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Speaker 1: Enjoying Black Tech Green Money. It would mean a lot

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Speaker 1: if you rate us five stars on Apple Podcast or

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Speaker 1: Google Play. The way the algorithm works. The more you

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Speaker 1: rate and say nice things, they'll introduce black tech Green

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Speaker 1: Money to more people and more of us need this content.

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Speaker 1: So thank you for rating this podcast five stars today.

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Speaker 1: Afro Tech Team, San Francisco, California. Monique Woodard is a

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Speaker 1: venture capitalist, founder and managing partner at KEG Ventures. She

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Speaker 1: was previously a venture partner at five hundred Startups and

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Speaker 1: co founded Black Founders, the San Francisco based organization dedicated

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Speaker 1: to entrepreneurship and inclusion. She's in the Influencers Lounge talking

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Speaker 1: with the afro Tech Team about what it takes to

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Speaker 1: successfully raise a seed round from investors. So my three

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Speaker 1: pieces of advice for raising a good seed round are one,

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Speaker 1: know your metrics UM. By the time you're ready to

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Speaker 1: raise a seed round, you should have some data points

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Speaker 1: about how your business is growing. So no your LTV,

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Speaker 1: no your CAT, know your revenue. Know what MRR is

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Speaker 1: a a r R and if it's not mr ER,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's g m V that you need to be

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Speaker 1: talking about. So understand to the ins degree exactly what

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Speaker 1: kind of metrics you need to be talking about to

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Speaker 1: express UM, to express and convey your business wealth. Number two,

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Speaker 1: I would say meet as many people as possible and

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Speaker 1: understand the terms that you're raising on UM. A lot

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Speaker 1: of people this will be your first time raising money,

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Speaker 1: especially on a convertible note, so understand what those terms

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Speaker 1: are in the convertible, note, what kind of discount you're

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Speaker 1: you're trying to offer, what your cap is, and understand

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Speaker 1: what those things are and what they mean for the

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Speaker 1: next round of fundraising. And finally, I would say meet

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Speaker 1: as many people as you can and UM have people

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Speaker 1: help you reach out to you know your network, reach

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Speaker 1: out to people who you've worked with before, people who

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Speaker 1: you went to university with, people at your church, tell

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Speaker 1: them what you're doing, and have them introduce you to

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Speaker 1: people who might want to invest UM. At the seed round.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people UM aren't necessarily institutional investors or

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Speaker 1: aren't necessarily you know, venture funds. You will have some

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Speaker 1: angels in those rounds to really lean in on people

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Speaker 1: that you know who could write you write you a check.

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Speaker 1: I'm will Lucas Mrs Black Tech Green Money. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: introduce you to some of the biggest names, some of

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Speaker 1: the brightest minds, and brilliant ideas. If you're black, in building,

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Speaker 1: or simply using tech to secure your back, this podcast

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Speaker 1: is for you. Isaac Hayes the Third, also known as

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Speaker 1: I Dirty, is an American record producer, voice actor, and

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Speaker 1: founder of fan Base, a subscription based social network that

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Speaker 1: is helping users monetize their content. He's the son of

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Speaker 1: American music icon Isaac Hayes, who wrote the theme song

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Speaker 1: from Chef in the elastic song walk On by I

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Speaker 1: Dirty manages. His father is a state as to isa

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Speaker 1: think about how being so close to the music industry

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Speaker 1: as a child, exposed into the un leveled playing field

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Speaker 1: artists were on versus the record labels that provided the contracts,

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Speaker 1: and what he might have learned about the power of

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Speaker 1: ownership of your creative intellectual property. My dad was really

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Speaker 1: treated unfairly, so UM, figuring out, you know, the pathway

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Speaker 1: to understanding how to own your publishing or your masters

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Speaker 1: or your content um was definitely something that was just

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Speaker 1: instilled in me from an early age. Absolutely, you know,

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Speaker 1: I had to know that moving forward is really how

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Speaker 1: the foundation of my education in the music industry. Um,

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Speaker 1: so that's really what shaped my mindset, even more of

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Speaker 1: a businessman than even a musician. M hm. So, I

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Speaker 1: mean too many of us don't think of songs as

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Speaker 1: like intellectual property, you know, or I mean as a byproduct,

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Speaker 1: you know, don't consider of their ability to hold court

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Speaker 1: on platforms like clubhouse you know, or or their dances

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Speaker 1: on TikTok as I p and um. What has been

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Speaker 1: most compelling or enlightening in your case? You know, what's

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Speaker 1: been most effective, um in your experience and helping people

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Speaker 1: realize that there contribution to social media in a lot

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Speaker 1: of ways has value. I think the music industry was

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Speaker 1: a really good example back around two thousand ten, two

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Speaker 1: thousand twelve. UM. I like to call that like the

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Speaker 1: mixtape era, like the Dad Pif live mixtapes are everybody

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Speaker 1: was driving mixtapes, Travis Porter clopping, Roscoe Dash. You know.

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Speaker 1: It was the the way that you got on as

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Speaker 1: an artist, right. But in that process, people used to

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Speaker 1: put out so much free music and not get paid

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Speaker 1: for it, be albums and albums or songs and then

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Speaker 1: maybe one record that hit, but you've got twelve records

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Speaker 1: that other producers did, other songwriters wrote that you've give

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Speaker 1: it away for free, and all that I p you know,

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Speaker 1: went to waste basically, you know, unless the artists glue

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Speaker 1: and they picked up those songs in some way, shape

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Speaker 1: or form. So when you know, Spotify kind of picked

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Speaker 1: up and then Apple Music came on the scene, Um,

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Speaker 1: people are able to monetize that content and be able

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Speaker 1: to take those mixtapes now and put them on Spotify

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Speaker 1: and Apple Music and no longer the free mixtape game

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Speaker 1: and kind of stopped at that point, right So, uh,

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Speaker 1: in building a technology platform, it really helped me understand

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Speaker 1: that that's kind of where we are right now with content.

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Speaker 1: That there's so many amazing content creators that do dances,

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Speaker 1: that do skits and comedy and all these great things

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Speaker 1: exercises and fashion and all this kind of stuff, that

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Speaker 1: we're giving this content away for free and nobody's really

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Speaker 1: making any money because the platforms that run ads through

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Speaker 1: all of us. So I think, you know, comparing where

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Speaker 1: the mixtape game was in the music industry, I'm comparing

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Speaker 1: that to kind of where we are with content creators now. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you spoke about your music career, like and being a

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Speaker 1: music producer, you know, people may know yet for one

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Speaker 1: of your biggest hits, a little scrappy the money in

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Speaker 1: the bank, but you do have more. And what was

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Speaker 1: that moment you realize that there's particiarly a bigger opportunity

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Speaker 1: here behind the screen in time, you know, versus like

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Speaker 1: behind the boards in music. I think when I saw

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Speaker 1: a problem that needed to be solved. I mean, I

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Speaker 1: had been managing my father's estate um and still do.

