1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,520 Speaker 1: Well Lucas here Black Tech Green Money. But Keith for Conwell, 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: better known as Mac, is foundering managing partner at Rare Bredventures, 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: a preceived fund that invests in exceptional founders, primarily outside 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: of large tech ecosystems, typically first money in or at 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: least earlier than most investors. He's a developer and entrepreneur himself, 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: and he's one of the most prominent voices in tech 7 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: on X formerly Twitter, and his fun success is largely 8 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: founded on his public persona. 9 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: This is a quote from you that. 10 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: I love and is just from a previous interview you 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: did or maybe something you row. And you said, most 12 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: people think vcs are rich. Typically, he said, typically you 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,959 Speaker 1: have to have a decent summ of money to do 14 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: all the fund set up, the legal fees and all 15 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: that other stuff. You't have none of that. So how 16 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: do you become a VC and have none of that? 17 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: How does that work? 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 3: All? 19 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 4: Right? So let's be clear, you can be broke and 20 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 4: get a job a venture you can't really be broken 21 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 4: start a venture fund. 22 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 2: Mm. 23 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 3: So so it was for. 24 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 4: Like, I got into VC cause I got a job 25 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 4: working for the State of Maryland during early stage venture 26 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 4: and so I start, I broke in working with the government. 27 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 4: But when I started my fund, I mean, like if 28 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,199 Speaker 4: you think about it, like generally it takes you anywhere 29 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 4: from a hundred to two hundred thousand to start a fund, 30 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 4: legal fees and all that. How was I able to 31 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 4: do it without all of that? One during COVID. I 32 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 4: raised my fund during COVID. I didn't have to pay 33 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 4: for travel, I have to go all over the place 34 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 4: for meetings with l with LPs, the limited partners know 35 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 4: people who invest in funds. 36 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 3: I could do all that through Zoom And. 37 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,839 Speaker 4: Then, uh, I got lucky cause during the process I 38 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 4: I met this lawyer on Zoom who I mean ofver 39 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 4: off of Twitter, who basically acts to be my lawyer 40 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 4: and was willing to do whatever it would take to 41 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 4: be my lawyer. And so lucky enough, he's been my 42 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 4: lawyer for four years and he's only ever sent me 43 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 4: one bill. 44 00:01:58,280 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 2: Wow. 45 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 4: So that that's how you get the start of fun 46 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 4: when you don't have any money. It's a lot of 47 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 4: luck and blessings, that's what happens. 48 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 2: It's so particular today. 49 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: I remember your tweets around the time when you decided 50 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: to go into VC, so, I like, I vividly remember 51 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: you saying, you know what, I'm think, I'm gonna do 52 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: this VC thing. And I'm like, this was four or 53 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: five years ago, and I remember the conversations you were 54 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: having on Twitter about finding your way into venture so 55 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: and you talked about Twitter. 56 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 2: Just now, how do you, like what other ways has. 57 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: Your social media presence been a benefit to you in 58 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: finding success here? 59 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 4: I mean, I mean a lot of people know me 60 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 4: from Twitter because for whatever reason, I got really big 61 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 4: on Twitter back in twenty twenty and in twenty twenty one, 62 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 4: and that's really what allowed me to raise my fund 63 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 4: was being recognized and building a brand on Twitter. And 64 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 4: like that Twitter. 65 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 3: Brand has changed my life. 66 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 4: It has put me in a profile where like, I'm 67 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:02,920 Speaker 4: not the I'm not a new person, right, I'm the 68 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 4: same black man I was a decade ago. 69 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 3: Right, I'm a little more mature. 70 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 4: But I like the my thought, like the things I 71 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 4: care about having changed drastically. Right, the the people who 72 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 4: are willing to listen to me has changed drastically. 73 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, And that's all because of the Twitter. 74 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 4: Uh, the Twitter presence, And really what Twitter did was 75 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,679 Speaker 4: just it gave me a platform where all I was 76 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 4: doing was helping people talking about venture tryna help founders, 77 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 4: but it gave people a chance to see. 78 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 3: Who I was and what I was about. And the 79 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 3: thing I'm probably most. 80 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 4: Thankful for was as I was using Twitter and gaining 81 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 4: a brand and popularity all by accident, Like it wasn't 82 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 4: a planned out this way, but like as I was 83 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 4: doing it, I was doing it from a very authentic, 84 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 4: just place and just being myself. And so when I 85 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 4: went to go out to raise my fund, because I 86 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 4: was already using Twitter, people were used to that version 87 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 4: of me. And what I found was I found myself 88 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 4: doing a whole lot less code switching in the process, 89 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 4: and I was able to get to a point where 90 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 4: I recognize because of because people are seen so much 91 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 4: from me on Twitter, and whether they agree with me 92 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 4: or disagree with me, they were comfortable with me because 93 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 4: they recognized it was always coming from an honest. 94 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 3: And real place. 