WEBVTT - Overcoming Funding Hurdles For Entrepreneurs

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we know statistics. We hear about it, the

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<v Speaker 1>percentages that minority founders, you know, are able to have

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<v Speaker 1>access to. What was that like for you, obviously being minority,

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<v Speaker 1>being a woman, a founder talk about that.

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>business from NASA. At first, people were telling me, Hey.

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<v Speaker 3>You've got to go with a pitch deck, go to

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<v Speaker 3>the valley, go to vcs.

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<v Speaker 2>But the vcs weren't trying to rock with me.

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<v Speaker 3>They didn't think that there was a market for what

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<v Speaker 3>I was looking to do.

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<v Speaker 2>Business has been around for ten years.

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<v Speaker 3>You're wrong, right, So one of the things that I'd

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<v Speaker 3>like to say is stop taking advice from people who

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<v Speaker 3>haven't done what you're trying to do with LINGO. I'm like, eh,

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<v Speaker 3>I don't think I want to raise venture capital.

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<v Speaker 2>I know what the stats are. They're terrible. How do

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<v Speaker 2>I look at.

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<v Speaker 3>The model and how do I flip the model on

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<v Speaker 3>its head? Because that's what I do. And when I

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<v Speaker 3>looked at it, I said, vcs get their money from

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<v Speaker 3>family offices.

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<v Speaker 2>Why don't I try to hit up a couple of

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<v Speaker 2>family office.

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<v Speaker 3>Now I know why people don't typically hit up family offices,

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<v Speaker 3>but I was determined once again to try, and I

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<v Speaker 3>had the time, and oh, by the way, I had

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<v Speaker 3>the patience because I'm already running a business that's successful

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<v Speaker 3>that I've had for ten years, So let's try to

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<v Speaker 3>figure this out.

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<v Speaker 2>So I made a list of.

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<v Speaker 3>Family offices who were in businesses that I thought that

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<v Speaker 3>could be strategic investors. And the gamble that I made was, well,

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<v Speaker 3>if I can get a multi billion dollar family who

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<v Speaker 3>has the right investment mindset and is willing to support

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<v Speaker 3>me and understands the long term of what I'm looking

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<v Speaker 3>to do, can I also bring in traditional capital?

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<v Speaker 2>And the answer was yes.

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<v Speaker 3>So I did a founder led seed round where I

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<v Speaker 3>brought in a million and a half from a family office,

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<v Speaker 3>and then I went to the other vcas and said,

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<v Speaker 3>do you want to play?

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<v Speaker 2>How did that work out?

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<v Speaker 3>It worked out well because if I've already brought in

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<v Speaker 3>a million and a half and you're going to sip

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<v Speaker 3>in one hundred thousand dollars, that million a half is

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<v Speaker 3>going to help your hunred thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>So I basically de risked around for you. And that's

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<v Speaker 2>one of the.

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<v Speaker 3>Areas that I've been big on telling other minorities to

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<v Speaker 3>pursue was what I call friendly patient capital.

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

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

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<v Speaker 3>And part of the things that were not, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>non negotiable for this family was that you were going

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<v Speaker 3>to do good and you were going to do well right.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not just the dollar, It's about the legacy.

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<v Speaker 3>And so when I tell them that kids in Ghana

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<v Speaker 3>are doing our kids have the video, love it. They're like,

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<v Speaker 3>that's what you're supposed to do, right, go out and

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<v Speaker 3>make that impact, whereas some people who have you know,

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<v Speaker 3>domestic vcs are not necessarily as lucky to have people

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<v Speaker 3>who think in that way.

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, you can definitely hit me up if you want

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<v Speaker 2>to send a check, nankcept check.

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

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<v Speaker 3>I would like to raise about a million more and

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<v Speaker 3>plot a path to our Series A.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'll tell you why. Some of our clients are

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<v Speaker 2>big firms talking Siemens General Dynamics.

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<v Speaker 3>General Dynamics has been a customer's ours for the last

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<v Speaker 3>three years. Microsoft buys from us, Right, we have big

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>They buy the kids so.

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<v Speaker 4>They can teach their employees, They have.

