December 13, 2024 • 30 mins
Building a large business in the beauty, barber, and wellness industries is no easy feat. These sectors are ripe for competition, and historically, don't scale.
On todays episode, Will Lucas, Brand Manager at AfroTech talks with entrepreneurs who've built million dollar enterprises in an industry that is known for being a hodge-podge of hustlers with no actual business operations to see how they did it, and you can too.
*Originally published April 5, 2022*
Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, like you want to own the market.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
So the plan is that you can go so fast
that no one be able to compete, and at scale
it will become super super profitable because.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You'll have everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You know, So there's a lot of upfront investment that
requires that, but you just push out all your competitors
and then you own the market. For instance, taking like
a salesforce, you know, they own the market. So we
want to be a salesforce of the barbershops around the world.
So and that that requires capital, it requires speed, it
requires execution.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So that's kind of that's why you're raising money.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
So over the past week or so, I've had conversations
in different places with no less than six entrepreneurs in
the health, beauty and wellness spaces.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
So just that as a sign.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
To put together an episode that outlines how black entrepreneurs
in these spaces cannot just create jobs for themselves because
scale of business that employs people and generates high value revenue.
The Small Business Administration put out a report a few
years back that stated, and I'm paraphrasing, that minority owned
businesses eighty percent of them in fact, are in the
(01:14):
bottom twenty percent of industries for revenue. This means that
we do a great job of creating businesses that don't
employ people outside of ourselves and maybe a family member,
and our revenues are low. We're not making enough money
to grow significant businesses because we're creating unscalable operations in
the industries that are already frost with low top lines,
(01:37):
businesses like daycares, landscaping businesses, barbershops and more. And if
you're doing that, there's no problem. I'm just talking about
the general landscape. So on today's episode, I bring you
to conversations with black people who've done it in these
industries and are still killing the game. First up is
a snippet of a conversation I had on this here
Podcasts with Cordney adelaia founder and CEO at the Main Choice,
(02:02):
one of the largest brands in the headcare space. And
we'll follow that up with the conversation from Afrotech executive
Los Angeles that I had with Dave Saban and Song
Larn from Squire, which is built a barbershop point of
sale and management system.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Courtney at LAE.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
When you look at the field of black women and
men who start off in beauty, health wellness companies. Do
you think they go hard enough? Like what keeps them
from achieving the type of level of success You've achieved
in this.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Industry generally speaking, Do I think they go hard enough?
I would have to Unfortunately, I would have to say no.
I think for some reason, people think that when you
operate on an average level, or if you're able to
excel by just giving average. I think sometimes people think
that's enough. But in order to really scale something and
(02:55):
take it to the next level, it is going to
require blood, sweat, in tears that I've come to the
conclusion most people are not willing willing to do, you know,
or they think that giving normal or average is okay,
and it's not.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
I've seen a lot of people, you know, with shade
butter companies and lotion companies and hair companies and et cetera.
And I'd like you to speak to like knowing your
numbers a little bit, because like how do you price
in early? How do you get to figuring out what
those unit costs out? Like what does it cost to
make one bottle?
Speaker 6 (03:30):
Right? That is such an interesting conversation and topic because
it's the number one pain point when I do the
master classes. I'll ask somebody their costs. Most people can't
answer it, how much does it cost you to make
this product? Or they'll tell me, oh, it's this. I'm like,
wait a minute, are we talking about the top, the bottle,
the lid, the ingredients? And they're like, okay, well, okay,
(03:52):
let me add the Wait a minute, who shipped this stuff?
Did it shipped from there to you? And who paid
for this shipping?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Who I pay for it?
Speaker 6 (04:00):
You have to put the shipping cost in there. So
if you don't know your numbers, if you don't price
your stuff right, I've seen it once and I would
definitely say that is one of the leading costses why
people cannot scale their company. There are some people out
there who have good products, good services, but this stuff
is not priced right, and they're like, oh my god,
(04:21):
I legit had ten thousand dollars in sales this month,
but I have zero dollars in my account. How your
numbers is not right. You can't even afford to run
a sell if you wanted to. You can't even give
twenty five percent off. You can't get free shipping if
your numbers is not priced where it's supposed to be.
So I think that's that's definitely up there as number one.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
There's number one.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
So does it require building a CpG company consumer package
a good company? Does it require venture funding? How can
you bootstrap this?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
No?
Speaker 6 (04:56):
I think nowadays, I like, I got a philosophy that
says grow as you go. That means you can go
out there on social media. You can, And this is
why it's important that I teach how to run social
media and grow it because these are quote unquote free
ways to market. If you make a dollar, and this
is one thing I was always committed to for years,
(05:18):
every dollar that I made, I put it right back
into my company. You spend to five thousand dollars to
build your company. And let's say you've you've had four
thousand dollars worth of sales, Well, you still haven't made
any money yet, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (05:35):
Because you spend.
Speaker 6 (05:36):
Five So that again, that's that's that's the tough part.
But can you grow as you go? You don't necessarily
have to get funding, you know. And one thing I
always say, especially African Americans, we don't need funding.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
We need support.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
That's what we need.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
We need support.
Speaker 6 (05:53):
And I think if you have a good connection with
your consumer, which is one thing that's top of my priority.
I'm going to make sure I give a good product,
make sure I ship on time, make sure I'm transparent
if there's any hiccups along the way. You have to
be transparent with your consumer. We have we all have them.
I never ask for someone to give me a pass
(06:14):
or I need two weeks to get this product to you.
If there's a hiccup, I'm going to come to you
directly as the owner. We've had a hiccup. This is
how I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
To resolve it.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
And when you do that, no one can. They can't
help but to respect that and appreciate it and support you.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So do you have to have funding?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
You don't.