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Speaker 1: But at the time that I came up with on

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Speaker 1: the concept for fan base, it was just a moment

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Speaker 1: where a young creative was caught like a deer in

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Speaker 1: the headlights that didn't know how to monetize this content.

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Speaker 1: Who caught a viral moment? Right? And this is probably

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Speaker 1: and it really made me think there needs to be

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Speaker 1: a way for creatives to instantly monetize their content by

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Speaker 1: way of subscription, but not so to the point that

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Speaker 1: everybody feels like you have to pay. And I feel

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Speaker 1: like there is no Before fan base, there really was

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Speaker 1: no end between. It was either free on Instagram, or

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Speaker 1: it was Patreon or only fans. But there was not

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Speaker 1: a happy medium where you can have followers and subscribers

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Speaker 1: at the same time. And so I wanted to provide

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Speaker 1: that that, oh, the people that you rock with, your

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Speaker 1: friends and your family and everybody you engage with this cool.

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Speaker 1: But you can still make content for people that want

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Speaker 1: to support you. So, um, that's the that's the moment

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Speaker 1: that I realized, you know, that we need to find

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Speaker 1: a space for creatives to be able to monetize their

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Speaker 1: content but not make it so cumbersome with pain walls. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So let's say I am sold on my creative outlet

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Speaker 1: being of value. You know how and how didn't do

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Speaker 1: I convert those people who just like, you know, giggling

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Speaker 1: because I can be silly or you know, entertained by

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Speaker 1: my DEAs? How do I convert? How do I know

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Speaker 1: people actually want to pay for what I'm doing? Well,

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Speaker 1: because people are paying, And I think that's the That's

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Speaker 1: the thing that I think people really need to realize

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Speaker 1: is we get caught in these phones of our own

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Speaker 1: like ecosystems and understand that for every Instagram there is,

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Speaker 1: there are other platforms and sites where people are making

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Speaker 1: content and charging people, and people are paying, and they're

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Speaker 1: enormously successful people on those platforms. I think we get

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Speaker 1: so used to giving our way, our content for free.

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Speaker 1: And the value proper is fame that we don't understand

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Speaker 1: that there's a world out there of people making money

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Speaker 1: like and and and I hate to use only fans

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Speaker 1: sensive example, but um, the fact that the women that

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Speaker 1: use that platform and the sex workers that use that platform,

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Speaker 1: they are so consistent in their marketing strategy, they're they're

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Speaker 1: so consistent in their linking bio and swipe up it.

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Speaker 1: Really it's not a simple. Just because you can monetize

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Speaker 1: your content doesn't mean Okay, I charge people and then

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Speaker 1: that's it. There's there's a there's work and effort that

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Speaker 1: goes into it. So you still have to become your

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Speaker 1: own marketer. You still have become your best marketer to

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Speaker 1: really promote your content. What I tell people is use

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Speaker 1: your your biggest platforms to start to drive that audience.

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Speaker 1: That five percent I tell people, five percent of your

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Speaker 1: audience is really what you're really looking for, the five

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Speaker 1: percent of people that follow you that will subscribe you.

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Speaker 1: So if you have a million followers right on social

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Speaker 1: media platform YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, whatever, Twitter, you can convert

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Speaker 1: five percent of those people to paying subscribers, right And

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Speaker 1: it's between two and eight, but I just still around five, right,

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Speaker 1: and and for fifty thousand people on our platform, um,

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Speaker 1: it's almost like one point one one point two million

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Speaker 1: dollars a year. That's a lot of money. Well that's

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Speaker 1: that's a millionaire. You're a millionaire just off converting that

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Speaker 1: percentage of people that really like your content. So that's

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Speaker 1: why I tell people to do start driving people to

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Speaker 1: these platforms because and I don't want to get a

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Speaker 1: long winded, but I tell people you have to date apps. Right,

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Speaker 1: if you're in a relationship with an app, and the

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Speaker 1: app is a providing you the relationship that you want, right,

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Speaker 1: it's okay to date a Snapchat or a TikTok or

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Speaker 1: a which because what happens is DJ Cabot found a

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Speaker 1: relationship with Snapchat that he didn't have on Instagram at

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Speaker 1: we came, that's where he blew up. Right, Jason Rulo

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Speaker 1: has found a relationship on TikTok that he didn't have

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Speaker 1: on it's Agram or YouTube or Snapchat, and now he's

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Speaker 1: blown up. So every platform will find that fan makes

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Speaker 1: will find that person that says this is this is it,

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Speaker 1: this is the relationship that I've been looking for and

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Speaker 1: they will be the largest star on the platform and

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Speaker 1: make the most money and become the anchor to whatever

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Speaker 1: growth that we do have. And so it's just you

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Speaker 1: have to date apps, just figure out your space in

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Speaker 1: your place. Yeah, I wanted to dig in on that

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Speaker 1: five percent. I mean, I'm really curious about that because

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Speaker 1: you know, you make me think about there are people

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Speaker 1: who like follow me, and there are people who like

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Speaker 1: are They're like, they're here for me, right, and the

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Speaker 1: people who are really into what I'm doing. Um, And

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Speaker 1: when you talk about that five I think the part

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Speaker 1: that we get discouraged about is when the people who

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Speaker 1: follow me don't convert. Right, you're saying, no, they they

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Speaker 1: They're not. I'm supposed to it's supposed to be a

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Speaker 1: subset of that is the ones that are actually there

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Speaker 1: because they love Isaac Hayes where they love with lou Kiss, right,

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Speaker 1: And that that that small percentage is the base that

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Speaker 1: you build on if I have and I think about

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Speaker 1: most people even that we're in the in this pandemic, right,

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Speaker 1: even if you have enough subscribers right to your content

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Speaker 1: that pay your carnal, right, if you're making fire it's

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Speaker 1: meaningful more money then Instagram is paying you now, right.

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Speaker 1: It is like one of the first one of the first,

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Speaker 1: um not a proof of concept, but a lightbulb moment

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Speaker 1: that I did have. Somebody used the platform and I

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Speaker 1: told him, I said, hey, you made six dollars. This

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Speaker 1: is like when we first This is like even in data,

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Speaker 1: like this is a data but I somebody had to

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Speaker 1: know and say, hey, you made six dollars this month

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Speaker 1: on fan base, right, just by the small group of

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Speaker 1: people that were on there. And the first thing they

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Speaker 1: said was, well, it's more Instagram pays Like that was

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Speaker 1: it like I'm doing the same thing over here that

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Speaker 1: I'm doing on site for free and they got lunch

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Speaker 1: and I get right and I made some money. So

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Speaker 1: I'm so, what did you attribute like this movement of

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Speaker 1: ownership too, because I remember probably my first brush with

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Speaker 1: you know, like you can own your creative asset from

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Speaker 1: the artist idles like Prince like Prince was, you know,

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Speaker 1: on stage saying like look, you gotta get out slaveship

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Speaker 1: and people in the audience if you remember those those clips,

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Speaker 1: they were they were paying attention, but they really wasn't

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Speaker 1: on what he was trying to say, and especially like

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Speaker 1: the label people. I remember seeing Russell Simmons face on

