WEBVTT - Study Hall: Navigating the Tech Space for Black Entrepreneurs

0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.600
<v Speaker 1>An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.480
<v Speaker 1>in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador

0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:11.840
<v Speaker 1>accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.840
<v Speaker 1>filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.680
<v Speaker 1>some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President

0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.320
<v Speaker 1>Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States

0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.120
<v Speaker 1>Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border

0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.680
<v Speaker 1>crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over

0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.960
<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you

0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.920
<v Speaker 1>are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly

0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.000
<v Speaker 1>one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will

0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.680
<v Speaker 1>never return. But if you register using our CBP home

0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.120
<v Speaker 1>app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.

0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:55.240
<v Speaker 1>Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws,

0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.840
<v Speaker 1>border and families will be protected.

0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.000
<v Speaker 2>Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.040
<v Speaker 3>All right, so you recently just closed around. I believe

0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.000
<v Speaker 3>you raised ten million dollars as a reg CE equity

0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:07.520
<v Speaker 3>crowdfunding correct.

0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.360
<v Speaker 4>Yeah reg CF Yeah, ten million in three rounds, So

0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.720
<v Speaker 4>all right, and you're the first black person, black man

0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:20.240
<v Speaker 4>to do that. Yes, history has been made. Kudos to that, congratulated, gratulations.

0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.760
<v Speaker 3>So can you explain to the audience what exactly does

0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:28.000
<v Speaker 3>reg CF equity crowdfunding. There's a lot of different words here,

0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:32.040
<v Speaker 3>What exactly does that mean? And why is it significant

0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:33.880
<v Speaker 3>what you have been able to do?

0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:35.040
<v Speaker 2>Well?

0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.959
<v Speaker 4>I think it's very important because African American people and

0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.880
<v Speaker 4>minorities have a really tough time raising capital for their businesses,

0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.679
<v Speaker 4>going to banks to get loans, We're going to venture

0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.920
<v Speaker 4>capital to raise capital. And so in twenty twelve, Barack

0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.680
<v Speaker 4>Obama and Joe Biden kind of launched this regulation called

0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.400
<v Speaker 4>the Jobs Act and then went into it went into

0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:01.040
<v Speaker 4>law in twenty fifteen, which means any person can raise

0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.440
<v Speaker 4>capital from the general public for their business, regardless of

0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.079
<v Speaker 4>their net worth or annual income up to one million dollars.

0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:11.920
<v Speaker 4>That was the first rule. So we did that and

0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.680
<v Speaker 4>twenty twenty. So think about how important that is for

0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.680
<v Speaker 4>people that aren't accredited investors to invest. But then someone

0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.000
<v Speaker 4>like me that had a startup that wanted to raise

0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.160
<v Speaker 4>capital but VC was not necessarily rout at the time,

0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.840
<v Speaker 4>or me going to get a bank loan to raise

0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:29.800
<v Speaker 4>an excess of a million dollars. So that's why that's

0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.680
<v Speaker 4>important for any business that you want to start, primarily,

0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.880
<v Speaker 4>you know what I'm saying, like small businesses, which fan

0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:37.560
<v Speaker 4>base was at the time, to be able to raise

0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.800
<v Speaker 4>capital and significant.

0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.840
<v Speaker 5>For those who want to break into the tech space.

0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.720
<v Speaker 5>What advice and insights would you give those who may

0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.680
<v Speaker 5>feel like it's not for us. And if you can

0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.040
<v Speaker 5>do your journey all over again, what steps would you

0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.080
<v Speaker 5>wish you would have taken to get here faster?

0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:02.120
<v Speaker 4>Ooh, everything for us? Everything. There's nothing that you know,

0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.800
<v Speaker 4>we can't do as a people. So every single solitary

0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.160
<v Speaker 4>thing that exists on the planet. You know, we can

0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.440
<v Speaker 4>go to space, we can build tech, we can you know,

0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:15.600
<v Speaker 4>invent cures for diseases, all kinds of stuff. So I

0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:20.640
<v Speaker 4>don't think there's anything we can't do. I would say, study,

0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:22.720
<v Speaker 4>you know, learn the landscape. I had to study the

0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.600
<v Speaker 4>landscape of social media. I was kind of like a

0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.440
<v Speaker 4>person that used social media a long time before, but

0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:32.200
<v Speaker 4>just studying the landscape of how social media works, it

0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.880
<v Speaker 4>was interesting to be able to like jump right in.