Speaker 6 (06:33):
You just need to really learn communication and relationships. And
I think that's key.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So I won't speak for all of us, but I
would imagine that any of my guys listening to this episode,
what if had at least one barber barbershop experience where
the barber is late, the unprofessional, they don't accept the
kind of payment we have, or we might be traveling
and don't know how to buying a local barber to
tighten up our faith This is a common issue, pervasive
(07:06):
and one that Dave Sylvin Song l Aryn decided to
take on together, building a suite of tools to help
barbers be more professional on the business end and provide
education to barbers to not only see themselves as contractors,
but it's business people. Squire is a barbership point of
sale and management system, and this conversation, which was held
(07:28):
between me, Song and Dave, was held at the first
Afrotech Executive Los Angeles, where just a little bit previously,
the co founders of Squire had announced a sixty million
dollars Series D funding ground which would then value the
company they built together at about seven hundred and fifty
million dollars. In the conversation you're about to hear, we
(07:50):
discuss everything from Silicon Valley investor disbelief in the value
of the market, how to get out and talk to
people who you're building products for, and how barbers can
see themselves as businesses and realize the market opportunity when
they turn up their professionalism while still finding a way
to keep their hustler's mentality. If you know a barber,
(08:12):
shad this episode with him to all the future CEO's
entrepreneurs out there, listen closely because my guys from Squire
are about to take this stage and show y'all the
winning formulas for startups. Please give a more welcome Dave South,
Vin song Luran from Squire. You know when you got
(08:40):
money you walk like that. When you got money, you
just we walk different.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
It was a good year Squire.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
How many of you guys, first of all, know what
Squire is before? I want to tell them the level set.
So if you are a wound the other startup, raise
your hand. I just want to I wouldn't know who's
in the room right now. If you are a founder
of a start if you're running a company, all right.
If you are an investor in companies and you can
still be a starting to founder too. If you're an investor,
(09:12):
all right, So we want to know who's in the room.
If you are an executive, you climbing up the corporate ladder,
you are working for an enterprise, raise your hand. Also,
we just want to know who's in the room. If
you are other, I don't know what else that is.
If you're unemployed, you came to talk to Charles, you
came to talk to Levi's all right. We got a
couple of those in here too. So you guys are
(09:35):
in acquisition mode. You're aggressively looking to acquire. Let me
take these sunglasses off. I'm sitting directly in the sunlight
right now. Your team is growing quickly, You've got great technology.
What's most important at this stage for Squire acquiring talent
or acquiring gaps in the technology that you guys have.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I think right now the most important is acquiring talent.
Talent As an people, I think we reached your critical
point in the scale of the business where you know,
we need that layer of excellence at the top, and
that's kind of where we are at this point.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So just so of y'all know, like these guys just
raised sixty million dollars Series D, tripling their valuation, which
they tripled about a year ago. So this is like
the second triple the of the Evaluation's a billionaire boys
right now that we're talking to. So I just want
you all to recognize who's on.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Stage right now.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Close, close, close, close.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
No, it's a billionaire boys in there.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
So you guys are not barbers, but you do build
technology for barbers and people who get that haircut, and
so I wonder what the feedback loop was like when
you were building your company. I did hear that you
guys bought a barbershop or you ran the barbershop in
New York just to get your hands dirty and learn
about what it actually took to run the operation. How
do you ensure that you're building something that barber's need, Like,
(10:55):
what is that feedback loop like as you're building a
product for something that you don't do?
Speaker 7 (11:00):
Yeah, I mean it starts with talking to your customers
as much as possible, trying to really learn from them,
inserting yourself into their environment. So before we had our barbershop,
we were just going sit in shops for like hours,
talking to people, talking to barbers, talking to owners, and
you know, you want to try to understand and know
your customers, like better than they know themselves.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
That's the goal. And yeah, that's so that's what we did.
Speaker 7 (11:23):
And it's a constantly, like you said, feedback if you're
just getting information and just learning from them.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So there are so many barbers out there that had
you probably imagine who needed your product, maybe had an
idea for a product like this. What was it that
was so special about you guys that made it work
and is really creating a lot of value in the
marketplace for those guys today.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I mean, we started from our perspective.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We you know, both Sung and I back in like
twenty fourteen twenty fifteen were busy professionals and you know,
every couple of you know, couple of days of weeks
we had to get a haircut, and the process, the
process was very archaic. It hadn't changed since you know,
we were kids. So we actually took from a took
(12:12):
a consumer approach to it first and say hey, what
would be the best solution to make our lives easier?
And then when we got into the real, you know, business,
we understand the problem wasn't the consumer, it was on
the business side of things.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
So I mentioned this.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
A lot of barbers had this idea, and some people
are still out there trying to do the but you
guys found you know, incredible success so far.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
How much of the value of what.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
You're doing is it the idea versus the consistency, the
hard work of the grind.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I mean, it's all about the execution.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
And we were I mean, it's one of those ideas
where it's not rocket science, like a lot of people
have thought about it, and like you said, a lot
of barbers would always tell us like, oh yo, man,
I had that idea, like I've been working on that,
and a I got an app for a vart It's like, yeah,
so that's cool. But we're it's like it's a lot
harder than you think it is to like build an app,
(13:09):
and and we we would.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
It's like execution is really what.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
Matters, and like staying consistent and going through the hard
times and just like continuing to strive for your goal
and not everybody's like willing to put in that long
term like you know, commitment until they see see their
idea come to fruition.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
And one of our.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Pet peeves is like we hate when people call Squire
barber app because like there's so much more to it.
Like the app is like probably five to ten percent
of the entire product suite.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
It's really like a full.
Speaker 7 (13:42):
Like management system back and ended in like almost like
an operating system for the barbershop. But a lot of people,
a lot of barber still here squaring and I think
barber app, so you know it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I mean, you guys got accepted into arguably one of
the most prestigious accelerators in the game back in like
twenty fifteen. I think you graduated twenty fifteen, so you
probably went twenty sixteen, Okay, And this was at a
time when Silicon Valley still didn't believe that black haircare,
black beauty and etc.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Was a valuable proposition.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
If you guys, you're sitting here today as the billionaire boys,
you know, really really successful entrepreneurs, But if you're reading
Squire's application to ye Combinator back then, what is it
about your proposition to that accelerator that says, you know what,
let's let these guys in.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We applied three times.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I mean, I think the kind of like the trait
is persistent, you know, not giving up running through walls
or jumping over fences. And I think I think, you know,
we didn't have the first time we applied.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
We didn't, We weren't.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
We should have gotten in the second time we applied
in you know, we didn't get into the core batch,
but we got into like a kind of like a
fellowship program that allowed us to get into the batch
the next time. But I think the fact that we
didn't get on it gave up even if we weren't
ready from our technology standpoint to get into the program.