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Speaker 1: the screen when when he did that, and he was like, yeah, whatever,

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Speaker 1: But you know, the Hove is talking about it. Jay

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Speaker 1: Z's talking about this, Steve Styles talking about like what

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Speaker 1: do you attribute this to? Is it just because we

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Speaker 1: have the internet now that this is available to us,

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Speaker 1: so like, where is this movement coming from? I think

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Speaker 1: we have a real metric to understand the value of

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Speaker 1: black culture, like what black culture converts to in dollars, right,

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Speaker 1: what black black culture converts to when this TikTok or

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Speaker 1: does this song, and how much it makes that record sell,

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Speaker 1: When this you know, musician or artists wears this jacket

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Speaker 1: or this t shirt, how much it sells, when when

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Speaker 1: this person uses that slang on Twitter, how much it

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Speaker 1: creates engagement. Therefore that the company can run ads to

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Speaker 1: all that engagement by what they said, or most recently,

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Speaker 1: the users that got on Clubhouse and took this platform

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Speaker 1: bombarded it with all of our content and our conversation,

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Speaker 1: and they just raised a hundred million dollars at a

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Speaker 1: billion dollar valuation. So now we see like, Okay, we

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Speaker 1: make ship um the user word, but we may think

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Speaker 1: we blow up. So to understand that black culture is

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Speaker 1: actually like our vibranium are asset, Like we are so

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Speaker 1: creative that um now, like we shouldn't just be getting

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Speaker 1: it away for free. We shouldn't just be throwing our

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Speaker 1: dances on TikTok or or are slang on Twitter or

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Speaker 1: or our contin and all our Instagram without some sort

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Speaker 1: of monetary games. So for me, that's what sparked my

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Speaker 1: mind because I've seen it myself. I saw I saw

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Speaker 1: a clubhouse go from when I got there was like

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Speaker 1: four to six thousand users to two users now and

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Speaker 1: it was in beta, and that was in August, And

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Speaker 1: I saw the black community come on there and how

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Speaker 1: the platform exploded right, and now they can go out

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Speaker 1: there and raise that money off all the conversations and

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Speaker 1: engagement that we're bringing to the platforms. Do we own

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Speaker 1: it right? Did anybody really get in other than the

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Speaker 1: other than the connected African American community that knows these dcs.

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Speaker 1: Do the average people that get on this platform and

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Speaker 1: blow it up, or even some of our culture, our

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Speaker 1: younger culture rappers that the meat mills and the are

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Speaker 1: they really reaching out saying hey, look man, we're about

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Speaker 1: to give you all piece of the platform and we

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Speaker 1: want you here or are they just saying y'all do

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Speaker 1: your thing, We'll go get this bag. I love so

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Speaker 1: you tell so so many things there that we're gonna

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Speaker 1: dig into. And number one, I want to talk about

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Speaker 1: this Black culture drives all culture. You know. I remember, um,

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Speaker 1: the first person who I heard saying in that way

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Speaker 1: is Tristan Walker, founder of Walking and co maker a

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Speaker 1: bevel In, etcetera. And he said, you know, black culture

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Speaker 1: runs all global culture. And you know you think about food,

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Speaker 1: black culture runs had think about dance, we run that, music, sports,

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Speaker 1: we run all of that and so d it seems

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Speaker 1: like we're the only ones not sold on the value

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Speaker 1: of it. You know why, because we're innovators, right, We're

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Speaker 1: like the We're like the people that pick up the

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Speaker 1: ruby's cuban saw it and then put it down and say,

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Speaker 1: what's the next thing? Right, Oh, jazz, cool, hip hop, cool,

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Speaker 1: break dancing, cool, like whatever it is. We just we

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Speaker 1: just want to flip stuff, right. But what happens is

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Speaker 1: we set these things down and then other people come

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Speaker 1: by and pick up up and said, well, wait a minute,

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Speaker 1: we can monetize this country music or this rock and

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Speaker 1: roll or this hip hop or this DJ and DJ

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Speaker 1: and thing, or we can take this global, like you know,

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Speaker 1: we monetize. We don't understand. Wait wait, maybe maybe we

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Speaker 1: should make turntable companies, you know, Like imagine when hip

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Speaker 1: hop started, if the first thing somebody, a black dad

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Speaker 1: is built a turntable company rather than techniques to a

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Speaker 1: hunting we would own in infrastructure. Right, So um, that's

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Speaker 1: kind of like what happened is like we're such at

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Speaker 1: the apex of innovation. I say, like, and especially African

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Speaker 1: American people. I know people of color around the world,

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Speaker 1: but I always say that that African American culture is

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Speaker 1: the smallest cultural group on work. It's like it's like

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Speaker 1: a generation one culture were brand new. We just got

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Speaker 1: here like what a pho many years ago maybe, right,

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Speaker 1: and civilizations have been around for thousands of thousands of years,

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Speaker 1: but we're the most influential. So we're the smallest, youngest

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Speaker 1: culture group on the planter. We're the most influential, and

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Speaker 1: so we don't recognize that. Right, there is no African

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Speaker 1: America outside of America, Right, there's a Jamaica to go

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Speaker 1: back to, right, so Jamaicans can come here, Germans can

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Speaker 1: come here in Japanese people can come here Russians because

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Speaker 1: they have a source to call, so they can contribute

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Speaker 1: as much to the American dreams they want to. But

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Speaker 1: we are in America, so we have to be mindful

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Speaker 1: about giving all of our sauce to this big pool,

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Speaker 1: because if we don't own it and we're just giving

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Speaker 1: away our own goal, we're giving away are our you know,

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Speaker 1: our country, are our our asset, our legacy, our heritage.

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Speaker 1: So we just gotta be awful about that. Yeah, so

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Speaker 1: what what has to happen so that we do find

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Speaker 1: ways to or that we see the value in order

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Speaker 1: to find to build the fan basis of the world

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Speaker 1: that more of us are building these things because you

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Speaker 1: talked about yeah, we you know, own it from the

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Speaker 1: get then we put it down somebody else sees the value.

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Speaker 1: What has to happen for us to see the value too? Well,

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Speaker 1: I mean hopefully, and I'm very optimistic about the fashion

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Speaker 1: in which fan Base was built, in the way that

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Speaker 1: I even raise money for the platform. The cool thing

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Speaker 1: about the fan Bases it's an equity funded platform by

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Speaker 1: the community, right, so we have over four thousand investors

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Speaker 1: maniged to raise over two point seven million dollars. So

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Speaker 1: you have people that actually own part of a platform

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Speaker 1: that they can blow up. Right. And the reason why

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Speaker 1: I think about that, I've been thinking about the exiting

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Speaker 1: valuations of these other companies in the in the tech

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Speaker 1: space where you have Instagram for ability and WhatsApps for fourteen,

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Speaker 1: LinkedIn for twenty four, TikTok for fifty billion company starting

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Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen, so for fifty So if these if

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Speaker 1: these companies exit fifty sixty seventy billion, right, billion dollars

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Speaker 1: right or I P O and sixty seventy billion dollars,

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Speaker 1: then I've created uh, multi multiple millionaires. Right. We have

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Speaker 1: to own the infrastructures just as much as we own

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Speaker 1: the content and the culture. It's about owning the infrastructure.