0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.720
<v Speaker 4>I honestly would not change anything, And I know that

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:42.440
<v Speaker 4>sounds crazy. I feel like my inexperience in the space

0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.320
<v Speaker 4>gave me an opportunity to go down my own path

0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.880
<v Speaker 4>and not try to follow what other people have done,

0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:51.440
<v Speaker 4>which probably would have wound up dead ends or maybe

0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:53.480
<v Speaker 4>had me discouraged in what I was trying to do.

0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.360
<v Speaker 4>So I love everything about what we've been able to do,

0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.760
<v Speaker 4>So I think it's extremely important. I think it's extremely

0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.080
<v Speaker 4>awesome and what we've been able to accomplish.

0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.800
<v Speaker 6>So talking about being naive to the space, A lot

0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:09.040
<v Speaker 6>of times when you're naive, you're extremely creative. And that's

0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.240
<v Speaker 6>something that fan base has stood on being creative in

0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.880
<v Speaker 6>a space because obviously we don't have the same capital.

0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:15.640
<v Speaker 6>And when I say way, i'm talking about the company

0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:17.760
<v Speaker 6>don't have the same capital as some of the big

0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.440
<v Speaker 6>players inside the space. But what happens when you see

0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.240
<v Speaker 6>your creativity being taken by a company or being implemented

0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.760
<v Speaker 6>by a larger company with more capital, how do you

0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:28.560
<v Speaker 6>guys combat that?

0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:32.160
<v Speaker 4>How do you deal with it? You know it's a strategy,

0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.600
<v Speaker 4>Well I don't. I have a belief that there's enough

0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.760
<v Speaker 4>room for everybody. Doesn't mean that fan base will well

0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.760
<v Speaker 4>just be you know, extinguished out of the market. But

0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.719
<v Speaker 4>I also think that every social media platform has a lifespan.

0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:49.360
<v Speaker 4>It will live, it will die, and so I look

0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.360
<v Speaker 4>at Facebook as a legacy platform. I look at Instagram

0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.839
<v Speaker 4>and TikTok and x now as middle aged platforms. So

0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.080
<v Speaker 4>there's always going to be another social media platform because

0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.560
<v Speaker 4>young people are always going to want to be involved

0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:05.880
<v Speaker 4>in platforms that their parents are not on. They want

0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.480
<v Speaker 4>to have their own communities, their own spaces, And so

0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:10.960
<v Speaker 4>I look at fan base as more as a success

0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.560
<v Speaker 4>or a future platform, as opposed to a platform that's

0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.000
<v Speaker 4>just ready to be the number one platform in the

0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.120
<v Speaker 4>world right now, but over the next five, six, seven years,

0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.120
<v Speaker 4>I think that'll be you know the case. I'm not

0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.719
<v Speaker 4>really worried because what I noticed it tells me a lot.

0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.359
<v Speaker 4>It tells me that I always look at black culture

0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.760
<v Speaker 4>and technology as kind of this relationship. It's like technology

0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.000
<v Speaker 4>tech companies put a bunch of legos on the table, right,

0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:37.680
<v Speaker 4>and then we come along and make the coolest shapes

0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.120
<v Speaker 4>of the coolest objects out of the legos that are presented,

0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.840
<v Speaker 4>and then these companies take those ideas and then implement

0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.560
<v Speaker 4>them into their business and then boom, you've got this

0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.080
<v Speaker 4>whole you know, entire you know, new technology that's been

0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.640
<v Speaker 4>invented or pioneered by us. So I think we'll always

0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.240
<v Speaker 4>innovate the space. I'm not worried about that. I'm used

0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:01.119
<v Speaker 4>to that. It's amazing as the plan go ahead.

0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.320
<v Speaker 3>Re stort, Well, I was going to ask you about

0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.279
<v Speaker 3>equity crowdfunding. I think that it's important people just to

0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.039
<v Speaker 3>have some level of understanding. So it's a way for

0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.680
<v Speaker 3>people to actually invest in a company. It's beneficial for

0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.000
<v Speaker 3>the companies because they can you know, get around the

0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.440
<v Speaker 3>VC world and they can raise you know, substantial amounts

0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:21.800
<v Speaker 3>of money. But from an educational standpoint, how do investors

0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.480
<v Speaker 3>actually get paid on this? Because I know it can

0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.479
<v Speaker 3>be difficult to receive you know, it's five hundred dollars.

0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.040
<v Speaker 3>It could be like, you know, ten thousand people that contribute, right,

0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.159
<v Speaker 3>So I think education is extremely important because when people

0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.839
<v Speaker 3>aren't fully educated and they don't see a return or

0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.280
<v Speaker 3>they don't know how to you know, get the money back, well,

0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:46.800
<v Speaker 3>then it turns into a scam. So that that's important

0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:52.040
<v Speaker 3>to fully educate people on the process of investing, what

0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.400
<v Speaker 3>the expectations are, how it.