(15:17):
They saw that, you know fire and like I tell
you know, folks and founders all the time, it's ninety
five percent founder at the beginning. At the beginning, it's
all about the founder. You don't invest in the business.
The business is going to change, but what doesn't change
is the person you're investing in. And you know, when
I now you know, invest in companies, that's what I
(15:39):
look for, is that that hunger, that grit, that determination,
because that is the that is the key to success.
And I think y Comrador they saw that among in us.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So there's so many people in this room even who
are getting accelerated into new roles, whether they be founders
seeing real opportunity for their off or they are in
the corporate space and they're getting promoted and finding success
that way. How did you guys learn how to be
CEOs and how to be entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs and
(16:11):
chief executives of millions and millions of dollars you're executing
to make sure that that's strategically placed so that you
create value for yourselves and for your investors. Very high
stakes and you're raising this money often during the pandemic.
How did you learn how to be good executives? And
how are you still learning how to do that?
Speaker 7 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the greatest skill
sets for entrepreneurs to be successful is the skill of
learning and of continuously learning. Because if you're at a
company that's successful, the company that Squire was, or we
had ten employees, was different when we had fifty employees
versus now two hundred employees.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's a totally different company.
Speaker 7 (16:53):
So the skills that you developed early on you have
to constantly be like leveling up and like learning and
educating and and trying to, you know, learn from your mistakes.
You can't stay fixed in one in one area. You
can't stay fixed in like one phase. You have to
constantly be growing. So I think that's probably like the
biggest thing that I would say. There's no one skill
(17:14):
I can say if you learn this, you'll be a founder.
It's really trial and error and learning from your mistakes.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So you said something early in the conversation about getting
out and talking to the people who that you're building
your product for, and you guys today are in over
two thousand shops internationally even can you talk about what
some of those early conversations were like when you just
got this idea and you're going to talk to barber's,
what is that conversation like, so that you're asking the
right questions so you can get the answers that you
(17:42):
need to build something.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know, first of a lot of bad haircuts, you know,
because like you know, I've gone to shops and Sacramento
where no one looks like me there, and you know,
in order to get.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
A half hour someone's time.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Chair, so I have to get There's times I've gotten
three haircuts in a day. But but I think most
importantly it's just asking the questions that you want to
know and you know, delivering on what you said. So
for example, you know you ask, It's same thing with
like you know, if you're asking for investment, it's like, hey,
(18:24):
what do you need? Okay, and if I build X,
Y and Z, will you come on? And you get
the commitment. Once you get the commitment, it's up to
you to go execute against that. And then when when
you come back and say hey, I've done it. It's
very hard for people to say no when you say, hey,
here's the goal line. I'm at the goal line, now,
what's up? So that a lot of those conversations had
(18:48):
we had early on.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
You know, it's one thing to find success domestically, but
you guys are on three continents now, and there's a
lot of people in this room who are creating value
for people all across the.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
World who looked like us.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I don't know where Michelle went, but she's you know,
her audience is not just here in the United States
and the Tavio if you people like that, They're creating entertainment,
news media for people who live all across the world.
How do you find success building something for people who
live alife like we've not seen here domestically.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Yeah, I think the advantage for Squire for us is
that barbershops have mostly the same we're anywhere in the
world for the most part. You know, you can there's
only so many ways to cut hair, you know, there's
only so many kind of services you can do.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
So so for us.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
Like launching in Canada or launching in the UK, like
it didn't require like fundamental like shifts in our product
during like our business model or strategy. There are nuances
cultural nuances that you have to be, you know, cognizant
of We definitely made some mistakes the first time when
we tried to launch in London, and that's was earlier
(19:58):
on and I was a lot of it myself.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I flew out there.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
We had this big customer like forty fifty location, and
we thought we were just gonna get them on and uh,
you know, we fucked up, like we just didn't. We
didn't do it well, we didn't on board them well,
we didn't. We didn't realize like some of the nuances
about how they operated things there, and it was a
horrible experience and we kind of had to go back
with that table between our legs and learn from that
and a few months later we eventually successfully did it.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
But uh so, Yeah, so for us.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
The international expansion is not it's probably it's not like
a lot of other places. But I would say, like
learning the culture nuances of every country that you're trying
to get into is very.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Important, you know, Dave, I've interviewed you on the podcast
before you and you've heard before. I'm sure that when
investors are looking to invest in a company, one of
the questions is, you.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Know, what makes you the right person to do this.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
What would you guys say about those early conversations with investors,
how you convinced them that you were building something that
you were able to execute on.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I mean, I mean, I think the journey is super
super important. Like when early on, you know, people said,
you know, we got a lot of passes. Investors used
to think, you know, we were because we were black.
We were targeting in black barbershops, so a lot of
(21:18):
it was market size related. But you know, I guess
it's a combination of we actually did the work, so
we ran a barbershop, so we thought we were uniquely
positioned to build the best software for barbershops, barbers and
barbershops because we actually sat there in the kitchen and
(21:38):
built the software. From that perspective, and the other thing is,
you know, tenacity, we didn't give up, you know, and
you know, I think and we didn't get the best deals.
You know, we didn't get the best deals early on,
but you know, I think around like twenty nineteen, there
was an inflection point where the business started taking off
(21:59):
and then we're able to you know, track capital at
at at prices that are very advantageous to us.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
I want to go in there because you've you've gone
on the record talking about how venture capital can be
a necessary evil and what are some of the advantages,
because so many of us do struggle with raising capital,
But what are some of the benefits of raising capital
that you guys have found to be true?
