April 8, 2025 • 39 mins
Ep. 210 Alphonzo "Phonz" Terrell is the Co-Founder and CEO and Kenya Parham is Chief Growth Officer of SPILL, a social media app that presents a visual conversation moving at the speed of culture. You can now own a piece… SPILL recently launched a million dollar community investment round which is live now on WeFunder.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I will Lucas and this is black Tach Green Money.
Al Fonzo Fons Terrell is the co founder and CEO
at Spill and Kenya Parhaim as Chief Growth Officer. Spill
is a social media at that presents a visual conversation
moving at the speed of culture. The company recently launched
a million dollar community investment round which is live now
(00:24):
and we funded so you can own a piece starting
us off with you financy here. I'm interested in kind
of I don't even say evolution with the growth of Spill, Like,
you know, when we started off this as a culture
first platform, how does that or has it evolved over time?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
War Like, how do you think about that today?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, it's it's changed quite quite a lot, I'll say.
I think the first thing I want to say is
for those that aren't familiar with Spill, we came out
the gate really focused on being visual conversation at the
speed of culture. We really felt like there was something
missing from the space, and personally, having worked at platforms
like Twitter and been in the game for a minute,
(01:06):
you never win by duplicating something that already exists. You
win by innovating and building something new and exciting. So
we were really focused on, Okay, how do we give
people new tools to create those memes that lit up
the timeline when you were watching Insecure or Game of
Thrones or some of these big shows. How do we
(01:28):
create spaces where we can flex our cultural knowledge, build community,
all of that in real time. And so that was
the initial thesis. And what has evolved over time, I'd
say that we weren't necessarily planning for, but has been
really beautiful to see is community Spill has become a
(01:49):
place where people who are looking to find their tribe,
their homies, their sometimes their lovers, their friends are coming
to it and having great success. So there's you know,
art spill and foodie spill and gamers spill. There's local
meetups starting in cities around the country. Atl spill Sphiladelphia
(02:11):
spillikin Valley even we've seen recently and we actually have
a couple that met on the platform, I believe right
around the time we launched. They got married of a
year later and two months after that announced that they
were pregnant. And I believe this is the first Spill
baby ever we're going to have on the platform that's
(02:31):
literally going to be due any week now.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Five weeks, five weeks.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So, yeah, we started out and we're still very much
a real time conversation platform. You're going to get your latest,
you know, breaking updates. We're getting even better at that.
But Spill is really a home, right, It's it's a community.
When people join, we say welcome home when they when
they enter onto the platform.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
You know, Kay spoke on this a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But like when you watch you make assumptions when you
build something that people will use something in a certain way,
and then you put it in the hands of the
wild and they do things that you might not have anticipated,
Like are there things that when you were in those
early days thought they were going to do it some
way other than like community? Like you know, which is
a grade that Fund talked about. What unanticipated things have
(03:21):
you realized are growing on the platform or ways of use?
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Oh, I mean what fond just mentioned was incredibly surprising
to us. I mean, there's something powerful that last time
we were with you, right, we talked about how we
were matching our cultural fluency with our technological expertise and
building for tools that we need. Right, we're a team
(03:47):
that has the lived experiences to understand why a spill
existing is so vital and necessary and at a moment
like this is truly survival right. And when we talked
about some of the technology that we've brought to the
table around training AI to be culturally competent and be
used as a line of defense to help keep our
(04:09):
community safe, one of the things that I think has
been the most inspiring is that it's now for offense
as well too, not just defense. So this safety solving
for safety on our platform means that people are showing
up in authentic voice and making connections in real time,
(04:32):
further demonstrating to us that, like Fon said, community is
the most one of the most valuable things that people
are telling us that they need right now. And what
happens when you solve for community, people meet their new
best friend circles, They can find the love of their lives.
They can you know, get the encouragement that they need
(04:53):
from the community to start that manuscript, go for that
job promotion right and continue to live out their best
lives in a way that they're receiving that encouragement that
the real world oftentimes doesn't give to us. Whether we
live in areas where we're disconnected from people who look
(05:18):
and have the same life experiences as us, or we're
still healing from some of the social isolationism that you know,
the Surgeon Generals has written about, you know, creating issues
following the pandemic.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
Right, So I think that.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
Has been some of the most encouraging and affirming for us,
not necessarily surprising, but reaffirming for us.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
Why our thesis aligns.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I want both of you guys to touch on this.
When I started with you, Kenya, is I think about
being authentically cultural and leaning into authentic culture and scale
and sometimes those things can be odds, and I want
to know how you think about those.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I'll start with you ken You sure.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
I mean we have a winning combination of both cultural
fluency and technological expertise, like I said, and we're building
Spill to be more than just a successful business model.
We are showing that platforms thrive when they center culture
driving communities, namely black communities, brown communities, queer communities, who
have historically made all of these other platforms pop but
(06:26):
have never had the tech built for them. We're showing
that that makes not just sense from a values perspective,
but it also makes business sense. We've been experiencing a
massive wave of growth. Q three and Q four alone
of last year twenty twenty four, we experienced over two
hundred and eighty percent growth in sign ups, and we're
(06:48):
also making money on spill. We're set to cross a
million dollars in annualized revenue this year.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
A lot of people don't hit that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
A lot of people don't hit that, especially any revenue, any.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Revenue, any revenue at all, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
I mean, you know, and from an advertiser perspective, we've
had you know, ads and paid partnerships since day one
on Spill.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Every single rfp uh excuse me, every single.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Partner who has stepped up to the plate to run
a pilot with us has rfp'ed us again, Right, and
you know, we've got folks who are building with us
behind this model, and that's been incredibly validating, not just
on the community side, but also on the business side.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Finals.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Can you touch on this, you know, being leaning into
your culture or culture is authentically and scale.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think first we need to just talk
about the data. Right, Black people, Asian Americans, Spanic Americans
are the fastest growing communities in the United States period.
So I think we need to debunk this myth that
investing in these communities is a niche play. This is
not the case, and it's going to continue to be
(08:04):
the truth as we go forward. And so thinking about
how we position ourselves. We don't have to try and
be all things to all people necessarily all the time.
But we really just need to focus on solving the
problems that our communities face. And if we do that well,
it actually solves a problem for everyone. Right, And when
we talk about the hate speech and harassment that's been
(08:26):
going on, when we started Spilled two years ago, we
knew this was bad, and this was a problem that
every single social platform has struggled with, largely because the
leadership of these platforms don't feel these problems personally.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Right, it's sort of an.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Academic thing or Okay, we'll get to it when we
can sort of get to it. We understand that this
is the prerequisite to being a successful platform and sustaining
over time. So us being authentic starts with solving what
has what was a problem back then and is now
metastasized to the point where almost one out of every
(09:00):
four Americans that uses social media, and this is everyone
has experienced some form of hate speech and harassment in
the last twelve months alone.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
This is insane.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
This is like a hate crime, and nobody is really
prioritizing it from the legacy platform standpoint. So for us,
authentic means really focusing on these problems that affect our
community and by solving them really well, we know that
not only will our community win, but so many other
folks who are looking for safe spaces now will also
win as well.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
So, by all.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Intents and purposes, focusing on our communities is the best
business that you can do right now. It's not in
any way a niche play, and we need to debunk
that officially forever.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Want I want to highlight a phrase word I should
say that both of you guys are touched on that
safety online. And the part of what keeps us coming
back to platforms like this is like this necessary tension
like this.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
We love to debate, We love to work through things
that that.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It's just a human thing to you know, battle out
whether we're talking about the game, we're talking about social
issues away like that's just.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
What we do naturally as human beings.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And I think about my curiosity on how do you
foster that and ensure safety?