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Speaker 1: So my my goal and my desire for fan base

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Speaker 1: is to own the platform along with the community that

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Speaker 1: we raise money with other people that bring their talent

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Speaker 1: to the platform, because that's the wind. Because then we

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Speaker 1: create other millionaires that can go in and fund other

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Speaker 1: companies and invest in other things. We have to have

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Speaker 1: really big wins on the board. It's cool. It's cool

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Speaker 1: to invest in stocks, it's cool to invest in some

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Speaker 1: of these things. But to really be able to exit

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Speaker 1: the company and say, oh man, I exited made thirty

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Speaker 1: million off this company as a black person. Right I exited,

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Speaker 1: It made two millions exit and it made you know,

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Speaker 1: somebody that's just said I put five dollars in and

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Speaker 1: now my investments were two point five million dollars. That's

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Speaker 1: game change that's never been done before. So I think

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Speaker 1: we have to really be intentional about saying, you know what,

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Speaker 1: we could use Clubhouse, but fan base just had they

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Speaker 1: just they just start a direct voice, right, they just

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Speaker 1: have dropping audio chat just like Clubhouse. Let's just all

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Speaker 1: move over there because where we go, everybody else is

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Speaker 1: gonna follow us where we go. We're gonna know what

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Speaker 1: the hell we're talking about. What do you guys doing?

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Speaker 1: What's going on? So I mean that's the point is

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Speaker 1: that if if our community gets intentional about patronizing the

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Speaker 1: infrastructures that we have um, then then we we can

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Speaker 1: build anything. If if everybody says, you know what, I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna any more fast food, I'm just gonna eat

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Speaker 1: Sluggy Vegan, right, Sludy the biggest, the biggest fast food

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Speaker 1: chain in the world. If we are intentional about that.

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Speaker 1: So I think if we're more intentional, will we will

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Speaker 1: have those big wins in in that space where we

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Speaker 1: own the infrastructure that makes so much money. So let's

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Speaker 1: talking about how how big can a black start up yet?

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Speaker 1: Because would we really have flocked to Clubhouse if it

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Speaker 1: were built by black founders? Um? Yeah, I think so.

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Speaker 1: I mean, here's the thing I think, and I Clubhouse

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Speaker 1: was an experiment for me. I got into space and

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Speaker 1: realized that there weren't a lot of the black people

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Speaker 1: that were there. We're not necessarily I feel like people

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Speaker 1: that were of the culture. There were people that were connected,

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Speaker 1: So they weren't the ones that were ready to kick

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Speaker 1: open the door and let the streets in it. Definitely

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Speaker 1: definitely weren't those seven people. I got on there and

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Speaker 1: saw friends of mine that I knew had huge connected

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Speaker 1: relationship with tech and d C and white investors and

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Speaker 1: white businessmen, And I'm like, why haven't they invited you

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Speaker 1: on here? I'm on here? You know, you know x

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Speaker 1: y Z there were thirty million, forty million, they haven't

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Speaker 1: haven't seen you in like this? I said, Oh man,

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Speaker 1: I'm about to bite the hood on here. So I took.

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Speaker 1: I took my invites to clubhouse and literally invited like

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Speaker 1: and rs. I invited Jermaine dupri and Van Lathen and

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Speaker 1: and Um Kenny Hamilton and Brian Michael Cotton, Tricky Stewart

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Speaker 1: and Dina Marto and Sean Garritton. I just started inviting

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Speaker 1: so and I knew when I did that. I said,

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Speaker 1: those people, they're going to bring the culture. And then

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00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,639
Speaker 1: what happened was everybody got a clubhouse and started complaining,

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Speaker 1: like here we go blowing up another app again. But

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Speaker 1: in my mind, I knew I was gonna raise money

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Speaker 1: for fan base, so I said I couldn't say that

409
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Speaker 1: I was raising money because you can't talk about your

410
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Speaker 1: raids before you do it. But as soon as my

411
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,440
Speaker 1: rage was live, I went on club to say it.

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Speaker 1: Remember you'll so much I wanted in Dust in a

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Speaker 1: black startup period, and that first twenty maybe thirty thousand

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00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 1: dollars worth an investment came off a clubhouse. It jumped

415
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,200
Speaker 1: started my raids, and so I definitely take a little

416
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Speaker 1: bit of the credit for why the black community is

417
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Speaker 1: so heavy on that platform, because I saw the invites

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Speaker 1: that I gave, how other people gave their invites to

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Speaker 1: those people, and those people gave their invites to those

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Speaker 1: people who ended up inviting the meet meals in the

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Speaker 1: I saw the chance. So that's how you do it,

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Speaker 1: and then you blow it up. So I saw that happen.

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Speaker 1: Pay Walls and subscriber only content is not a new concept.

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00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,440
Speaker 1: Many of us have complained loudly that we gladly pay

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Speaker 1: for apps like Instagram to give us back real time

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Speaker 1: news fees that are ordered by sequence or the ability

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Speaker 1: to post something and have all the people who follow

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Speaker 1: us actually see it. With Isaac started a fan base

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Speaker 1: taking both the free and premium content approach. I ask him, why,

430
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: if this is such a good concept, why have an

431
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 1: Apple like Instagram embraced it? Isaac speaks on it. I mean,

432
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: I enormously successful. If you take Facebook and Instagram in

433
00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, they made seventy billion I think in Facebook

434
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,160
Speaker 1: did and I think Instagram did like fourteen or fifteen

435
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,480
Speaker 1: billion in AD revenue. That's like eight billion dollars and

436
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 1: AD revenue. There's a lot of money, you know what

437
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,960
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So to abandon that, to go to a

438
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,840
Speaker 1: subscription model, how do you monetize that in a way

439
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,200
Speaker 1: that that you know, you satisfy your shareholders and your

440
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: stock price. I think I think Facebook and Instagram are

441
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,360
Speaker 1: so far down that path. They're enormously successful. So and

442
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 1: also I just feel like that's the path that they're on, right,

443
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,640
Speaker 1: that's the pathway that in my opinion, most social networks

444
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,880
Speaker 1: have a lifespan a good twelve years where they are

445
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 1: the thing right there, the thing that everybody rocks with

446
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: eight eight to twelve years. It's the most popular thing

447
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: on the planet, right, like my Space, which is like

448
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,880
Speaker 1: I feel like it's my Space is dead, like it's

449
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,119
Speaker 1: r I P. Right. And to meet Facebook as a

450
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 1: senior citizen by my generation, right, you know, my mom's

451
00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: on Facebook network. Instagram actually on Facebook, yeah, and so

452
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,360
Speaker 1: Instagram falls in that sweet spot for me that was like, okay,

453
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,399
Speaker 1: I'm even even people younger than me, but it's probably

454
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: like a twenty years probably from toti, this is ours, right.