Speaker 5 (22:23):
Generally for startups, technology startups.
Speaker 7 (22:27):
It gives you fuel, you know, it gives your time,
it gives your fuel, gives your resources. It allows you
to like move faster than competition and just really try to.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Like own the market. Yeah, help my brother out right here.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
All of us are.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Nothing up. And it's it's a it's a it's a
strategic advantage, you know, and it can be used.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
It can be used as real as a shield and
as a sword, like aggressively, so you can do things
that an undercapitalized company just won't be able to do,
and you can hire.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
The best people.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
So, you know, there are some disadvantages to raising money,
and we can talk about that, but I think that
the advantage is outweigh the disadvantages for sure.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
I do want to talk about that because when we
see these in many ways outrageous numbers, when we talk
about a company can raise something like sixty million dollars,
like you guys, and you know, somebody like a delayed
partnell with play versus, you know, raise ninety million, one
hundred dollars, and these numbers you often and I heard
like you guys weren't even looking to raise at the time,
and why does a company need that kind of capital?
(23:34):
And so when the public is reading these stories like
what's the plan, like what do you what's the plan?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
What are you?
Speaker 5 (23:39):
How are you going to deploy this capital?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I mean? And of one, you know, like you want
to own the market.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So the plan is that you can go so fast
that no one be able to compete, and at scale
it will become super super profitable because you'll have everyone,
you know, so there's a lot of upfront investment that
requires that, but you just push out all your competitors
(24:04):
and then you own the market. For instance, take like
a salesforce, you know, they own the market. So we
want to be a sales force of the barbershops around
the world. So and that that requires capital, it requires speed,
it requires execution. So that's kind of that's why we're
raising money.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
The song said something early like he doesn't appreciate what
people call it just a barbershop, because that's like just
one little sliver of your offering. And you do have
that that client relationship management software in there, you do
have those analytics that you probers. But I'm curious on
how too many of our barbers see themselves as just
somebody who just goes and cuts heads. They don't see
(24:43):
themselves as a business. And they are business, but they
don't see themselves so they therefore they may not implement
business practices. How much of what you're offering, how do
you educate them on how to use analytics? How do
you educate them on how to deploy for themselves ACQUI
your relationship management portion of your offering.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 7 (25:04):
That is a challenge, particularly for like black barbershops. It's
we've historically been so undercapitalized and overlooked in many ways
that a lot of times our entrepreneurs, our small business
owners don't have the resources and experience.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So we try to educate.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
We try to train our salespeople to be very consultative,
to like really explain to them like all the benefits
that Squire brings. And also we try to get them
to understand the benefits of not being a cash only
business in the twenty fifth century, like, they're gonna lose.
Every cash only business is gonna lose. It's just a
matter of when. And some of them are resistant to
that for you know, obvious reasons.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
But we think that in the long run they'll be
better off.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
They'll be able to earn more money, more repeatable, consistent
money by taking accepting cards.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
And that's what consumers are.
Speaker 7 (25:54):
Everybody here has a smartphone and a debit card or
credit card like and that's where the future is going,
not back to cast. So that's something that we try
to get them to understand as well.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
You know, I've reassource where you've you know, you've expressed
that you want yourself to be an indicator that raising
this amount of capital is possible, but you want to
open the door for other people to be able to
raise these levels of capital. Can you talk a little
bit about if you see the landscape for us being
able to raise significant capital, not just one hundred thousand
dollars checks, not just twenty five thousand dollar checks.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Do you see that landscape changing.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's supposed to get easier. It's supposed to get easier,
And I mean that wholeheartedly. I don't want it to
be difficult for the next round of entrepreneurs to come by.
You know, obviously we're not typical entrepreneurs in the sense
of you know, Silicon Valley, but you know, what we've
done hopefully allows folks to raise capital earlier and easier,
(26:56):
you know, because they have a you know, the vcs
are over melt overwhelmingly, you know, white, white folks, and
and you know they have to point to they have
the pattern match. And I understand pattern matching because you know,
humans naturally pattern match. But now, hopefully the thought is
the more successful we come, we become, the more easier
(27:16):
it is to you know, pattern match against us.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And uh, that's what it's. It's it's all about.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
We We got a lot of passes early on, a
lot of the hundreds, a lot of no's, a lot
of knows, a lot of fucking knows, and and and
those folks are I know some of those folks have
personally reached it out and said I didn't see it,
but you know, good luck. And the hope is next
time they see a squirelike company guys would not traditional
(27:43):
backgrounds or what you can say traditional, they will give
them a chance, because you know, to them, you know
it's it's not that big of a deal, but to
the founder and our entrepreneur, it can make a world
of difference.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So so that's the hope and that and that's a goal.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Alright.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
So before I get out of here today, I want
to drop a line about afro Tech Executive for this episode.
In the last we've dipped our toes in the water
of what it's like to be at an afrotech executive event,
events that are solely focused on C suite executives, founders,
and vcs, where we talked with some of the biggest
names in the industry about how it really goes down
(28:34):
behind the scenes in intimate environments. By the way, so far,
we've touched down in Los Angeles, Miami, Brooklyn, and just
announced a couple of days ago is the next afro
Tech Executive Event, and it'll be held in Washington, DC.
Meet us in the nation's capital for our last East
Coast stop in this series for twenty twenty two. Join
(28:58):
us for an evening celebration of connections community. The ones
we built this year and the ones we're gonna grow
is shining the light on the opportunities to cultivate black
wealth with some of the best and brightest in the game.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Tickets are available now.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
At Experience dot afrotech dot com and I so look forward.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
To seeing you there.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast Network and iHeartMedia and
it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with
the additional production support by Lovebeach and Marissa Lewis. Special
thank you to Michael Davis, Jermaine Hall, and the Carlsavon
Young you know like the Wine.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Yes that's his real name.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Learn more about my guests and other tech di's rather
as an innovators at afrotech dot com and if you
are enjoying Black Tech Green Money, leave us a five
star rating on iTunes. Go eat your money piece and
love
Speaker 6 (30:03):
Not
You know, like you want to own the market.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
So the plan is that you can go so fast
that no one be able to compete, and at scale
it will become super super profitable because.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You'll have everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You know, So there's a lot of upfront investment that
requires that, but you just push out all your competitors
and then you own the market. For instance, taking like
a salesforce, you know, they own the market. So we
want to be a salesforce of the barbershops around the world.
