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Speaker 1: Again, there's an interesting time to be alive because we're

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Speaker 1: the intersection of like AI and finance coming together. It

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Speaker 1: just unravels all sorts of possibilities, and that that's being

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Speaker 1: one of them. But I do think that we're gonna

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Speaker 1: see some of the biggest wealth creation over the next

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Speaker 1: decade because of blockchain and crypto and AI combined, and

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Speaker 1: we're trying to make sure that we're right in the

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Speaker 1: middle of.

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Speaker 2: All of that.

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Speaker 3: Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of butter Nomics. I'm

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Speaker 3: your hol's Brandon Butler, found the CEO of Butter atl

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Speaker 3: And today we got my guy in the building. So

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Speaker 3: my guy, Marlon Williams in the building. He just landed

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Speaker 3: the jet outside. He parked in the parking lot, all

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Speaker 3: the part, all the traffics.

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Speaker 2: Body.

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Speaker 3: You're gonna find out why in a second. But Marlin, man,

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Speaker 3: how you doing.

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Speaker 2: Man?

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Speaker 1: I'm doing pretty good, man, you know, just glad to

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Speaker 1: be uh, to be awakened and working on a mission,

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Speaker 1: given give another chance to work on a mission.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely absolute. Now, Marl, I'm gonna introduce you. But we

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Speaker 3: do something a little bit different here at Butter We've

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Speaker 3: been doing some a little bit different folks. So what

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Speaker 3: I did was I went into chat gpt okay, and

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Speaker 3: I asked chat gpt, who is Marlon Williams. Right, that's

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Speaker 3: founder of the Atlanta Blockchain Center. So I'm gonna read

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Speaker 3: what it said to you about that. You let me

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Speaker 3: know you know how many zero's is off?

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Speaker 2: Gotcha? Gotcha? All right, that's a good one.

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Speaker 3: Marlon Williams is a business and community leader with a

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Speaker 3: deep passion for innovation in philanthropy. He is the founder

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Speaker 3: of the Atlanta Blockchain Center, an organization dedicated to transform

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Speaker 3: Atlanta into a top ten innovation hub for blockchain, crypto,

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Speaker 3: and Web three technologies within five years. The Center serves

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Speaker 3: as a twenty four to seven learning hub, incubator, and

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Speaker 3: co working space focused exclusively on Web three, aiming to

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Speaker 3: cultivate a diverse ecosystem in these emerging fields. In addition

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Speaker 3: to his work with the Atlanta Blockchain Center, Williams founded

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Speaker 3: starter Labs, a leading crypto launch pad, incubator, and investor

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Speaker 3: network that has facilitated the crowd funding of over forty

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Speaker 3: five million dollars for more than sixty blockchain based projects.

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Speaker 3: His extensive experience includes co founding the Tellos dot net

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Speaker 3: blockchain and founding Cubicles. I think I said there correctly,

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Speaker 3: a cloud based software platform. Williams Is also held positions

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Speaker 3: such as the chair of the Inspector General Office for

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Speaker 3: the Wax Blockchain and a board member of the South

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Speaker 3: Florida Digital Alliance. Through these ventures, Williams is establishing himself

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Speaker 3: as a key figure in advancing blockchain technology and fostering

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Speaker 3: innovation within the Atlanta community.

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Speaker 2: What do you think that is impressive?

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Speaker 3: That's from It's a little scary.

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Speaker 1: It's right on point, man, It's right on point.

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Speaker 2: You know. I think the only thing I would have added.

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Speaker 1: Was working with some of the work that I did

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Speaker 1: with students, you know, trying to get students in UH

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Speaker 1: to be to be software guys, to be in tech.

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Speaker 1: But outside of that, man, that's that's scary as that is.

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Speaker 3: I purpose. We put in like minimal information to prompt

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Speaker 3: I tell your name, and I tell you where you're

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Speaker 3: at and from there and this is what it comes back.

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Speaker 2: So I'm just telling you, good, that's good. I gotta

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Speaker 2: try it out.

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Speaker 3: Hey, man, I appreciate you coming up. You know what

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Speaker 3: I'm saying. I always appreciate you know. I was at

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Speaker 3: the grand open of the Atlanta Blockchain Center. That for you.

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Speaker 3: But how's it been going since then?

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Speaker 2: Man, Yeah, it's been it's been good man.

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Speaker 1: Overall, you know, we've had we've had challenges, for sure,

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Speaker 1: as every startup does. And I think especially when we're

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Speaker 1: you know, you're you're pursuing a mission like that like

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Speaker 1: we are, which is a very very challenging mission. Uh,

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Speaker 1: it's it's it's going to be a rocky road. But

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Speaker 1: we've had some amazing wins and I'm enjoying the journey,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm enjoying the journey. But overall, it's it's amazing.

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Speaker 1: We have some phenomenal brothers and sisters that are building

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Speaker 1: in blockchain that called the Atlanta Blockchain Center their home,

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Speaker 1: you know, and so many people are like, man, I'm

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Speaker 1: so glad we have.

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Speaker 2: A space like this.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was just me sitting in my basement,

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Speaker 1: you know, trading crypto. Realizing that Atlanta is a whole

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Speaker 1: bunch of us, said so it's it's good.

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Speaker 2: It's good, Merlin.

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Speaker 3: Look, before we get into this interview, I only got

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Speaker 3: one real question to ask you. Yeah, man, sure, how

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Speaker 3: come you didn't tell me about bitcoin at five dollars.

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Speaker 3: That's the only beef I got with you when it

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Speaker 3: was that five dollars. I mean, I only think we

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Speaker 3: knew each other then you didn't tell me at five dollars.

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Speaker 2: No, man, I was.

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Speaker 1: I was trying to shout it to a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: I referenced a few emails where I sent a few

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Speaker 1: friends like, man, it's just a billion dollar market cap,

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Speaker 1: you know, check this out. I think it was one

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Speaker 1: hundred dollars. Yeah, But I found out about it just

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Speaker 1: a few months after it came out in summer two

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Speaker 1: thousand and nine. And you know, at the time, you know,

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Speaker 1: I was really focused on building a B two B

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Speaker 1: software company startup, so I didn't really pay much attention.

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Speaker 1: And plus, you know, in the early it was like

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Speaker 1: this wasn't that interesting, you know, but I did follow

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Speaker 1: along with what was happening. And plus, you know, being

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Speaker 1: in tech as you know, it would be in the

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Speaker 1: news every now and then, so I always follow followed along.

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Speaker 1: But I got more involved in twenty eleven, you know,

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Speaker 1: started doing some play.

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Speaker 2: Mining at this mining.

