WEBVTT - Overcoming Funding Hurdles For Entrepreneurs

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<v Speaker 1>National Association Member FDIC Erness What's Up? You ever walk

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<v Speaker 1>into a small business and everything just works like the

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<v Speaker 1>Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep

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<v Speaker 1>pushing your vision forward. I mean, we know the statistics.

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<v Speaker 1>We hear about it, the percentages that minority founders you know,

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<v Speaker 1>are able to have access to. What was that like

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<v Speaker 1>for you, obviously being being a woman a founder talk

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<v Speaker 1>about that.

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<v Speaker 2>I really liked being an outsider in the sense it

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<v Speaker 2>was similar to when I just started to start the

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<v Speaker 2>business from NASA.

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<v Speaker 3>At first, people were.

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<v Speaker 2>Telling me, Hey, you've got to go with a pitch deck,

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<v Speaker 2>go to the valley, go to vcs.

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<v Speaker 3>But the vcs weren't trying to rock with me.

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<v Speaker 2>They didn't think that there was a market for what

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<v Speaker 2>I was looking to do.

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<v Speaker 3>Business has been around for ten years.

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<v Speaker 2>You're wrong, right, So one of the things that I'd

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<v Speaker 2>like to say is stop taking advice from people who

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<v Speaker 2>haven't done what you're trying to do with LINGO. I'm like, eh,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think I want to raise venture capital.

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<v Speaker 3>I know what the stats are. They're terrible.

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<v Speaker 2>How do I look at the model and how do

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<v Speaker 2>I flip the model on its head?

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<v Speaker 3>Because that's what I do.

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<v Speaker 2>And when I looked at it, I said, vcs get

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<v Speaker 2>their money from family offices.

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<v Speaker 3>Why don't I try to hit up a couple of

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<v Speaker 3>family offices.

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<v Speaker 2>Now I know why people don't typically hit up family offices,

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<v Speaker 2>but I was determined once again to try, and I

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<v Speaker 2>had the time, and oh, by the way, I had

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<v Speaker 2>the patience because I'm already running a business that's successful

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<v Speaker 2>that I've had for ten years.

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<v Speaker 3>So let's try to figure this out. So I made

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<v Speaker 3>a list of.

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<v Speaker 2>Family offices who were in businesses that I thought that

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<v Speaker 2>could be strategic investors. And the gamble that I made was, well,

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<v Speaker 2>if I can get a multi billion dollar family who

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<v Speaker 2>has the right investment mindset and is willing to support

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<v Speaker 2>me and understands the long term of what I'm.

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<v Speaker 3>Looking to do. Can I also bring in traditional capital?

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<v Speaker 3>And the answer was yes.

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<v Speaker 2>So I did a founder led seed round where I

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<v Speaker 2>brought in a million and a half from a family office,

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<v Speaker 2>and then I went to the other vseas and said,

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<v Speaker 2>do you want to play?

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<v Speaker 4>How did that work out?

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<v Speaker 2>It worked out well because if I've already brought in

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<v Speaker 2>a million and a half and you're going to sip

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<v Speaker 2>in one hundred thousand dollars, that million and a half

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<v Speaker 2>is going to help your hundred thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 3>So I basically de risked the round for you. And

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<v Speaker 3>that's one of the.

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<v Speaker 2>Areas that I've been big on telling other minorities to

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<v Speaker 2>pursue was what I call friendly patient capital. I call

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<v Speaker 2>my investors like they're my dad. I'm like, hey, what

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<v Speaker 2>do you guys doing. Here's what I'm working on. And

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<v Speaker 2>part of the things that were not, you know, non

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<v Speaker 2>negotiable for this family was that you were going to

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<v Speaker 2>do good and you were going to do well right.

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<v Speaker 3>It's not just the dollar, It's about the legacy.

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<v Speaker 2>And so when I tell them that kids in Ghana

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<v Speaker 2>are doing our kids have the video, love it They're like,

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<v Speaker 2>that's what you're supposed to do, right, go out and

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<v Speaker 2>make that impact, whereas some people who have you know,

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<v Speaker 2>domestic vcs are not necessarily as lucky to have people

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<v Speaker 2>who think in that way.

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<v Speaker 4>So, okay, so you raise the money that helps you

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<v Speaker 4>with infrastructure and employees. I'm assuming, So are you raising

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<v Speaker 4>more money? What's the goal?

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, you can definitely hit me up if.

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<v Speaker 2>You want to send a check. Check.

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<v Speaker 4>How much are you trying to raise?

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<v Speaker 2>I would like to raise about a million more and

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<v Speaker 2>pot path to our Series A.

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<v Speaker 3>And I'll tell you why.

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<v Speaker 2>Some of our clients are big firms.

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<v Speaker 3>Talking Siemens General Dynamics.

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<v Speaker 2>General Dynamics has been a customer's ours for the last

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<v Speaker 2>three years.

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<v Speaker 3>Microsoft buys from us. Right, we have big companies who

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<v Speaker 3>have engineers who buy from US.

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<v Speaker 4>What do they buy the software?

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<v Speaker 3>They buy the kids so they can teach employees, They have.

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<v Speaker 2>Their employees go into the schools, or they provide it

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<v Speaker 2>as capacity building for the schools that they sponsor. And

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<v Speaker 2>as I started to do this, we started talking to

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<v Speaker 2>school districts. Shout out to Syracuse School District. And I'm

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<v Speaker 2>realizing that this mission and this need is even bigger

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<v Speaker 2>than I knew.

