may not have the relationships,

228
00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,920
Speaker 1: One they don't have somebody like saying like yo, let

229
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,520
Speaker 1: me just walk you in the back door. And you

230
00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,800
Speaker 1: know I'm gonna, I'm gonna make sure you get this money.

231
00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,679
Speaker 1: I mean, I've seen people who are non people of

232
00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:35,720
Speaker 1: color race capital are napkins more than people of color

233
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:41,359
Speaker 1: who have like you know, full business plan, great education, revenue,

234
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:46,640
Speaker 1: bootstrap it and you know you have to ask yourself why. Um.

235
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,720
Speaker 1: And I think that I think we're solving some of

236
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,080
Speaker 1: these things. I mean, I'm excited to say that we're

237
00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,960
Speaker 1: we haven't like overcome it, but I think that there's

238
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,199
Speaker 1: signs that having dive people who have an appreciation for diversity,

239
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,560
Speaker 1: you know, with having diverse fund managers. I mean we

240
00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,040
Speaker 1: saw in the last you know, last month, you know,

241
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,160
Speaker 1: to diverse groups you know, Harlem and Mac raised you

242
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,680
Speaker 1: know what, two hundred and forty million or so. Um.

243
00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,200
Speaker 1: So we're seeing people who are you know who who

244
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,600
Speaker 1: are having different seats at the table, you know, be willing.

245
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,680
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, people use the word underestimated and

246
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,000
Speaker 1: it just irks me right, Like I despise that word,

247
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,600
Speaker 1: but that's pretty much what people are doing right there,

248
00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:39,280
Speaker 1: underestimating you know, people of color and founders of color.

249
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,520
Speaker 1: And it's it's trust me, that word. That word irks

250
00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,280
Speaker 1: me right because your expectations, like I have, I have

251
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,920
Speaker 1: seven year old twins, right, They're not underestimated in our house.

252
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,800
Speaker 1: They may be underestimated in the world, but like the

253
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,760
Speaker 1: expectations that we have for them are so high. They

254
00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,240
Speaker 1: are not underestimated in our house. And and we try

255
00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:04,439
Speaker 1: to set that standard. But it's it's UM, it's crazy,

256
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,760
Speaker 1: you know what's happening. But you know, we're seeing this

257
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,640
Speaker 1: changing at the times, and you know, I hope that

258
00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,120
Speaker 1: this is the beginning and that you know, we start

259
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,679
Speaker 1: seeing this democratization of access, you know, for people of

260
00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,920
Speaker 1: color to get access to some of them dollars. You know,

261
00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,840
Speaker 1: in the number says only one percent of venture capital

262
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,760
Speaker 1: dollars was deployed to black entrepreneurs and even you know

263
00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,040
Speaker 1: increments of that to black women entrepreneurs. UM. And it's

264
00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,920
Speaker 1: gonna take a while potentially to you know, make a

265
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,440
Speaker 1: significant debt in that. But in the meantime, there are

266
00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:44,520
Speaker 1: people black men, black women who need that capital to go. Like, so,

267
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 1: what do we do in the meantime, Well, I think that, UM,

268
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,960
Speaker 1: in the meantime, we have to continue pushing for UM,

269
00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,880
Speaker 1: we have to continue pushing for folks who can actually

270
00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,200
Speaker 1: have a seat at the table to help these black

271
00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,160
Speaker 1: man black women. Um, it's one of the reasons why

272
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:06,560
Speaker 1: I'm so passionate about like the Coalition, Adventure Studio and

273
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:08,800
Speaker 1: you know, really just trying to find ways to to

274
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,520
Speaker 1: break down some of those barriers. I mean I think

275
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:13,600
Speaker 1: that they are breaking down. I think that we're nowhere

276
00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,040
Speaker 1: close and I think that you know, when you look

277
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,840
Speaker 1: at historically what is happening, we almost have to over

278
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,960
Speaker 1: index to the extreme now because you know, we're playing

279
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,840
Speaker 1: catch up, right, So I mean we we don't have

280
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,320
Speaker 1: a choice but to open index. Um, if we folks

281
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,680
Speaker 1: of like us, who who have been able to raise

282
00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,560
Speaker 1: some capital, who've been able to relay some relationships, we

283
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:37,240
Speaker 1: have a responsibility to start pulling other people up and

284
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,480
Speaker 1: opening doors for for us. I mean this, this, these

285
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,640
Speaker 1: problems you're talking about are going to take a village.