Speaker 6 (10:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Sure, I mean, you know, we've got some of the
most progressive community guidelines, right, and I help to author
them myself along with top trust and safety professionals in
the industry, many of whom are black women too, right,
And so our community guidelines I encourage everybody to go
check them out on spill dot com. We mean what
(10:45):
we say, and we say what we mean, right. We
don't tolerate misinformation and disinformation. We don't tolerate hate against anybody,
body shaming, debt naming.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
We're very clear about what our rules are and most
importantly enforce them. People don't want to abide by the
rules of the House of Spill, you're out of here, right,
It's really clear. And so you know that safety team
looks like you know, humans in the loop, who are
(11:19):
a team of dedicated individuals who are on call twenty
four to seven, three sixty five, who are.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
The human lines of defense.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
And then again, you know, we're building one of the
first ever large language models for content moderation that is
trained by the very people who get the most hate online,
which you know fawnds just named black communities, queer communities,
brown communities, not just domestically but also abroad, and that
is a winning combination of safety. What we've noticed also
(11:51):
is that Spill is a community that has been leaning
into these guidelines because they're recognizing that when enforced, the
air is different in the spilloverse right, and they're starting
to govern themselves, so we don't even have to have
a heavy handed approach as you know, a moderation system
(12:13):
or trust and safety teams. The community has come in
and leaned into some of the product features that we have,
like you know, a tag that we have that's available
in composed that people can add, you know, an NSFW
filter on right. The community has said, hey, when you're
talking about triggering posts, we would love for you to
(12:35):
use that so that we can be kind as people scroll,
so that we don't trigger each other. That's community led
innovation with products that we've put forward. They're telling us
how they want to to, you know, engage with each other,
and that's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
You know, finds I want to talk about, you know,
your journey as like a founder in this way, it's
like you know, you're working at some of the other
big company these previous of this, and you're running, you know,
a startup now, and how.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Have you had to develop as a leader.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
And as you know, how you think about solving problems
and building teams and building companies and generating revenue and
raising money and all of these things, like how do
you how has that forced you to develop and grow?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
There's a whole podcast series that I will talk to
you about the time, but I'd like to talk about
probably the things that are most relevant to our audiences,
especially your audience will because everybody's builders, right, That's what
afrotech is about, That's what Blavity's been about. And I
actually benefited tremendously from that community and thinking about starting
(13:42):
spill in the beginning.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
So I was, for those that don't know, I led.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Social media at Twitter for three and a half years
right up until the acquisition by Elon Musk in November
of twenty twenty two. I was part of a wave
of layoffs, which I know a lot of people are
dealing with right now n fortunately, and two things came
clear to me at that moment. The first was I
need to do everything I can to support my teammates,
(14:07):
you know, my fellow colleagues. This is tough, right anytime
layoffs are happening. But the second was that it's time
to build. And for me, particularly at that time, starting
as a non technical founder, that was a pretty daunting challenge.
And I think that mindset of just determination that no
matter what, I'm going to figure out.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
A way to make something.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
If I don't raise a dollar, if I got to
do whatever, like everything starts, I think from that particular mindset,
and that has what is what's magnetized. I think the
type of energy that we've been able to build around
spill from my co founder to building really great relationships
with some of our early investors. You know, it really
(14:50):
starts with that courage. We can't wait for other people
to tell us it's time or to give us permission.
We got to take it, and especially now in these environments,
that's the mindset that I think is the only way
we're going to move forward.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Now.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
The reality of raising money, especially venture capital, as a
black founder is pretty daunting as well. Right, we raise
less than one percent of all venture capital every year,
and I think unfortunately it's been going down, right, I
think it was like one point five and now it's
one over the last couple of years, so we really
need to think creatively about how we you know, source talent,
(15:28):
how we hire people, and where we get this capital from.
So we've been benefit really lucky to have venture partners
come to the table pretty early. From the time I
was laid off. I was able to raise about two
point seventy five million within three months of being laid off,
and that is not a typical story, right, So we
(15:49):
understand that we are blessed and you know, need to
take this opportunity and maximize it. But at the same time,
we really wanted to do innovative things being an innovative company,
not just from a product standpoint, but also from our
business model. And from the moment we launched Spill in
the summer of twenty three, we had people asking us,
you know, users, community members.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Hey, how can I invest?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Which is kind of crazy to think about that people
would want to invest in something at this stage, but
actually it was pretty revolutionary when we really stepped back
and looked at the opportunity. And you know, typically our
communities don't get access to early stage technological companies that
are on a fast growth trajectory and in twenty twelve,
(16:35):
there was a new law that was passed, the Jobs Act,
which basically said that you know, prior to this, literally
was illegal to invest in early stage companies if you
didn't make a certain amount of money. You literally had
to have I think north of a million dollars in
personal net worth and all this kind of stuff. And
so after that, these crowdfunding platforms started emerging, and I
(16:58):
think even now it's still missed understood what the opportunity
is there. But we felt like, hey, what if we
could take the best of what's happening on venture and
you know, empower our community, especially because it's a community
driven products, to be able to participate in our success
as well. So just a couple of days ago, we
launched our own Conversation campaign, where after a year of
(17:21):
talking to our partners, our venture team and everything, people
can now invest in Spill with as little as two
hundred and fifty dollars and participate in that success not
just from using the platform, but also as we continue
to grow and when you guys get to you know,
not just you know, have the conversation or join the conversation,
(17:41):
but own it too. And we think that's really exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Can you what like what qualities as you you know,
you hire and hire levels of leadership in your career
and in your personal journey?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
What qualities have you had to develop to be able
to do what you're doing now? It's a great.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
That's a great question.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
I mean I have to start off and say that
I'm a two time founder myself, and working at Spill
is honestly the first time I've been one hundred percent
in house with another company in my whole career. So
I arrived in the world of tech as somebody who
was not traditionally trained to work in tech, but had
(18:27):
a wealth of experience from being an entrepreneur for over
a decade. Right, and for all the entrepreneurs who are listening,
y'all know, you have to develop a diverse skill set
to be able to run your own business, regardless of
the industry that that's in.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
I started off at SPILL two years ago. I just
I just celebrated my spiliversary. I say that with pride.