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<v Speaker 3>Like when I thought about it, I was like, oh,

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<v Speaker 3>we're just going to ship out.

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<v Speaker 2>Some kids, But it's really become about how can we

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<v Speaker 2>help make a district better?

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<v Speaker 3>And that is a problem of a much larger.

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<v Speaker 2>Magnitude and it takes more time. And we're also now

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<v Speaker 2>building custom kits, like we're about to drop three holes

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<v Speaker 2>space lessons. We got a climate satellite, we got a

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<v Speaker 2>buggy coming out. That buggy's a moon rubber, and we

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<v Speaker 2>also have a rocket launch. And in building all all

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<v Speaker 2>this content, I'm like, you know what, bo, we take

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit more capital, take our time, and really

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<v Speaker 2>do something that is going to move the needle.

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<v Speaker 1>How many lessons are inside these kids? Because I'm thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>and this was an elementary middle school and obviously high

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<v Speaker 1>school probably different, but it felt like they were just

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<v Speaker 1>for semesters, and so there was a semester with the

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<v Speaker 1>lessons and there was a new set of kids. So

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<v Speaker 1>forth semesters of kids in the grade every year. How

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<v Speaker 1>many lessons are inside of your kids right now?

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<v Speaker 3>So it depends on what you want.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is the beauty of it, because we designed

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<v Speaker 2>this to be flexible. You can have two to three

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<v Speaker 2>semesters worth in your kid if you want.

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<v Speaker 3>It's all about what you ask us for.

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<v Speaker 2>So we developed content for every lesson for the classroom,

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<v Speaker 2>and you could teach that over semester.

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<v Speaker 3>You could teach it over too.

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<v Speaker 4>So school districts aren't really buying it for you. For

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<v Speaker 4>the most part. Is corporations as buying it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's mostly been corporations.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're out in the district, yeah, I mean, I

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<v Speaker 2>think the challenge right is there's a lot going on

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<v Speaker 2>in the district environment, and we've got some good connections

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<v Speaker 2>and we're making progress. But this is where I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>ashamed to say I need help. The people who purchase

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<v Speaker 2>from us, they love us. But I started to realize

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<v Speaker 2>what we were really up against when it comes to

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<v Speaker 2>ads and marketing and all that stuff. And that's really

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<v Speaker 2>why I was like, I got to go back to

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<v Speaker 2>the drawing board and raise more money because I did

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<v Speaker 2>not know how expensive it was to really advertise.

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<v Speaker 3>And read some of these people.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it a price point issue? Because I feel like

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<v Speaker 1>schools wet so much money on some of the most

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<v Speaker 1>ridiculous things, and they do it repetibly every single year,

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<v Speaker 1>And so when you're approaching schools or school districts. Are

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<v Speaker 1>they saying, well, it's the price point, we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>it in the budget this year. What is the resistance

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<v Speaker 1>you feel? Because every school has them, so I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>trying to fig what would be the resistance.

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<v Speaker 2>So we actually do not see resistance once we get

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<v Speaker 2>in front of the right person. What I see is

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<v Speaker 2>the amount of money that I have to invest to

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<v Speaker 2>have somebody reach out, form the relationship, do the presentation,

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<v Speaker 2>put the proposal in front of whoever has to make

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<v Speaker 2>the decision, close the deal, and then get paid. Can

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<v Speaker 2>be roughly six to eight months, and that's really where

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<v Speaker 2>we have to support the operation until they can close

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<v Speaker 2>the deal. And so the challenge in my mind is

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<v Speaker 2>how can we do more of these deals and shorten

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<v Speaker 2>the time.

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<v Speaker 4>So what's the ultimate vision for the company.

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<v Speaker 2>My vision for Lingo would be to not only be

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<v Speaker 2>a global provider of immersive STEM experiences like I would

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<v Speaker 2>like to get to the point where some of our

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<v Speaker 2>boxes interact with Oculus, but to combine that with the

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<v Speaker 2>entrepreneurship thing. Because when I teach the Lingo Box in

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<v Speaker 2>the Bahamas, and I've had this camp for nearly ten years,

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<v Speaker 2>I couple it with entrepreneurship, and then I give kids

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<v Speaker 2>money to go out and try to run their business

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<v Speaker 2>because I believe that you don't have to have a

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<v Speaker 2>college degree to be a multi millionaire. You just need

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<v Speaker 2>to have entrepreneurship skills.

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<v Speaker 3>And it's like a muscle.

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<v Speaker 2>The more that you exercise it, the stronger that you're

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<v Speaker 2>gonna get. So I want students trying to build their

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<v Speaker 2>first startup when they're twelve or their thirteen, because by

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<v Speaker 2>the time they're twenty, they're going to be beasts.

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<v Speaker 5>An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

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<v Speaker 5>in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador

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<v Speaker 5>accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

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<v Speaker 5>filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

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<v Speaker 5>some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President

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<v Speaker 5>Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christin Noman, the United States

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<v Speaker 5>Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted legal border

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<v Speaker 5>crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over

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<v Speaker 5>one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you

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<v Speaker 5>are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly

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<v Speaker 5>one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will

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<v Speaker 5>never return. But if you register using our CBP home

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<v Speaker 5>app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.

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<v Speaker 5>Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump America's laws,

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<v Speaker 5>border and families will be protected.

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<v Speaker 3>Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,