286
00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,160
Speaker 1: I mean, these are not like problems that there's no

287
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,240
Speaker 1: silver bullet. So it's going to have to be a

288
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,600
Speaker 1: culmination of multitude of things to to to really get

289
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:55,360
Speaker 1: us over that home. So let's talk about this entrepreneur resident. Like,

290
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,000
Speaker 1: let's let's first describe your definition what an e I

291
00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:03,840
Speaker 1: R is. Yeah, yeah, So, um, you know a traditional

292
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,640
Speaker 1: E I R is you know someone who's part of

293
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,920
Speaker 1: a VC firm who is you know, a resource for

294
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,240
Speaker 1: for entrepreneurs UM. They're helping to give the the entrepreneurial

295
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,880
Speaker 1: perception perspective, you know, as part of the VC firm.

296
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,760
Speaker 1: Sometimes E I R s are you know, they're they're

297
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,080
Speaker 1: they're working on projects, learning, understanding markets to figure out

298
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,000
Speaker 1: what's their next thing. I mean, I'm not I don't

299
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,880
Speaker 1: fall in that bucket UM. I fall in the bucket

300
00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:32,600
Speaker 1: of UM. So let me give you a little bit

301
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,120
Speaker 1: of history. So our G a Ventures and r G

302
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,800
Speaker 1: have been an investor in my company since I was

303
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,440
Speaker 1: part of the Dodgers Accelerator back in two thousand, fifteen sixteen.

304
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,240
Speaker 1: And what happened is that I I built a relationship

305
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,440
Speaker 1: with them and I was a beneficiary of just some

306
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 1: of the amazing things that they've done for me, from

307
00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,600
Speaker 1: the first time we actually put sensors in the basketball

308
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,440
Speaker 1: in a game at a collegiate level. Well because when

309
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,760
Speaker 1: they set up a pilot for us, which Fox and Intel,

310
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,800
Speaker 1: and we got paid to do it and to prove

311
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:06,360
Speaker 1: our product right, so like referenceable clients paid pilot, big deal. UM.

312
00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:08,800
Speaker 1: The second, you know, and there's a whole list of times,

313
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:10,919
Speaker 1: but the second time was, you know, we put the

314
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,199
Speaker 1: sensors in basketball. Someone like Nike and Adidas, they probably

315
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,439
Speaker 1: own you know, I probably have like of the Division

316
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,080
Speaker 1: one college market. If we can't get a deal with them,

317
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,960
Speaker 1: we're screwed, right, And and r G had relationships and

318
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,280
Speaker 1: set up meetings and walked us like ushers us into

319
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,639
Speaker 1: that meetings. Here I am on the other side, like

320
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,679
Speaker 1: borderline restraining order, trying to get in by stalking people.

321
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,680
Speaker 1: And they literally opened the back door and say, let

322
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,879
Speaker 1: me take you to the right folks. Game changing. And

323
00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:41,919
Speaker 1: then you know, even with the last set of capital

324
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,440
Speaker 1: that I raised, they're the ones who facilitated the the

325
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,520
Speaker 1: the introduction to Verizon. So um, I have been a

326
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,240
Speaker 1: beneficiary of the r g A effect. And with I

327
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,000
Speaker 1: think what we've we've all seen is you know, over

328
00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,800
Speaker 1: the last um, you know, twelve to eighteen months, people

329
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,280
Speaker 1: non people of color have seen what we have been

330
00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,640
Speaker 1: saying in regards to the disparity for the longest while.

331
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 1: Like to us, we're like, yo, it's part of the

332
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,399
Speaker 1: course we've been saying this, which has led to folks

333
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: saying Okay, we got to do something and and and

334
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,879
Speaker 1: now I think it's great that we have allies that

335
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,960
Speaker 1: are helping us solve this problem, helping us over index

336
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,280
Speaker 1: in regards to like to get us out of the

337
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,840
Speaker 1: hole that we were in. So in that discussion, you know,

338
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,200
Speaker 1: we were talking about, okay, how what can we do?