So and that that requires capital, it requires speed, it
requires execution.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So that's kind of that's why you're raising money.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
So over the past week or so, I've had conversations
in different places with no less than six entrepreneurs in
the health, beauty and wellness spaces.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
So just that as a sign.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
To put together an episode that outlines how black entrepreneurs
in these spaces cannot just create jobs for themselves because
scale of business that employs people and generates high value revenue.
The Small Business Administration put out a report a few
years back that stated, and I'm paraphrasing, that minority owned
businesses eighty percent of them in fact, are in the
(01:14):
bottom twenty percent of industries for revenue. This means that
we do a great job of creating businesses that don't
employ people outside of ourselves and maybe a family member,
and our revenues are low. We're not making enough money
to grow significant businesses because we're creating unscalable operations in
the industries that are already frost with low top lines,
(01:37):
businesses like daycares, landscaping businesses, barbershops and more. And if
you're doing that, there's no problem. I'm just talking about
the general landscape. So on today's episode, I bring you
to conversations with black people who've done it in these
industries and are still killing the game. First up is
a snippet of a conversation I had on this here
Podcasts with Cordney adelaia founder and CEO at the Main Choice,
(02:02):
one of the largest brands in the headcare space. And
we'll follow that up with the conversation from Afrotech executive
Los Angeles that I had with Dave Saban and Song
Larn from Squire, which is built a barbershop point of
sale and management system.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Courtney at LAE.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
When you look at the field of black women and
men who start off in beauty, health wellness companies. Do
you think they go hard enough? Like what keeps them
from achieving the type of level of success You've achieved
in this.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Industry generally speaking, Do I think they go hard enough?
I would have to Unfortunately, I would have to say no.
I think for some reason, people think that when you
operate on an average level, or if you're able to
excel by just giving average. I think sometimes people think
that's enough. But in order to really scale something and
(02:55):
take it to the next level, it is going to
require blood, sweat, in tears that I've come to the
conclusion most people are not willing willing to do, you know,
or they think that giving normal or average is okay,
and it's not.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
I've seen a lot of people, you know, with shade
butter companies and lotion companies and hair companies and et cetera.
And I'd like you to speak to like knowing your
numbers a little bit, because like how do you price
in early? How do you get to figuring out what
those unit costs out? Like what does it cost to
make one bottle?
Speaker 6 (03:30):
Right? That is such an interesting conversation and topic because
it's the number one pain point when I do the
master classes. I'll ask somebody their costs. Most people can't
answer it, how much does it cost you to make
this product? Or they'll tell me, oh, it's this. I'm like,
wait a minute, are we talking about the top, the bottle,
the lid, the ingredients? And they're like, okay, well, okay,
(03:52):
let me add the Wait a minute, who shipped this stuff?
Did it shipped from there to you? And who paid
for this shipping?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Who I pay for it?
Speaker 6 (04:00):
You have to put the shipping cost in there. So
if you don't know your numbers, if you don't price
your stuff right, I've seen it once and I would
definitely say that is one of the leading costses why
people cannot scale their company. There are some people out
there who have good products, good services, but this stuff
is not priced right, and they're like, oh my god,
(04:21):
I legit had ten thousand dollars in sales this month,
but I have zero dollars in my account. How your
numbers is not right. You can't even afford to run
a sell if you wanted to. You can't even give
twenty five percent off. You can't get free shipping if
your numbers is not priced where it's supposed to be.
So I think that's that's definitely up there as number one.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
There's number one.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
So does it require building a CpG company consumer package
a good company? Does it require venture funding? How can
you bootstrap this?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
No?
Speaker 6 (04:56):
I think nowadays, I like, I got a philosophy that
says grow as you go. That means you can go
out there on social media. You can, And this is
why it's important that I teach how to run social
media and grow it because these are quote unquote free
ways to market. If you make a dollar, and this
is one thing I was always committed to for years,
(05:18):
every dollar that I made, I put it right back
into my company. You spend to five thousand dollars to
build your company. And let's say you've you've had four
thousand dollars worth of sales, Well, you still haven't made
any money yet, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (05:35):
Because you spend.
Speaker 6 (05:36):
Five So that again, that's that's that's the tough part.
But can you grow as you go? You don't necessarily
have to get funding, you know. And one thing I
always say, especially African Americans, we don't need funding.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
We need support.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
That's what we need.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
We need support.
Speaker 6 (05:53):
And I think if you have a good connection with
your consumer, which is one thing that's top of my priority.
I'm going to make sure I give a good product,
make sure I ship on time, make sure I'm transparent
if there's any hiccups along the way. You have to
be transparent with your consumer. We have we all have them.
I never ask for someone to give me a pass
(06:14):
or I need two weeks to get this product to you.
If there's a hiccup, I'm going to come to you
directly as the owner. We've had a hiccup. This is
how I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
To resolve it.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
And when you do that, no one can. They can't
help but to respect that and appreciate it and support you.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So do you have to have funding?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
You don't.