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<v Speaker 3>Their employees go into the schools, or they provide it

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<v Speaker 3>as capacity building for the schools that they sponsor. And

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<v Speaker 3>as I started to do this, we started talking to

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<v Speaker 3>school districts. Shout out to Syracuse School District. And I'm

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<v Speaker 3>realizing that this mission and this need is even bigger

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<v Speaker 3>than I knew. Like when I thought about it, I

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<v Speaker 3>was like, oh, we're just going to ship out some kids,

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<v Speaker 3>But it's really become about how can we help make

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<v Speaker 3>a district better?

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<v Speaker 2>And that is a problem of a much larger magnitude

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<v Speaker 2>and it takes more time.

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<v Speaker 3>And we're also now building custom kids, Like we're about

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<v Speaker 3>to drop three whole space lessons. We got a climate satellite,

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<v Speaker 3>we got a buggy coming out. That buggy's a moon rubber,

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<v Speaker 3>and we also have a rocket launch. And in building

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<v Speaker 3>all all this content, I'm like, you know what, bo,

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<v Speaker 3>we take a little bit more capital, take our time,

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<v Speaker 3>and really do something that is going to.

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<v Speaker 2>Move the needle.

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>those fourth semesters of kids in the grade every year.

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

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<v Speaker 2>So it depends on what you want.

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<v Speaker 3>And this is the beauty of it, because we design

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<v Speaker 3>this to be flexible. You can have two to three

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<v Speaker 3>semesters worth in your kid if you want, all about what.

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<v Speaker 2>You ask us for. So we developed content for every.

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<v Speaker 3>Lesson for the classroom and you could teach that over semester.

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<v Speaker 2>You could teach it over too.

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>It's mostly been corporations.

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<v Speaker 3>If you're out in the district, yeah, I mean, I

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<v Speaker 3>think the challenge right is there's a lot going on

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<v Speaker 3>in the district environment and we've got some good connections

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<v Speaker 3>and we're making progress.

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<v Speaker 2>But this is where I'm.

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<v Speaker 3>Not ashamed to say I need help the people who

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<v Speaker 3>purchase from us. They love us, but I started to

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<v Speaker 3>realize what we were really up against when it comes

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<v Speaker 3>to like ads and marketing and all that stuff. And

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<v Speaker 3>that's really why I was like, I got to go

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<v Speaker 3>back to the drawing board and raise more money because

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<v Speaker 3>I did not know how expensive it was to really advertise.

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<v Speaker 2>And read some of these people.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>in front of the right person.

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<v Speaker 3>What I see is the amount of money that I

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<v Speaker 3>have to invest to have somebody reach out, form the relationship,

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<v Speaker 3>do the presentation, put the proposal in front of whoever

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<v Speaker 3>has to make the decision, close the deal, and then.

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<v Speaker 2>Get paid can be roughly six to eight months. And

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<v Speaker 2>that's really where we have to support the operation until

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<v Speaker 2>they can close the deal.

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<v Speaker 3>And so the challenge in my mind is how can

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<v Speaker 3>we do more of these deals and shorten the time.

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

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<v Speaker 3>My vision for Lingo would be to not only be

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<v Speaker 3>a global provider of immersive STEM experiences. I would like

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<v Speaker 3>to get to the point where some of our boxes

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<v Speaker 3>interact with Oculus, but to combine that with the entrepreneurship thing.

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<v Speaker 3>Because when I teach the Lingo Box in the Bahamas,

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<v Speaker 3>and I've had this camp for nearly ten years, I

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<v Speaker 3>couple it with entrepreneurship, and then I give kids money

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<v Speaker 3>to go out and try to run their business, because

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<v Speaker 3>I believe that you don't have to have a college

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<v Speaker 3>degree to be a multimillionaire. You just need to have

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<v Speaker 3>entrepreneurship skills.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's like a muscle.

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<v Speaker 3>The more that you exercise it, the stronger that you're

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<v Speaker 3>going to get. So I want students trying to build

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<v Speaker 3>their first startup when they're twelve or they're thirteen, because

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<v Speaker 3>by the time they're twenty, they're going to be beasts.