95 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 4: It's like it's like, you know, for those people who 96 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 4: watch sports, like if you listen to Draymond Green through 97 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 4: all his antics, you know, most people say, oh, that 98 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 4: man is crazy, But when you're around Tom all his friends, like, oh, 99 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,239 Speaker 4: that's just Draymond yeah, right, or Charles Barkley, Like Charles 100 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 4: Barkley gets away with saying stuff that most people could 101 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 4: never get away with, but that oh, it's just Charles 102 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 4: Barkley because people have developed this familiarity with them where 103 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 4: they're like, oh, everything they're saying is real, that's them 104 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 4: coming from an honest place. And I found people giving 105 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 4: me doing the same thing for me, And that was 106 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 4: a really interesting, you know point for me, cause I'm like, 107 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,799 Speaker 4: my whole life was about code switching, like a black 108 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 4: man in tech, like this is what you do. And 109 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 4: I got to a point where because people have recognized 110 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 4: my level of sophistication and intelligence through what I was 111 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 4: putting out on Twitter and allow them to get past 112 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 4: some of the other stuff that normally gets people tripped 113 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 4: up when they meet me. 114 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: So if I look at your Twitter, I would imagine 115 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: you're spending a full day on Twitter. Like so I'm 116 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: always curious in people who are super active, because I'm 117 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: not good at Twitter. Like Twitter X is one of 118 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: those platforms you have to be engaged in or like 119 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: you can't just post and then go do something else 120 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: like you can on. 121 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 2: Ig or whatever. Twitter X. 122 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: You have to like be engaged, be part of the 123 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: conversation in order to make it work over there, So 124 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: like tactically, logistically, functionally, how do you do that? How 125 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: much time are you spending on this? 126 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 4: I don't spend as much time as people think, Well, what, 127 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 4: I don't tweet nearly as much as I used to 128 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 4: or x whatever we're gonna call it, right, But what 129 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 4: I do is number one is I don't look at 130 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 4: my timeline. I only interact with my tweets, So I 131 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 4: only see my tweets and people tweeting at It's number one, right, 132 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 4: So that allows me to tweet, step away, and then 133 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 4: I can come back like an hour later, and I 134 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 4: can react or comment on all the you know, interactions 135 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,679 Speaker 4: happening around the tweet, right, So I don't see y'all. 136 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 3: Have to spend the whole lot of time. 137 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 4: I just have a thought and I just put it 138 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 4: out there, and then I'll check it every so often 139 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 4: throughout the day just to disengage in the conversation. But 140 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 4: I don't take conversations too far. When I got people 141 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 4: who disagree with me, after two or three tweets, I'm done, 142 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,359 Speaker 4: Like I'm not going back and forth with you. 143 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 3: If you're a hater. 144 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 4: Hey, good luck to you, right Like I just I 145 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 4: just learn otherwise you'll catch yourself for hours. 146 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: You are historically a founder. Also, you had ideas you 147 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: wanted to build businesses around. Can you talk about some 148 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: of those because I want to go deep on this 149 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: one because there's a couple of things that you have 150 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: said in previous views I want to talk about. But 151 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: I want to get a landscape of what businesses you 152 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: had under your belt before we talk about those things. 153 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. 154 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 4: So I had two startups that put like real time 155 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 4: into the first one what was called uh no Badgift 156 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 4: dot Com, eventually called a vision of Eventually we. 157 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 3: Got into UH it's called given to. 158 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 4: It was originally a platform for people to crowd fund 159 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 4: money for gifts, so created a wishless for any day 160 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 4: or event, and people could crow fund money towards things 161 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 4: that you like, things that you wanted. We eventually pivoted 162 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 4: to a platform that could purchase anything from Google Player, iTunes, 163 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 4: UH digitally and distributing the form of a link. So 164 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 4: that's the UH technology. We eventually sold to a UH 165 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 4: a fortune one hundred company. And then my second company, RedBerry, 166 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 4: was a e commerce platform, think, uh, Instagram with a 167 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 4: buy button before Instagram had a buy button, right like 168 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 4: five years before Instagram had a buy button. So those 169 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 4: were the two companies, two very different journey in paths. 170 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 3: But yeah, you know, yeah, it's the thing. 171 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: So what I wanted to get to was this quote 172 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: I read from you. You said I was depressed and 173 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: locked myself in the house for six months after the 174 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: second startup failed. And so what I want to talk 175 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: about is being an investor now, because there are a 176 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: lot of investors who never started anything. They just invest 177 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: capital and they found whatever skill or succes should say 178 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: they found success doing that necessarily skill or whatever, because 179 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: there's a lot that goes through having skill doing it, 180 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: but having the experience of being on the other side 181 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: of the table, how do you believe that helps you 182 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: add value to startups? 