WEBVTT - Becoming a Black Investor with Arlan Hamilton 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.720 Enjoying Black Tech Green Money. It would mean a lot 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.200 if you rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts or 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.039 Google Play. The way the algorithm works. The more you 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.799 rate and say nice things, they'll introduce black tech Green 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.920 Money to more people, and more of us need this content. 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.360 So thank you for rating this podcast five stars. Today. 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:26.040 Afro Tech twenty nineteen, Oakland, California. Delane Partnell is the 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:29.800 CEO of Play Versus, the fast growing East sports company 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.720 taking school districts across the US by storm. He's on 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:38.120 stage speaking with Black d CEO Morgan Dubon about team building, hiring, 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.600 and putting the right people in the right scenes on 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.680 the bus to grow a successful company. From a team perspective, like, 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:46.600 I love my team Like, uh, I think I have 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.640 an incredible collection of people. It's one of the most 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.400 diverse companies you're walk into ever. Um, you know, gender, ethnicity, background, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.240 you know so many beautiful shape of people. Uh. And 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.279 they're all really experienced. They've helped build companies. They all 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.840 have different backgrounds, um and uh and I'm super fortunate 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:05.880 for that. The one thing that that make a company 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.600 be successful is team. Like the idea literally does not 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.160 matter because the idea involves too right, and it changes 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.560 over time, and and it changes based on the people 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.039 that you work with and you're hiring. So finding the 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.280 best team possible, uh is super important. And the one 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.399 thing that you know I always focused on, especially because 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.560 we raised so much money, was now I have the 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.920 resources to swing you know, basically in the different weight class. 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:31.240 So I went out and hired the best executives. Like, 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.360 you know, I was hiring executives whose opportunity was like, 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.080 come joined this really small start up with five people, 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.040 or go be the an executive at Bird when they 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.160 were you know, just raised a billion dollars. But you know, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:43.959 I had a lot of confidence, you know, I had 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.959 a really strong vision, and I was just on their 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.560 phone every day. Hey, look, let's talk about this more. 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.000 Tell me, tell me what issues you know you have, 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.280 What are you contemplating on this? Just like kind of 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.360 work through their problems to convince them to come over, 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.120 and we end up hiring some really incredible people. But uh, 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:03.040 but yeah, like team hired, hiring really strong people, don't 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.080 prioritize hiring friends, hire the best person for the job, 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.280 and and and don't worry about domain experience. So like 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:10.880 for us, Like we're focused on the sports, so we 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.320 don't need people who understand the sports. We need people 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.679 who have incredible death at whatever there's job is. Or 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.600 if you're a CFO, I want you to be the 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.320 best CFO possible based on that skill set. And then 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:23.280 I want you to being an incredible leader. Right, So 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.640 like leadership, ability and skill and then depth in your experience, 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.080 uh and like your domain. I think it's most important 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:34.799 than actual market experience. I'm Will Lucas and this is 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.560 Black Tech your Money. I'm gonna introduce you to some 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.920 of the biggest names, some of the brightest minds and 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.240 brilliant ideas. If you're black in building or simply using 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.840 tech to secure your bag, this podcast is for you. 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.639 Arlen Hamilton is an investor and the founder and managing 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.239 partner of Backstage Capital, with specializes in investing in women, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.040 people of color, and LGBT founders. She released their first 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.200 book from Pinkuin Random House entitled It's About Damn Time, 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.720 which is based on her personal journey into entrepreneurship and 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.720 venture capital. I asked Artless, is black people are the 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:15.720 culture that has driven revenue for so many companies, whether 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.960 it be in social media, music, entertainment. Why don't investors 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.960 just go to the well and fun black people, you know, 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.720 cut out the middleman, same reason they don't do it 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:30.480 everywhere else. It's the same reason you have. I don't 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.040 know the percentages, but I think of any major sports 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.680 team and footballer the NBA, most of the players are black. 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.840 None of the quarterbacks are black, none of the owners 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.760 are black. None of the dish and the dad are black. 