WEBVTT - WRITING CHECKS IN ATLANTA w/ COLLAB CAPITAL | Flashback 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:05.080 Happy Kwanza, Merry Christmas. At least now he died. Happy Holidays. 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.760 Enjoy this throwback episode of Black Tech, Green Money ovie 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:18.040 Holiday Season Afro Tech, San Francisco, California. Such a Rogers 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:20.440 who at the time is leading look Life and After 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.400 helps you shot the favorite styles and celebrities and influences. 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.400 It's on the main Stay. He's discussing the transition both 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:30.080 mental and physical, from being a consumer to a producer 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.960 to an investor. That were the last ten years, Mark 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:38.640 Zuckerberg has made more money than every NBA player combined. 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:44.400 I was like, wow, and I'm still at Apple. I said, who, 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:49.199 I'm doing this wrong? So I said, you know, I 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.200 want to move from being a consumer to a producer 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.440 to an investor. And Paul said, you know what if 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.840 you're living the same challenges as most of them, It's 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.840 called the dream is dimember. See, either you can risk 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.160 chasing your dreams or you can have the safety of 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:11.120 working on someone else's. The question is which one you're 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:15.280 gonna choose. It's easy. I went to tex Square Labs 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:18.560 is in Atlanta, Georgia. For those you are on the 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.040 East Coast that want to think about building This is 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:25.440 a place that you can come and learn how to 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.479 build something from nothing. You gotta do what you love. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.440 Prioritize your passion, but tell the world because they'll hold 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.280 your accountable and from there you'll be able to make 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:43.720 it happen. So the way I say this is listen, 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.600 don't define your destiny about where you are today. If 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.600 you have a plan in your heart, go after achieve. 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.120 I'm Will Lucas and this is Black Tech Dream Money. 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.080 I'm gonna introduce you to of the biggest names, some 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.640 of the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. If you're black, 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.120 in building or simply using tech to secure your back, 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:15.679 this podcast is for you. Collapse Capitals and Investment fund 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.320 leveraging financial, human, and social capital to help black founders 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:24.880 build sustainable innovations in their businesses. Three managing partners, Verry Givens, 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.600 Jill Bert's and Justin Dawkins, are previously operators and engineers 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:33.000 who run innovative startups, very significant venture capital and successfully 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.440 sold their companies. I asked the partners about the state 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.640 of black startups. What is unique about this current moment 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:43.040 in history that make collap capital both an opportunity and 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:47.840 necessary step in their respective careers. It is so important 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:53.320 right now to be supporting investing in black founders because 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:59.680 we know that this year alone has been crazy for everyone, 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.840 but in particular for black founding businesses. Um there's some 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:08.560 scary statistics out there around the fact that of black 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:13.120 founded companies may not recover at all from OVID, and 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.840 we want to make sure that the companies that we 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:21.919 can support actually do make it. And so even before that, though, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.680 even before this year and before you know, people became 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.800 more aware of the fact that black founded companies needed 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.240 more resources, we already were on this mission to invest 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.560 in black founders, and it was really born out of 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.480 our own journeys. All of us have built companies before, 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.240 all of us have had difficulty raising money before getting 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.160 access to the right networks, and so we kind of 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.280 made a vow to ourselves and to each other that 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.600 when we could, we would make sure that the next 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.760 generation of entrepreneurs coming up behind us would not have 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:57.240 to deal with some of the things that we had 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.880 to deal with on our journeys. So that's really the 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.960 why is. You know, we saw this opportunity in the 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.120 market to serve black founders. We think there's a huge 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.560 market opportunity, not just it's not a charity opportunity, it's 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:13.480 really a business opportunity to support black founders. And we 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:15.560 felt like we were the right people to do it, 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.280 giving our experience and giving our backgrounds. Barry, let's talk 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.000 about that. So, you know, being venture funded in your 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.920 your career, trajecting your business, and what is it about 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:30.680 the traditional VC ecosystem that may not be great for 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.240 black entrepreneurs where we get you know, disproportionately affected by 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:39.360 decisions or ways of doing business. Yeah, I'll touch you 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.840 on two quick points covering that, UM, and thank you 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.800 for having us today too. Well, appreciate you. UM, get 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.000 that out of the way. UM. But you know, like 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.600 going through this journey, you even if you look at 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:57.560 funds you know that have you know, black managing partners 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.640 right and or funds that folks so on diversity or 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:06.240 you know marginalized people. UM, black founders still tend to 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.279 be marginalized within the marginalized UM. And so it