183 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,079 Speaker 4: So, and something that comes up in our industry and 184 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 4: the venture industry a lot about this idea of being 185 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 4: a founder makes you a better investor. I fundamentally disagree 186 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 4: with that. I don't actually think having operating experience or 187 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 4: having a founder being a founder makes you a better investor. 188 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 4: And that's just core to wasn't invested right an investor's 189 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 4: job is to make more money. Right, having experience as 190 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 4: a founder doesn't necessarily make you better at that at 191 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 4: being an investor. But what it does do it allows you. 192 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 4: It does help you win deals because it allows you to. 193 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 3: Connect with founders better. 194 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 4: Right, Like a founder can call me at eleven o'clock 195 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 4: at night and have a horror story about something that 196 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 4: they're dealing with, and I can and I can walk them. 197 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 3: Through it like I've been through it myself. 198 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 4: Right, But from that quote she talked about, you know, 199 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 4: having MM when my second company failed and lacking myself 200 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 4: away for six months cause I was depressed and like 201 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 4: didn't wanna go anywhere, didn't wanna do anything cause everything 202 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 4: in my life was wrapped up and startup culture, startup world, 203 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 4: like I ain't have anything beyond that is that whenever 204 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 4: I do have a company shut down, when a founder 205 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 4: calls me to tell me about it, I immediately stop 206 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 4: the conversation. I don't wanna hear. I don't wanna talk 207 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 4: about the business. I don't care about what went wrong. 208 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 4: I don't care about it shutting down, Like that's not 209 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 4: what we're here to talk about. I wanna talk about you, 210 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 4: how are you doing, how are you feeling? What's going 211 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 4: on with you? It's okay to be mad, It's okay 212 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 4: to be sad, it's okay to be depressed. If you 213 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 4: need to go, get yourself a doctor, are a specialist. 214 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 4: We w we we will help you, you know, get 215 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 4: your first few sessions done, like whatever you need. But 216 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 4: let's let's just let's just be real and talk about 217 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 4: the human part. Like this hurts, right, I don't. I 218 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 4: don't get into the business part or trying to do 219 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 4: a debrief, cause like that's the founder trying to do 220 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 4: the respectful and right to be a good steward of 221 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 4: the money. But like that's not really what you need 222 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 4: in that moment, that's not really what's going on. Like 223 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 4: if anybody who's ever had a company failed knows how 224 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 4: much that hurts. And like the crazy of emotions you're 225 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 4: going through, you're ruined yourself financially, probably you're trying to 226 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,959 Speaker 4: figure out how to figure that out. You're probably ruined 227 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 4: a bunch of relationships and things going on in your life, 228 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 4: and now you gotta go back to people. Like there's 229 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 4: so much that goes into it. So when those things 230 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 4: come up, like I have had the experience where I 231 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,599 Speaker 4: can talk them through that and I can be empathetic 232 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 4: where it's not just transactional. It's not just about the money, 233 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 4: right because you know, at the end of the day, 234 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 4: you know, as a preseed fund, we're going to invest 235 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 4: in close to fifty companies. I don't expect all fifty 236 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 4: of those companies to make it. It's like it's there's 237 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 4: no world in which all fifty of those companies make it. 238 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 3: And that's okay. So you not making this not the 239 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 3: end of the world. 240 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 4: You being okay and having a way path forward that matters. 241 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: I want to dig deep and deeper on this another 242 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: way because I've heard venture or actually just technology startup 243 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: land be called the money game. And I'm sure you've 244 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: heard that phrase like the money game before, Like this 245 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: is you know, this is the gold rush in so 246 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: many different respects, and I want to dig in on 247 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: that particular phrase, the money game, because you just said 248 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: something that sparked the thought of the job of a. 249 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:55,199 Speaker 2: VC is to make money. 250 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: That's the job. And so often, you know, we're raised 251 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: with this. You know, the world is a place that 252 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: you know you can do good things and people you 253 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: get rewarded for doing good and all these things. And 254 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: while some vcs may present themselves if wanting to have 255 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: more good things in the world, at the end of 256 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: the day, can I make money doing this? So I 257 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: want you to talk about the landscape of the money game, 258 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: if you could give us kind of like a state, 259 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: like what that means to you, and then dig into 260 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: what vcs are actually there trying to accomplish. 261 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 4: When we think about the money game, but we're really 262 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 4: talking about the American dream, Like how do. 263 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 3: I achieve wealth? 264 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 4: How do I start from wherever my starting point is 265 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 4: and get to a point where I have the potential 266 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,959 Speaker 4: to be the richest person in America, richest person in 267 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 4: the world. Right, That's what everybody's trying to achieve, and 268 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 4: what we see today. The number one way that we 269 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 4: that's positioned to us is go the entrepreneurship route, right, 270 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 4: because if you can be a founder or CEO, an executive, 271 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 4: that's how. 272 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 3: You make all the big money. 