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.600 Same reason you have. Every once in a while, they'll 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.960 they'll throw us a movie or a TV show, but 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.760 who's who are the executives? Who are the showrunners, with 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.080 the exception of a few who have broken ground, who 0:03:56.080 --> 0:04:00.680 get to actually make decisions there it's always us asking 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.920 them for permission, and with the exception of people like 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:08.480 Tyler Perry and Ava du Vernay, uh Ray, etcetera. So 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.320 when you look at companies, are you trying to predict 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.680 that this company will will make it? Or are you 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.400 trying to ride away? Because I guess what I'm asking 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.440 is some some companies get funded super early, and some 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.920 they got to have that traction for an early stage 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.039 investor to put the money in before they actually have 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.480 a thing. So we invest at backstage. At my firm, 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.200 we invest in two percent about about what we see, 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.239 you know, so just about two percent. Sometimes it's less, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.960 and so first at the gate. I think every single 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.760 company that we end up investing in I have to 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:53.320 feel is going to be successful. Um and we are 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.719 notorious for being a first investor in with no other 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.080 person telling us or in to t telling us that's 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.120 what we're supposed to do. And we also have been 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:08.560 in several deals where it was obvious that they had 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.000 something going and that was going to make it, but 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.720 we always look at it from the lens of we 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.520 believe this can be something. At the same time, I 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.680 think what's also helped us a lot is that even 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:26.080 though we are our sharky venture capitalists, we're also looking 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.920 at it as these are humans and there are a 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.400 lot of variables that none of us can control the 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:39.240 company themselves or the vcs, and we're gonna be with 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.920 them through all of the ups and downs because there's 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:48.000 no way to tell that early if something is going 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.720 to work. You can hope and expect it to and 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.640 you can say, all things being considered, in all things 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.800 being fair, this should have worked. But then things aren't 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.640 fair in the real world. So I look at it as, 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.280 first of all, if you made it to the two percent, 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.960 there was something there. That's not to say that what 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.200 we don't invest in does it shouldn't be invested in. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.479 It's just that that's what we invest in UM. And 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:18.080 then second of all, it's how can we do everything 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.560 on our and our power to be additive and help 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:25.760 them reach their goals and sometimes that also means just 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.120 getting out of their way. You use the phrase that 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.160 you know you have to believe in something like what 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:36.680 makes you believe a few things. I'm I'm looking at 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.919 things that they've done before, you know, I'm I'm looking 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:45.360 at what what did you do before you met me? 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:47.920 You know, before you got into this room or in 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.039 this zoom? How where did you take yourself? And so 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.200 many times, especially with the founders that we're investing in, 0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.800 people have incredible stories of kind of eat some nature 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.760 of like getting to where they are UM and and 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.920 there's always something to behold there. So it's about what 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:12.240 they've accomplished with the very limited resources they may have had, 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:17.760 or or if they've had more resources than that, have 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.560 they used them wisely? In our opinion. So I look 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:25.800 at that, I look at our people, uh, paying attention 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.000 to them. Are they do they do they have customers, 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:30.880 whether that be B two B or B two C, Like, 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:35.120 do they have something about their product, their service, the 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.120 charisma of of who they are if they're super early, 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.240 there's something there and that's why we rarely invest in 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:48.400 idea stage. We invest um emotionally at the idea of stage, 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.960 but we do not invest in financially there because there's 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:58.560 so many companies by underrepresented founders, underestimated founders where at 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.560 the gate it's a it's a about making money, yeah, 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.360 not about like three or four years or we didn't 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.320 make any money and we're gonna be VC backed ten 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:10.480 million dollars into this. So there's a lot to look at. 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.080 There's a lot of data to look at. But then 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.280 ultimately that early I'm looking at is this person going 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:22.040 to wake up every day and breathe life into this company. 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.480 You talked about the human element of you know what 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.760 you do, and you have people who I would imagine 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:30.520 when we were all outside, you know, we'll see you 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.080 at a conference and not a n AFRO tech, but 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.199 see you at a conference in you're they're black, and 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:36.120 you're the only black VC in the room, and like 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.160 all this got to understand what what I'm what I 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.080 what it took for me to get in this room, 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:43.480 you know number one, but to get here with a thing. 