was 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.039 a really big deal for us to say, like we 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:17.120 are unapologetically black, Like we don't use words like minority, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.240 we don't use words like diversity, like we invest in 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.800 black founders, because that is the issue, like when you 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:27.000 think about diversity to sixties, we were still being left 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:30.039 in the dust, right. And so then you take it 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.280 a step further and let's say black founders do get 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.920 that first check. The way that venture capitalists built now 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.880 is that it's always running to the next check, it's 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.560 always running to the next round. Um. And you take 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.159 companies like mine that we you know, I was able 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.040 to secure capital, and then when you need to get 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.560 to that next level, that's typically where black founders you 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.560 can't find that person that believes in you too to 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.280 give you that eight new which what we were raising. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.640 You can't find that, you know, seven eight million dollars 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:01.960 for your Series A uh um. And we needed to 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.159 create a model that allowed for founders to not depend 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.000 on that system, right like you eat. So even when 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.160 we get them to building the sustainable businesses, you run 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.279 your business and you decide if you go ask somebody, 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.240 you decide if you give somebody the opportunity to invest 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.000 in your business, um. And that's how we allow black 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.200 founder to be more successful because honestly, we're not going 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.920 to change that system overnight. And in this world, if 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.320 you can't get the series B, you know, and keep 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.760 raising and keep raising UM. A lot of times you 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.120 don't reach that level of success. And so those are 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.120 two things, you know, why we found it so important 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.560 to develop this new model. And and justin when I 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.240 think about UM in Bury and Jules just talked about it, 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.200 you know, having that access to capital, and you know 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.840 this as well as anybody, it's often more than just 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.440 capital that we need. All of the capital is important. 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.840 There's just you know, tweet going around talks about we're 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.960 over mentored and underfunded right into too often. And but 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.359 other things beyond the capital is also important too. So 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:00.680 I don't want to talk about I want to talk 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.000 about this a couple of times during this conversation, like 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:08.640 what other things do entrepreneurs need that particularly black entrepreneurs 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.880 don't get in traditional VC relationships that you guys made 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.760 it a priority to focus on. Yeah, that's that's a 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.600 great question, Will um and and really appreciate that question 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.960 because it really points to the purpose of collab I mean, 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.320 it's short for collaboration UM. One of the things that 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:27.880 is often just one of many things that is often 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.880 missing UM is usually promised, which is, oh, we're going 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:33.640 to be your partners. We're going to do the things 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.880 that we need to do to UM sidecar the capital 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.440 right that's going into the business, But the level of 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:43.280 intentionality is not always there, which is the commitment, the 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.320 willingness to get into the weeds. UM and as experienced operators, 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:50.679 all three of us having built different types of businesses 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.480 and helped to create other types of businesses, we recognize 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:57.840 and understand that sometimes the best investors are experienced operators, 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.760 folks who understand how they kind of get into the weeds, 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.360 how to identify business models and opportunities and then build 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:07.200 out of build out of that experience as opposed to 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.400 just bringing capital U. And then the other thing is 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:15.240 access to networks. Right, so business is still relationships entered. 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.920 And so no matter how many machines and artificial intelligence 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.000 we put in place, we need relationships. And you know, 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:27.360 two notches above warm intros. We need highly intentional relationships 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.560 that are developed, nurtured, and so there's there's lines of 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.840 trust so that our founders can get into the doors, 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.280 secure the conversations that they need to have, and get 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.920 the deals actually done. And so those are the things 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.520 that we are actually focused on. The collab through our 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:48.720 non capital contributions and investments U and very because you know, 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:53.480 we're working towards building more inclusion and economic opportunity for 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:58.160 entrepreneurs who typically haven't seen these opportunities historically. Um, how 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.680 do you approach them differently and meet their knees? And 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.240 what I mean by that is, is there a difference 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.840 in the term sheet structure like that you would give 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.480 a black entrepreneur versus one that a VC and a 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.680 traditional firm might give. And we don't have to just 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.120 tick the term sheets, but how is it, Um, how 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.800 are the structures set up with that capital infusion different 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:21.360 if they are for black founders versus the typical ones 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:25.840 they might receive. So I mean we can dive into 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.640 that super deep. You talk about just traditional term sheets 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.520 that uh, I would even get into the term sheets, 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:36.200 but I got the terms just typically aren't there. And 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.480 so typically what you're here is, you know, as a 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.040 black founder, you need to have you know, Series A 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.200 level progress to get sea level terms. You gotta have 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.040 speries B level progress to get Series A level terms. Um. 