I started off with Spill two years ago as the
global Vice President for Community and Partnerships, where I was
responsible for owning and executing spills audience development strategy, developing
(19:06):
partnerships and activations with media and brands, and you know,
that was a dream come true. I could have never
thought that I'd work in tech, nor did I realize
how transferable my skill set was, coming in from working
in electoral politics, being a big advocate for civic engagement
(19:30):
and now fundraising. Now I stepped into the role at
the top of this year as Chief Growth Officer, a
title I could have never known, and I believe, you know,
in consumer Social and one a few, if not the
only black woman to hold that title. So I carry
that heavily and I'm now responsible for optimizing our.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Complete user journey.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
But this role chief Growth Officer is one that I
had to grow into.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
Funds can admit that too. I've I've had to.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Learn to look at things from a product perspective, from
you know, being data informed, having a very reciprocal relationship
with our community who is telling us in real time
how they want to use our product. And I've also
had to learn, you know, from an insights perspective, how
(20:25):
to how to develop relationships with our partners, our paid partners,
and serve up products that are that meet their needs
but also center and value the opinions from the community
that I come from and that we're centering on our platform,
and so, you know, it's a lot of learning in
real time, you know, not being afraid uh to misstep,
(20:49):
but also leaning on the expertise of my fellow leaders
at SPILL. We have such a talented team that Fonds
has curated and put together, and I am so deeply
supported in this work and that makes, you know, me
have the courage to continue to stretch for the things
(21:10):
that might be in my twentieth out of one hundred
percent tile. But I know that I am am you
know well well supported on the teams that we're on you.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Know as well.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Sorry, if I could just double click, because Kenya often
under sells what.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
She've accomplished in this you know, I just.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Want to talk about the trust and safety piece for
a second, just because the whole industry is actually moving
away from this discipline. You know, Metas rolled back their
trust and safety teams. We've seen it across the board,
and Kenya stepped into this role not having any formal
background or training in that world at all, and has
built not only the guidelines which essentially when you're building
(21:53):
a social platform it's like designing a country. You're like
the designing laws that people are going to abide by
to participate. And Kenya stepped up to this challenge not
only designed a whole framework for governance on the platform,
but built the team from the ground up that is
executing on this and informs the technological piece of it.
(22:15):
Also informs how we enforce our guidelines in ways that
are thoughtful, right and have context versus just you know,
a hammer that smashes everything right.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
And I think you brought this up earlier. Will.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
What that has enabled people to feel is I can
be myself here.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I don't have to code switch. I can talk how
I talk all of that.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I can engage in dialogue, I can engage in even
you know, some debate here or there. But I also
understand that it is about respect and this is a
problem that trillion dollar companies have not solved. And Kenya
has made tremendous, tremendous impact in this area on spill.
So I just want to give her her flowers for
that and also again shout her out for her new
(22:58):
promotions and chief growth.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
Look, thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I mean I think about you know, as somebody responsible
for growth, not solely, but yeah, you're leading growth and
even you find as you can chime in on this too,
Like the job is to figure out what people are
going to want tomorrow, not necessarily just today.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
But we got to be ahead, you know, skating to
where the buck is going. Like what do you what.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Do you think social media looks like eighteen months from now,
twenty four months from now?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Like what are we going towards? What are you seeing
the data?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And just in you know, you know, just recognizing trends
that may not show up in data qualitative.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's the where I was looking for qualitative. How do
you what are we aiming at?
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Sure?
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Well, first I have to lean in on the data
that we are seeing. That's validated by the momentum that
we've been experiencing. Right, so people are flocking to spill
and have been. I shared with you that we had
an over two hundred and eighty percent increase in user
sign ups. The money that we're that we're pacing to make, right,
we're crossing over a million dollars in annualized revenue coming up.
(24:09):
But that is all around again, you know, people wanting
and needing a product to help them find and connect
with more people who think like them, who you know,
acknowledge and affirm their identities at all of their intersections,
and who make them feel safe at a time like this, right,
(24:33):
and a place where you can learn and grow in
an environment that you know isn't just around isn't just
about being around people who think and look like you?
But where can I grow as an individual? Where can
I be challenged in ways that foster my own growth?
Speaker 6 (24:50):
Right?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
And all of that is happening at Spill and again,
I think the momentum that we're experiencing validates that. Before
I hand it off to FONDS, I'll say that, you know,
a lot of the products that we are coming out
with are emblematic of our visions for what we hope
social to be. We're really building that in real time
(25:12):
on FOND. Do you want to share some of that?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Absolutely, I think to add to some of the context
that we're seeing on the macro trends. There definitely is
a generational split. You know, folks who are you know,
like myself, elder millennials. We you know, want to stay
informed and keep up to date, and that's a lot
of what people in that sort of demographic are loving
(25:35):
about Spill. We have a team, you know, and shout
out to Kenya's team that also leads this as well.
That's giving you those breaking push notifications.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
You know, whenever the.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Latest Kendrick track drops coming at Drake or something else,
you're going to find out about it on Spill first.
But the younger audiences we're seeing are really looking for
that community piece in a much smaller way, right They
want to curate and create their own subcommunities. And so
we launched a product, a group's product and Spill that's
(26:07):
in beta right now, and it was amazing. We had
thousands of groups created within the first week. And when
you look at it, it's just this beautiful cornucopia of
just all type interests you know, from you know, I mean,
my one of my favorite groups is pot It like
It's hot that has for all the plants, zaddies and
daddies there.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Everybody's just showing off how they take how they take
care of them, you know, to like Divine nine groups,
to original groups.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You know, to people that are interested in you know, uh,
you know, legal back, you know, connecting with other people
with legal backgrounds or doctors or teachers or things like that.
We have Spill University, people are actually teaching courses on
the spill as as one of those examples. So I
think that that trend is going to continue. People are
going to look for places where they can not only
(26:58):
create and curate these subcommune unities, but then start to
monetize them over time as well. I think that, you know,
in a world where AI slop is going to take
over a lot of these bigger platforms, where people are
just content farming constantly to try and get engagement, it's
going to put a premium on actual human interaction.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
I think it's going to be like, wow, are there
real people here? Can I actually make a real connection?
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And you don't need a ton of those like you
need really like five good friends in life to like
feel really satisfied.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
But it's hard right to find.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
That, and we feel like spill is going to be
an incredible tool for that in the future and going
to make that a lot easier to find versus other platforms.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
We've been focused on three main pillars in our development.
That's culture, right what Fon said, serving up the hottest
of what's happening, you know, making sure you know what's
breaking news and informs uh had your experience in the world. Connection,
like we've been saying, connecting you with you know, people
who are of similar interest, helping you to grow and
(28:05):
expand your networks in ways that are super meaningful. And commerce, right,
not just generating revenue on platform, but really leaning into
what are the opportunities for our communities, which we know
have the largest purchasing power, right, what are the opportunities there?