273 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 4: That's how you become a Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates thieve jobs, right, 274 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,320 Speaker 4: and so the pathway to doing that is like, Okay, 275 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 4: i'm'a start a business. When you start a business, you 276 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 4: need resources. If you don't have resources, where do you go? 277 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:10,079 Speaker 3: Alright? 278 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 4: Most traditionally you go to friends and family, you know, 279 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 4: depending on who you are, where you're from. 280 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 3: That's limited. 281 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 4: Then you got banks, alright, Like I don't know about you, 282 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 4: but I don't know many people could just walk into 283 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 4: a bank and you just get a fifty thousand dollars 284 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 4: loan to say, hey, i'm'a start a franchise, right I 285 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 4: D I mean I do know people who can. I 286 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 4: just don't know a bunch of people I. 287 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 3: Grew up with who could. Right. And then and. 288 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 4: Then on the other side, is it's this idea of 289 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 4: these other type of investors, these these you know, these 290 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 4: angel investors, individuals investing their own money doing really interesting things. 291 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 4: And then you got vcs, you know, these institutional investors 292 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 4: whose jobs are we give you money so you can 293 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,959 Speaker 4: make more money. Right, those are those are like your 294 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 4: base options. And it's hard now because the option of 295 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 4: ventures changed. 296 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 3: Right. 297 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 4: We see this kind of cycle every ten years or 298 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 4: so where it becomes really easy to get in. 299 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:03,439 Speaker 3: Money's flowing. 300 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 4: Think, you know, before the dot com bubble pop, every 301 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 4: you know dot com website is getting a bunch of funding, 302 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 4: getting large valuations. Pet dot Com is a billion down company. 303 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,439 Speaker 4: It's in the bubble pops and it goes to zero. 304 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 4: Everybody's freaking out, and then it's really hard to get money. Right, 305 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 4: we just experienced that it's really easy to get money 306 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 4: in twenty twenty, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two comes, 307 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 4: there's a bubble pops, and. 308 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 3: Now it's really hard to get money. 309 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 4: So one of those options that people went for to 310 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 4: help them go for that American dream. If you're starting 311 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 4: as an entrepreneur, it's a lot harder to get to 312 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 4: than it was, you know, call it four or five 313 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 4: years ago, and it's only getting harder now. We'll loosen up, sure, 314 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 4: but like that's not a time that she as a founder, kid, 315 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 4: can you can guesstimt on? 316 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 3: Right? 317 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 4: So all you can do is go out to solve 318 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 4: the problem you went out to solve. And I think 319 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 4: this is what I taught the founders about a lot 320 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 4: is you can try to gain the system as much 321 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 4: as much as much as you want. 322 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 3: Right. 323 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 4: And when we talk and we're talking about the money game, right, 324 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 4: the money game. 325 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 3: Is what it is. 326 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 4: You know, you want to do good for your community, 327 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 4: like hey, I'm gonna do the Toms thing. 328 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 3: You buy one, we're gonna get one free. 329 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 4: That's cool and all, But you know it's even better 330 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 4: is if you just get as much money as you can, 331 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 4: become the biggest company you can, and then be like 332 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 4: Shade Moisture after you exit, go ahead and start giving 333 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 4: out to the community and really large quantities. You'll actually 334 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 4: end up helping more people that way than trying to 335 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 4: do the Toms things which may or may not work, 336 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 4: which may or may not be the reason why your 337 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 4: company is gonna make it. Right, Like, at the end 338 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 4: of the day, get to the making the money part. 339 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 4: If you make the money part of the ability to 340 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 4: do good or be there all right, But you know 341 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 4: today that game is harder, ventures harder to get to, 342 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 4: and when ventures hard to get to, getting loans is 343 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 4: hard to get to. Interest rates are crazy. But what 344 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 4: I will say about the game is for the founders 345 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 4: out there, learn the game, Understand what ventures about. Understand 346 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 4: when somebody says the power law what that means. Understand 347 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 4: what investors are caring about. If you're a black founder 348 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 4: out there and you're building something that just core to 349 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 4: you for the black community, that's awesome. That doesn't mean 350 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 4: you gotta tell them Investor as soon as you go 351 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 4: into a pitch, this is only for black people, because 352 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 4: in most cases it's not anyway right go in and say, hey, 353 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 4: this is here. We're going to change the world. We're 354 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 4: going to help a lot of people. And if it 355 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 4: just so happens your initial go to market strategies, you're 356 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 4: only marketing to black people. Ain't nobody ever ask you 357 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 4: about that? 358 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 3: They just ask you how your numbers doing? Right? 