0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.960
<v Speaker 6>This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.

0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.120
<v Speaker 6>A lot of people think podcasts about work of boring,

0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.200
<v Speaker 6>and sure, they definitely can be, but understanding a professional's

0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.520
<v Speaker 6>routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,

0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.560
<v Speaker 6>day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.

0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.840
<v Speaker 6>It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated

0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.960
<v Speaker 6>decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is

0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.320
<v Speaker 6>what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P

0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:27.240
<v Speaker 6>and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly

0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.920
<v Speaker 6>Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of

0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.200
<v Speaker 6>the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank

0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:40.240
<v Speaker 6>National Association member fdic Erners. What's up? You ever walk

0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.360
<v Speaker 6>into a small business and everything just works like The

0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.560
<v Speaker 6>checkout is fast, the receipts are digital, tipping is a breeze,

0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.000
<v Speaker 6>and you're out the door before the line even builds.

0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:54.600
<v Speaker 6>Odds are they're using Square? We love supporting businesses that

0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.320
<v Speaker 6>run on Square because it just feels seamless. Whether it's

0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.960
<v Speaker 6>a local coffee shop, a vendor at a pop up mark,

0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.400
<v Speaker 6>or even one of our merch partners. Square makes it

0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.920
<v Speaker 6>easy for them to take payments, manage inventory and run

0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.960
<v Speaker 6>their business with confidence, all from one simple system. If

0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.840
<v Speaker 6>you're a business owner or even just thinking about launching

0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.880
<v Speaker 6>something soon, Square is hands down one of the best

0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:20.040
<v Speaker 6>tools out there to help you start, run and grow.

0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.320
<v Speaker 6>It's not just about payments, it's about giving you time

0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.360
<v Speaker 6>back so you can focus on what matters most ready.

0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.760
<v Speaker 6>To see how Square can transform your business, visit Square

0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:34.360
<v Speaker 6>dot com backslash go backslash eyl to learn more that

0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:40.000
<v Speaker 6>Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl, don't wait, don't hesitate.

0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:42.520
<v Speaker 6>Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep

0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:43.760
<v Speaker 6>pushing your vision forward.

0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.600
<v Speaker 1>An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.480
<v Speaker 1>in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from El Salvador

0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:57.880
<v Speaker 1>accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.840
<v Speaker 1>filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.679
<v Speaker 1>some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President

0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.320
<v Speaker 1>Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States

0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:14.120
<v Speaker 1>Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump. Attempted illegal border

0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.680
<v Speaker 1>crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over

0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.000
<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you

0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.920
<v Speaker 1>are here illegally, your next you will be fine nearly

0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:29.000
<v Speaker 1>one thousand dollars a day. Imprisoned and deported, you will

0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.680
<v Speaker 1>never return. But if you register using our CBP home

0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:36.120
<v Speaker 1>app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.

0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:41.240
<v Speaker 1>Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump America's laws,

0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.400
<v Speaker 1>border and families will.

0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.479
<v Speaker 2>Be protected sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:48.760
<v Speaker 3>Works when they can get paid out. If they do

0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:51.040
<v Speaker 3>get paid out, the percentage like, can you just walk

0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:52.720
<v Speaker 3>us through that? Because, like I said, I think that

0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.160
<v Speaker 3>it's fully important. It's very important to educate people on

0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.920
<v Speaker 3>that because if not educated, then you know, other narratives

0:09:58.920 --> 0:09:59.760
<v Speaker 3>ought to be created.

0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.320
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, so, I mean, you guys cover both areas on

0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.720
<v Speaker 4>this show. But it's typically like pre ipo investing in

0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.240
<v Speaker 4>post ipo investing, So post IPOs when the companies on

0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.920
<v Speaker 4>the stock market, you can go buy shares NASDA, you

0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.040
<v Speaker 4>know what I'm saying, and invest in companies and do

0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.880
<v Speaker 4>stuff like that. Pre IPO investing is really a very

0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.360
<v Speaker 4>rarefied air that's really not available to most people because

0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.240
<v Speaker 4>of this rule called the accredited investor rule. And this

0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.600
<v Speaker 4>rule has been in effect since nineteen thirty three, which

0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.520
<v Speaker 4>means you have to have a networth of a million

0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.800
<v Speaker 4>dollars minus your house or make two hundred thousand dollars

0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:38.200
<v Speaker 4>a year for two consecutive years to even qualify to

0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.560
<v Speaker 4>invest in an early stage company. So when you think

0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:45.760
<v Speaker 4>about the Microsoft's, the Apples, the Ubers, the Ibms of

0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.560
<v Speaker 4>the world, they were all invested in by already rich people.