Speaker 6 (06:33):
You just need to really learn communication and relationships. And
I think that's key.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So I won't speak for all of us, but I
would imagine that any of my guys listening to this episode,
what if had at least one barber barbershop experience where
the barber is late, the unprofessional, they don't accept the
kind of payment we have, or we might be traveling
and don't know how to buying a local barber to
tighten up our faith This is a common issue, pervasive
(07:06):
and one that Dave Sylvin Song l Aryn decided to
take on together, building a suite of tools to help
barbers be more professional on the business end and provide
education to barbers to not only see themselves as contractors,
but it's business people. Squire is a barbership point of
sale and management system, and this conversation, which was held
(07:28):
between me, Song and Dave, was held at the first
Afrotech Executive Los Angeles, where just a little bit previously,
the co founders of Squire had announced a sixty million
dollars Series D funding ground which would then value the
company they built together at about seven hundred and fifty
million dollars. In the conversation you're about to hear, we
(07:50):
discuss everything from Silicon Valley investor disbelief in the value
of the market, how to get out and talk to
people who you're building products for, and how barbers can
see themselves as businesses and realize the market opportunity when
they turn up their professionalism while still finding a way
to keep their hustler's mentality. If you know a barber,
(08:12):
shad this episode with him to all the future CEO's
entrepreneurs out there, listen closely because my guys from Squire
are about to take this stage and show y'all the
winning formulas for startups. Please give a more welcome Dave South,
Vin song Luran from Squire. You know when you got
(08:40):
money you walk like that. When you got money, you
just we walk different.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
It was a good year Squire.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
How many of you guys, first of all, know what
Squire is before? I want to tell them the level set.
So if you are a wound the other startup, raise
your hand. I just want to I wouldn't know who's
in the room right now. If you are a founder
of a start if you're running a company, all right.
If you are an investor in companies and you can
still be a starting to founder too. If you're an investor,
(09:12):
all right, So we want to know who's in the room.
If you are an executive, you climbing up the corporate ladder,
you are working for an enterprise, raise your hand. Also,
we just want to know who's in the room. If
you are other, I don't know what else that is.
If you're unemployed, you came to talk to Charles, you
came to talk to Levi's all right. We got a
couple of those in here too. So you guys are
(09:35):
in acquisition mode. You're aggressively looking to acquire. Let me
take these sunglasses off. I'm sitting directly in the sunlight
right now. Your team is growing quickly, You've got great technology.
What's most important at this stage for Squire acquiring talent
or acquiring gaps in the technology that you guys have.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I think right now the most important is acquiring talent.
Talent As an people, I think we reached your critical
point in the scale of the business where you know,
we need that layer of excellence at the top, and
that's kind of where we are at this point.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So just so of y'all know, like these guys just
raised sixty million dollars Series D, tripling their valuation, which
they tripled about a year ago. So this is like
the second triple the of the Evaluation's a billionaire boys
right now that we're talking to. So I just want
you all to recognize who's on.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Stage right now.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Close, close, close, close.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
No, it's a billionaire boys in there.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
So you guys are not barbers, but you do build
technology for barbers and people who get that haircut, and
so I wonder what the feedback loop was like when
you were building your company. I did hear that you
guys bought a barbershop or you ran the barbershop in
New York just to get your hands dirty and learn
about what it actually took to run the operation. How
do you ensure that you're building something that barber's need, Like,
(10:55):
what is that feedback loop like as you're building a
product for something that you don't do?
Speaker 7 (11:00):
Yeah, I mean it starts with talking to your customers
as much as possible, trying to really learn from them,
inserting yourself into their environment. So before we had our barbershop,
we were just going sit in shops for like hours,
talking to people, talking to barbers, talking to owners, and
you know, you want to try to understand and know
your customers, like better than they know themselves.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
That's the goal. And yeah, that's so that's what we did.
Speaker 7 (11:23):
And it's a constantly, like you said, feedback if you're
just getting information and just learning from them.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So there are so many barbers out there that had
you probably imagine who needed your product, maybe had an
idea for a product like this. What was it that
was so special about you guys that made it work
and is really creating a lot of value in the
marketplace for those guys today.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I mean, we started from our perspective.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We you know, both Sung and I back in like
twenty fourteen twenty fifteen were busy professionals and you know,
every couple of you know, couple of days of weeks
we had to get a haircut, and the process, the
process was very archaic. It hadn't changed since you know,
we were kids. So we actually took from a took
(12:12):
a consumer approach to it first and say hey, what
would be the best solution to make our lives easier?
And then when we got into the real, you know, business,
we understand the problem wasn't the consumer, it was on
the business side of things.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
So I mentioned this.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
A lot of barbers had this idea, and some people
are still out there trying to do the but you
guys found you know, incredible success so far.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
How much of the value of what.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
You're doing is it the idea versus the consistency, the
hard work of the grind.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I mean, it's all about the execution.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
And we were I mean, it's one of those ideas
where it's not rocket science, like a lot of people
have thought about it, and like you said, a lot
of barbers would always tell us like, oh yo, man,
I had that idea, like I've been working on that,
and a I got an app for a vart It's like, yeah,
so that's cool. But we're it's like it's a lot
harder than you think it is to like build an app,
(13:09):
and and we we would.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
It's like execution is really what.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
Matters, and like staying consistent and going through the hard
times and just like continuing to strive for your goal
and not everybody's like willing to put in that long
term like you know, commitment until they see see their
idea come to fruition.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
And one of our.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Pet peeves is like we hate when people call Squire
barber app because like there's so much more to it.
Like the app is like probably five to ten percent
of the entire product suite.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
It's really like a full.
Speaker 7 (13:42):
Like management system back and ended in like almost like
an operating system for the barbershop. But a lot of people,
a lot of barber still here squaring and I think
barber app, so you know it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I mean, you guys got accepted into arguably one of
the most prestigious accelerators in the game back in like
twenty fifteen. I think you graduated twenty fifteen, so you
probably went twenty sixteen, Okay, And this was at a
time when Silicon Valley still didn't believe that black haircare,
black beauty and etc.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Was a valuable proposition.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
If you guys, you're sitting here today as the billionaire boys,
you know, really really successful entrepreneurs, But if you're reading
Squire's application to ye Combinator back then, what is it
about your proposition to that accelerator that says, you know what,
let's let these guys in.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We applied three times.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I mean, I think the kind of like the trait
is persistent, you know, not giving up running through walls
or jumping over fences. And I think I think, you know,
we didn't have the first time we applied.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
We didn't, We weren't.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
We should have gotten in the second time we applied
in you know, we didn't get into the core batch,
but we got into like a kind of like a
fellowship program that allowed us to get into the batch
the next time. But I think the fact that we
didn't get on it gave up even if we weren't
ready from our technology standpoint to get into the program.