455
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: And then the kids that are younger, they have their Snapchat, right,

456
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: and they have Twitch and now they have TikTok. So

457
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 1: kids want to be on apps that their parents are

458
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 1: not on, so they're gonna find these communities. So regardless

459
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 1: of how Facebook innovates or Snapchat innovates. There's somebody's older

460
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: brother and sister that's on Snapchat and I'm like, I'm

461
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: not going on there. On my mom's on Snapchat, I'm

462
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,439
Speaker 1: on TikTok, or I'm gonna stay on Twitch. So no,

463
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: the only thing they can do is acchoir, which is cool.

464
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,120
Speaker 1: They're gonna acquire and continue to to keep their audience.

465
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 1: But other than that, someone some people are just gonna

466
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 1: say no, I'm gonna build this community here, and that's

467
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,160
Speaker 1: my my my goal with fan basis centennials like that's

468
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: who's really gonna get this platform because they understand so

469
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,159
Speaker 1: much about what it is that the platform does. They

470
00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: they're transactional right there, are a lot more generous with

471
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:04,080
Speaker 1: their money. They understand virtual currency and in app purchases

472
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,400
Speaker 1: and cash app and things like that, so they understand

473
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: how it works, and it isn't weird to them to

474
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 1: give somebody some money like through a through an app,

475
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,640
Speaker 1: like you know that cash app is weird for somebody's

476
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: probably like fifty six years old, like I'm not about

477
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 1: to get on money on the internet, but you're talking

478
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 1: about for some people. But for these for somebody's eighteen,

479
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:27,639
Speaker 1: They're like, they understand that it's nothing. They they're on

480
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: robin Hood, they're buying stocks, they're on game they're buying

481
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 1: Game Stop and all that, so they get it. Yes,

482
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,679
Speaker 1: I think about I was listening to another interview that

483
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,240
Speaker 1: you did, and you were talking about how um when

484
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 1: these Instagrams the Facebook's and they will throttle your reach

485
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: and you they mess up the timeline. So stuff that

486
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,159
Speaker 1: was posted yesterday it is just now coming up. And

487
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,919
Speaker 1: you know there's gotta you follow five thousand people, but

488
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,679
Speaker 1: you only see three hundred of them, you know, And

489
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: and so um, I've seen people all through the years

490
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you have, like I would just I

491
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,360
Speaker 1: would pay to get rid of, you know, this sequencing

492
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,000
Speaker 1: of posts. I would pay to reach more of my people.

493
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,520
Speaker 1: And so I wonder what your thoughts are on how

494
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 1: um that subscription model will evolve? So right now, if

495
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,119
Speaker 1: you have a million followers on Instagram, you might reach

496
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,439
Speaker 1: If you go live on your page, you might have

497
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: like I don't know, four thousand people watch your live right, Like,

498
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,040
Speaker 1: do you really believe if you go live Instagram since

499
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,959
Speaker 1: out one million notifications, it's not happening because you can

500
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:28,879
Speaker 1: get on there and say go buy this shirt, go

501
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,159
Speaker 1: down on this song, go buy ticket. That's too so

502
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:33,520
Speaker 1: what they want to do, and they want you to

503
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,119
Speaker 1: pay to reach that audience, right as is what it is.

504
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: It's about oh, boosting your posts, right, that's what they

505
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: want to do. It's a successful model. And some people like,

506
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna pay nothing. I just I'll reach you.

507
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,239
Speaker 1: I'll reach it, and that's it. That's fine. What I

508
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 1: want to do with content creatives, I want it's many

509
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 1: eyeballs on you. I want a million eyeballs on you

510
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,920
Speaker 1: because if I know fifty thousand people are really gonna

511
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,120
Speaker 1: rock with you, right, those are the fifty thousand people

512
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 1: that that really rock with you. I like that. Let

513
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,640
Speaker 1: me change that. Um, but yeah, those are the people

514
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:09,400
Speaker 1: that are really gonna rock with you. So um that's

515
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 1: why for me, hold on my life went out. Um.

516
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: That's why you know that as they draw out your

517
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 1: engagement down, uh, you know, I want to I want

518
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 1: a million eyeballs on you because I know, oh man,

519
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: we're gonna convert that. I know that all those people

520
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: are gonna convert it to loves and subscriptions and revenue.

521
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 1: So there's many people that I can see. Let's see

522
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: you that that works, that that works in our benefit

523
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: and works in your benefit, in my benefit. Let's talk

524
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: about raising money online like startup, start Engine, and I

525
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,879
Speaker 1: invested in my friends um start Engine, the campaigns like

526
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,880
Speaker 1: most stream lyticcs. My homie Angela Benton, Yeah, I invested

527
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 1: in her to start. Andrew Andrel introduced me to started.

528
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: She's a reason that I'm on starting nice she made

529
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 1: she sent the intro email up to start Engine. They're like, hey,

530
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 1: check out check out this cool startup. I think they

531
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: might be able to really work on the platform. Fantastic.

532
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,439
Speaker 1: And I invested in the homie Don Dixon if I

533
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:15,440
Speaker 1: love Don. Um invested in popcom twice. Actually I'm an investor. Yeah,

534
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 1: and I'm actually on the wait list for fan base.

535
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:20,719
Speaker 1: I need, I need, I need some health there, Isaac,

536
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,320
Speaker 1: I'm on the wait list. Uh um. But talk about you,

537
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: we got you, yeah, my man, my man Um talking

538
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 1: about raisors on start Engine and the talk about how

539
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: because this is a black tech gree money, so we're

540
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: trying to give people how to do these things right.

541
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: So talk about how fundraising online works. And you can

542
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 1: even touch on like the Jobs Act, because so many

543
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,239
Speaker 1: of us don't know that the Job Act is what

544
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: it is. That you couldn't invest in uber you know,

545
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,040
Speaker 1: you didn't have that network, but now we can invest

546
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: in startups and so talk about if you can talk

547
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: about and start the engine thing the crowdfunding and the

548
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 1: Jobs Act, if you would. So a couple of things

549
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 1: to me was to start with the jobs that just

550
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 1: understanding that the Accredited Investor law right to me is

551
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: a scam. Right, it just sounds like because it's been

552
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 1: around since nineteen thirty three. And what that means is

553
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,160
Speaker 1: you have to have a net worth and excess of

554
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: a million dollars minus your primary residence or make up

555
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,360
Speaker 1: over two hundred thousand dollars a year for two consecutive years.

556
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: When you think about that, in nineteen thirty three, that

557
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 1: was definitely not That was like ninety nine point nine

558
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,120
Speaker 1: percent of Americans that have that um And even if

559
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 1: you move now, it's so many people that don't. So

560
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,080
Speaker 1: what it does is provide opportunity over and over again

561
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 1: for the same rich people to make themselves richer. And

562
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 1: and the thing that that the the example that I

563
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: give is the rule about accredited investors was, Oh, well,

564
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,640
Speaker 1: we do this so that we protect people from blowing

565
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: their money and bad investments. Right You ever heard them

566
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 1: say that we don't want to rule their money. But

567
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 1: let me ask you this. Do you have to be

568
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:57,239
Speaker 1: an accredited lottery ticket purchaser? Right? Right? Right? You can

569
00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: take twenty dollars and spend it all lottery tickets and

570
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,560
Speaker 1: you don't have to be accredited to do that, right.