359 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 4: Like again, it's a game because you're trying to get 360 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 4: to your trying to get to whatever your goal is, 361 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 4: and there are ways to get there, but learning some 362 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 4: of the rules of how to play it. 363 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 3: You know it. 364 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 4: It may of times feel like you're compromising or compromising 365 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 4: some morals and not being authentic. But I will tell you, 366 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 4: if you play the game right, you don't have to 367 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 4: compromise yoursel off to do it, and you come out 368 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 4: on the other end making it easier for the next 369 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 4: person to come through without having to pull up any 370 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 4: of the bs. 371 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: Speaking to that, what kind of what characteristics are you 372 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: looking for in founders? When you see a founders you 373 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: know what I'm going to bet on that person. I 374 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: got twenty five grand for you, I got figyas for you, 375 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: go got a hunting for you. 376 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 2: What is it typically that they've displayed. 377 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 4: It's typically they've displayed an ability to execute. 378 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 3: Right. 379 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 4: You have a plan that you've been able to work through. 380 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 4: You figured out how to do you figured out your 381 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 4: customer acquisition right, You've really really, really keyed in on 382 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 4: how you get customers. I mean, too many founders that 383 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 4: are so keyed in on their product they have no 384 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 4: clue how they're going to get customers right that. 385 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 3: That is a red flag for sure. 386 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 4: And then I'm looking for like the little things like 387 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 4: being smart, having great like those kind of table stakes, right, 388 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 4: But I'm looking for like how do you treat people? 389 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 4: How do you treat your co founders, how do you 390 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 4: deal with hard problems? How do other people around you 391 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 4: treat you? 392 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 3: Right? 393 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 4: The way other people treat you is very often a 394 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 4: reflection of how you treat folks, right, Like, those are 395 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 4: the little things that come over time that are kind 396 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 4: of part of what we call it pattern matching. Like 397 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 4: I'm not pattern matching for what you look like or 398 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 4: what you wear. I'm pattern matching for like who you 399 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 4: are as a person and how you execute right. So 400 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 4: I'm looking for Like I I give you an example. 401 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 4: We had a founder that we were really high on, 402 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,239 Speaker 4: we wanted, we knew we wanted to invest in, and 403 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 4: then on a ketchup call the founders like in their 404 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,639 Speaker 4: warehouse porn sweat and he's like, yeah, sorry, you know, 405 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,639 Speaker 4: we've been working really hard all weekend and all this morning. 406 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,400 Speaker 4: We decided we found a way to reo to rearrange 407 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 4: our warehouse to make it more efficient. We're like, okay, 408 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 4: but you're a broke startup, So where'd you find some 409 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 4: people to help you rearrange? Like, Oh, I just got 410 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 4: a bunch of our drivers to come in, got some 411 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 4: beer and piece and to stay in. Like so you 412 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 4: mean to tell them you got a bunch of people 413 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 4: to basically come around for free on the weekend to 414 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 4: real range a warehouse. That ain't something you see every day, right, Like, 415 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 4: so there are these founders out there that have this magnetism, 416 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 4: Like that's something that stands out. Or I had another 417 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 4: founders in the beauty space doing nail polished and he said, hey, 418 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 4: you know, eighty five percent of the industry is Vietnamese, 419 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 4: but none of the major nail polish companies have the 420 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 4: Vietnamese version of their website. He said, We're going to 421 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,360 Speaker 4: make our website and Vietnamese version. We're going to hire 422 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 4: a Vietnamese liaison to work with these salons. Like that's 423 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 4: a really small thing, but that's a really big thing, right, 424 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 4: So things like that, like you notice you learned the 425 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:37,919 Speaker 4: key in on those are the things that kind of 426 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 4: separate the greats in my mind. 427 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, you've been intentional about trying to support fund invest 428 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: in underrepresented, overlooked founders and typically why they say. More recently, 429 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: we've seen when people say, okay, I'm looking for black people, 430 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: that's nder attack. And so obviously, I mean there's a 431 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: lot of stories that people can go and do your 432 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 1: googles on that. But being an investor who wants to 433 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: make sure that people who historically have not been able 434 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: to access capital can access capital, how does the landscape 435 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: change for you? 436 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 4: It doesn't change for me in the fact that like 437 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 4: rare Breed as a firm doesn't have a diversity mandate, 438 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,240 Speaker 4: like we invest in everybody. Our only mandates to invest 439 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 4: outside major tech ups. I saw a venture firm and 440 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 4: I know of others who basically sent out a message 441 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:39,919 Speaker 4: to their investors saying, Hey, all of our companies founded 442 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 4: by black founders, we're lowering the valuations of all those 443 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 4: in our portfolio because we don't think they'll be able 444 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 4: to raise money. 445 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 3: In the future. 446 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 4: That's a real thing, right, And so the big thing 447 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 4: for me is I try to do this whole thing 448 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 4: of like, we don't invest in diversity, we invest amazing companies. 449 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,400 Speaker 4: Don't really look at the faces behind those companies, so 450 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 4: that when I do have Oh, these companies are doing 451 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 4: really well, these are amazing companies. These are driving our portfolio. 