339
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,520
Speaker 1: And we decided to partner up and and bring this

340
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,960
Speaker 1: coalition Adventure Studios to to market, which is you know,

341
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,679
Speaker 1: an ongoing initiative to help black founders, underrepresented founders, but

342
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,639
Speaker 1: really over indexing on black founders, UM and UM. We

343
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,120
Speaker 1: provide three things. Creative capital, which is you know, RG

344
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,199
Speaker 1: is a big agency. UM, they work on you know,

345
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,480
Speaker 1: some of the biggest clients Nike, Google, Instagram, you name it. UM,

346
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,520
Speaker 1: how can we actually provide those resources that work on

347
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 1: those projects to black founders for free as part of

348
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,159
Speaker 1: that experience. And then relationship capital, which is one that

349
00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,800
Speaker 1: I think is really powerful. But how do we take

350
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,720
Speaker 1: all the projects, pilots, everything that our g is doing

351
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,399
Speaker 1: with all of their clients and figure out ways that

352
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,520
Speaker 1: we can incorporate black founders and underrepresented founders integrated into

353
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,000
Speaker 1: those experiences. So when somebody is looking for a technology

354
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,800
Speaker 1: solution to help bring a campaign to market, or they're

355
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,159
Speaker 1: looking to solve a problem. How do we look at

356
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,159
Speaker 1: this group of coalition members and we don't want them

357
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,600
Speaker 1: to do it for free. We're talking about paid pilots,

358
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,720
Speaker 1: referenceable clients like non dilutive capital, right, and things that

359
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,159
Speaker 1: you can use to raise money because hey, I have

360
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,640
Speaker 1: a pilot that I did and it was this successful.

361
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,240
Speaker 1: And then the last pieces there will be a subset

362
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,080
Speaker 1: of people that they do invest. You know, our g

363
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,960
Speaker 1: is not a venture capital firm. They invest off their

364
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,320
Speaker 1: balance sheet, but they created this vehicle that allows them

365
00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,400
Speaker 1: to invest alongside their partners in a sen the kid

366
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,199
Speaker 1: to to to to put a piece in, you know,

367
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 1: alongside our partners who are true venture capitalists. And so

368
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,800
Speaker 1: I'm excited it came about. It came about out of

369
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 1: you know, us having a discussion and kudos to them, right,

370
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,920
Speaker 1: they came to me because they felt like, yo, we

371
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,720
Speaker 1: got to do something um and I feel very fortunate, grateful,

372
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 1: privilege that they that they even thought about me to

373
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,600
Speaker 1: to be able to help them bring this to fruition

374
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,800
Speaker 1: And I'm helping to guide that strategically. Founder perspective, what

375
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,600
Speaker 1: matters to founders, how do you hold people accountable so

376
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 1: that we just don't say it. So if we're gonna

377
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,960
Speaker 1: work with a founder, let's work with a founder. Um

378
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,400
Speaker 1: So that's kind of the role that I'm playing. Let's

379
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 1: go deeper because you know, like some e I R

380
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,680
Speaker 1: s entrepreneurs and residents are people who you know failed

381
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,600
Speaker 1: or are transitioning from a company and simply need a job, right,

382
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,800
Speaker 1: and that ain't too you know, as as you said it, Um, well,

383
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,359
Speaker 1: talk about the real value proposition provided by an e

384
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,239
Speaker 1: I R good one to both of the firm and

385
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,800
Speaker 1: the entrepreneur. Yeah, I mean, I think to the firm.

386
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,720
Speaker 1: You know, what we traditionally have is this disconnect right

387
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,600
Speaker 1: of you know, um, entrepreneurs thinking that they're ready to

388
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,720
Speaker 1: work with large corporate clients, and you've got large corporate

389
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 1: clients who think that getting paid at ninety is acceptable

390
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,479
Speaker 1: along so many other things like you know, and that

391
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:27,840
Speaker 1: you know, hey, we should have a meeting every month

392
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,679
Speaker 1: and maybe we'll have a project in six months. Like

393
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,120
Speaker 1: there is a very substantial disconnect between both of those groups.