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.320 You know, you take businesses like you know a part 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.760 Kick or Masnew like these businesses that we were growing, 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.400 and you know, you have seven figure revenues and you 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.560 still can't get over you know, you still can't raise five, seven, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.720 eight million dollars and you have companies out here. You know, 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.920 not to throw names out there, but I appreciate people 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.400 know it. But people with you know, two thousand users 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.880 get a hundred million dollar valuations. It's you know, how 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.240 do you compete in that world? And so basically what 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.560 we said, it's like, let's break that world down. And 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.320 something that I tend to like to brag about is that, 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.880 you know, we we tore that model down, not in 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.800 a negative way, but just literally layer by layer by 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.880 layer and pull it back to find out, why are 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.640 these inequalities here? How was this system built? When you 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.400 tear it all the way back? We justin wrote a 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.640 piece and when he sent it over to us to read. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.559 You know, one of the um things in the peace 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.120 was that, you know, venture capital started when black people 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.960 still couldn't vote. Yeah, like, this was constructed at a 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.440 time we had no power, and so obviously it wasn't 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:58.760 built for us. And so now when we when we 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:02.040 stripped back layer by air by layer, one of the 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.880 big things that we wanted to focus on. Our model 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:10.079 was ownership and flexibility as black founders. How many times 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.040 have we seen the founder build a company and get 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.600 removed as CEO. We told they had to go in 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.720 this direction. And so what we did was we built 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.760 a model from scratch UM Like, we're not using a 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.920 traditional we're not using a safe note or a convertible 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.400 note or traditional series a turn sheet. UM. We built 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.120 and spent a year and a half of eighteen months 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.199 building an entirely new investment vehicle UM that allowed us 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:38.040 to give the founders that ownership and that flexibility to 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.000 run the company the way they think it needs to 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.760 be ran obviously with us as advisors and with our 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.280 LP network and that human capital justin talked about. But 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.679 for us, like that is the important thing that we 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.680 want these founders to build generational wealth. And you don't 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.720 build generational wealth by not owning the thing that that 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.079 you built. And so that's where a lot of our 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.920 focus is in our model. That's really really, really good. 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.199 I think about not only do you have the differences 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.959 in focusing on black entrepreneurs specifically in our needs, but 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.000 you also have a geographical difference, Like what is the 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.800 difference Jewel, if you can speak to this, what is 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.160 the difference between raising money in the traditional network like ecosystem, 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:21.720 like a Silicon Valley versus like a Georgia or in 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.439 the South period, Like what are those critical differences that 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.199 you're gonna get when you're having those conversations with angels 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:32.600 and vcs. Yeah, term sheets and the terms in general 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.640 look very different in Silicon Valley than they look in Atlanta. 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:38.679 And that's one of the things that we really wanted 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.400 to focus in on as well, is that you shouldn't 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.880 have to be in Silicon Valley or in New York 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:46.520 or in Boston to build a great business. You should 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.000 be able to build wherever you have the right network 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.360 and you have the customer base and you have the 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:56.200 talent um. Wherever is is it works for your particular business. 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.559 And so that's one of the things that we've built 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.360 into the model is how do we leverage what's strong 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:04.559 about the cities that we're in talking about Black people 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.920 were in Atlanta, So how do we leverage what's great 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:13.320 about Atlanta? The influence, the culture, uh right, you know, 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:17.280 the access to fortunate five companies. How do we leverage 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.560 all of those things to make startups successful here and 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.000 so everywhere that we want to be Think about Detroit, 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.520 think about Atlanta, think about Baltimore. Um, how do we 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:31.120 go into those cities and really tap into what's already 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.439 there instead of trying to recreate what has been was 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.400 worked arguably work for Secon Valley. Let's not try to 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.240 make you know these little mini silicon valleys. Let's try 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.640 to make ecosystems that work for the people there and 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.280 then allow those people to stay there, build their companies there, 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.360 impact the communities there. That's what we want to be 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.560 a part of and what we think our model helps facilitate. 