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Speaker 1: Pool, and in twenty thirteen that's when I launched the

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Speaker 1: company I was working on for about two years. The

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Speaker 1: software at the time. That's when I really got involved,

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Speaker 1: you know. So I would say I officially got into

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Speaker 1: bigcoin twenty thirteen, but I knew about it since the

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Speaker 1: beginning and I played around with it.

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Speaker 2: In twenty eleven.

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Speaker 1: But back then it was all about the cloud b

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Speaker 1: to be you know, sass and going from on premise

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Speaker 1: to cloud. So that's that's why I was thinking about, like,

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Speaker 1: what's what's my next you know venture going to be.

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Speaker 1: I wish I would have built like the foreside back

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, to built like a bitcoin

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Speaker 1: wall this stuff, you know, but I'm still grateful, grateful

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Speaker 1: to have discovered it early.

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Speaker 3: What's up? So what first got you interested in it?

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Speaker 3: So again to your point, your background, you were, you know, engineer,

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Speaker 3: You're working on your own startups and doing tech and

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Speaker 3: then you kind of start hitting us, what kind of

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Speaker 3: first pulled you into that whole blockchain web three world.

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Speaker 1: Well, in twenty thirteen, I launched my call center platform.

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Speaker 1: About a year later, I felt like we needed to

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Speaker 1: do something different, you know, I felt that it wasn't

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Speaker 1: it wasn't as interesting as and exciting as I thought

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Speaker 1: it was going to be as a business, and I

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Speaker 1: just started looking at how could I incorporate something to

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Speaker 1: make us really really stand out. Yeah, and so I

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Speaker 1: started looking at it at blockchain as a way to

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Speaker 1: do it. So the idea initially came from the reason

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Speaker 1: I really got into blockchain completely was because of my startup,

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Speaker 1: the call center startup. I thought that there was a

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Speaker 1: way to compensate callsner agents better and reward them better.

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Speaker 1: So was I started building a mechanism like a reward

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Speaker 1: based system based on blockchain. And when I started going

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Speaker 1: down that route, that's when it really hit me what

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Speaker 1: the potential of the technology was.

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Speaker 2: And I never look back. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: You know, when when you and when you say potentially

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Speaker 3: getting out, you know, we're just talking about all blind right, Like,

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Speaker 3: I'm a tech guy. You can get as technical with

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Speaker 3: me as you want, but everybody's listening is not. So

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Speaker 3: you know, when you talk about potential, right, like what

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Speaker 3: it defintly do you mean when you say you saw

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Speaker 3: the potential of blockchain?

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Speaker 1: That's a great question. You know, we're so accustomed to

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Speaker 1: these centralized systems of operation just across the board when

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Speaker 1: we're interacting with you know, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon,

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Speaker 1: We're accustomed to you to interacting with the centralized institutions

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Speaker 1: that and services that are I guess now that they're

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Speaker 1: golias and what they what they do. But when I

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Speaker 1: discovered that blockchain technology really was designed to disrupt that,

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Speaker 1: to flip it, uh, that's what made me excited about

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Speaker 1: it because I realized that one of the goals of

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Speaker 1: blockchain technology is to put the power back into our hands.

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Speaker 1: Yeah right, And it started with finance, but it applies

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Speaker 1: across the board, you know. And so that's the thing

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Speaker 1: that made me realize that this is the future, no

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Speaker 1: matter how long it takes us to get there.

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Speaker 2: This is the future.

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Speaker 1: The future is us being in control of our data,

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Speaker 1: us being in control of everything that we do online,

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Speaker 1: and the technology that that's ushering us into that that

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Speaker 1: future is blockchain. That's what I discovered when I was

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Speaker 1: kind of doing these experiments, and it was like holy cow.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, because you can say it.

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Speaker 1: So I just doubled down and it wasn't it wasn't

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Speaker 1: you know, an complete go blockchain. It was more like, okay,

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Speaker 1: moonlighting kind of operation and then slowly transition full time

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Speaker 1: into it.

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Speaker 3: Okay, all right, And so because that point, so you

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Speaker 3: exited your company that you were doing that with, and

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Speaker 3: you kind of just said, you know what, I'm going

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Speaker 3: to build something in this space and kind of really

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Speaker 3: start looking into it.

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Speaker 2: Is that how I kind of that's exactly how it went.

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Speaker 3: So what was what was kind of your first foray

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Speaker 3: into it? Like once you sold your company and kind

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Speaker 3: of started moving, Like, what did you first start doing

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Speaker 3: when you got involved in this whole block where you

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Speaker 3: where you? Where you again just purely trading? Were you mining?

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Speaker 3: Like it was kind of your first entry point Beyond that.

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Speaker 2: I didn't sell the company.

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Speaker 1: I Uh, I started offering clients to run it themselves, right,

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Speaker 1: So we started creating instances of the cloud system and

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Speaker 1: letting them operate it, so kind of incrementally offloaded the

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Speaker 1: operations to them. And in that process, I was still

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Speaker 1: building this call center blockchain reward system. And when that

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Speaker 1: was ready to go, I realized that the blockchain tech

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Speaker 1: was so it was so early that it couldn't support

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Speaker 1: an enterprise level system. It couldn't support very high demand,

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Speaker 1: high throughput applications like call center demands. So, you know,

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Speaker 1: I started looking at the chains that were out there.

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Speaker 1: There were new chains popping up, and I realized that,

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Speaker 1: you know, there was only one particular chain that could

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Speaker 1: support a lot of the transaction through put that we needed, right,

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Speaker 1: a lot of the workload that we needed for this

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Speaker 1: new blockchain system I was building. And it wasn't Bitcoin. Bitcoin,

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Speaker 1: you know, you can't. You know, well, now there's there's

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Speaker 1: some advancements there, but back then you couldn't really build anything.

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Speaker 1: You couldn't build a business on top of bitcoin. And

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Speaker 1: the theorem came out you could use ethereum, but it

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Speaker 1: was slow as hell.

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Speaker 2: You know, it still still is.

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Speaker 1: So I started looking at this blockchain called EOS and

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Speaker 1: they were just doing an ico I think this was

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Speaker 1: early twenty seventeen or late twenty sixty. Uh, they were,

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Speaker 1: they were raising some fund So I invested in EOS

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Speaker 1: and started getting myself involved in the community, and so,

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Speaker 1: you know, it got close to the team is you know,

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Speaker 1: they when they launched, things didn't really go as planned,

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Speaker 1: you know, So what me and a group of other

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Speaker 1: guys started doing was, you know, we're like, well, we

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Speaker 1: see the potential that EOS has. It wanted it wanted

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Speaker 1: to be a blockchain where real businesses could build on

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Speaker 1: top of. But there were some there were so many,

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Speaker 1: you know, so many internal issues with with the with

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Speaker 1: the chain that it caused a lot of us to

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Speaker 1: kind of, uh move away. So we ended up building

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Speaker 1: our own chain that we called it Telos. And the

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Speaker 1: reason I started working on that was specifically to run

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Speaker 1: my call center rewards system on the blockchain. Right, And

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Speaker 1: then that chain started just started growing. I mean we

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Speaker 1: we had one hundred people like right, almost instantly, and

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Speaker 1: then that grew to thousands and tens of thousands, and

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Speaker 1: it just took off. And as a result of the

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Speaker 1: success of that, I was like, man, you know, do

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Speaker 1: I want to go back to this call service?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: Nah?