And I think most most recently, the trends that we're
(28:28):
seeing around folks really wanting to be meaningful and intentional
with where their dollars are spent are also influencing our
perspective on what's possible and what we should might might
want to consider doing on spill as well too. So culture, connection,
commerce are what we're focused on, and we think that
that is an incredibly winning combination for the future of
(28:51):
social media.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
He talked about this earlier, like the partners, the advertisers
of people who.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Are you know, making thing they want to reach. Audience
is here.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And in the early days, you know, like there's there's
advertiser because we're trying to build legal attraction.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
But you're at that.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Point where you're getting to those your point, the RFPs
and et cetera. And I wonder like how you balance
what advertisers want versus saying true to the culture your building.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Yeah, that's a great that's a great question, and I
appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
And I have.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
To just offer a slight correction and say that we
had our first paid advertisers before we were even available
for public download.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Right, that's a break that I love that I just
have generally generous that's say, generally people don't have advertises.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
Generally people do not correct.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Generally people do not, but we did, and and I
just have to shout out our partners right at Horizon Media.
Right Lionsgate was our first paid partner before we launched. Right,
and these are folks that recognizeciens very clearly the value
of our communities. And as we've continued to grow, and
(30:06):
the communities have been very vocal about the types of products,
offering insights into what they're into, and we've been able
to editorialize and tell the story about the how the
community is blossoming on spill. We've developed a really dope
reciprocal relationship with these advertisers, and so oftentimes people will
(30:29):
come to Spill and say, man, I'm just so glad
that there's no ads here. They say it all the time, right,
And that's a direct response to us serving up content
and making sure that partners come to the table with
information and products and opportunities for the community that don't
(30:49):
feel like we're we or they are selling right.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
And we're very open and honest.
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Fonds and I do regular town halls and our goal
live feature on platform called Tea Parties. We just did
one the other day and somebody said in the chat
they had been on platform for a year, and we're like,
oh my goodness, just please keep it ad free. We
were like, well, we've had ads from the beginning, but
they're served up in ways that are meaningful to y'all,
(31:16):
and you know, you know, I'm grateful for that. So
I think continuing to be very clear about what works
for us and have partners come to the table that
trust us. We've built trust where you know, we have
partners who are now coming up on their fourth or
fifth paid campaign with us. They are building with Spill
(31:39):
as Spill is building, and so there's a lot of
learnings there. There's a lot of insights there, but again,
we just appreciate partners who have come to the table
to say, y'all know what's going to work here, you
let us know and let's see what happens, and those
tests and learn opportunities have developed into you know, partners
(32:00):
evangelizing you know, fandoms on platform in organic ways and
being able to build on that success campaign over campaign.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Funds.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I want to start with I love to ask this question.
I just find it interesting personally, like what's in your
a DC or everyday care? Like what are the things
fond has to have, whether it be you can't say
your phone, because that the people does. That's a give me,
that's a gimme. You gotta have your phone. But what
are the things that funds got to keep nearby?
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
I think we were joking about this before, but you know,
there's no sleep in this game. So heavy on the
face mask under eye patches, so I do not look haggard,
as I don't bring no haggard face to your esteemed show. Well,
that's definitely getting getting heavy rotation these days. I'd say,
(32:54):
you know, I'm definitely an airpod's you know, yes, and
got to have that on the movie. And I usually
care carry a pair of Buddhist prayer beads. I've been
practicing Buddhism for about twenty years, and especially in this environment,
I've needed to stay grounded, and it's the higher powers
(33:17):
more than ever with everything that's going on. So I'd say,
aside from the phone and keys and some basic stuff
I keep, I keep it under eye patch so I
don't look whack, and I keep some prayer beads so
my spirit don't look whack either.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Kenya, what's in your everyday care?
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Your EBC? Like one are the things Kenya's got to
have within arms weeks? Like before you need a house,
before you leave the apartment.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I travel a lot. I be
on the road all the time, and so this is
a good question for me. So one you saw me
just hold this up. I drink a ton of water.
We got to stay hydrated, We got to care for ourselves.
My favorite water cup is the spilled tumbler shameless plug okay,
double insulated, stainless you fantastic. Uh you see what I
(34:05):
did there available at shop dot s.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
Buil dot com. Uh we.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
And what else do I keep on me? You know,
I've had to really be really regimented about my mornings.
And I've learned from Fonds in that way too. You know,
as an entrepreneur, I had developed a strong muscle for
you know.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
Hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle all.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
The time, right, And you know, I've had to be
really clear with like I start my mornings off with
sound bowls. Now, I gotta make sure that I'm tuning
myself to be receptive and also uh to wash away
some of yesterday if I wasn't able to before I
passed out on my computer, uh, before I went to sleep.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
And then uh.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
I've also loved uh diving into some of the products
that I've learned from our Spill community. Like just before
I got on this interview with you, to calm myself,
I was coloring a page and a coloring book from
an artist on Spill that I learned about, right, And
that's just keeping some of those products around me that
(35:17):
are infused in remind me the why of what I'm doing.
This work is incredibly affirming because the minute that I
walk out of my sacred space, right, I'm reminded about
why we have to keep building and some of those
experiences aren't always the most positive. So I'm so grateful
that we've built an ecosystem where we can continue to
(35:41):
fuel up using the products that we are housing in
spill that you know people come from the community to
share with on platform, and you know that I also
am being unapologetic about what I need in order to
feel my best self because our communities deserve us at
(36:02):
our best, so we got to make sure.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
We're hearing for us.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Final one goes to you find I'm interested in your
thoughts on what is something you are your team. I'm
gonna let I'm gonna let you pick this. What is
something you or you have your team do that you
believe more startups or founders individually should adopt m great question.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I'll pick one thing and try and sort of land
this in a way that isn't super woo woo. But
one thing that we started this year that I think
is really helpful is collective team visualization. We as CEOs,
as leaders are really responsible for setting a clear vision
(36:52):
that everybody can focus on and then help empower everybody
on our teams to have the resources, the focus, and
everything to accomplish their part so that everything everybody wins.
But if everybody doesn't have the same picture of success
in their heads, or we don't really have a shared vision,
then everybody's just kind of off on their own zone.
(37:14):
And that's a big focus, especially for early stage companies
and building culture. So I encourage founders to do some
shared visualization with your team. Take five minutes, I'm sure
you all have some sort of all hands meeting or
whatever it is, and just put something up on the
screen or the board and have everybody just sit and
(37:37):
say nothing and just visualize what does it feel like
to be in that success, what does it smell like,
what are the things that need to be true in
order to get there? And really feel it viscerally, and
then use that as the tone setter for the rest
of your week that we've started experimenting with. And I
(37:58):
think it's really starting to shape our tea culture in
an exciting way, and I think also really builds trust
with all the team members at a much deeper level,
especially if you have teams like ours that are remote.
It is really hard to build a culture remotely, especially
as a startup. So having that shared time to just
be like, what is our target, what are we after
(38:18):
and it's more than just numbers, like feel it. What
does that success feel like in your body, in your hands,
what's true, what's happening? What is that reality like? And
then it becomes much easier. I think to work backwards
from there and go get it, and then you focus
on the next one.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
So that'd be my record.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity afro
Tech on the Black Effect Podcast Network and night Hire Media.
It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with
additional production support by Kate McDonald and Jada McGee. Special
thank you to Michael Davis and Lovebeach. Learn more about
my guess other Tech. This shoff is an Innovatives afrotech
dot Com. The video version of this episode will drop
(39:01):
to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, So tap in,
enjoy your Black Tech Green Money, share us to somebody,
go get your money.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Peace in love,
I will Lucas and this is black Tach Green Money.