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.400 Sticking with you, like, there are people who come to 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.120 this conference and are looking to invest, and maybe they're 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:05.880 not sophisticated investors, but they they got a little bit 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:07.880 of money, you know, put away, or maybe they have 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.600 high incomes or etcetera. They're looking for deals. And how 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:16.320 should people who have that makeup, Um, dip there? Either 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.360 I don't even know if it's would say, dip their 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:20.240 toe in the water, because you are in you know, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.600 once you write that check, you just married somebody, Like 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:24.320 how do you learn to do this? Like, you guys 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.800 aren't you know, you don't have historical VC. You know 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.080 d n A right, but how do you how do 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.520 you learn how to do this? And um do it 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.920 in a way where you understand that you're gonna make 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:39.560 some bad calls. Well, we would argue that you should 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.840 invest in Collapse, so we can there you go. But 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.360 you know, one of the things that that that I 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:48.920 did and in Burying just and have done as well, is, 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.000 um we got out there, we started making writing checks 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.320 and putting our own capital UM at risk to see 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.680 what is this thing all about? So before we started Collapse, 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.560 I was experiment seeing with different ways to put together 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.960 deals with my angel investments and then also learning from 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:10.040 other funds through LP investments. And so the best way 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.200 to learn is really to put some money out there 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.280 and see what happens. And I don't I always tell 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.120 new investors you should invest like this money is not 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.000 coming back. It's very risky to invest in early stage companies. 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.920 But um, you know, one of the ways is just 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.440 to start, even if you're starting small with you know, thousands, 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.320 five thousand, ten thousand dollar checks. That's one way. And 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.560 then I made a joke at the beginning about just 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.600 invest in collab, But really we did build a model 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:43.360 to get more particularly black investors activated and get them 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.560 more comfortable with the idea of investing in early stage 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:51.720 technology scalable companies. And one of the unique things about 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.200 our model is that in a typical VC funds structure, 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:58.480 if you invest, you're expecting that you're not gonna see 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.360 that money in the next seven to ten years because 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.520 you're waiting on exits. But in our model, given that 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.360 we have we have this profit share model, we expect 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.880 to be returning capital to our LPs within three years 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.920 of their investment. So just a little different, but it 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.240 was really built to help activate people that are a 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.400 little timid to put their capital to work in this way. 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.960 Justin let's not even into that profit sharing my life, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.080 how does that functionally work? So when you get when 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.080 you find somebody, you run into somebody at you know, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.200 the gathering spot or wherever you at, and they're like, yo, 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.080 I gotta fit the grand you know, just put away 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.080 to do something with like and you're explaining to me, 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.360 I'm gonna make money faster or potentially make some money 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.040 back faster than that seven to ten. You know, you're 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:46.280 spending jewel talks about how does that functionally work. That's 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.920 a great question, will Um. It's something that we actually 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:52.600 enjoy talking about. When we're talking to LPs, particularly of 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.960 the more experienced VC path they understand that a little 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:57.680 bit more So, it's always great to kind of unearth 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.240 and peel back the layers of what we what we 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.280 work to do UM for for that that investor, for 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.240 that potential limited partner in our company, that LP. What 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.840 we focus on is kind of two key things. One, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.199 we still need you to be an active limited partner, right, 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.120 We still want you to activate those networks to help 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.159 you know, UM open doors provide pathways for revenue and 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.199 profitability for our companies UM, and so that's kind of 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:24.720 the very first thing we want to do is we 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.080 want relationships and we want collaboration. And then on the 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.560 actual fund mechanics side of it, what we do is 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.000 we focus on profit sharing and so UM instead of 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.680 waiting that the seven to ten years, as Jewel described UM, 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.160 when there's an when we make an investment, we set 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:44.200 terms with our target investment with the portfolio company UM, 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:46.239 and we we set out a time frame of when 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.840 they will actually start to return profits. And as those 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:53.719 profits return through our investment vehicle, we then distribute directly 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.600 back to the LPs. And one of the really cool 0:17:56.640 --> 0:17:59.520 features of our our investment model is we also have 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.119 partners um and that