0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.719
<v Speaker 4>So it was rich people saying, hey, look, let's make

0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:55.000
<v Speaker 4>a rule so that we get the earliest access to

0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.720
<v Speaker 4>the best opportunities of investment. And then tell the general public,

0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.120
<v Speaker 4>we're protecting you by not risking your capital to invest

0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.920
<v Speaker 4>in these companies because you're an unsophisticated investor. We don't

0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.800
<v Speaker 4>want you to squander your life savings or your mortgage

0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.400
<v Speaker 4>or whatever it is you know to invest in these companies.

0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.080
<v Speaker 4>But I always say, no one has a problem with

0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.880
<v Speaker 4>us going to take our money and gamble five thousand

0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:23.560
<v Speaker 4>dollars ten thousand dollars on in Vegas, or go buy

0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.880
<v Speaker 4>lottery tickets five thousand dollars five hundred dollars worth of

0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.760
<v Speaker 4>lottery tickets. And so when you pre IPO invest in

0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.560
<v Speaker 4>the C stage companies such as Fan base. I always

0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.680
<v Speaker 4>say this, you are with us to the moon or

0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.440
<v Speaker 4>the ground, so you get along. You are along for

0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.640
<v Speaker 4>the ride, which every investor is, and there's not a

0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.040
<v Speaker 4>company out here. There are people that have invested in

0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.920
<v Speaker 4>startups that have gone unicorn and have gone bust. They

0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.280
<v Speaker 4>still take that same risk. The difference with equity crowdfunding

0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.040
<v Speaker 4>is that people are able to invest in small amounts.

0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.320
<v Speaker 4>Two hundred and fifty dollars five hundred dollars and I'm

0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.400
<v Speaker 4>not saying that's not a lot of money, but sometimes

0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:00.720
<v Speaker 4>there are minimums to invest in these other companies, these

0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.800
<v Speaker 4>these pre IPO companies, fifty thou twenty five thousand, ten

0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.679
<v Speaker 4>thousand dollars. That's a lot, five thousand dollars, that's a lot.

0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:09.360
<v Speaker 4>But to be able to say I can take two

0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.280
<v Speaker 4>hundred and fifty bucks, which is something that I would

0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:14.600
<v Speaker 4>spend on food or some shoes or some drinks at

0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.560
<v Speaker 4>the club and invest in an early stage company's kind

0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:19.520
<v Speaker 4>of a really big deal. And I think being able

0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.800
<v Speaker 4>to take advantage of this regulation is something that is

0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.320
<v Speaker 4>game changing for people. So I understand that people are

0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.439
<v Speaker 4>always concerned about scams, but that's why I think there's

0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:28.960
<v Speaker 4>limited it's called limited risk.

0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:30.720
<v Speaker 2>If limited risk is you're.

0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.440
<v Speaker 4>Investing two hundred fifty dollars, five hundred dollars, one thousand dollars,

0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.120
<v Speaker 4>there's risk involved, but it's not you risking one hundred thousand,

0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.360
<v Speaker 4>two hundred thousand, half a million dollars. And sometimes you

0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.280
<v Speaker 4>know people invest that in those those prec routes as well.

0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:44.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a follow up to that.

0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.280
<v Speaker 6>So when we go into raising, how do what determines

0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.880
<v Speaker 6>the allocation that's going to be the amount raised? Right,

0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.880
<v Speaker 6>because we'll see companies or will hear it, they're trying

0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.240
<v Speaker 6>to raise two million, they're trying to raise five, ten, fifteen.

0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:58.840
<v Speaker 6>What are the factors that you determined to say, like

0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.040
<v Speaker 6>this is the amount that we need to raise? Is

0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.079
<v Speaker 6>it marketing? Like what are the things that go into

0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.520
<v Speaker 6>account when you're trying to raise a specific amount?

0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.040
<v Speaker 4>Well, for me, I put into perspective of equity versus valuation.

0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:12.640
<v Speaker 4>So if I would say, okay, I'm going to raise

0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.480
<v Speaker 4>my very first round I raised, I was going to

0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.560
<v Speaker 4>raise a million dollars at a twenty million dollar valuation, right,

0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:22.440
<v Speaker 4>So that's that's like two and a half percent of

0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.920
<v Speaker 4>the company or five percent, sorry, five percent of the company,

0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.520
<v Speaker 4>So it's not really a lot of equity to give

0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.079
<v Speaker 4>away for one million dollars. You know, to get five

0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.800
<v Speaker 4>percent of the company away at a twenty million dollar valuation.