Al Fonzo Fons Terrell is the co founder and CEO
at Spill and Kenya Parhaim as Chief Growth Officer. Spill
is a social media at that presents a visual conversation
moving at the speed of culture. The company recently launched
a million dollar community investment round which is live now
(00:24):
and we funded so you can own a piece starting
us off with you financy here. I'm interested in kind
of I don't even say evolution with the growth of Spill, Like,
you know, when we started off this as a culture
first platform, how does that or has it evolved over time?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
War Like, how do you think about that today?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, it's it's changed quite quite a lot, I'll say.
I think the first thing I want to say is
for those that aren't familiar with Spill, we came out
the gate really focused on being visual conversation at the
speed of culture. We really felt like there was something
missing from the space, and personally, having worked at platforms
like Twitter and been in the game for a minute,
(01:06):
you never win by duplicating something that already exists. You
win by innovating and building something new and exciting. So
we were really focused on, Okay, how do we give
people new tools to create those memes that lit up
the timeline when you were watching Insecure or Game of
Thrones or some of these big shows. How do we
(01:28):
create spaces where we can flex our cultural knowledge, build community,
all of that in real time. And so that was
the initial thesis. And what has evolved over time, I'd
say that we weren't necessarily planning for, but has been
really beautiful to see is community Spill has become a
(01:49):
place where people who are looking to find their tribe,
their homies, their sometimes their lovers, their friends are coming
to it and having great success. So there's you know,
art spill and foodie spill and gamers spill. There's local
meetups starting in cities around the country. Atl spill Sphiladelphia
(02:11):
spillikin Valley even we've seen recently and we actually have
a couple that met on the platform, I believe right
around the time we launched. They got married of a
year later and two months after that announced that they
were pregnant. And I believe this is the first Spill
baby ever we're going to have on the platform that's
(02:31):
literally going to be due any week now.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Five weeks, five weeks.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So, yeah, we started out and we're still very much
a real time conversation platform. You're going to get your latest,
you know, breaking updates. We're getting even better at that.
But Spill is really a home, right, It's it's a community.
When people join, we say welcome home when they when
they enter onto the platform.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
You know, Kay spoke on this a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But like when you watch you make assumptions when you
build something that people will use something in a certain way,
and then you put it in the hands of the
wild and they do things that you might not have anticipated,
Like are there things that when you were in those
early days thought they were going to do it some
way other than like community? Like you know, which is
a grade that Fund talked about. What unanticipated things have
(03:21):
you realized are growing on the platform or ways of use?
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Oh, I mean what fond just mentioned was incredibly surprising
to us. I mean, there's something powerful that last time
we were with you, right, we talked about how we
were matching our cultural fluency with our technological expertise and
building for tools that we need. Right, we're a team
(03:47):
that has the lived experiences to understand why a spill
existing is so vital and necessary and at a moment
like this is truly survival right. And when we talked
about some of the technology that we've brought to the
table around training AI to be culturally competent and be
used as a line of defense to help keep our
(04:09):
community safe, one of the things that I think has
been the most inspiring is that it's now for offense
as well too, not just defense. So this safety solving
for safety on our platform means that people are showing
up in authentic voice and making connections in real time,
(04:32):
further demonstrating to us that, like Fon said, community is
the most one of the most valuable things that people
are telling us that they need right now. And what
happens when you solve for community, people meet their new
best friend circles, They can find the love of their lives.
They can you know, get the encouragement that they need
(04:53):
from the community to start that manuscript, go for that
job promotion right and continue to live out their best
lives in a way that they're receiving that encouragement that
the real world oftentimes doesn't give to us. Whether we
live in areas where we're disconnected from people who look
(05:18):
and have the same life experiences as us, or we're
still healing from some of the social isolationism that you know,
the Surgeon Generals has written about, you know, creating issues
following the pandemic.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
Right, So I think that.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
Has been some of the most encouraging and affirming for us,
not necessarily surprising, but reaffirming for us.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
Why our thesis aligns.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I want both of you guys to touch on this.
When I started with you, Kenya, is I think about
being authentically cultural and leaning into authentic culture and scale
and sometimes those things can be odds, and I want
to know how you think about those.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I'll start with you ken You sure.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
I mean we have a winning combination of both cultural
fluency and technological expertise, like I said, and we're building
Spill to be more than just a successful business model.
We are showing that platforms thrive when they center culture
driving communities, namely black communities, brown communities, queer communities, who
have historically made all of these other platforms pop but
(06:26):
have never had the tech built for them. We're showing
that that makes not just sense from a values perspective,
but it also makes business sense. We've been experiencing a
massive wave of growth. Q three and Q four alone
of last year twenty twenty four, we experienced over two
hundred and eighty percent growth in sign ups, and we're
(06:48):
also making money on spill. We're set to cross a
million dollars in annualized revenue this year.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
A lot of people don't hit that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
A lot of people don't hit that, especially any revenue, any.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Revenue, any revenue at all, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
I mean, you know, and from an advertiser perspective, we've
had you know, ads and paid partnerships since day one
on Spill.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Every single rfp uh excuse me, every single.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Partner who has stepped up to the plate to run
a pilot with us has rfp'ed us again, Right, and
you know, we've got folks who are building with us
behind this model, and that's been incredibly validating, not just
on the community side, but also on the business side.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Finals.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Can you touch on this, you know, being leaning into
your culture or culture is authentically and scale.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think first we need to just talk
about the data. Right, Black people, Asian Americans, Spanic Americans
are the fastest growing communities in the United States period.
So I think we need to debunk this myth that
investing in these communities is a niche play. This is
not the case, and it's going to continue to be
(08:04):
the truth as we go forward. And so thinking about
how we position ourselves. We don't have to try and
be all things to all people necessarily all the time.
But we really just need to focus on solving the
problems that our communities face. And if we do that well,
it actually solves a problem for everyone. Right, And when
we talk about the hate speech and harassment that's been
(08:26):
going on, when we started Spilled two years ago, we
knew this was bad, and this was a problem that
every single social platform has struggled with, largely because the
leadership of these platforms don't feel these problems personally.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Right, it's sort of an.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Academic thing or Okay, we'll get to it when we
can sort of get to it. We understand that this
is the prerequisite to being a successful platform and sustaining
over time. So us being authentic starts with solving what
has what was a problem back then and is now
metastasized to the point where almost one out of every
(09:00):
four Americans that uses social media, and this is everyone
has experienced some form of hate speech and harassment in
the last twelve months alone.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
This is insane.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
This is like a hate crime, and nobody is really
prioritizing it from the legacy platform standpoint. So for us,
authentic means really focusing on these problems that affect our
community and by solving them really well, we know that
not only will our community win, but so many other
folks who are looking for safe spaces now will also
win as well.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
So, by all.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Intents and purposes, focusing on our communities is the best
business that you can do right now. It's not in
any way a niche play, and we need to debunk
that officially forever.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Want I want to highlight a phrase word I should
say that both of you guys are touched on that
safety online. And the part of what keeps us coming
back to platforms like this is like this necessary tension
like this.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
We love to debate, We love to work through things
that that.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It's just a human thing to you know, battle out
whether we're talking about the game, we're talking about social
issues away like that's just.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
What we do naturally as human beings.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And I think about my curiosity on how do you
foster that and ensure safety?