571
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 1: You don't have to be accredited to go to Vegas

572
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 1: and lay it all on the blackjack table, right right.

573
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 1: So um, so the accredited investor law is kind of

574
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,080
Speaker 1: like it's a scam. It's kind of just like a

575
00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: way to make people richer over and over again and

576
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 1: to keep other people out keep the money flowing in

577
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,720
Speaker 1: the same pools. So, when Barack Obama and Joe Biden

578
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: passed the Jobs Act in twelve, um, there really were

579
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: no places to really raise money. But what the law

580
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: meant was that a creditor investor law went away in

581
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 1: that that anyone could invest in seed stage companies, private

582
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: companies with public dollars up to one million dollars in

583
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 1: a reg CF. So when that opportunity presented itself, I

584
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: thought it was incredible. I thought, oh wow, this is

585
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 1: like the best thing ever like UM. When I learned

586
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 1: about it, it made me. It made me understand that

587
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 1: there was opportunities for communities of color to invest in

588
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: startups but not have like so much risk, have limited risk.

589
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 1: Two hundred fifty six dollars as to pay Jordan's, right,

590
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,720
Speaker 1: but you can take a pair of Jordan's and potentially

591
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 1: walk away from I put two hundred fifty six dollars

592
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 1: in there, but I made two hundred thousand dollars, right,

593
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,400
Speaker 1: I made two million dollars. Like you never know if

594
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: you hit a unicorn status you made two m's or

595
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,560
Speaker 1: something crazy. So um that that really spoke to me

596
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,239
Speaker 1: because I'm definitely about my community and given opportunity and

597
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: access to that. So the jobs that that's the jobs

598
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: that so with start engine um and crowdfunding, I'll say this,

599
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: you have to still know your stuff. I think. I

600
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 1: think the one thing that I appreciate and felt validated

601
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,760
Speaker 1: by is even the people in the space that introduced

602
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: me to UM start engine Um Monique i'do Let, Don Dixon,

603
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,360
Speaker 1: and Angela Benton. Those three women are the reason that

604
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 1: I was able to raise his money. And for those

605
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 1: three women to even see fan base in its earlier

606
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,760
Speaker 1: stages and say, yeah, this is dope, um, and and

607
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,520
Speaker 1: what I built in and my business model and my

608
00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 1: proof of concept was there to be confident enough to

609
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,560
Speaker 1: to introduce me your Start Engine are comfortable enough. It

610
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 1: was validation because you still have to know your stuff.

611
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're gonna crowdfund in this fashion, it's

612
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 1: not like you get on Start Engine and they just say, hey,

613
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 1: you want to raise money for your business, come on in,

614
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 1: and then you start to raise. There's a lot of

615
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 1: a long, long, detailed process of financials, filings, you know,

616
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,600
Speaker 1: business plan everything. Your ducks have to be in a row,

617
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 1: um and so for that to really really work, and

618
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,480
Speaker 1: then your network's gotta be strong. So they kick my butt,

619
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,160
Speaker 1: like Start Engine kick my butt. They made me a

620
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 1: better founder by the way, and by the way they

621
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 1: handled me. They didn't handle me gently, and I don't

622
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: think you should handle someone gently because this is a

623
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 1: real deal. You're taking money from a lot of people,

624
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: so you better be about your business. You better know

625
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 1: what you're doing, and you better have your stuff together.

626
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 1: So I think it was a really a great way,

627
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: like I said, for me to sharpen up my skills

628
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 1: as the CEO and the founder. And I really appreciate

629
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:56,640
Speaker 1: that process being somebody who came from a different industry,

630
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 1: you know, come from the music industry and UM, then

631
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,719
Speaker 1: coming into tech. You talked about how you know they

632
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 1: kind of kicked your button, you know, made you a

633
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,000
Speaker 1: better founder. Talk about because there's a lot of people

634
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,840
Speaker 1: who listen to this show who want to do what

635
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 1: you did, and they're coming from different industries and they

636
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 1: want to be in tech or they want to start

637
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 1: a tech company, UM, but they may not know or

638
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: be as sophisticated in how to actually do it and

639
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 1: raise money. What did you learn in that process that

640
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,920
Speaker 1: it's harder than you think it is, Like there's a

641
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,959
Speaker 1: there's a there's a lot more that goes to just

642
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:33,840
Speaker 1: building a startup. Is there's the business financial side, right,

643
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 1: there's the the technology side, especially in my industry and UM,

644
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 1: and there's an enormous amount of work that these companies

645
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: go through and do diligence that they do to do it.

646
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,640
Speaker 1: So it was something that I wasn't It wasn't not

647
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 1: that I wasn't prepared for, but it was very like. Okay,

648
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,400
Speaker 1: it was very It happened very even though it took

649
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,440
Speaker 1: a while, it happened very quickly. Um. And so those

650
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 1: are the things that really just made me, you know, UM,

651
00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 1: sharping my skills to make sure that I adn't blow

652
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 1: this opportunity. UM. I've heard you say switching just a

653
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 1: little bit. I've heard you say before, Um, in Atlanta,

654
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 1: you don't grow up with like a minority mindset. And

655
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:17,799
Speaker 1: I thought that was so fascinating. Um. How impactful do

656
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: you think that's been to your success and those of

657
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,480
Speaker 1: your friends people who grew up in Atlanta versus elsewhere.

658
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: Very impactful because when you grow up never feeling second

659
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:32,960
Speaker 1: to someone white, right, you never feel inferior by way

660
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:39,200
Speaker 1: of competence or finance or opportunity or potential. Think about that,

661
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,879
Speaker 1: Like when you're like yo, I can be I see

662
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 1: the mayor, I see the police chief. I see the

663
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 1: guy that owns the biggest construction company in town as

664
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 1: a black man, like I see the number one car dealership.

665
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:52,479
Speaker 1: You know when you see these, you know the number

666
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,640
Speaker 1: one restaurants, you see these, you see these parallels of

667
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,920
Speaker 1: success in your life to white people that are that

668
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 1: are held by black people. Then what what I guess,

669
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,919
Speaker 1: what kind of excuse do you have to not say

670
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:09,280
Speaker 1: that anything is possible? Right? So it just gives you

671
00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,360
Speaker 1: an energy. And I think that's the secret to the

672
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,799
Speaker 1: to the success of people in Atlanta because we have

673
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,359
Speaker 1: a huge community of people that are very very confident. Right,

674
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,799
Speaker 1: they believe and they believe, like Tyler Perry believes, and

675
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,480
Speaker 1: a through big old movie studio, like the biggest you

676
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: know self finance movie studio in the country. Right. Um,

677
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: the music for our records, our record labels are you know,

678
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:36,439
Speaker 1: all the talented songwriters, We're just confident, right, Martin Luther

679
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: King is confident, you know what I'm saying. The Maynard

680
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,360
Speaker 1: Jackson's confident. UM Killer Mike is confident. So I think,

681
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 1: you know, it's just it's just an energy that you know,

682
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 1: you don't feel, you know, second to anybody. So it's like,

683
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: what can we not do if we can do and

684
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,480
Speaker 1: we can do music and sports and all that, we

685
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 1: can do tech, you know we can do we can

686
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,320
Speaker 1: do real estate, we can do construction. HtrA Russell Company

687
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: brought a brother with hair care products. Like it's so

688
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,360
Speaker 1: many parallels of success, um in this town that I

689
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,600
Speaker 1: think it definitely fuels and it will fuel the future

690
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,760
Speaker 1: innovators in tech and the in the in the future

691
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,319
Speaker 1: creators in teching this space and in other businesses as well.