0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.680
<v Speaker 4>So what you're typically looking to do for me is

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.080
<v Speaker 4>raised funds needed to run the business. But also be

0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.720
<v Speaker 4>mindful of the equity that you're giving up in your business,

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.440
<v Speaker 4>because a lot of times when you think about angel

0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:49.160
<v Speaker 4>investing or VC investing, especially when you don't have capital.

0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.560
<v Speaker 4>And I'll say this too, also, I bootstrapped fan base

0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.319
<v Speaker 4>in the beginning, so a lot of times tech startups

0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.240
<v Speaker 4>need that early early capital, that one hundred thousand, one

0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.360
<v Speaker 4>hundred and fifty thousand, ty thousand dollars to get started.

0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.000
<v Speaker 4>I spent two hundred thousand dollars of my own money,

0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.200
<v Speaker 4>so then I avoided giving up equity there, right, And

0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.360
<v Speaker 4>a lot of times that's where you get hit the hardest.

0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.400
<v Speaker 4>Those that first one hundred and fifty two hundred thousand

0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.680
<v Speaker 4>dollars might cost you ten to fifteen percent of your company,

0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.520
<v Speaker 4>depending on which angel investor, which route you take. So

0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.160
<v Speaker 4>I avoided giving away equity there. Then when it got

0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.240
<v Speaker 4>to the point where I needed to raise capital, I

0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.800
<v Speaker 4>saw the landscape and said, Okay, this looks like the

0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.520
<v Speaker 4>music business. To me, this looks like the vcs are

0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:31.000
<v Speaker 4>the record companies artists, and the Billboard charts and the

0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.360
<v Speaker 4>app store charts are very similar. So for me, I'm

0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.280
<v Speaker 4>trying to stay independent as long as I can to

0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.960
<v Speaker 4>put myself in a position to have leverage. So when

0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.920
<v Speaker 4>I'm valuing my company, I'm still going by the same

0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:46.040
<v Speaker 4>metrics that other companies have raised and set their valuation

0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.680
<v Speaker 4>that but I'm being mindful of not taking too much capital,

0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.720
<v Speaker 4>right because I don't want to say, Okay, fan base

0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.000
<v Speaker 4>right now is probably at this current round we just

0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.360
<v Speaker 4>did was value to eighty five million dollars, right, So

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:59.120
<v Speaker 4>if I said, Okay, I'm going to raise thirty million

0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.400
<v Speaker 4>out of eighty five million out evaluation, that's like thirty

0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.480
<v Speaker 4>three percent of the company. I don't need that. I

0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.080
<v Speaker 4>don't need. I don't need that, you know, I don't

0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.960
<v Speaker 4>need that kind of stuff. So for me, I say,

0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.680
<v Speaker 4>let's keep the valuation low but enough to continue to

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.200
<v Speaker 4>scale the company. Now we're getting into escape velocity zone

0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.640
<v Speaker 4>with fan base, where we need to raise large amounts

0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.120
<v Speaker 4>of capital to spend that capital faster to build our

0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.640
<v Speaker 4>team to build faster, better products, faster and move quicker.

0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.120
<v Speaker 4>So I think we've proven ourselves in this RecF space.

0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.120
<v Speaker 4>I think I'm done with the RECCF space. I think

0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.280
<v Speaker 4>I've mastered it and I'm pretty well versed in it.

0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.840
<v Speaker 4>But now we're moving into where we raise escape velocity capital,

0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:40.280
<v Speaker 4>and that's extremely important.

0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.000
<v Speaker 1>An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.800
<v Speaker 1>in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from El Salvador

0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:52.200
<v Speaker 1>accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:56.160
<v Speaker 1>filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.960
<v Speaker 1>some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President

0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.640
<v Speaker 1>Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States

0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:08.440
<v Speaker 1>Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border

0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.040
<v Speaker 1>crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over

0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.320
<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.240
<v Speaker 1>are here illegally, your next you will be fine nearly

0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:23.320
<v Speaker 1>one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned and deported, you will

0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:27.000
<v Speaker 1>never return. But if you register using our CBP home

0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.440
<v Speaker 1>app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.

0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:35.560
<v Speaker 1>Do what's right leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws,

0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.160
<v Speaker 1>border and families will be protected.

0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:40.400
<v Speaker 2>Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,