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Speaker 2: You know, I'm think I'm good. I think you're good.

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Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: And you know, just because of that, you know, I was,

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Speaker 1: I was. You know, it was a very rewarding, rewarding edition.

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Speaker 1: It took us years to do it, but so so,

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Speaker 1: you know, having the experience of building a blockchain that

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Speaker 1: really cemented like, Okay, this is where I need to

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Speaker 1: be completely and now we're in twenty twenty twenty, nineteen

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and DeFi started becoming a thing. Decentralized finance

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Speaker 1: started becoming a thing on ethereum, and I started exiting

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Speaker 1: tellos and focusing on building in DeFi. So I started

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Speaker 1: building some yield generating tools. Uh some of the rates

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Speaker 1: were ridiculous, you know, It's like thousands and thousands of

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Speaker 1: percent go forth. And that led me to realize that

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Speaker 1: because there were so many bad actors at the time,

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Speaker 1: you know, it led me to realize that, you know,

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Speaker 1: the blockchain in crypto community needs a safe place for

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Speaker 1: people to invest and discover projects. And I started, Uh,

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Speaker 1: that's what gave me the idea for Starter Labs, right,

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Speaker 1: So I started building a decentralized version of kickstarter. Okay,

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Speaker 1: and it was at a time when again DeFi was

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Speaker 1: sort of getting getting hot. It's getting really hot. So

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Speaker 1: it's one of the things where it was just like

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Speaker 1: the perfect time, perfect product, perfect place, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I spent I spent a couple of months building the technology,

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Speaker 1: the smart contracts and so forth, and when I launched

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Speaker 1: it again over that weekend, it was it was it

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Speaker 1: was a smash. You know, we had over twenty thousand

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Speaker 1: people planning the network because so many investors in crypto

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Speaker 1: were getting we called getting rugged, Yeah, getting rugged, right,

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Speaker 1: you know, yeah, uh, and we were uh the second

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Speaker 1: launch pat in the entire industry, and we were solving

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Speaker 1: the problem for them in a way that that they

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Speaker 1: that resonated, you know, and would start the labs. After

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Speaker 1: the success of our launch, we ended up just helping

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Speaker 1: you know, a lot of different projects raise money. You

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Speaker 1: take a percentage of every every every raise. We ended

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Speaker 1: up doing our own kind of fund on the side,

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Speaker 1: you know, and and uh, you know the rest of.

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Speaker 3: This you just you just summon it up on a friend. Trust,

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Speaker 3: I get what you're saying, just say it, but no,

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Speaker 3: you know, it's really interesting though, like in those stories,

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Speaker 3: everything that you built started with the problem that you

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Speaker 3: recognized that you were having, so like it was almost

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Speaker 3: like you were your first customs. And I think that's

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Speaker 3: something that people should take away from this, right, Like

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Speaker 3: a lot of great businesses are built and grow because

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Speaker 3: you see a specific problem or opportunity you're like something

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Speaker 3: should exist. And so you've really started solving your own problem.

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Speaker 3: That's you did with Tellos to build that and and

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Speaker 3: support with your other network, and then same thing with

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Speaker 3: Starter Labs, right, Like you saw the problem that was

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Speaker 3: happening in the in the market with again people getting

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Speaker 3: rug pulled and all this stuff. And so I just

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Speaker 3: think that's a really good takeaway for folks that some

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Speaker 3: of the best things are based on not just problems,

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Speaker 3: the problems that you had because you literally built the

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Speaker 3: thing that you needed, right, and so you know, you

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Speaker 3: were on you were your own best use case for sure.

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Speaker 3: You know a lot of times I think we end

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Speaker 3: up solving problems for other people. Thinks we think that

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Speaker 3: are problems. But again, like when you did it, then

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Speaker 3: other people saw it, and you saw the instant kind

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Speaker 3: of you know, momentum around it, like that just validates

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Speaker 3: that idea. So not again, I think that's just really

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Speaker 3: an interesting point and that's why I want to kind

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Speaker 3: of call that out people that are listening.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I.

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Speaker 3: Agree, when did Atlanta blockchain Center? Because you weren't in

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Speaker 3: Atlanta at this time. He was in Miami, right, It's

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Speaker 3: like when when you moved to Atlanta at a certain point,

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Speaker 3: like when did the next evolution with led you to

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Speaker 3: Atlanta Blockchain Center start?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a that's a that's a good question. So

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Speaker 1: I met my wife Megan in twenty seventeen. She came

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Speaker 1: down from LA for some like a Black Film festival

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Speaker 1: or something, and we stay connected. So we were doing

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Speaker 1: this long distance thing for for a number of years. Uh,

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Speaker 1: and then we decided to try to move.

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Speaker 2: In together, you know.

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Speaker 1: And when we when we when we said that, you know,

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Speaker 1: she didn't want to move to Miami Beach. I was

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Speaker 1: living on Ocean Drives. I have my condo. Uh and

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Speaker 1: you know Ocean Drive It's it's wild.

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Speaker 2: You know. They lived there for.

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Speaker 1: Seven years and it was crazy. But you see, she

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Speaker 1: didn't want to she didn't want to live there, and rightly, so,

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Speaker 1: you know, the Miami Beach, in Miami in particular, isn't

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Speaker 1: it's to me industry like like LA or Atlanta. And

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Speaker 1: she moved here after college after she graduated from UK,

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Speaker 1: she moved to Atlanta and stayed here for a little

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Speaker 1: bit and then went to LA. And so she's like,

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Speaker 1: what about Atlanta. I was like, yeah, I think Atlanta school.