394
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,720
Speaker 1: You know, you've got one group whose nimble, who is

395
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 1: and then you've got one group as a speed, but

396
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,760
Speaker 1: you have a group is a titanic, you know. So

397
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,840
Speaker 1: I think that that's one of the roles that I've played.

398
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 1: So I know, like you know, there's been many ideas

399
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 1: that we've come up with, and I'm like, okay, we'll wait, wait, wait,

400
00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,640
Speaker 1: but we can't take the entrepreneurs through all this process

401
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,840
Speaker 1: that's like a six to nine one project process. There

402
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 1: would have gone a business gone out of business right

403
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,880
Speaker 1: now if they don't some deals, you know, And then

404
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,800
Speaker 1: to the to the entrepreneur side is like, hey, yo,

405
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 1: you've got to make sure that your stuff is if

406
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: if if an agency is going to work with you

407
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 1: to put deer project and incorporate you in der project,

408
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,400
Speaker 1: you need to be ready so that when they put

409
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: you in place in their project, they can they can

410
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: execute because you know, their goal is to deliver on

411
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,439
Speaker 1: these things to be successful. And if your technology is

412
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 1: not ready or you don't have things ready, so you know,

413
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: it's almost like, uh, you know you're bilingual, right, You're

414
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,080
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how do you facilitate both sides

415
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,399
Speaker 1: and and help entrepreneurs get prepped for these opportunities and

416
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,680
Speaker 1: then given perspective to um the corporations and the agency

417
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 1: in regards to how do you work with startups? You

418
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 1: know you talked about you were, you know, approached by

419
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,960
Speaker 1: r g A to do this. But let's let's let's

420
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 1: imagine that you know you went after them, right, and

421
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:02,920
Speaker 1: so how can black entrepreneurs, innovators, ecosystem builders approach potential

422
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,440
Speaker 1: partners who may have larger footprints or are more established

423
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 1: in mainstream How can we approach them to activate the

424
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,959
Speaker 1: initiatives on behalf of black founders. Yeah, I mean I

425
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: think that, Um, this may sound crazy, but we can't

426
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 1: go into thinking about ourselves and and and and let

427
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,600
Speaker 1: me let me unpack that, right, Like I'll give a

428
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 1: perfect example. Um, I think the reason we we we

429
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,120
Speaker 1: work with Verizon and we got an investment from verising

430
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,040
Speaker 1: we being shot Trekker is because there was an alignment

431
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 1: of their corporate initiatives and we helped to meet some

432
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:48,760
Speaker 1: of those requirements. Right. So, from our perspective, when they

433
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,760
Speaker 1: think about like five G and the proliferation of five G,

434
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,920
Speaker 1: we are probably one of the best instantiations of showcasing

435
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,239
Speaker 1: five G because of the speed of our data. So

436
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: from my perspective, when I started to think about horizon

437
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: and how do we position this. You know, I had

438
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 1: to lean a little bit about their objectives and like,

439
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,199
Speaker 1: of course you've got to have your stuff in the

440
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 1: back of your mind, but first and foremost I had

441
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:16,160
Speaker 1: to think about, like, how do I have that meet

442
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: their goals? And by helping them meet their goals, we're

443
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 1: gonna get ours we're gonna get the implementation, we're gonna

444
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 1: get our stuff. But if we can help them so

445
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: And I think that that's something that is really important

446
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 1: with strategic partners. If you're looking at strategic partners that

447
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,439
Speaker 1: are bigger than you, you need to like strategically understand

448
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: what their objectives are. You know, because somebody is trying

449
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:42,680
Speaker 1: to get a promotion, right, somebody at that large organization

450
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: has some initiatives, something in their incentive program, something that

451
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: they are trying to accomplish to get them to the

452
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,159
Speaker 1: next level within that organization. And if you can actually

453
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,399
Speaker 1: assess figure it out, not only strategically but also the

454
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 1: individual level, and you can actually position yourself in a

455
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,080
Speaker 1: way to help them understand where you're a resource, and

456
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 1: in turn, you get what you need out of it.

457
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 1: I think that's how we have to approach strategic partnerships.

458
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,360
Speaker 1: It's it's kind of like a customer first type of approach.