Speaker 6 (10:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Sure, I mean, you know, we've got some of the
most progressive community guidelines, right, and I help to author
them myself along with top trust and safety professionals in
the industry, many of whom are black women too, right,
And so our community guidelines I encourage everybody to go
check them out on spill dot com. We mean what
(10:45):
we say, and we say what we mean, right. We
don't tolerate misinformation and disinformation. We don't tolerate hate against anybody,
body shaming, debt naming.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
We're very clear about what our rules are and most
importantly enforce them. People don't want to abide by the
rules of the House of Spill, you're out of here, right,
It's really clear. And so you know that safety team
looks like you know, humans in the loop, who are
(11:19):
a team of dedicated individuals who are on call twenty
four to seven, three sixty five, who are.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
The human lines of defense.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
And then again, you know, we're building one of the
first ever large language models for content moderation that is
trained by the very people who get the most hate online,
which you know fawnds just named black communities, queer communities,
brown communities, not just domestically but also abroad, and that
is a winning combination of safety. What we've noticed also
(11:51):
is that Spill is a community that has been leaning
into these guidelines because they're recognizing that when enforced, the
air is different in the spilloverse right, and they're starting
to govern themselves, so we don't even have to have
a heavy handed approach as you know, a moderation system
(12:13):
or trust and safety teams. The community has come in
and leaned into some of the product features that we have,
like you know, a tag that we have that's available
in composed that people can add, you know, an NSFW
filter on right. The community has said, hey, when you're
talking about triggering posts, we would love for you to
(12:35):
use that so that we can be kind as people scroll,
so that we don't trigger each other. That's community led
innovation with products that we've put forward. They're telling us
how they want to to, you know, engage with each other,
and that's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
You know, finds I want to talk about, you know,
your journey as like a founder in this way, it's
like you know, you're working at some of the other
big company these previous of this, and you're running, you know,
a startup now, and how.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Have you had to develop as a leader.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
And as you know, how you think about solving problems
and building teams and building companies and generating revenue and
raising money and all of these things, like how do
you how has that forced you to develop and grow?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
There's a whole podcast series that I will talk to
you about the time, but I'd like to talk about
probably the things that are most relevant to our audiences,
especially your audience will because everybody's builders, right, That's what
afrotech is about, That's what Blavity's been about. And I
actually benefited tremendously from that community and thinking about starting
(13:42):
spill in the beginning.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
So I was, for those that don't know, I led.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Social media at Twitter for three and a half years
right up until the acquisition by Elon Musk in November
of twenty twenty two. I was part of a wave
of layoffs, which I know a lot of people are
dealing with right now n fortunately, and two things came
clear to me at that moment. The first was I
need to do everything I can to support my teammates,
(14:07):
you know, my fellow colleagues. This is tough, right anytime
layoffs are happening. But the second was that it's time
to build. And for me, particularly at that time, starting
as a non technical founder, that was a pretty daunting challenge.
And I think that mindset of just determination that no
matter what, I'm going to figure out.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
A way to make something.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
If I don't raise a dollar, if I got to
do whatever, like everything starts, I think from that particular mindset,
and that has what is what's magnetized. I think the
type of energy that we've been able to build around
spill from my co founder to building really great relationships
with some of our early investors. You know, it really
(14:50):
starts with that courage. We can't wait for other people
to tell us it's time or to give us permission.
We got to take it, and especially now in these environments,
that's the mindset that I think is the only way
we're going to move forward.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Now.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
The reality of raising money, especially venture capital, as a
black founder is pretty daunting as well. Right, we raise
less than one percent of all venture capital every year,
and I think unfortunately it's been going down, right, I
think it was like one point five and now it's
one over the last couple of years, so we really
need to think creatively about how we you know, source talent,
(15:28):
how we hire people, and where we get this capital from.
So we've been benefit really lucky to have venture partners
come to the table pretty early. From the time I
was laid off. I was able to raise about two
point seventy five million within three months of being laid off,
and that is not a typical story, right, So we
(15:49):
understand that we are blessed and you know, need to
take this opportunity and maximize it. But at the same time,
we really wanted to do innovative things being an innovative company,
not just from a product standpoint, but also from our
business model. And from the moment we launched Spill in
the summer of twenty three, we had people asking us,
you know, users, community members.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Hey, how can I invest?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Which is kind of crazy to think about that people
would want to invest in something at this stage, but
actually it was pretty revolutionary when we really stepped back
and looked at the opportunity. And you know, typically our
communities don't get access to early stage technological companies that
are on a fast growth trajectory and in twenty twelve,
(16:35):
there was a new law that was passed, the Jobs Act,
which basically said that you know, prior to this, literally
was illegal to invest in early stage companies if you
didn't make a certain amount of money. You literally had
to have I think north of a million dollars in
personal net worth and all this kind of stuff. And
so after that, these crowdfunding platforms started emerging, and I
(16:58):
think even now it's still missed understood what the opportunity
is there. But we felt like, hey, what if we
could take the best of what's happening on venture and
you know, empower our community, especially because it's a community
driven products, to be able to participate in our success
as well. So just a couple of days ago, we
launched our own Conversation campaign, where after a year of
(17:21):
talking to our partners, our venture team and everything, people
can now invest in Spill with as little as two
hundred and fifty dollars and participate in that success not
just from using the platform, but also as we continue
to grow and when you guys get to you know,
not just you know, have the conversation or join the conversation,
(17:41):
but own it too. And we think that's really exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Can you what like what qualities as you you know,
you hire and hire levels of leadership in your career
and in your personal journey?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
What qualities have you had to develop to be able
to do what you're doing now? It's a great.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
That's a great question.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
I mean I have to start off and say that
I'm a two time founder myself, and working at Spill
is honestly the first time I've been one hundred percent
in house with another company in my whole career. So
I arrived in the world of tech as somebody who
was not traditionally trained to work in tech, but had
(18:27):
a wealth of experience from being an entrepreneur for over
a decade. Right, and for all the entrepreneurs who are listening,
y'all know, you have to develop a diverse skill set
to be able to run your own business, regardless of
the industry that that's in.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
I started off at SPILL two years ago. I just
I just celebrated my spiliversary. I say that with pride.