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Speaker 1: Will go check it out.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: So we would come here, we would stay for a

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Speaker 1: week and come back and you know, just do We

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Speaker 1: did that for a long time, trying to learn the

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Speaker 1: neighborhoods and you know, the areas that we liked. But

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Speaker 1: before that, before that I came to Atlanta multiple times,

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Speaker 1: of course, but I came during let's say twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: seventeen eighteen for this group that was called the Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Blockchain tab Okay, and they were having events at a

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Speaker 1: tech village and after that they would go over to

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Speaker 1: the Twin Peaks next door and hang out and network

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Speaker 1: and so forth. So yeah, I knew those fellas right

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Speaker 1: just from coming up from Miami and networking. So you know,

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Speaker 1: it seemed like they were because of the pandemic. It

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Speaker 1: seems like they were inactive. And I'm like, man, you know,

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Speaker 1: I Atlanta doesn't have a blockchain community anymore, you know.

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Speaker 1: And I'm telling MEGANI I'm like, you know, I I uh,

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Speaker 1: in Miami it's hot for crypto, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, I don't. I don't know if uh

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Speaker 1: this is the city you know, for me? But sure enough,

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Speaker 1: you know, I started thinking, like again to your point

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Speaker 1: about sometimes creating a solution to problems that you have

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Speaker 1: is a great strategy for for initition, for starting businesses.

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Speaker 1: I started thinking like, man, you know, what if I

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Speaker 1: do it? But if I started, if I you know.

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Speaker 2: The community isn't there anymore, So why don't I just

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Speaker 2: create one.

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Speaker 1: You know, people here exactly you know, in their basement

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Speaker 1: of doing something uh and so uh uh that that

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Speaker 1: was the genesis of the Atlanta Blockchain Center. So this idea,

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Speaker 1: you know, let me, I'll get a space and I

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Speaker 1: will kind of build a community that that that we need.

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Speaker 1: And I also started as a huge opportunity because this

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Speaker 1: is Atlanta, right, It's rare to to go into a

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Speaker 1: city and have an opportunity to trail blaze in an

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Speaker 1: industry like blockchain, uh and and sort of like uplift

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Speaker 1: the entire city, you know. And that's the that's the

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Speaker 1: way that I see our mission. You know, we haven't

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Speaker 1: we haven't quite gotten there yet. But I think over

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Speaker 1: the next five ten years, a lot of companies coming

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Speaker 1: out of the Blockchain Center, a lot of people in

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Speaker 1: our community are going to be the next Unicorns the

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Speaker 1: next you know, companies that are creating jobs the next

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Speaker 1: you look at what's happening in the blockchain space, crypto

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Speaker 1: in general. Trump is launching, which is wild.

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Speaker 3: I'm sorry this is even like a political point. I'm

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Speaker 3: just saying it's just wild. The most powerful person in

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Speaker 3: the world can be like, oh I got a coin.

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Speaker 1: I'm telling you, I'm telling you. And so you know,

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Speaker 1: that just validates to me that that that the blockchain

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Speaker 1: is here to stay. And again, I just saw it

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Speaker 1: as a unique opportunity for I almost feel like God

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Speaker 1: made this for me. Yeah, you know, like I was

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Speaker 1: meant to be here to do this to you know,

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Speaker 1: usher in blockchain technology, blockchain innovation and startups, cultivate startup

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Speaker 1: startups around that for us, for the Atlanta ecosystem, and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know that's that's how it kind of it kind

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Speaker 1: of happened. So huge thanks is Yeah, I give a

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Speaker 1: huge shout out to Megan for that because she she's

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Speaker 1: the one who decided.

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Speaker 3: Rest to Atlanta. You know, that's the button. Yeah, no, man,

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Speaker 3: that's cool. So how and again we were talking about

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Speaker 3: this little bit offline, but like how many companies now

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Speaker 3: are being incubated out of the Atlanta Blockchain Center.

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Speaker 1: So we've incubated twenty seven companies. And the way the

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Speaker 1: incubator White structured the incubator was, uh, you know, I

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Speaker 1: figured because at this at that point, I had you know,

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Speaker 1: four startups that did well, you know, about six or

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Speaker 1: seven that failed. So you know, at that point, I

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Speaker 1: had roughly about you know, ad experience launching about ten

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Speaker 1: different startups, and I wanted to structure the Incubator in

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Speaker 1: the way that we could I could share my story,

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Speaker 1: my path with with them, but I also wanted to

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Speaker 1: bring in a different perspective. So I worked with Brian Zwerner,

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Speaker 1: who runs the Beyond a Game network. It's a it's

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Speaker 1: a fund for athletes. He invests in sports based ideas,

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Speaker 1: and you know, we we decided to run the Incubator

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Speaker 1: twice a year, so Q one and Q three usually

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Speaker 1: every year. We accept applications for people who want to

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Speaker 1: build in crypto, in blockchain. We review the applications, and

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Speaker 1: the ones that we accept, we take them through a

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Speaker 1: you know, six week in person program. I require everyone

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Speaker 1: to be in Atlanta. If you're not in Atlanta, you

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Speaker 1: know it's not for you, because again, our mission is

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Speaker 1: to elevate at and we want people who are living

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Speaker 1: here to be the next unicorns and you know, building

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Speaker 1: the next blockchains and so forth, and so go through

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Speaker 1: the six week program. After that, we uh you know,

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Speaker 1: would help them with some sort of funding, whether we

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Speaker 1: fund them you know ourselves through like technical grants, so

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Speaker 1: a lot of them have helped like build out their

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Speaker 1: products for them. Others we've we've written a couple of

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Speaker 1: checks and you know, like Project Pie, uh you know,

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Speaker 1: we we helped them raise a quarter million dollars in

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Speaker 1: the seed and we just helped companies get off the ground,

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Speaker 1: you know. And I think a lot of a lot

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Speaker 1: of the work that we're doing is it's still sort

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Speaker 1: of uh I would I would say behind the scenes work,

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Speaker 1: but at some point, I think we're going to see

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Speaker 1: a lot of the efforts of of of of our

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Speaker 1: labor of that we've been putting in for the past

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Speaker 1: three years consistently come to fruition. So that's the that's

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Speaker 1: the pro cess for the incubator. And we've taken in

436
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 1: twenty seven companies, uh so far. Some are you know,

437
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 1: kind of like idle, you know how it is. It's

438
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,119
Speaker 1: it's a numbers game, right, So some are some some

439
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,840
Speaker 1: of the companies, some of the founders they've you know,

440
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 1: went through the incubator, they were kind of like motivated

441
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 1: and kind of gave up. Others are doing it so

442
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,800
Speaker 1: like a hobby. And it's a few others that are

443
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,360
Speaker 1: just they're living and breathing this thing and that those

444
00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 1: are the guys that we're looking for. Right. So it's

445
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: it's been, it's been good. And out of the twenty

446
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:42,040
Speaker 1: seven companies, twenty five percent of them women, right really, yeah, absolutely,

447
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:48,760
Speaker 1: we've had women, We've had Indian, black, white. I mean,

448
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,680
Speaker 1: you know it's mostly black, but it's it's just amazing

449
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 1: to see the diversity their incubator and the founders, you know.