452 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 4: If it just so happens that there's a bunch of diverse 453 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 4: faces behind it, well, that's really cool. And then that 454 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 4: gets to be a feather in our cabin, that becomes 455 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 4: that gets to become part of the largest story and 456 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 4: narrative in the future. But in the meantime, people aren't 457 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 4: excited about that. It's interesting, it's different, it's not exciting 458 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 4: until there's points on the board and points on the boards, 459 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 4: exits and money getting returned. 460 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 3: Right. So, like we're in an interesting. 461 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 4: Space and like I'm an advocate for diverse founders, right, 462 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 4: But that's not what we exclusively invest in, and so 463 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 4: it allows me to get around some conversations. But like, 464 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 4: at the end of the day, I'm still a black man. 465 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 4: That's still the first thing everybody sees and thinks, right, 466 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:52,399 Speaker 4: and so like, yes, it can be limiting, Yes, in 467 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 4: times where it's harder to raise money. When people think 468 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 4: that you're investing in the industry, are in the market 469 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 4: that they view as being small, then they're not excited, right, 470 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 4: The one advantage I have. Another advantage I have though, 471 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 4: is because of my Twitter presence and social media presence, 472 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 4: it gives me an opportunity to push back against that 473 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 4: at times, and it gives me the opportunity where people 474 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 4: will take meetings with me what normally they wouldn't have, 475 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 4: where I know other folks who look like me may 476 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 4: not get those meetings, right, be just because of a 477 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 4: popularity I've been able to gain off of social media, 478 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 4: and so I'm aware of that and I use that. 479 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 4: But like, yeah, you know, investing in black, are investing 480 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 4: in black and brown are diverse. It comes and goes 481 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 4: just InVogue for a period of time, then disappears, then 482 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 4: comes and then goes. All we gotta do is whatever 483 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 4: resources we get in those times, we gotta use them 484 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 4: to as to the fullest, cause what we can't do 485 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 4: is get a bunch of resources do and start out 486 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,360 Speaker 4: to start and then those resources get pulled from underneath 487 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 4: of us, and then we're left behind, not being able 488 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 4: to get to the finish line. And then everybody points 489 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 4: back to see, we did that experiment. We tried that, 490 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 4: we gave them help that one time, and it didn't 491 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 4: work out. So like in this time, we got to 492 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 4: make sure that we're just putting points on the board. 493 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 4: So you know, yeah, we got a diverse portfolio, but 494 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,919 Speaker 4: I mean my black and brown founders to outperform so 495 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 4: that one day at the point to it, like hey, 496 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 4: you know, we're investing only diverse founders, but our diverse 497 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 4: founders do really well. So the people who do do that, 498 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 4: you might want to look at in wrestling in those 499 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 4: folks too, right, Like we've got to build these natives. 500 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: There is a goal or something I would love to 501 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: see in the world, and that is more black and 502 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 1: brown founders being able to turn down VC, turn on 503 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: specific VC. Because what we hear and it shocked me 504 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: when I learned about it years ago that there were 505 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: founders who said, you know what, we're good. We are 506 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: around as full. You know, there's no other room, and 507 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: there's VC's like, oh, well take my money, and they're like, nah, 508 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: we're good, And I'm like, I want to see more 509 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: black and brown founders be in that position to be like, nah, 510 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: we're good. The round is full. And so with that 511 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: comes foundationally of the vcs who got in other value 512 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: they provided other. 513 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 2: Than just the capital. 514 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: So my question to you is, let's say you've got 515 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,679 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars to invest in one thousand dollars round. 516 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:22,639 Speaker 1: What makes what other value do you believe red Breed 517 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,680 Speaker 1: MAC provide that allows them to say, you know what, 518 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: we want them in on this round because they're hundred 519 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: dollars is the same one hundred dollars as somebody else, 520 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: but we want MAC, I. 521 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 4: Would say, first or foremost, the first thing I tell 522 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 4: all my founders after we agree to make an investment 523 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 4: that they get my cell phone number, and I tell them, 524 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 4: you now get the ability to treat me like an employee. 525 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 4: That means you have my cell phone numbers. That means 526 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 4: you have the right to spam me whenever you need 527 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 4: something done. You let me know what it is, doesn't 528 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 4: matter what it is. Right, that's number one. Number two, 529 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 4: we come with a human first approach. Right, I do this, 530 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 4: but I give you it's a small example something I 531 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 4: do for my founders. I do what I call like 532 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 4: a founder care package. I usually do this on Fridays. 533 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 4: I'll do a thing where I'll I'll send one of 534 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 4: my founders through their cash app or Vemo one hundred 535 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 4: dollars and I'd be like, hey, I been doing a 536 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,120 Speaker 4: lot of great work versently. You know, I know it's 537 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 4: been a long week. I know it's a lot going on. 538 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 4: Here's one hundred dollars. Go get out of the office 539 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 4: early day, Go go to the movies. 