459
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 1: I mean, you're gonna get yours, you're gonna get paid,

460
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 1: you're gonna work it out, but at first, let's help

461
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: them understand how we're going to help them solve their

462
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,360
Speaker 1: problems and we're gonna benefit in the long term. Who

463
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,080
Speaker 1: might succeed as an entrepreneur and resides who the makeup

464
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 1: of a person? The makeup of a person I think,

465
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:44,080
Speaker 1: I personally think, uh, formal entrepreneurs both successful and unsuccessful,

466
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,280
Speaker 1: and you know, we have our own definition of unsuccessful.

467
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: And maybe they didn't sell their company for a lot

468
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: of money, um, But like the learning process that comes

469
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,199
Speaker 1: from just bringing a company from the back of a

470
00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 1: napkin to some level of fruition, whether that's one customer

471
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:06,119
Speaker 1: to customer, big exit, I p O like that process

472
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: is an amazing learning process. So I even hate using

473
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,000
Speaker 1: the word unsuccessful, right because you know, I feel like

474
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: there's there's a certain level of learning that goes through

475
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 1: the entrepreneur process. So I really think that, you know,

476
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,159
Speaker 1: formal entrepreneurs make the best e I R s. I

477
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 1: mean based on on on what's necessary. UM. I think

478
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 1: they have a level of you know, they're going to

479
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:34,840
Speaker 1: speak to people from UM a place of experience versus hearsay.

480
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 1: And I think they'll have a certain level of empathy

481
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 1: and dealing with founders, understanding their position, and depending on

482
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:46,080
Speaker 1: their interactions and the level of success UM, they'll probably

483
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 1: have a good understanding of what it takes to be

484
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: to get to the next level. So I really think

485
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: that having the entrepreneurial background plays a really critical role

486
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,440
Speaker 1: in being a good e I R UM. And then

487
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,639
Speaker 1: I also think that you again, you're almost like a translator, right,

488
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: You've got to figure out how you work with the

489
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,920
Speaker 1: corporate side with you know, the organization that you're working within.

490
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,159
Speaker 1: So there's that side of it too. How does it

491
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: startup get engaged with in the I R in the

492
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 1: first place? Is it that you know, hey, I pitched

493
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,200
Speaker 1: to this firm and instead of writing me a check,

494
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 1: they put me in this program or you know, how

495
00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: does how does that relationship get initiated? Yeah, I mean

496
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: I think that that that relationship, I mean it's a

497
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: little different for different situations and depending on the role

498
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 1: that the E R R is actually playing. UM. I

499
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,040
Speaker 1: think it's it's very different depending on the role. In

500
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 1: some situations where that that that entrepreneur is is really

501
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,439
Speaker 1: just trying to figure out their next thing. That's a

502
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 1: whole different dynamic than someone that's you know, potentially there

503
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,639
Speaker 1: to be a resource, you know, to the entrepreneurs. I

504
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,280
Speaker 1: think that, um, if I was to tell entrepreneurs, I

505
00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: think it's not a matter of like searching out the

506
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 1: I R or for knowledge, right. I think it's a

507
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: matter of searching out like other entrepreneurs within the group

508
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,359
Speaker 1: and mentors and that type of stuff. I think you

509
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,640
Speaker 1: R R is just you know, one facet of mentorship

510
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: that's that's associated. And again it really depends on um

511
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: the objectives of that e I R I think in

512
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: my situation is a little bit different. But when you

513
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 1: look at a traditional VC firm, that's to your point,

514
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,720
Speaker 1: someone who's you know, kind of figure out what's the

515
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: next thing, trying to understand the marketing and the process,

516
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,120
Speaker 1: helping you know, the VC firm figure out what's next

517
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 1: or what what market they should be going into, et cetera.

518
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production of black they

519
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 1: Afro tech from the Black Fact Podcast Network and nine

520
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,680
Speaker 1: Heart Media. And it's produced by Morgan Dabon and me

521
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: Well Lucas, with additional production support by Love Beach and

522
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: Raven near Born. Special thank you to Michael Davis. Since

523
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: the carsa van Jan you know, like the wine. Yes,

524
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 1: that's his real name. Learn more about my guests and

525
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,120
Speaker 1: other tech disruptors and innovatives at afrotech dot com. Do

526
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: me a Salid and rate this podcast five stars on

527
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:20,240
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. Go get your money. Peace of luck,