450
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 1: And so when we go out there, we we represent.

451
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 1: We go to these conferences. We all were all you know,

452
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 1: ABC shirts and hoodies and so forth, and we'll.

453
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 3: Be rolling deep like ye a little Atlanta, you know,

454
00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:11,439
Speaker 3: you like a little Atlanta the way you walk in

455
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 3: because you know it's like, yes, say we stand out,

456
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 3: you know, like it's like you know when you go

457
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 3: certain places folks. I remember I was in South Africa

458
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:20,359
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, like a year or two ago,

459
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:22,960
Speaker 3: and I had some some of my buddies with me,

460
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 3: and they were like, oh, yeah, y'all the Atlanta boys. Yeah,

461
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 3: it was like y'all from Atlanta. We can just tell

462
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 3: by the way y'all moved. And I feel like it's

463
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:32,040
Speaker 3: the same thing.

464
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly the same thing. It's the same thing, man,

465
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: And we always make some noise because they we hear remnants,

466
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 1: we see remnants of it throughout different different things. So

467
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 1: we certainly make some noise. We'll go out and that's

468
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 1: what it's about. We're letting, We're letting the rest of

469
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: the world know that Atlanta has a blockchain community and

470
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: a strong one, and we're coming.

471
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're coming. It's just mean.

472
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 3: Look, he was in Miami, and I know Miami is

473
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,479
Speaker 3: you know when he say that the crypto capital, crypto

474
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 3: city or whatever, and the mayor has been really big

475
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 3: with that. But even now without Mary Dickens and the

476
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,440
Speaker 3: team here, like he's a tech he's a tech guy too,

477
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 3: you know. He like, I wanted to Land to be

478
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 3: a tech first city, and so yeah, all those things

479
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,359
Speaker 3: getting put in place. But look, man, okay, look, look

480
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,960
Speaker 3: we we've talked about the past. Marg Like, I'm gonna

481
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 3: be honest, part of the reason why I brought you

482
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,719
Speaker 3: in here, bro, I want to talk about the future.

483
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 3: You're you're at the you're at the cutting edge of

484
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:22,240
Speaker 3: the stuff.

485
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:23,920
Speaker 2: You're you're you're you're.

486
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 3: Helping grow and fund and build startups that are doing

487
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,479
Speaker 3: you know, what the future of crypto is gonna look like,

488
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 3: the future of web three.

489
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:31,640
Speaker 2: Block chain?

490
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 3: I want to know what what excites you? Like, what

491
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 3: what's coming? Like, where is this industry going? What should

492
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 3: we be looking out for? Because like I told you

493
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 3: telling me about bigcombs that five bucks, So again, now

494
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,439
Speaker 3: I want to know, like, what's what's next. Especially we

495
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:47,919
Speaker 3: were talking a little bit about you know, AI and

496
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 3: AI agents and all this stuff, but like what's what

497
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 3: what what? What's the future look like? Where's this thing going?

498
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:54,920
Speaker 3: What's exciting you in the space right now?

499
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 2: Man?

500
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,359
Speaker 1: What you know, what's exciting me is uh the time

501
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,679
Speaker 1: that we're living in. You know, like we're literally living

502
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 1: in a time where finance is being redefined. I mean,

503
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: the world is being redefined through blockchain, you know. And

504
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 1: I know most people think about just the crypto side

505
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 1: because that's what gets the most attention, But blockchain technology

506
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 1: is really going to be the rails of the future.

507
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,000
Speaker 1: Right A lot of the products and services that we use,

508
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: whether it's radio or television or you know, logistics, it's

509
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 1: going to have blockchain involved in some capacity. So the

510
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,960
Speaker 1: you know, that excites me because it's it's a it's

511
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,639
Speaker 1: akin to you know, being around when you know the

512
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: rail railroads were being laid down. That that's that's effectively

513
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 1: what what what blockchain is. It's you know, the railroads

514
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,280
Speaker 1: of the future. That's very exciting because we're able to

515
00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:03,920
Speaker 1: participate in this new economy in a decentralized, nearly unbiased way.

516
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,640
Speaker 1: I mean, you know this there's a whole different subject,

517
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:11,160
Speaker 1: but we can all get involved in partake of this

518
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 1: this new revolution. And that's the difference in the past. Right,

519
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 1: So in the past, look at the previous industrial revolutions,

520
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,879
Speaker 1: we've mostly missed out, yeah, right, for a lot of

521
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: reasons that we all know. And so you know, for

522
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 1: me to be here at a time like this when

523
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: this is you know, to me, this is our fourth

524
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,679
Speaker 1: industrial revolution and we get to lay the groundwork for

525
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:41,639
Speaker 1: our family, for the future, and for us to really

526
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 1: you know we talk about reparations and all this other

527
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,920
Speaker 1: stuff that's basically the future.

528
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:48,720
Speaker 2: Uh.

529
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:54,719
Speaker 1: It's allowing us, it's allowing us to to participate in

530
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 1: this in this age without any disruption, right. And so

531
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 1: I'm saying it is as humble as I can.

532
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 3: You know what I meanside that humble stuff outside, man, Look,

533
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,760
Speaker 3: I want to know. I want to know. I want

534
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 3: to know what I can tell you. Excited I am again,

535
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,639
Speaker 3: but like come on, man, so I mean blow my mind,

536
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:22,880
Speaker 3: like I want to know, like, what's what wh where's

537
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:23,560
Speaker 3: this thing going?

538
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:29,200
Speaker 1: So because we we all get to participate without being

539
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,719
Speaker 1: held back at any capacity, this is the time for

540
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,880
Speaker 1: us to make a ship ton of money, right and

541
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: set ourselves up and our families up, and our communities

542
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 1: up for generational wealth. Absolutely, and that is what's really exciting.

543
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: You know, I'm on my second ferrari. I've bought houses

544
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: cash right, we you know are are We're in the

545
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 1: seven figure house as our main one. And you know

546
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: it's because of blockchain technology. Right we come from, especially us,

547
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 1: like that's built tech startups before we come from an

548
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: environment where, uh, we're constantly held back. How many times

549
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: have you sought funds for your startup?

550
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 2: Access? See?