692
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: Because because the reason I asked that question and you

693
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 1: and you touched on a couple of really good points.

694
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,799
Speaker 1: Um was a lot of people we forget when we

695
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 1: talk about tech that not everybody lives in San Francisco,

696
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: and not everybody lives in New York and and even Atlanta.

697
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: So for the people who live, you know, outside of

698
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 1: these cities, you know, they may come from a place

699
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,840
Speaker 1: where you know they if they think about moving to Atlanta,

700
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 1: well they maybe I'm no longer special because I am

701
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:41,400
Speaker 1: special where I'm at, and you know, I get to

702
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 1: take advantage of these programs that are designed to propel me.

703
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 1: But if I moved to Atlanta, I'm one of many. Yeah,

704
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,320
Speaker 1: I think, I mean, I mean, shoot, I mean I

705
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,840
Speaker 1: don't know how to handle that. You know, as someone

706
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,480
Speaker 1: that doesn't live here, I think, UM still sharp and steal.

707
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:07,480
Speaker 1: I mean, if you have opportunities in your community, UM

708
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:09,759
Speaker 1: take them. You know what I'm saying. I would never

709
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: turn down an opportunity in the community to make some

710
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,840
Speaker 1: some ends or some some headway in my space. You

711
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,800
Speaker 1: know what I'm doing. But what I can tell you

712
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: about being in Atlanta is there's a community of people

713
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 1: here that share information, that are eager to help other people. Um,

714
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,720
Speaker 1: even in the same way that Don and Angela and

715
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,080
Speaker 1: and Malik help me. It's that type of vibe like, oh,

716
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 1: let me introduce you to this person or that person.

717
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 1: Are places like the gathering Spot where we go and

718
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,840
Speaker 1: we we have community and we get introduced to so

719
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 1: many different types of people. Some of the people that

720
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:47,960
Speaker 1: that I really met in this space, Um that I

721
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,280
Speaker 1: met in this space. UM I met at the gathering spot.

722
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,400
Speaker 1: UM that protect that really taught me about it. So

723
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: you know, how long can and this is I can't

724
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 1: wait to hear answer on this, but how long can

725
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: Atlanta be the black cultural capital and economic capital that

726
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:07,800
Speaker 1: it is? And here's why I ask, there's there's context

727
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 1: of this question. Do you remember when Mayor Bottoms was

728
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,960
Speaker 1: up after Mayor Read and how slim those margins were

729
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 1: for her to win. And there's a white candidate and

730
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,360
Speaker 1: a big issue if if you're looking at just the

731
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 1: numbers and spread of us, the big issue is that

732
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 1: when black people moved to Atlanta, they actually moved to

733
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: North Across or Alpharetta or a decatur Um. But only

734
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,520
Speaker 1: people who live in Atlanta vote for Mayor Bottoms. And

735
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,280
Speaker 1: I don't think people realize that, right, And does Atlanta

736
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 1: change when there's one day, perhaps a white mayor who

737
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,719
Speaker 1: isn't as passionate about black economics and black enterprise as

738
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 1: our mayors have been since Mayor Jackson? Absolutely, I mean,

739
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 1: and I think the heartbeat of this sounds crazy, but

740
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:56,120
Speaker 1: the heartbeat of this city is like the entertainment culture, right,

741
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 1: It's really what brings people here, right, That's the draw.

742
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,440
Speaker 1: The draw is no, no, I'm not trying to be

743
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,400
Speaker 1: even disrespect hope nobody's offended. But the draw is Magic City.

744
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:09,359
Speaker 1: The draw is you know, um QC. The draw is

745
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 1: you know that like that, you know little baby. The

746
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,799
Speaker 1: draw is these nightclubs and the entertainment life and the

747
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,920
Speaker 1: and the lifestyle and the wealth. Right. The draw is

748
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:21,840
Speaker 1: the street culture. Right, and so from that, when that changes,

749
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:28,000
Speaker 1: if the you know, um, the mayor and the government

750
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,560
Speaker 1: city government change hands, you can easily deny liquor licenses

751
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,120
Speaker 1: and close down the Magic cities. Of the world and

752
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 1: make these nightclubs closed down, and make the studios move

753
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,799
Speaker 1: outside the city and and really kill the culture. So

754
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:44,799
Speaker 1: I feel like Atlantic will remain the cultural epicenter black

755
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 1: cultural epicenter of America is long as we continue to

756
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,080
Speaker 1: vote and continue to get out and exercise all right

757
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 1: to vote. Now, one thing that I can say, which

758
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:56,400
Speaker 1: was what Stacy Abrams did with the New Georgia Project,

759
00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:00,000
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, is that in this this president

760
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 1: introl election, they registered eighty thousand new voters and forty thousand,

761
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:09,800
Speaker 1: fifty of those or people of color black between the

762
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,080
Speaker 1: ages of eighteen and twenty four in the city limits

763
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,320
Speaker 1: of Atlanta. So I understand that we have forty thousand

764
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,560
Speaker 1: young black voters. That's that's a lot more people to

765
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,239
Speaker 1: get out there and vote for a black mayor right

766
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,600
Speaker 1: and continue to do so. So, UM, I think that

767
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:31,080
Speaker 1: as long as we remained politically um sharp and aggressive,

768
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:35,439
Speaker 1: and we elect Stacy Abless governor in twenty two, will

769
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,640
Speaker 1: be good. Um. I wouldn't have you speak on something

770
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:41,919
Speaker 1: I've heard you say many times. You know, Atlanta needs

771
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,799
Speaker 1: his own pop culture social media and like they it

772
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,759
Speaker 1: is what's in that new York in l A. Now

773
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:53,520
Speaker 1: they capitalize on what Atlanta creates. And why you and

774
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 1: y'all heard you say, why is BT not in Atlanta?