(15:17):
They saw that, you know fire and like I tell
you know, folks and founders all the time, it's ninety
five percent founder at the beginning. At the beginning, it's
all about the founder. You don't invest in the business.
The business is going to change, but what doesn't change
is the person you're investing in. And you know, when
I now you know, invest in companies, that's what I
(15:39):
look for, is that that hunger, that grit, that determination,
because that is the that is the key to success.
And I think y Comrador they saw that among in us.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So there's so many people in this room even who
are getting accelerated into new roles, whether they be founders
seeing real opportunity for their off or they are in
the corporate space and they're getting promoted and finding success
that way. How did you guys learn how to be
CEOs and how to be entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs and
(16:11):
chief executives of millions and millions of dollars you're executing
to make sure that that's strategically placed so that you
create value for yourselves and for your investors. Very high
stakes and you're raising this money often during the pandemic.
How did you learn how to be good executives? And
how are you still learning how to do that?
Speaker 7 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the greatest skill
sets for entrepreneurs to be successful is the skill of
learning and of continuously learning. Because if you're at a
company that's successful, the company that Squire was, or we
had ten employees, was different when we had fifty employees
versus now two hundred employees.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's a totally different company.
Speaker 7 (16:53):
So the skills that you developed early on you have
to constantly be like leveling up and like learning and
educating and and trying to, you know, learn from your mistakes.
You can't stay fixed in one in one area. You
can't stay fixed in like one phase. You have to
constantly be growing. So I think that's probably like the
biggest thing that I would say. There's no one skill
(17:14):
I can say if you learn this, you'll be a founder.
It's really trial and error and learning from your mistakes.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So you said something early in the conversation about getting
out and talking to the people who that you're building
your product for, and you guys today are in over
two thousand shops internationally even can you talk about what
some of those early conversations were like when you just
got this idea and you're going to talk to barber's,
what is that conversation like, so that you're asking the
right questions so you can get the answers that you
(17:42):
need to build something.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know, first of a lot of bad haircuts, you know,
because like you know, I've gone to shops and Sacramento
where no one looks like me there, and you know,
in order to get.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
A half hour someone's time.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Chair, so I have to get There's times I've gotten
three haircuts in a day. But but I think most
importantly it's just asking the questions that you want to
know and you know, delivering on what you said. So
for example, you know you ask, It's same thing with
like you know, if you're asking for investment, it's like, hey,
(18:24):
what do you need? Okay, and if I build X,
Y and Z, will you come on? And you get
the commitment. Once you get the commitment, it's up to
you to go execute against that. And then when when
you come back and say hey, I've done it. It's
very hard for people to say no when you say, hey,
here's the goal line. I'm at the goal line, now,
what's up? So that a lot of those conversations had
(18:48):
we had early on.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
You know, it's one thing to find success domestically, but
you guys are on three continents now, and there's a
lot of people in this room who are creating value
for people all across the.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
World who looked like us.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I don't know where Michelle went, but she's you know,
her audience is not just here in the United States
and the Tavio if you people like that, They're creating entertainment,
news media for people who live all across the world.
How do you find success building something for people who
live alife like we've not seen here domestically.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Yeah, I think the advantage for Squire for us is
that barbershops have mostly the same we're anywhere in the
world for the most part. You know, you can there's
only so many ways to cut hair, you know, there's
only so many kind of services you can do.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
So so for us.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
Like launching in Canada or launching in the UK, like
it didn't require like fundamental like shifts in our product
during like our business model or strategy. There are nuances
cultural nuances that you have to be, you know, cognizant
of We definitely made some mistakes the first time when
we tried to launch in London, and that's was earlier
(19:58):
on and I was a lot of it myself.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I flew out there.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
We had this big customer like forty fifty location, and
we thought we were just gonna get them on and uh,
you know, we fucked up, like we just didn't. We
didn't do it well, we didn't on board them well,
we didn't. We didn't realize like some of the nuances
about how they operated things there, and it was a
horrible experience and we kind of had to go back
with that table between our legs and learn from that
and a few months later we eventually successfully did it.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
But uh so, Yeah, so for us.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
The international expansion is not it's probably it's not like
a lot of other places. But I would say, like
learning the culture nuances of every country that you're trying
to get into is very.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Important, you know, Dave, I've interviewed you on the podcast
before you and you've heard before. I'm sure that when
investors are looking to invest in a company, one of
the questions is, you.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Know, what makes you the right person to do this.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
What would you guys say about those early conversations with investors,
how you convinced them that you were building something that
you were able to execute on.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I mean, I mean, I think the journey is super
super important. Like when early on, you know, people said,
you know, we got a lot of passes. Investors used
to think, you know, we were because we were black.
We were targeting in black barbershops, so a lot of
(21:18):
it was market size related. But you know, I guess
it's a combination of we actually did the work, so
we ran a barbershop, so we thought we were uniquely
positioned to build the best software for barbershops, barbers and
barbershops because we actually sat there in the kitchen and
(21:38):
built the software. From that perspective, and the other thing is,
you know, tenacity, we didn't give up, you know, and
you know, I think and we didn't get the best deals.
You know, we didn't get the best deals early on,
but you know, I think around like twenty nineteen, there
was an inflection point where the business started taking off
(21:59):
and then we're able to you know, track capital at
at at prices that are very advantageous to us.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
I want to go in there because you've you've gone
on the record talking about how venture capital can be
a necessary evil and what are some of the advantages,
because so many of us do struggle with raising capital,
But what are some of the benefits of raising capital
that you guys have found to be true?
Speaker 5 (22:23):
Generally for startups, technology startups.