551
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: I mean we know the stats, right, I mean the

552
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: stats were obvious. So in twenty twenty two, you know,

553
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,760
Speaker 1: we had one percent of capital go to you know,

554
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 1: minority founders. Same thing two thousand and three, I think

555
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,480
Speaker 1: it was one point two in two thousand and two,

556
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: twenty two and one percent in twenty twenty three. As

557
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, in twenty twenty three, the entire

558
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: out of the entire venture capital industry, it's about thirty

559
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 1: billion dollars. That year, we raised one percent, so that's

560
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 1: three hundred million dollars. That same year, this one dude

561
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: raised three hundred million dollars himself, Adam Newman, we work founder. Right,

562
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: So this one white dude raised three hundred million dollars

563
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 1: and that's all the funds that went to all of

564
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: us a year. Right, So this is the only thing

565
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 1: that's going to change that. It's blockchain is crypto. There's

566
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,720
Speaker 1: nothing else is going to change venture capital and disrupt

567
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 1: it for us other than blockchain.

568
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 2: And you want to want to ask me what I'm

569
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 2: excited about. I'm excited about that.

570
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 3: No, I mean that's actually crazy. But you just think

571
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,040
Speaker 3: about it, right, Like you said, one percent, three hundred

572
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:22,520
Speaker 3: million versus one person, one person doing three hundred million,

573
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,720
Speaker 3: right and then and again that's not a thing that's

574
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 3: not uncommon in that space, right, Like they're look, maybe

575
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,040
Speaker 3: maybe you only get a hundred million, you know what

576
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 3: I mean, Like some people do more. But again, the

577
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 3: fact that you're able to do these things and build them. So, like,

578
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 3: what kind of like what kind of what kind of technology,

579
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 3: what kind of innovations are we going to see in

580
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 3: this space? Based on what you're seeing, you.

581
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 1: Know, a lot of it is, uh, it's going to

582
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 1: be finance related. That that's going to be disruptive, I think,

583
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,800
Speaker 1: especially with AI. So we're going to see where we're

584
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 1: going into a future where you could plug in a

585
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,000
Speaker 1: dollar and then just have AI go out there and

586
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: invest for you on your behalf.

587
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 2: You don't have to think. You don't have to.

588
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 1: Uh, you know, constantly check it's it's gonna go out there,

589
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 1: it's going to do the technical analysis. It's gonna if

590
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 1: a new coin comes out, it's gonna go it's gonna

591
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,760
Speaker 1: find it. It's gonna sniff it and see if there's

592
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: any security you know issues if it's a rug pull

593
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,560
Speaker 1: you know based on the code, if it's you know,

594
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 1: you don't need to really be a trader anymore. Right,

595
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 1: all of the trading skills skill set is going to

596
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: be inside of these agents, and you know, I think

597
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: I think that's going to be extremely disruptive because that

598
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 1: that's a product that could reach.

599
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 2: The entire world. Everyone can use that. Yeah.

600
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 1: Right, So that's one of the things that that we're

601
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 1: excited about, uh, because that's what we're building at the

602
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 1: Blockchain Center, right. So we're building product called AI quant.

603
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: So if you go to ai quant dot fund, you'll

604
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 1: see some some agents that are going out there. They're

605
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 1: learning how to navigate the crypto space by themselves and

606
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 1: figure it out, you know, what's good, what's bad. They're

607
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:02,040
Speaker 1: building a history of trades of you know, paper trades,

608
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 1: and when we unleash this thing, it's going to be wild.

609
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 3: You know, I'm signing up right now, Right now, I'm

610
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 3: signing up. Let me know I'm in there.

611
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:17,240
Speaker 1: So so you know, these these autonomous agents, it's it's

612
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,479
Speaker 1: it's again, it's an interesting time to be alive because

613
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,200
Speaker 1: we're the intersection of like AI and finance coming together, right,

614
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: you know, it just unravels all sorts of possibilities, and

615
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,480
Speaker 1: that that's being one of them.

616
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 2: But I do think that.

617
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,040
Speaker 1: We're going to see some of the biggest wealth creation

618
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,080
Speaker 1: over the next decade because of blockchain and crypto and

619
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 1: AI combined. And we're trying to make sure that we're

620
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:45,320
Speaker 1: right in the middle of all of that.

621
00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 3: For those that want to hundred and follow right, Like

622
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,880
Speaker 3: we talk about decentralization. To your point, like even the

623
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 3: most simple term like decentralizing finance was in the past.

624
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 3: If I wanted to send you money, I have to

625
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 3: go to a bank. I have to go to my bank,

626
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 3: I have to log in, and then I have to

627
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 3: say send the money to you, and then you know

628
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 3: what I mean, And then I have to send it

629
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:18,680
Speaker 3: to your bank, and then you have to go to

630
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 3: the bank the money out. So that's what I mean, right,

631
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 3: But decentralization is basically saying, no, if I want to

632
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 3: send Marlin money, I should just be able to send

633
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,000
Speaker 3: Marlin money and there's no intermediaries in there that are

634
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 3: taking a percentage here there, or you know, holding your

635
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,000
Speaker 3: money and giving you point zero zero zero zero two

636
00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 3: percent interest. You know what I'm saying. But it was

637
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 3: also interesting is again when you think about what you're

638
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,360
Speaker 3: even saying, it's like it's not just decentralizing and disrupting

639
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 3: those those platforms, it's even decentralizing like access to the

640
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,320
Speaker 3: tools that people are using, because again the reality is

641
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,640
Speaker 3: most people don't have access to quants and by quant

642
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 3: we mean you know again quantitative trade coortinator analysis. We

643
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 3: don't have to quanum computers, you know what I mean,

644
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 3: they can like make the lightning fast trades based off

645
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 3: of light speed and all this. You know, maybe get

646
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:08,160
Speaker 3: technical all y'all, Like I know, but it's also interesting,

647
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 3: like you're also even taking that now and putting it

648
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 3: in the hands of the people, and so to your point,

649
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 3: you know, yeah, like you're literally getting access to you know,

650
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 3: I saw I actually saw a video with Elon talking.

651
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,759
Speaker 3: I saw it, like I think yesterday this morning. He said, like, look,

652
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 3: in the next ten years, if not sooner, AI is

653
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 3: going to be smarter than the smartest human being on earth.

654
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,319
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, absolutely, you know, and then you think about

655
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 3: what that means, right, you think about again, not just

656
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,000
Speaker 3: what that means, but the problems that will be able

657
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 3: to be solved, and just what people that typically couldn't

658
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,319
Speaker 3: access that kind of knowledge has And that's where I

659
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,000
Speaker 3: think people really miss out right. It's like, yeah, we

660
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 3: get on our phone, y'all, get your phone, y'all play candy.

661
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 2: Crush, I get it.

662
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 3: But there's a lot of other things you can do

663
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:50,880
Speaker 3: from this device and from computers, and like what's going

664
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,960
Speaker 3: to happen is with with with blockchain, with AI agents specifically,

665
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 3: it's going to put so much power in the hands

666
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,560
Speaker 3: of the people that to your point, like this is

667
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,560
Speaker 3: the chain to bridge that gap in some areas.