775
00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:00,120
Speaker 1: Why is the breakfast club not in speak on that? Um? Well,

776
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 1: I mean, I think, honestly, I think we're starting to

777
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,880
Speaker 1: see the change in the shift. Right. I think since

778
00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:11,839
Speaker 1: I've said that, I've seen Will Packer create the show

779
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,840
Speaker 1: called Central ab Right, It's like an entertainment pop culture

780
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:19,359
Speaker 1: show based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Um, I've seen um

781
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:24,680
Speaker 1: more radio stations try to change there. They're um the

782
00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:27,000
Speaker 1: way that they create content in the space, They're a

783
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:28,879
Speaker 1: little bit more visual, even though three is a little

784
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,040
Speaker 1: bit more visual. Um, they spend a little bit more

785
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,239
Speaker 1: time focusing on the online and the content more so

786
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:39,799
Speaker 1: than just the radio. So UM, I mean, I mean,

787
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:43,120
Speaker 1: I feel like I've seen butter a t L come about,

788
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,560
Speaker 1: like you know, websites and and and you know, cultural

789
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 1: phenomenon um pop up in this city, and even the

790
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,400
Speaker 1: influencers and the space really get more savvy about what

791
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 1: they do. And I think Atlanta has probably some of

792
00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:59,759
Speaker 1: the most popular black you know, influencer creatives in in

793
00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:03,239
Speaker 1: the the community. So I think people have listened and said,

794
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,560
Speaker 1: you know, we need to capitalize on that. So I

795
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:07,600
Speaker 1: see the change, you know, I see what Tyler Perry

796
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: is doing over there, Tyler Perry Studios, and so I

797
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 1: see the evolution. I think we're right at that. We're

798
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 1: right at that space. Like I said, the infrastructure is

799
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 1: so more important. BT doesn't want to move here. The

800
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:22,359
Speaker 1: first BT like network that is that really sinks their

801
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:26,040
Speaker 1: feet into Atlanta. They're white, BET like, it won't even

802
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 1: be hard, it would be easy. And they're like, oh,

803
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:30,480
Speaker 1: nobody watches BT anymore. They're watching this. You know, they're

804
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:34,720
Speaker 1: watching this network because you you can't. It's no secret

805
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,880
Speaker 1: that like the most popular TV shows that have black

806
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,200
Speaker 1: people in them are like Real Housewives of Atlanta, Love

807
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:46,120
Speaker 1: and Hip Hop Atlanta Atlanta on effects like these shows

808
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 1: that are so wildly popular about our culture. So the

809
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:51,920
Speaker 1: writing is there, you know, the writing is on the

810
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,040
Speaker 1: wallshes who's gonna come in and really sink their their

811
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:59,880
Speaker 1: teeth into the opportunity and make it happen. How frustrating

812
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,200
Speaker 1: is it to you or might it be for you?

813
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:05,359
Speaker 1: When you see artists in families of artists who don't

814
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,120
Speaker 1: own much of anything of what they're creating, and they

815
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 1: don't realize that in you know, five to twenty five years,

816
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,279
Speaker 1: their kids won't be able to leverage those assets in

817
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: their persona and take care of family business like like

818
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 1: you did with you know, your father and managing his

819
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,520
Speaker 1: estate and being able to merchandise and take care of

820
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,319
Speaker 1: your family like is what do you think when you

821
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:29,879
Speaker 1: think about they're giving it all away? Well, I mean

822
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:32,040
Speaker 1: some of the decisions that are being made, I think

823
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:36,480
Speaker 1: our business decisions to make you know, lateral moves in

824
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:40,040
Speaker 1: different verticals, like I'm gonna leave the music industry and

825
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,399
Speaker 1: now I can invest in tech or real estate or

826
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,400
Speaker 1: you know, other things like that. So I understand that

827
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,880
Speaker 1: it's just kind of hard to for me to understand

828
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,120
Speaker 1: that because I know the value of my father's catalog

829
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,160
Speaker 1: and I understand how much money it has made and

830
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:55,480
Speaker 1: will continue to make because he has one of those

831
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,799
Speaker 1: evergreen catalog where people can consistently sample him over and

832
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:00,799
Speaker 1: over again. Some of the the other artists, I don't

833
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:03,279
Speaker 1: know if they'll like, you know, they'll have that where

834
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:04,760
Speaker 1: they're just people are going to come out and always

835
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 1: sample their records and make new records and new records

836
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,320
Speaker 1: and more new records right, so UM, but I think

837
00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:13,800
Speaker 1: we're also a lot more saving and I think ownership

838
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:16,440
Speaker 1: is on the mind of everybody. I think UM labels

839
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:18,319
Speaker 1: like q SE what they do on their Masters and

840
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 1: it is a licensing deal with Universal. I think artists

841
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:22,799
Speaker 1: like Drake that I think now he's out of his

842
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,439
Speaker 1: cash when he deal or people are turning that corner there.

843
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:28,200
Speaker 1: It's it's a lot more ownership in the space than

844
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 1: people realize. And I think, UM, when those stories start

845
00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:33,359
Speaker 1: to come out and people really reveal what they do

846
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,560
Speaker 1: own and what they do have, I think it will

847
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,839
Speaker 1: inspire future generation to say, you know what, I need

848
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,040
Speaker 1: to own my stuff too, because I see it's it's

849
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: way more popular than it used to be. I think

850
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,520
Speaker 1: people are understanding it, really reading you know, to find

851
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 1: print and understanding why and and this is the reason

852
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 1: why I feel like even fan base is so important,

853
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:54,799
Speaker 1: because what can you tell an independent artist that you

854
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:57,080
Speaker 1: want to sign them when they have a fan base

855
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:58,640
Speaker 1: where they're making like a million of months, Like I'm

856
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 1: making twelve million dollars a year off base? What kind

857
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:03,000
Speaker 1: of record deal can you offer me? Like? What can

858
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,400
Speaker 1: you give me? I don't if I don't own my masters.

859
00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:08,359
Speaker 1: I don't even sign it with y'all. I don't need you.

860
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:12,480
Speaker 1: I don't need money. So the ability to give creatives

861
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 1: leverage in other spaces and be disruptive is another reason

862
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,040
Speaker 1: why I think the platform is right. Because there's gonna

863
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 1: be some young rapper that gets on fan base and

864
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,279
Speaker 1: connect to their fans, and they're gonna be selling merch

865
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:27,600
Speaker 1: and drop the music and drop music videos and podcasts

866
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:31,080
Speaker 1: and docuseries, and they're gonna have this enormous, you know,

867
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 1: income stream that a record company said we want to

868
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,279
Speaker 1: sign you. It's like a cool I want to own

869
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,359
Speaker 1: my masters, y'all. I get ninety percent, y'all get ten,

870
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:39,680
Speaker 1: taking or leave it because I'm on a fan base

871
00:45:39,719 --> 00:46:03,840
Speaker 1: over they're doing this what you want to do? Black

872
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:06,080
Speaker 1: Tech Green Money is a producing the blackt The Afro

873
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:10,600
Speaker 1: Tech's produced by Morgan Dubonne and me Well Lucas, with

874
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 1: additional production supported by Love Beach and Raven near Born.

875
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: Special thank you to Michael Davis. It's a car savon

876
00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:20,040
Speaker 1: Jan you know, like the wine. Yes, that's his real name.

877
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 1: Learn more about my guests and other tech disruptors and

878
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:27,440
Speaker 1: innovators at afro tech dot com can get your money,

879
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:29,160
Speaker 1: peace and love,