Speaker 7 (22:27):
It gives you fuel, you know, it gives your time,
it gives your fuel, gives your resources. It allows you
to like move faster than competition and just really try to.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Like own the market. Yeah, help my brother out right here.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
All of us are.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Nothing up. And it's it's a it's a it's a
strategic advantage, you know, and it can be used.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
It can be used as real as a shield and
as a sword, like aggressively, so you can do things
that an undercapitalized company just won't be able to do,
and you can hire.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
The best people.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
So, you know, there are some disadvantages to raising money,
and we can talk about that, but I think that
the advantage is outweigh the disadvantages for sure.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
I do want to talk about that because when we
see these in many ways outrageous numbers, when we talk
about a company can raise something like sixty million dollars,
like you guys, and you know, somebody like a delayed
partnell with play versus, you know, raise ninety million, one
hundred dollars, and these numbers you often and I heard
like you guys weren't even looking to raise at the time,
and why does a company need that kind of capital?
(23:34):
And so when the public is reading these stories like
what's the plan, like what do you what's the plan?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
What are you?
Speaker 5 (23:39):
How are you going to deploy this capital?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I mean? And of one, you know, like you want
to own the market.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So the plan is that you can go so fast
that no one be able to compete, and at scale
it will become super super profitable because you'll have everyone,
you know, so there's a lot of upfront investment that
requires that, but you just push out all your competitors
(24:04):
and then you own the market. For instance, take like
a salesforce, you know, they own the market. So we
want to be a sales force of the barbershops around
the world. So and that that requires capital, it requires speed,
it requires execution. So that's kind of that's why we're
raising money.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
The song said something early like he doesn't appreciate what
people call it just a barbershop, because that's like just
one little sliver of your offering. And you do have
that that client relationship management software in there, you do
have those analytics that you probers. But I'm curious on
how too many of our barbers see themselves as just
somebody who just goes and cuts heads. They don't see
(24:43):
themselves as a business. And they are business, but they
don't see themselves so they therefore they may not implement
business practices. How much of what you're offering, how do
you educate them on how to use analytics? How do
you educate them on how to deploy for themselves ACQUI
your relationship management portion of your offering.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 7 (25:04):
That is a challenge, particularly for like black barbershops. It's
we've historically been so undercapitalized and overlooked in many ways
that a lot of times our entrepreneurs, our small business
owners don't have the resources and experience.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So we try to educate.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
We try to train our salespeople to be very consultative,
to like really explain to them like all the benefits
that Squire brings. And also we try to get them
to understand the benefits of not being a cash only
business in the twenty fifth century, like, they're gonna lose.
Every cash only business is gonna lose. It's just a
matter of when. And some of them are resistant to
that for you know, obvious reasons.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
But we think that in the long run they'll be
better off.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
They'll be able to earn more money, more repeatable, consistent
money by taking accepting cards.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
And that's what consumers are.
Speaker 7 (25:54):
Everybody here has a smartphone and a debit card or
credit card like and that's where the future is going,
not back to cast. So that's something that we try
to get them to understand as well.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
You know, I've reassource where you've you know, you've expressed
that you want yourself to be an indicator that raising
this amount of capital is possible, but you want to
open the door for other people to be able to
raise these levels of capital. Can you talk a little
bit about if you see the landscape for us being
able to raise significant capital, not just one hundred thousand
dollars checks, not just twenty five thousand dollar checks.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Do you see that landscape changing.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's supposed to get easier. It's supposed to get easier,
And I mean that wholeheartedly. I don't want it to
be difficult for the next round of entrepreneurs to come by.
You know, obviously we're not typical entrepreneurs in the sense
of you know, Silicon Valley, but you know, what we've
done hopefully allows folks to raise capital earlier and easier,
(26:56):
you know, because they have a you know, the vcs
are over melt overwhelmingly, you know, white, white folks, and
and you know they have to point to they have
the pattern match. And I understand pattern matching because you know,
humans naturally pattern match. But now, hopefully the thought is
the more successful we come, we become, the more easier
(27:16):
it is to you know, pattern match against us.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And uh, that's what it's. It's it's all about.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
We We got a lot of passes early on, a
lot of the hundreds, a lot of no's, a lot
of knows, a lot of fucking knows, and and and
those folks are I know some of those folks have
personally reached it out and said I didn't see it,
but you know, good luck. And the hope is next
time they see a squirelike company guys would not traditional
(27:43):
backgrounds or what you can say traditional, they will give
them a chance, because you know, to them, you know
it's it's not that big of a deal, but to
the founder and our entrepreneur, it can make a world
of difference.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So so that's the hope and that and that's a goal.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Alright.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
So before I get out of here today, I want
to drop a line about afro Tech Executive for this episode.
In the last we've dipped our toes in the water
of what it's like to be at an afrotech executive event,
events that are solely focused on C suite executives, founders,
and vcs, where we talked with some of the biggest
names in the industry about how it really goes down
(28:34):
behind the scenes in intimate environments. By the way, so far,
we've touched down in Los Angeles, Miami, Brooklyn, and just
announced a couple of days ago is the next afro
Tech Executive Event, and it'll be held in Washington, DC.
Meet us in the nation's capital for our last East
Coast stop in this series for twenty twenty two. Join
(28:58):
us for an evening celebration of connections community. The ones
we built this year and the ones we're gonna grow
is shining the light on the opportunities to cultivate black
wealth with some of the best and brightest in the game.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Tickets are available now.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
At Experience dot afrotech dot com and I so look forward.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
To seeing you there.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast Network and iHeartMedia and
it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with
the additional production support by Lovebeach and Marissa Lewis. Special
thank you to Michael Davis, Jermaine Hall, and the Carlsavon
Young you know like the Wine.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Yes that's his real name.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Learn more about my guests and other tech di's rather
as an innovators at afrotech dot com and if you
are enjoying Black Tech Green Money, leave us a five
star rating on iTunes. Go eat your money piece and
love
Speaker 6 (30:03):
Not
Host
Will Lucas
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.