668
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely absolutely.

669
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: And you know the the I like the I like

670
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,839
Speaker 1: the analogy with the bank because you know, I'm sure

671
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,200
Speaker 1: a lot of people can relate to going to the

672
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 1: bank and having to explain why you need your money, right,

673
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 1: you know.

674
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,320
Speaker 2: What I mean, Like, it's it's just ridiculous.

675
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:23,839
Speaker 3: Do you see the thing from you see the thing

676
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 3: for the director of Black Panther. You saw what happened

677
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:27,680
Speaker 3: him like a year two. Yes, he went to the

678
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:29,759
Speaker 3: bank to get his own money out and they called

679
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:30,240
Speaker 3: the police.

680
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,840
Speaker 1: They thought he was trying to ride the bank exactly exactly.

681
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 1: That's the perfect that's the perfect. Yeah, yeah, it's it's

682
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: just it's just ridiculous. And and and that's that's again that's

683
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 1: why I really love what we what we do UH

684
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 1: in the Blockchain Center and kind of promoting the tech

685
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: because it just makes no sense for UH, for us

686
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,600
Speaker 1: to be subject to these these sort of like centralized

687
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: middlemen who determine sometimes with without any sort of logic

688
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,520
Speaker 1: whether we get access to certain things, you know, the

689
00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 1: same thing with like like other products, so social media products,

690
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: not anyone in particular. But I think we we we

691
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: don't realize that where the where the you know, we're

692
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:14,160
Speaker 1: the ones providing values to these networks absolutely right, Without

693
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 1: you posting, without you you know, up uploading images, without

694
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: you interacting and engaging with with posts, there is no

695
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 1: social media, right, And what do we get paid for that?

696
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:25,920
Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing?

697
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:30,160
Speaker 1: But where we're enriching the creators of the platform, because

698
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,080
Speaker 1: they're the ones that's gathering all the data, all the

699
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: insights and reselling it and they've made it a huge

700
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,840
Speaker 1: business model, right, And so data is a huge business,

701
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,000
Speaker 1: our data, and we're not even benefiting from that in

702
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 1: any capacity, you know. And so I think that there

703
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,759
Speaker 1: will be in the social media of the future, for

704
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 1: example that's powered by blockchain, where you post, you're going

705
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:54,399
Speaker 1: to get compensated, uh, if you want, if they want

706
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 1: to the creators want to show your information to advertisers,

707
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,799
Speaker 1: you're going to get compensated. Because you can opt in

708
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,239
Speaker 1: or opt out. You can you control your full data

709
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: and how you interact with these products, right, And it's

710
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,240
Speaker 1: not just social media, it's going to be with everything

711
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 1: that we use in the future, you know. But I

712
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 1: think AI agents are going to take it up another

713
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: level because not only are we going to be in

714
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,320
Speaker 1: control of our data and how we interact with products

715
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: and services online, we get to delegate it to agents

716
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 1: and have them go do all kinds of crazy things

717
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,200
Speaker 1: for us. Right, so in the future, we don't really

718
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:36,880
Speaker 1: even need to interact with anything.

719
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 2: Once set it up. You know, you set up an agent.

720
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,080
Speaker 1: If someone sends me a tweet, respond you, you know,

721
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 1: you handle everything for me. Right every Friday, go shopping

722
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,800
Speaker 1: on you know, I don't know whatever, get me some groceries,

723
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 1: and it's it's it's it's just it's crazy, man. It's

724
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 1: crazy that we're actually here because this is what we

725
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 1: saw in the in the late eighties.

726
00:37:58,640 --> 00:37:59,920
Speaker 2: And nineties and the cartoons.

727
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 3: That's just I mean, people always people always talk about

728
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:05,520
Speaker 3: like any and I mean I've seen the research and

729
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 3: people always talk about, yo, you know this is going

730
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,120
Speaker 3: to happen, and like, but I think what's going to

731
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 3: actually happen is one It's I think it's gonna be

732
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:17,000
Speaker 3: a while before AI can replicate like pure creativity of

733
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:18,839
Speaker 3: humans yeah, I agree. So I think and I think

734
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,680
Speaker 3: that's the thing that will always kind of be unique

735
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 3: to human to mankind right now. Again, it'll it'll be

736
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:25,959
Speaker 3: able to do elements of it, but a lot again,

737
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:27,360
Speaker 3: a lot of the ideas are going to be based

738
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,480
Speaker 3: off of what it's seen and what it's been trained on,

739
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 3: what it's learned. But the idea that like to come

740
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,000
Speaker 3: with something totally new. So I think what end up

741
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,359
Speaker 3: happening too is is you get freed from all this

742
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,560
Speaker 3: other stuff. It's just going to open up this whole

743
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 3: new opportunity for people to be creative in ways they

744
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 3: never even thought of, which is going to lead to

745
00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:42,719
Speaker 3: even more innovation.

746
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:43,600
Speaker 2: Right.

747
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:45,480
Speaker 3: But I mean I saw a thing where they were

748
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,160
Speaker 3: talking about where Sam Altman was talking about like they're

749
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,399
Speaker 3: building AI agents to where you'll be able to hire

750
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:56,359
Speaker 3: like an enterprise level CEO, CMO, you know, for like

751
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,880
Speaker 3: ten grand, twenty grand. Right again, so again, think of

752
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 3: about that, right, Like, if you have a startup, you

753
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,920
Speaker 3: could hire somebody like you know, the the tim Cooks

754
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,319
Speaker 3: of the world, like the people that operate at that level.

755
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,520
Speaker 3: You can literally have that kind of knowledge coming into

756
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,279
Speaker 3: your business right and helping you run it and then

757
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:16,359
Speaker 3: you could have it run it like you literally come

758
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 3: up with this, do this and just depositive money here.

759
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:21,200
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying, Like, it's it's crazy.

760
00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 2: It is it is it's it's uh.

761
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:25,800
Speaker 3: And it's exciting, not crazy, but it exciting.

762
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:27,839
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that was actually I was going to say.

763
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 1: I was going to say, it's it's it's uh. It

764
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,920
Speaker 1: is exciting because we get to participate, you know fully

765
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:37,240
Speaker 1: this time. And that's what that's what I would encourage

766
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:40,040
Speaker 1: everyone to do, is you don't miss out on the

767
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:42,480
Speaker 1: opportunities that's that's in front of us, you know, in

768
00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 1: front of you, because you know that's that's like right

769
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:50,359
Speaker 1: now with AI agents and and crypto, this is the

770
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,600
Speaker 1: second opportunity to get bitcoin at five dollars.

771
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,960
Speaker 3: Okay, then that's what I want to know.