540 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 3: Go do so much your wife, Go do so much 541 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 3: your kids. 542 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 5: Go go get yourself a massage, Go give yourself's boday, 543 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 5: just to thank you to you. Right, And it's it's 544 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 5: just an acknowledgement of how hard they're working. Right, Like, yes, 545 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 5: as the VC, Yeah, all these founders want to come 546 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 5: to me and. 547 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 3: Get the money. 548 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 4: VC's are the ones who are lucky to work with 549 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 4: these founders. We're lucky to work with these founders and 550 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 4: get to support. 551 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 3: Them and the journey is hard and lonely. 552 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 4: And so being able to support you as a human 553 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 4: through that. So we go about that a little differently. 554 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 4: And then at the same time, you know, if you 555 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 4: to get in touch with somebody, get connected with somebody 556 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 4: trying to get somewhere. Thanks to the large social media presence, 557 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 4: I'm one or two tweaks away from just about any 558 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 4: and everybody, and I'm one or two degrees away from 559 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,959 Speaker 4: just about any and everybody. So if you want something, 560 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:17,880 Speaker 4: we can connect you. We can get you in front 561 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 4: of the right people, you know, get you connected to 562 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 4: the right folks. 563 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 3: So that's how we help. 564 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 4: I mean, I've done everything from help a founder that 565 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 4: got picked up by US marshals get out of a 566 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 4: crazy situation, to you know, needing pr help to need 567 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 4: the CTO, to you know, needing more funding, more money 568 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 4: to get around done right, Like we've done it all. 569 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 4: But that's just kind of you know, that's part of 570 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 4: the game. When we're in it, we're in it together. 571 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 4: When when you get this money from rare breed, we 572 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,919 Speaker 4: are now partners and we only get money when you 573 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 4: make money. 574 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 3: So let's make it together. 575 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 2: What type of startups or tech are you interested in. 576 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 4: I'm interested in startups and texts that are founded by 577 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 4: dope founders. I don't really care about industries or verticals. 578 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 4: All that I care about amazing entrepreneurs. That's what's going 579 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 4: to make a company grow, Especially we invest in pre 580 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,679 Speaker 4: ced What I know a prec is that within three 581 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 4: years your company's probably gonna be something different. So I'm 582 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 4: not gonna focus as much on that as I am 583 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 4: how you go about executing. 584 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 3: So we invest in dol founders. 585 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,160 Speaker 1: So to give a b side to that, what trends 586 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: are you interested in? What excites you about what's happening 587 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: in the world right. 588 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 4: Now, I'm excited by I'm excited about all the possibilities 589 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,360 Speaker 4: AIS offering. 590 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 3: For all these other industries. 591 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 4: Right, not for AI, but when we look at you know, 592 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 4: when you look at beauty, being able to be smarter 593 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 4: with skin tone matching technology to help those with darker 594 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 4: skin tones be able to find the right color matching 595 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 4: for their makeup. Right, having AI support technologies that better 596 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 4: understands the texture of your hair to help you better 597 00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 4: understand which products do. 598 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 3: You use or which tools are right tools for your hair? 599 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 4: Right, Like I'm excited for how AI is gonna be 600 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 4: opening up a lot of these other industries. I'm also 601 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 4: very excited for for some of the deep tech and 602 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 4: hard manufacturing technologies coming out. Uh, We've seen a lot 603 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 4: of success with deep tech and future manufacturing, so I 604 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,439 Speaker 4: i'd say those those stud that gets me excited. But 605 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 4: generally speaking, you know, doesn't really matter what you're doing. 606 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 4: If you're a dope found in making a good company, 607 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 4: we can probably walk together. 608 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: I pre seed is has more I think, more unique 609 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: inroads to getting your attention than you know, a series 610 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: A or S A seed you know, startup, cause you're 611 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: probably getting stuff from people you've never heard from, don't 612 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: have warm introductions, et cetera. 613 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 2: They just well, this is the question, how do they 614 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 2: get your attention? 615 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 3: Uh? 616 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 4: Any way they can, whether it be on Twitter, LinkedIn discord. Uh. 617 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 4: I had somebody vemo me money for my birthday one 618 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 4: year with a link to their pitch deck. That's pretty 619 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 4: you know, the cold email, the text messages. Right, people 620 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 4: get to me anyway and every way. 621 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 3: I'm fairly open. 622 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 4: That just means I don't get to everybody that reaches 623 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 4: out to me, right, But for the ones they do, 624 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 4: they come any and always and I'd probably say the 625 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 4: easiest way to get my attention is hitt me and 626 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 4: suit me an email where you're you just lay. 627 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:31,959 Speaker 3: Out your metrics to your numbers. 628 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 4: Right, if your traction is killing it, like you're gonna 629 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 4: get me excited all day every day, that's a simple one. 630 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 4: Or if when you never you send me your information, 631 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 4: have a link to a demo? 632 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 2: What does TRAC should mean? At preceed? What is track? 