I started off with Spill two years ago as the
global Vice President for Community and Partnerships, where I was
responsible for owning and executing spills audience development strategy, developing
(19:06):
partnerships and activations with media and brands, and you know,
that was a dream come true. I could have never
thought that I'd work in tech, nor did I realize
how transferable my skill set was, coming in from working
in electoral politics, being a big advocate for civic engagement
(19:30):
and now fundraising. Now I stepped into the role at
the top of this year as Chief Growth Officer, a
title I could have never known, and I believe, you know,
in consumer Social and one a few, if not the
only black woman to hold that title. So I carry
that heavily and I'm now responsible for optimizing our.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Complete user journey.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
But this role chief Growth Officer is one that I
had to grow into.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
Funds can admit that too. I've I've had to.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Learn to look at things from a product perspective, from
you know, being data informed, having a very reciprocal relationship
with our community who is telling us in real time
how they want to use our product. And I've also
had to learn, you know, from an insights perspective, how
(20:25):
to how to develop relationships with our partners, our paid partners,
and serve up products that are that meet their needs
but also center and value the opinions from the community
that I come from and that we're centering on our platform,
and so, you know, it's a lot of learning in
real time, you know, not being afraid uh to misstep,
(20:49):
but also leaning on the expertise of my fellow leaders
at SPILL. We have such a talented team that Fonds
has curated and put together, and I am so deeply
supported in this work and that makes, you know, me
have the courage to continue to stretch for the things
(21:10):
that might be in my twentieth out of one hundred
percent tile. But I know that I am am you
know well well supported on the teams that we're on you.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Know as well.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Sorry, if I could just double click, because Kenya often
under sells what.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
She've accomplished in this you know, I just.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Want to talk about the trust and safety piece for
a second, just because the whole industry is actually moving
away from this discipline. You know, Metas rolled back their
trust and safety teams. We've seen it across the board,
and Kenya stepped into this role not having any formal
background or training in that world at all, and has
built not only the guidelines which essentially when you're building
(21:53):
a social platform it's like designing a country. You're like
the designing laws that people are going to abide by
to participate. And Kenya stepped up to this challenge not
only designed a whole framework for governance on the platform,
but built the team from the ground up that is
executing on this and informs the technological piece of it.
(22:15):
Also informs how we enforce our guidelines in ways that
are thoughtful, right and have context versus just you know,
a hammer that smashes everything right.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
And I think you brought this up earlier. Will.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
What that has enabled people to feel is I can
be myself here.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I don't have to code switch. I can talk how
I talk all of that.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I can engage in dialogue, I can engage in even
you know, some debate here or there. But I also
understand that it is about respect and this is a
problem that trillion dollar companies have not solved. And Kenya
has made tremendous, tremendous impact in this area on spill.
So I just want to give her her flowers for
that and also again shout her out for her new
(22:58):
promotions and chief growth.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
Look, thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I mean I think about you know, as somebody responsible
for growth, not solely, but yeah, you're leading growth and
even you find as you can chime in on this too,
Like the job is to figure out what people are
going to want tomorrow, not necessarily just today.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
But we got to be ahead, you know, skating to
where the buck is going. Like what do you what.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Do you think social media looks like eighteen months from now,
twenty four months from now?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Like what are we going towards? What are you seeing
the data?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And just in you know, you know, just recognizing trends
that may not show up in data qualitative.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's the where I was looking for qualitative. How do
you what are we aiming at?
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Sure?
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Well, first I have to lean in on the data
that we are seeing. That's validated by the momentum that
we've been experiencing. Right, so people are flocking to spill
and have been. I shared with you that we had
an over two hundred and eighty percent increase in user
sign ups. The money that we're that we're pacing to make, right,
we're crossing over a million dollars in annualized revenue coming up.
(24:09):
But that is all around again, you know, people wanting
and needing a product to help them find and connect
with more people who think like them, who you know,
acknowledge and affirm their identities at all of their intersections,
and who make them feel safe at a time like this, right,
(24:33):
and a place where you can learn and grow in
an environment that you know isn't just around isn't just
about being around people who think and look like you?
But where can I grow as an individual? Where can
I be challenged in ways that foster my own growth?
Speaker 6 (24:50):
Right?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
And all of that is happening at Spill and again,
I think the momentum that we're experiencing validates that. Before
I hand it off to FONDS, I'll say that, you know,
a lot of the products that we are coming out
with are emblematic of our visions for what we hope
social to be. We're really building that in real time
(25:12):
on FOND. Do you want to share some of that?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Absolutely, I think to add to some of the context
that we're seeing on the macro trends. There definitely is
a generational split. You know, folks who are you know,
like myself, elder millennials. We you know, want to stay
informed and keep up to date, and that's a lot
of what people in that sort of demographic are loving
(25:35):
about Spill. We have a team, you know, and shout
out to Kenya's team that also leads this as well.
That's giving you those breaking push notifications.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
You know, whenever the.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Latest Kendrick track drops coming at Drake or something else,
you're going to find out about it on Spill first.
But the younger audiences we're seeing are really looking for
that community piece in a much smaller way, right They
want to curate and create their own subcommunities. And so
we launched a product, a group's product and Spill that's
(26:07):
in beta right now, and it was amazing. We had
thousands of groups created within the first week. And when
you look at it, it's just this beautiful cornucopia of
just all type interests you know, from you know, I mean,
my one of my favorite groups is pot It like
It's hot that has for all the plants, zaddies and
daddies there.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Everybody's just showing off how they take how they take
care of them, you know, to like Divine nine groups,
to original groups.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You know, to people that are interested in you know, uh,
you know, legal back, you know, connecting with other people
with legal backgrounds or doctors or teachers or things like that.
We have Spill University, people are actually teaching courses on
the spill as as one of those examples. So I
think that that trend is going to continue. People are
going to look for places where they can not only
(26:58):
create and curate these subcommune unities, but then start to
monetize them over time as well. I think that, you know,
in a world where AI slop is going to take
over a lot of these bigger platforms, where people are
just content farming constantly to try and get engagement, it's
going to put a premium on actual human interaction.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
I think it's going to be like, wow, are there
real people here? Can I actually make a real connection?
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And you don't need a ton of those like you
need really like five good friends in life to like
feel really satisfied.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
But it's hard right to find.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
That, and we feel like spill is going to be
an incredible tool for that in the future and going
to make that a lot easier to find versus other platforms.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
We've been focused on three main pillars in our development.
That's culture, right what Fon said, serving up the hottest
of what's happening, you know, making sure you know what's
breaking news and informs uh had your experience in the world. Connection,
like we've been saying, connecting you with you know, people
who are of similar interest, helping you to grow and
(28:05):
expand your networks in ways that are super meaningful. And commerce, right,
not just generating revenue on platform, but really leaning into
what are the opportunities for our communities, which we know
have the largest purchasing power, right, what are the opportunities there?
And I think most most recently, the trends that we're
(28:28):
seeing around folks really wanting to be meaningful and intentional
with where their dollars are spent are also influencing our
perspective on what's possible and what we should might might
want to consider doing on spill as well too. So culture, connection,
commerce are what we're focused on, and we think that
that is an incredibly winning combination for the future of
(28:51):
social media.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
He talked about this earlier, like the partners, the advertisers
of people who.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Are you know, making thing they want to reach. Audience
is here.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And in the early days, you know, like there's there's
advertiser because we're trying to build legal attraction.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
But you're at that.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Point where you're getting to those your point, the RFPs
and et cetera. And I wonder like how you balance
what advertisers want versus saying true to the culture your building.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Yeah, that's a great that's a great question, and I
appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
And I have.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
To just offer a slight correction and say that we
had our first paid advertisers before we were even available
for public download.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Right, that's a break that I love that I just
have generally generous that's say, generally people don't have advertises.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
Generally people do not correct.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Generally people do not, but we did, and and I
just have to shout out our partners right at Horizon Media.