772
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 2: I I was waiting on.

773
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:03,839
Speaker 3: Hey man, look Maron, this has been a great real

774
00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,239
Speaker 3: quick before we get out of here, man, one thing

775
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:06,759
Speaker 3: I just want to ask you is you kind of

776
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 3: talked about this a second ago. I just want to

777
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,600
Speaker 3: expand on it. With all the stuff you're doing, and

778
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 3: you know, you're still a young guy, you know what

779
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,359
Speaker 3: I mean, You're still young guy, you know what I mean, Like,

780
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,400
Speaker 3: but what legacy do you want to leave behind when

781
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 3: it's all said and done.

782
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,879
Speaker 1: You know, I used to be uh selfish, and I think,

783
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:26,440
Speaker 1: you know, we have to be in order for us

784
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,520
Speaker 1: to achieve a certain level of success. But now I

785
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 1: am all about helping other people. I really get encouraged

786
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:37,799
Speaker 1: and you know, you're thrilled just seeing other people win.

787
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:42,640
Speaker 1: And that is really what I am dedicated to the

788
00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,839
Speaker 1: rest of my life too, just to helping other people win.

789
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:47,840
Speaker 1: So I think that's that's really it I want. I

790
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:51,239
Speaker 1: want to I want to empower our people. I want

791
00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:55,640
Speaker 1: to power the next generation of builders, creators, particularly in tech,

792
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,640
Speaker 1: and see them go on to create the next Apple

793
00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 1: and and Microsoft's of the world in the blockchain space,

794
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 1: and you know, create a better lives for themselves and

795
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:12,239
Speaker 1: their families. You know, I always wanted to build a

796
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,240
Speaker 1: software company that would employ thousands and thousands and thousands

797
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 1: of people.

798
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:16,200
Speaker 2: You know.

799
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 1: I studied Bill Gates and you know, Larry Ellison and

800
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,040
Speaker 1: Steve Jobs and all these guys when I was coming

801
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 1: up as a software developer early two thousands, and I

802
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:33,160
Speaker 1: never achieved that, you know, but I lots of amazing startups.

803
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 1: I have code and products that living out there in

804
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,520
Speaker 1: the world from you know, acquisitions and this and that,

805
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,240
Speaker 1: and I no longer have that interest, right. My interest

806
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 1: now is to reach a billion people by reaching the

807
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,000
Speaker 1: people in front of me and empowering them to go

808
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: on and impact the next ten people, the next twenty people.

809
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 2: Right.

810
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:58,360
Speaker 1: So that's it. I want to reach a billion people

811
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:02,840
Speaker 1: act on their lives, whether it's through you know, the

812
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 1: Atlanta Blockchain Center, like five people through at the Blockchain Center.

813
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:11,200
Speaker 1: But but that's that's it. It's it's really uh. I

814
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:15,960
Speaker 1: want to be remembered as the person who helped create

815
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:22,800
Speaker 1: a thriving economy for African Americans in Atlanta and across

816
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:23,360
Speaker 1: the world.

817
00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 2: And I think I'll be fine after that.

818
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:28,239
Speaker 1: Just go ride some horses and a farm and play

819
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:29,880
Speaker 1: with goats and chickens.

820
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:30,640
Speaker 2: It's funny.

821
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:31,040
Speaker 3: It's funny.

822
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:32,200
Speaker 2: Like that's what it always goes.

823
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 3: Back to, you know, just like it always met the simplicity, right.

824
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:38,000
Speaker 3: I always tell people like, look, man, I'm just trying

825
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,879
Speaker 3: to win, and I'm gonna go somewhere and I'm open

826
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 3: up an ice cream stand on the beach and I'm

827
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,400
Speaker 3: gonna call it Magic City and nobody's gonna know why.

828
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,560
Speaker 3: Nobody's gonna know why Medic City sells ice cream except me.

829
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:50,799
Speaker 2: And it's cool.

830
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:53,319
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be right near the ocean. I'm gonna eat

831
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:56,200
Speaker 3: lobster every day and sell ice cream at Magic City.

832
00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:58,759
Speaker 2: Man, I'm telling you, man, that's that's it. That's it.

833
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 2: That's exactly it. Hey, Martin luke Maan.

834
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 3: I appreciate you coming in. I know definitely. Look, you

835
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 3: want to reach a billion people. I promise you, bro,

836
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,799
Speaker 3: you reached one today. So we're doing something. I don't

837
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:11,719
Speaker 3: know what it is. We're doing something. I'm litching you

838
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:13,279
Speaker 3: know right now before we got out of here. Man,

839
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,000
Speaker 3: please tell people how can they, you know, find out

840
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,120
Speaker 3: more about what the Atlanta Blockchain Center is. How can

841
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:21,200
Speaker 3: they get involved? Like where they need to go to

842
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:22,120
Speaker 3: get more information?

843
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,000
Speaker 1: So you can go to Atlanta Chain dot iOS our

844
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,400
Speaker 1: website to find out more. To sign up for coworking space,

845
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:31,279
Speaker 1: you know it just come by any Thursday. So we

846
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:36,520
Speaker 1: have open community meetups every single Thursday for three years straight.

847
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,359
Speaker 1: We only missed three three Thursdays, Thanksgiving twenty twenty two,

848
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,040
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving twenty twenty three, and Thanksgiving.

849
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,240
Speaker 2: You know otherwise we're working. We're working.

850
00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:47,720
Speaker 1: So every single Thursday, the entire Atlanta ecosystem is welcome

851
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 1: to come by and learn about blockchain network with us,

852
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:53,359
Speaker 1: connect with some of the brothers and sisters that they're

853
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:58,000
Speaker 1: building the next products in the space. And you know,

854
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 1: on Instagram LinkedIn it's Atlanta chain everywhere.

855
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 3: Oo man willill mar I appreciate this. May you come

856
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,960
Speaker 3: in again. The future looks bright. You're doing amazing work

857
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,879
Speaker 3: over there. Congratulations on everything. Like I said, I've been

858
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:13,800
Speaker 3: rocking with you since you first came out here in

859
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:18,520
Speaker 3: the Atlanta Blockchain Center day one day one day one,

860
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,520
Speaker 3: you know, and so I'm just so excited for y'all

861
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 3: that I can't wait to see what happens next.

862
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:23,200
Speaker 2: Man.

863
00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 3: But again, congratulations and we out.

864
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 2: That's the pod. Y'all.

865
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:29,279
Speaker 3: You've been listening to button Nomics and I'm your host,

866
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 3: Brandon Butler. Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show,

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Speaker 3: Send us an email today at hello at butteronomics dot com.

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Speaker 1: Dump ump up,