633 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: Because I mean if am I doing ten thousand a 634 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: month one hundred thousand a month? Or am I doing 635 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: seventy dollars last month and one hundred dollars this month? 636 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 2: Like like what's pre seed traction? Look like? 637 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 4: That's such an unfair conversation for founders because you know, 638 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 4: V say traction all the time, but what traction means 639 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 4: is how fast are you growing? But like founders always 640 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 4: to your point, they want these metrics, like what do 641 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 4: I need to hit? I always tell founders the metrics 642 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 4: you need to hit is more right because I could 643 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 4: tell you twenty thousand and that'd be great and you 644 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 4: go out and be like you're back, I'm doing forty 645 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 4: thousand monthly recurring revenue. Come rock with me. 646 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 3: That's amazing. 647 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 4: But when you come to pitch me, you're not just 648 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 4: pitching against the metrics or your space or your competitors. 649 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 4: You're also pitching against all the other companies I'm gonna 650 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 4: see at a given timeframe. So even though you, even 651 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 4: though I said twenty thousand monthly recurring revenue and you 652 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 4: got in the forty, well, three days ago I met 653 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 4: a company doing sixty, right, does that mean I'm gonna 654 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 4: pick that company over you? No? But now I gotta 655 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 4: get to all the other things right. And so the 656 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 4: more traction you have, and all traction is a proxy 657 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 4: for execution, but the more traction you have, it's just 658 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 4: an easy way for me to start to separate. You know, 659 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 4: out of the fifty companies I'm speak to in a 660 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 4: two week period, you know, ten of them are doing 661 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 4: north of ten thousand and monthly revenue. Okay, of those ten, 662 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 4: which of these are the most interesting? 663 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: I want to leave with this last question that I 664 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: thought was salient from your father and where he said, 665 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: do you want to be the rapper? Do you want 666 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: to be the person who signs the rappers checks? And 667 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,280 Speaker 1: so I like you to set the stage for how 668 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: that conversation came up and then how what you got 669 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: out of that? 670 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 4: So I was in middle school and a good friend 671 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:40,479 Speaker 4: of mine who's a classically trained pianist, started making beats. 672 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 3: So he's trying to become a producer. 673 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 4: I'm over here like writing, you know, raps to any 674 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 4: beats he's putting together. And so my father hears me 675 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,959 Speaker 4: one day, you know, writing and practicing, and he's like, 676 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 4: what you're working on? I was like, you know, I'm 677 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 4: working on the song. You know, me and my friend 678 00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 4: were doing this or whatever whatever. He's like, you're doing 679 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 4: this cause you wanna be cool, and you're doing this 680 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 4: cause you want money. I'm like, cause of both, who 681 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:06,960 Speaker 4: don't wanna be cool? But like, I'm definitely in it 682 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 4: for the money. He's like, well, if you're in it 683 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 4: for the money, I always suggest that you look into 684 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 4: the person who signs that rappers checks. 685 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 3: And I'm like, what do you mean. 686 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 4: He's like, who do you think makes more money? The 687 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 4: rapper or the person who signs their checks? Do you 688 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 4: know who those people are? 689 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 3: I don't. 690 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 4: So my father made me go down to the library 691 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 4: and go do research on the music industry, at which 692 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 4: point I found out the people who sign rappers and 693 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 4: singers checks make a whole lot more money than the 694 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 4: stars that week, like right, And so that started changing 695 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 4: my mindset. And so what that ended up leading on 696 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 4: to was I stopped putting. I stopped rapping, and I 697 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 4: started putting together other local artists of other middle school 698 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 4: or high school. It's in the area I knew and 699 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 4: started a rap label. And my one claim to fame 700 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 4: was I got a song on the radio local radio 701 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 4: station and I got a group the open up for 702 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 4: Murphy Lee back when Murphy Lee was still hot, right, 703 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 4: And it's like the beginning of me. That's like an archrepreneurs, like, oh, 704 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 4: I I no longer want to be the crapper. 705 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 2: As a win win. 706 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 4: Pop is right, Mac. 707 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 2: So so good to be with you, my brother. 708 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 3: This was good you too, Will. 709 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 4: It's been great to see you grow over the years 710 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 4: and create this empire. Love to see all the work 711 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 4: you're doing, love to see your success. 712 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 3: Man, keep it. 713 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 2: Thank you, brother, Thank you, thank you very much. 714 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro 715 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 1: Tech on the Black Effect podcast Networking Night hire Immedia, 716 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 1: and it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well. 717 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 2: Lucas with the additional production support. 718 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: By Kate McDonald, Sarah Ergan, and Jaden McGee. Special thank 719 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: you to Michael Davis and Love Beach. Learn more about 720 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: my guessing other tech. This shut is an innovators at 721 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 1: afrotech dot com. The video version this episode will drop 722 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, so tap in 723 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 1: enjoy your black Tech Green money. Shit is somebody each 724 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: of money, peace and love.