those growth partners are largely made 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.680 up of our LPs. So again we get to activate them, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.560 get them really involved in a in a high touch way, 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:11.840 which also gives them kind of like an angel investor 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.600 level access as far as being on the cap table 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.520 where they can actually take direct profits. So as the 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:23.199 returns to come into um the return to the fund, 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:25.880 they actually will get a portion of their profit share 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:30.960 directly to them, which again increases their potential upside um 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.240 and gets again makes that that that access they have, 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.920 the work they're willing to do, and actually can compensate 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.280 them much sooner than seventy teen years out. Barry, Let's 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.520 back up, like on the how this building a fund 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:45.840 actually works. I would imagine there's people here who are 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.879 not like sophisticated, you know in an investment only on 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.680 the investor side of the table, but maybe just dope founders. 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:55.200 But when you are starting a phone like you're you're 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.920 starting your startup, You're you're pitching the people to give 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.679 you money so you can pick so you can give 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.719 the money away. Right you talk to me about how this, 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:07.200 how this works as starting a startup, which is your 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:12.080 fund in this respect, Yeah, it's it's super different than 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.479 selling the widget, right Like, Uh, you know, we were 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:16.959 raising the raising for ma Sria. You know, I walk in, 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.560 I would make people drink that touch the technology. You know, 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.240 they're and all and they're like, oh this thing really works, um, 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.360 you know. And so you have that excitement. And now 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.520 you walk into a room and or I guess nobody's 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.399 walking the room right now, but you have into a 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.520 zoom um and you say, hey, I need you to 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.760 give me money for some stuff that I don't even 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:40.800 know it's come out yet, right like, because I'm gonna 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:45.159 make investments. This money in you Like, I don't even 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.359 know if this entrepreneurs entree normal. I still be sitting 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.440 you know, in you know, North Carolina. A and T 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:52.400 is a student right now. We don't know what they're 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.760 gonna do, right, And so that's one of the more 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.040 difficult parts. But I think just as far as getting 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:00.679 a fund off the ground, one of the things I 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.080 love about our team is that we're operators right, Like, 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:08.800 this is what we do. We go into systems or 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.119 you know, industries, and we say, hey, there is a 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.359 gap here, there is a problem. And so if you 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.560 even combed through our website, we don't even mentor mentioned 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.720 ourselves venture capitalists. We call ourselves capital entrepreneurs. Like, we 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:24.480 saw a gap, but there's this big economic gap between 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.000 people that get funded by bank loans and people that 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.960 get venture capital. And it's eighty three cough, And put 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:31.640 out this report a couple of years ago that ad 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.639 three percent of businesses don't fit those two ways of 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:37.480 getting capital. So as an entrepreneur, you look at it 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.199 and you say, man, that's a big economic gap that 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.880 nobody's looking at right now. And so like, we can 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.679 go build something that takes advantage of that. And not 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:47.879 only could we do that, but a lot of black 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:49.920 companies fit in that gap as well. So not only 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.320 could we take advantage of this economic opportunity, we can 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:55.280 also do it in a way that's really good for 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.920 our community and build some wealth and start printing black 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.959 millionaires through this model. And so when you look at 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.960 it that way from entrepreneurial perspective, we've basically put ourselves 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.280 in a position that when we walk into investor rooms, 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.440 now we're not competing with the same funds that are 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.080 have the same exact traditional model they're coming in and 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.840 now it's just like, hey, will you have model A 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.720 and such and such you have from a point in 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:23.439 one right like if you're you're going out to the 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:26.200 same people with the same model. We becut ourselves in 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:28.800 a position as entrepreneurs that we're pitching a widget now 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:31.639 like we're coming into and we have this new shiny thing. 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.679 You should be investing in this model like and and 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.680 then you should be investing in this dope as team 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:41.280 of operators that has proven themselves. And so we're really 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:43.920 we're now we've we've gotten ourselves comfortable because we're pitching 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:46.400 like founders. Now we were walking in and so we're 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:49.040 not pitching like a traditional VC will walk in to 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:51.240 go raise capital for funds, and as you can see 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.680 them getting excited because now we're we're like, we've put 0:21:53.720 --> 0:22:10.000 ourselves in the zone to make ourselves successful. Every investor 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:12.320 is looking for specific things when they think about putting 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.960 money in the startup. Maybe when they're vetting an opportunity, 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.760