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.480 And I wonder when they come to you with that 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:52.240 bleeding heart, you know how much of that? How how 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.439 do you manage that when it's also Look, this is 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:58.560 about venture capital and it's not just about I love 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:00.959 what you're trying to do. I see that your heart is, 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:05.880 I see your passion. But this is about dollars and cents. Still, Yeah, 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.080 I couldn't do what I do if I didn't know 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.320 how to separate the two because, like I said, two 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:16.000 of what we see, so it's stories most likely that 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:20.600 I like that to to you know the other two. Um, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.120 I'll say what I've said since the beginning. This isn't 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.520 your black Let me write you a check day. This 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.719 is not what this is. So what I do in 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:33.360 my career, in my profession as a venture capitalist, as 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.960 an investor, however you want to call it, is I 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:42.480 make investments based on criteria that I have and instincts 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.480 that I have, and the effort to make money for 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:52.280 myself for our stakeholders and for our LPs, and what 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:57.120 I do outside of that and the other six revenue 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:03.200 streams that I have is if I want to be philanthropic, 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:07.520 I can be philanthropic all day long, right, So I 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.640 have to separate it. Well, I'm not. You're not coming 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.200 into the room for me the investor and trying to 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.160 get me on a sad story because I have a 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.400 sad story, you know. And I wasn't the first person 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.880 to tell the sad story, you know, that story. I 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:23.640 was kind of out it and then I kind of 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.760 went on that ride. Um, once I realized that it 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.280 was helping a lot of people get through their current situation. 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:34.600 But you can't get me in a sad story because 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.280 I'm gonna care like I was car in person. But 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.040 that's not that's not gonna tell me if in five 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.240 years you would have upside for the both of us. 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.319 So um. There have been people who have come in 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.240 told me their story, come in hot, you know, coming 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.800 in hot on an email or something or meeting me 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.360 in person. They say, I know you're gonna at this 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:05.520 and you're my only shot. Mm hmm. And I think 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.640 what they think that means is that you know, they 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.480 psyched themselves into thinking she's gonna write me a check today. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.240 Where do I you know, where do I cash it? 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:20.559 And I have to tell them that we can't afford 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.080 to do that. I think there was a one time 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.000 I was like, you know, like your tears aren't gonna 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:31.120 get you the check. And that's with me or with 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.079 anyone else. Also, if you feel like I'm your only shot, 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:38.920 something else is wrong, something else is wrong because what 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:40.840 I don't, what I think a lot of people miss 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.880 with my story is I've raised a few million dollars 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:50.319 and I've deployed that into two companies with my team. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.400 But I've also generated millions of dollars in revenue the 0:11:54.440 --> 0:12:01.199 past five years. I've also bootstrapped the company to keep 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.400 the lights on every single year and every single month 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:13.079 without very much outside help. So I know that there's 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.439 no one person, no rich person, who is my only shot. 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:21.400 You know, I have gotten creative every single year. So 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.160 when people come to me and they have a sad story, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.120 I feel that paying with them, I relate to them 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.000 in many ways. In some ways that I'll never relate 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.000 to them because they've gone through things I haven't gone through. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.280 But that does not mean that I'm getting the you know, 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.480 handing my clutch and let me get get my check. 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.960 Can't because we have so much that we have to 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:49.240 live up to and it won't do anybody any good. 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.240 And I think people don't get this about me like 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.679 I know this. It won't do us any good if 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:58.800 backstage doesn't do well, that's right. So how do you 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.400 define seat stage to get You know, every every every 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.480 angel investor or VC I talked to defines it a 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:09.160 little bit of a different way. Check sizes are from 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:14.080 twenty grand to Yeah. I think it changes about every 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.440 eighteen months. I mean it probably changes every six months 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:18.640 and then real real change every eighteen months. It just 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.920 I mean six years ago it was different than it 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:26.679 was than it is today. A year ago is different. Seed. Um, 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:28.800 I guess the way and not to be not trying 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:31.959 to be facetious, but it's just whatever whatever is after 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:36.440 a preseed, okay, Because sometimes I'm like, okay, are you 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.400 are you calling this your preceded or your seed And 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.959 I'll get an answer like it's my bridge to seed 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.400 from precede And We've raised one point seven million in 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.160 pre seed and I'm like, WHOA, Well, how much the 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.960 company do you still on? Are really you on when 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.880 this converge? Because I don't you have a one point 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.080 seven million pre seed and now you're doing a bridge 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.320 to the seed, you know. And sometimes it happens because 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.280 these things roll, they roll, they roll, they roll. You 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.520 have a three year period where people are just raising 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:11.240 and they haven't um made it to what you would 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:16.240 think seed is in their in their metrics for one 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.000 reason or another, like they did. They don't have the 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.080 inflection point of having enough in the bank at the 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.760 right time or this, that and the other. Um. But 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.760 I just call it whatever is between presed and series A, 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.000 and there's like four levels to it. There's a seed 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:36.600 one A and most seeds that I'm seeing right now 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:44.360 are um they're raising somewhere between two million and five million. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.160 There are some outliers in either direction and their evaluation 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:54.200 or I guess your their post is somewhere between uh 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:59.000 ten and I got you, all right. So most of 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.160 the questions I'm gonna are from the perspective of trying 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.320 to understand how we get more. Arlan Hamilton's out here 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.920 and how we get more Charles Hudson's and Richard Kirby's 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:14.920 and Canadas, Matthew's Brookins and Brian Brookins and so in 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:19.800 that from that perspective, from that lens, how meaningful? And 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.200 I've read that you you invest somewhere usually between twenty 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.840 K hundred k typically UM. That might have adjusted to 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:32.200 your last statement, mum, how meaningful is a twenty five 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.720 thousand dollar check a hundred thousand dollarge check to a 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:39.520 black founder, particularly LGBTQ founder and underrepresented founder when you're 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.640 when you're evaluating the deal and like what milestones are 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.040 you hoping that that capital gets them too? Is it 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.440 that you're hoping that they can on board more users 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.760 or is it that you're hoping they can raise more money. Typically, 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.280 to follow on to that, because you're the first end, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.400 everybody's differ. Everybody's a little bit different because at backstage 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:02.280 we're very flexible. We've talked to our LPs from day 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.720 one to say that we're not chasing unicorns. Um, you know, 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.200 we'll have some, but we're not chasing them. So it 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:10.800 is very specific to the company what the company needs 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.080 and wants. So to answer the first part of your 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.520 question or to kind of comment on it, we in 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.480 In the past, we have invested twenty five thousand, fifty thousand, 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.600 a hundred thousand, and in the last twelve months it's 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:28.800 been anything between fifty thousand and one point five million, UM. So, 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.200 you know, to answer the question, I have to tell 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:37.119 you that there's there's layers to it, and that there 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:41.880 is a plan that's the decades long, and it's a 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.720 decade in the making, so early on, you know, And 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.120 I just had Morgan on my podcast from you know, 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.880 CEO of Bravity and Afrotech, and she said early on 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:56.120 she didn't quite get it, and I understood that, and 0:16:56.320 --> 0:17:00.080 we had talked about that in the past. You have 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.000 to walk to run or in some cases walk to fly, 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:09.520 and really got to transport ourselves back to two thousand fourteen. 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.440 I mean, when I think about two thousand and fifteen, 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:20.680 the summer of Stephanie Lambkin, nobody would check for her, 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:26.800 Nobody would check for Juel Burke's two thousand fifteen. I 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:31.760 was around during the or during the Bravity round during 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.919 two fifteen. So what I was thinking back then was 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:40.159 I'm homeless, literally homeless. I literally don't know what I'm 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:44.680 gonna eat next, and I'm trying to get millionaires and 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.520 billionaires to listen to me, to understand that black and 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:53.080 brown and women founders and LGBTQ founders, they're not doing 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:57.360 anybody any charity backing them. They're missing out right. That's 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.879 the plainest way I can see it right now. So 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:01.840 I had, I said, one day, I woke up and 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.719 I'm like, they're not gonna listen to because they're not 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:08.080 listening to me, but they have to listen to me 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:13.200 if I'm on that cap table mm hm. And so 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.679 I said, I don't know what it's gonna take. So 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.399 I talked to people like Sam altmanute Y Combinator and 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.000 his brother Jack. I talked to Michael Saibel. I talked 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.720 to a few people, Brad Faeld, and I said, what's 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.720 that number, Like, what's the number that I can be taken? Seriously? 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.280 They said, listen, we do twenty five tho dollar checks. 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:35.399 You know, when Mark Andreson invested in in Backstage the Fund, 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.919 and and Chris Soccer and all these people, everybody was like, oh, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.359 you're set, these are billionaires, and I'm like, no, no, 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.440 you don't understand. They're doing fifty thou dollar checks right. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.199 So I said, if they are doing that, if I 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.520 can get to twenty five thousand, because they're doing that, 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:54.919 then they have to talk to me, and then they 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.440 have to listen, and then I can put the spotlight 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:01.159 on these founders. And so that was I when I'm 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.000 sitting on the floor of the airport and I'm watching 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.200 people go by, and I'm hungry, and I'm sad and pathetic, 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.719 and the only way i can keep myself from crying 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:18.919 myself into non existence, it's to strategize. I'm saying, Okay, 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.679 I'm gonna invest in brand speaking of Brian. Brian Bracken 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.560 was my first investment. I'm going to invest in Brian, 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.560 gonna invest in Jewel, I'm going to invest in Morgan, 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:34.320 I'm going to invest in Shina. You know, I'm gonna 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.760 do this when I can, and it's gonna be twenty 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.719 five dollars. So the first time I had six, when 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:45.760 I had six investments of dollars, I got my first 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:50.640 real piece of press in like a legal um paper 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:55.359 made a lot of noise, and it wasn't about it 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:57.840 was it was about like it was. If I look 0:19:57.880 --> 0:19:59.400 back on it now, I'd probably laugh at it. Because 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.399 it'd be like, can you imagine that they found six 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:07.879 black founders? Can you imagine this wasn't two fifteen or sixteen. 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:15.080 So anyway, when I look at numbers, i'm people will 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:18.720 will ask me to be an advisor and take advisor 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:22.480 shares for no money just to be around them, you 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.080 know what I mean. And so I'm not looking at 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:27.960 the amount. I'm looking at what do we know about 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.600 ourselves at backstage, about the work that we put in 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:37.160 every single day for a decade, day in day out. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:41.040 How many times have we been somebody's first call and 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.240 how many calls have we made on behalf of other people? 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:49.399 And so all of it is to push, to catalyze, 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:54.639 to to to say what others cannot say for you know, 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:59.800 fear of losing something. All of that is wrapped up 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:05.200 in check and guess what we might be writing dollar 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:33.560 checks one day and the exact same reason. Becoming a 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.880 Vinci capitalist. There's a lot like raising money for your startup, 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.280 but instead of pitching your which or your software, you're 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.880 alternatively trying to engage investors into the idea that you 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.000 know how to find great deals. You've got the contacts, 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:51.359 the inside track, you're the plug. So while pitching a 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.040 startup as much ado about putting together a dope ten 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:56.840 pages deck, what is it pitch like when you're putting 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.680 your hat into the ring to be a bona fide investor, 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:04.879 Arlen speaks, Sonny, it's funny that a lot has changed 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:06.840 the last five years, but a lot hasn't when it 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:10.560 comes to the pitch and when it comes to the reaction. Uh, 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.879 it's still difficult for us to raise from from institutionals 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.800 and from certain groups. But the pitch has always been 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:23.040 we are under we're under we're underrepresented, so we're underestimated. 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:26.879 If we have done so much us When I say we, 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:29.679 I mean black founders first and almost if we have 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:32.400 done so much with so little, imagine what you could do, 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:35.040 what they could do with more, what we could do 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:39.879 with more. And it's always been, even even when it 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:41.960 meant losing out of money, it's always been this is 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:44.560 not philanthropic, This is not for your heart streams. This 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:46.560 is not for you to take this off of your 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:51.000 good deeds for the year. This is there is a 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:53.560 wave coming and you can either be crushed by it 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.520 or you can ride it. And we see it earlier 0:22:56.520 --> 0:22:58.600 than a lot of people are seeing it. So we 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:00.560 were saying this, and I was saying this personally in 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:04.680 two thousand and twelve and thirteen and fourteen outside of 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:08.640 Silicon Valley. So yes, of course there were many who 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:13.080 are now friends, like black investors. That was never a question. Uh, 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:15.320 And I correct people when somebody says I'm the first 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:20.679 something there other. But what I saw from Afar was 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.359 that there was a lot to lose for those black 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:28.159 investors if they spoke up for being real. And I 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:31.440 didn't have that to lose. I was already at bottom, 0:23:31.720 --> 0:23:34.160 so I I could go out there and scream and 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:39.399 run around and say crazy things and people could hear it. Um. 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:42.000 So when it comes to today, like you know, with 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:45.320 the Republic raise, we just you know, with this crowd 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:49.600 fund raise for the backstage entity to have to share 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:52.199 an upside with us, which is at Republic dot co 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:57.199 slash backstage, the pitch is the same. As you know, 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:00.000 We've been saying this for years. I think it's undeniable 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:04.800 now that black and brown founders, women founders, LGBTQ founders 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.439 were always onto something. We're always doing something will do 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:13.080 without us, We'll do without your investor money, My investment 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:15.639 money will make away with or without us. Don't you 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:19.479 want to be with them? We want to. And because 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:22.160 we've said that and been about been about that for 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:27.040 so long, we have proprietary access not only two deals, 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:29.880 because we do have an incredible amount of deal flow 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:34.400