Right Lionsgate was our first paid partner before we launched. Right,
and these are folks that recognizeciens very clearly the value
of our communities. And as we've continued to grow, and
(30:06):
the communities have been very vocal about the types of products,
offering insights into what they're into, and we've been able
to editorialize and tell the story about the how the
community is blossoming on spill. We've developed a really dope
reciprocal relationship with these advertisers, and so oftentimes people will
(30:29):
come to Spill and say, man, I'm just so glad
that there's no ads here. They say it all the time, right,
And that's a direct response to us serving up content
and making sure that partners come to the table with
information and products and opportunities for the community that don't
(30:49):
feel like we're we or they are selling right.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
And we're very open and honest.
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Fonds and I do regular town halls and our goal
live feature on platform called Tea Parties. We just did
one the other day and somebody said in the chat
they had been on platform for a year, and we're like,
oh my goodness, just please keep it ad free. We
were like, well, we've had ads from the beginning, but
they're served up in ways that are meaningful to y'all,
(31:16):
and you know, you know, I'm grateful for that. So
I think continuing to be very clear about what works
for us and have partners come to the table that
trust us. We've built trust where you know, we have
partners who are now coming up on their fourth or
fifth paid campaign with us. They are building with Spill
(31:39):
as Spill is building, and so there's a lot of
learnings there. There's a lot of insights there, but again,
we just appreciate partners who have come to the table
to say, y'all know what's going to work here, you
let us know and let's see what happens, and those
tests and learn opportunities have developed into you know, partners
(32:00):
evangelizing you know, fandoms on platform in organic ways and
being able to build on that success campaign over campaign.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Funds.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I want to start with I love to ask this question.
I just find it interesting personally, like what's in your
a DC or everyday care? Like what are the things
fond has to have, whether it be you can't say
your phone, because that the people does. That's a give me,
that's a gimme. You gotta have your phone. But what
are the things that funds got to keep nearby?
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
I think we were joking about this before, but you know,
there's no sleep in this game. So heavy on the
face mask under eye patches, so I do not look haggard,
as I don't bring no haggard face to your esteemed show. Well,
that's definitely getting getting heavy rotation these days. I'd say,
(32:54):
you know, I'm definitely an airpod's you know, yes, and
got to have that on the movie. And I usually
care carry a pair of Buddhist prayer beads. I've been
practicing Buddhism for about twenty years, and especially in this environment,
I've needed to stay grounded, and it's the higher powers
(33:17):
more than ever with everything that's going on. So I'd say,
aside from the phone and keys and some basic stuff
I keep, I keep it under eye patch so I
don't look whack, and I keep some prayer beads so
my spirit don't look whack either.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Kenya, what's in your everyday care?
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Your EBC? Like one are the things Kenya's got to
have within arms weeks? Like before you need a house,
before you leave the apartment.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I travel a lot. I be
on the road all the time, and so this is
a good question for me. So one you saw me
just hold this up. I drink a ton of water.
We got to stay hydrated, We got to care for ourselves.
My favorite water cup is the spilled tumbler shameless plug okay,
double insulated, stainless you fantastic. Uh you see what I
(34:05):
did there available at shop dot s.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
Buil dot com. Uh we.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
And what else do I keep on me? You know,
I've had to really be really regimented about my mornings.
And I've learned from Fonds in that way too. You know,
as an entrepreneur, I had developed a strong muscle for
you know.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
Hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle all.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
The time, right, And you know, I've had to be
really clear with like I start my mornings off with
sound bowls. Now, I gotta make sure that I'm tuning
myself to be receptive and also uh to wash away
some of yesterday if I wasn't able to before I
passed out on my computer, uh, before I went to sleep.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
And then uh.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
I've also loved uh diving into some of the products
that I've learned from our Spill community. Like just before
I got on this interview with you, to calm myself,
I was coloring a page and a coloring book from
an artist on Spill that I learned about, right, And
that's just keeping some of those products around me that
(35:17):
are infused in remind me the why of what I'm doing.
This work is incredibly affirming because the minute that I
walk out of my sacred space, right, I'm reminded about
why we have to keep building and some of those
experiences aren't always the most positive. So I'm so grateful
that we've built an ecosystem where we can continue to
(35:41):
fuel up using the products that we are housing in
spill that you know people come from the community to
share with on platform, and you know that I also
am being unapologetic about what I need in order to
feel my best self because our communities deserve us at
(36:02):
our best, so we got to make sure.
Speaker 6 (36:04):
We're hearing for us.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Final one goes to you find I'm interested in your
thoughts on what is something you are your team. I'm
gonna let I'm gonna let you pick this. What is
something you or you have your team do that you
believe more startups or founders individually should adopt m great question.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I'll pick one thing and try and sort of land
this in a way that isn't super woo woo. But
one thing that we started this year that I think
is really helpful is collective team visualization. We as CEOs,
as leaders are really responsible for setting a clear vision
(36:52):
that everybody can focus on and then help empower everybody
on our teams to have the resources, the focus, and
everything to accomplish their part so that everything everybody wins.
But if everybody doesn't have the same picture of success
in their heads, or we don't really have a shared vision,
then everybody's just kind of off on their own zone.
(37:14):
And that's a big focus, especially for early stage companies
and building culture. So I encourage founders to do some
shared visualization with your team. Take five minutes, I'm sure
you all have some sort of all hands meeting or
whatever it is, and just put something up on the
screen or the board and have everybody just sit and
(37:37):
say nothing and just visualize what does it feel like
to be in that success, what does it smell like,
what are the things that need to be true in
order to get there? And really feel it viscerally, and
then use that as the tone setter for the rest
of your week that we've started experimenting with. And I
(37:58):
think it's really starting to shape our tea culture in
an exciting way, and I think also really builds trust
with all the team members at a much deeper level,
especially if you have teams like ours that are remote.
It is really hard to build a culture remotely, especially
as a startup. So having that shared time to just
be like, what is our target, what are we after
(38:18):
and it's more than just numbers, like feel it. What
does that success feel like in your body, in your hands,
what's true, what's happening? What is that reality like? And
then it becomes much easier. I think to work backwards
from there and go get it, and then you focus
on the next one.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
So that'd be my record.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity afro
Tech on the Black Effect Podcast Network and night Hire Media.
It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with
additional production support by Kate McDonald and Jada McGee. Special
thank you to Michael Davis and Lovebeach. Learn more about
my guess other Tech. This shoff is an Innovatives afrotech
dot Com. The video version of this episode will drop
(39:01):
to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, So tap in,
enjoy your Black Tech Green Money, share us to somebody,
go get your money.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Peace in love,
Host
Will Lucas
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