OF10podcast

Joah Spearman is the founder and CEO at Localeur, a website and app that makes it possible for people to experience what the locals eat, drink, and play wherever they go. Localeur has been called one of the best travel apps by The Today Show, Forbes, TIME, The Guardian and more. Joah is one of the few African-American technology founders to  have raised more than $5 million. He previously co-founded the official style segments of both South by Southwest and ESPN X Games, and created a pop-up sneaker boutique in Downtown Austin. Joah is a SXSW speaker, writes for Huffington Post, and has been featured in the New York Times, Black Enterprise Magazine, Crains.com, Blavity and more.  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willlucas Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Dawn W. Dickson is a serial entrepreneur and founder CEO at PopCom, a startup developing future-ready solutions for vending and self-service retail and Flat Out of Heels (rollable flats for women to get relief from painful heels). She’s spoken for, or been given awards by Forbes, Black Enterprise, Fortune Magazine and more   Dawn received her B.A. in Journalism from The Ohio State University, and participated in the NewME and Techstars accelerators.   Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willlucas Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

This is a special edition of the OF10podcast - a revisit in honor of Afrotech 2018 with guest and my homegirl Mandela SH Dixon who is not only passionate about - but super insightful and helpful for tech founders trying to raise funds, get traction, and build good businesses. As the dynamic founder of FounderGym, an online training center she developed to help underrepresented tech founders at scale, she gave the playbook to a standing room only audience at Afrotech this year. She was also the MC for the entire 2017 event, and she just shines bright.   So, I hope you enjoy this interview.   If you have a business, maybe you are your business, or maybe you just have a super-lit IG that more people should be following, you’ve got all these great things, but how do you get your content and your profile in front of a larger audience? And not just any audience, but the right audience based on their location and interests.   That’s where PopSocial.com comes in. PopSocial.com turns your 1 man Instagram crew into an entire team helping you get your content out to a larger audience - the right audience based on superior demographic and location targeting.   Use my code of10podcast (no spaces, all capital letters) to get $20 off the first month. Visit popsocial.com and use my code of10podcast to get $20 off your first month today!

This is a special edition of the OF10podcast - a revisit in honor ofAfroTech 2018 with my guy, Frederick Hutson, who gave another incredible talk at AfroTech 2018 - he also gave a dope talk back at the 2017 event also. I wanted you to hear his story - I think he’s a complete inspiration for people out there who feel like the odds may be stacked against them and that past decisions limit their potential.   After this podcast, my hope is that you’re even more convinced of your ability to go out there and do something remarkable.   If you have a business, maybe you are your business, or maybe you just have a super-lit IG that more people should be following, you’ve got all these great things, but how do you get your content and your profile in front of a larger audience? And not just any audience, but the right audience based on their location and interests.   That’s where PopSocial.com comes in. PopSocial.com turns your 1 man Instagram crew into an entire team helping you get your content out to a larger audience - the right audience based on superior demographic and location targeting.   Use my code of10podcast (no spaces, all capital letters) to get $20 off the first month. Visit popsocial.com and use my code of10podcast to get $20 off your first month today!

This is a special edition of the OF10podcast - a revisit in honor ofAfroTech 2018 with a guest, Danielle Leslie who had arguably Top 3 talks at AfroTech 2018. What I loved about every time Danielle is on stage or is featured anywhere, she always provides so much value - it’s honestly just better if you record it because its 6 value bombs per minute and if you’re scribbling it down in a notepad, you’re gonna miss 5 of them. I wanted you to hear the gems she also dropped on this episode in case you missed it or just in case you need a refresher.   After this podcast, my hope is that you’re even more convinced of your ability to go out there and do something remarkable.   If you have a business, maybe you are your business, or maybe you just have a super-lit IG that more people should be following, you’ve got all these great things, but how do you get your content and your profile in front of a larger audience? And not just any audience, but the right audience based on their location and interests.   That’s where PopSocial.com comes in. PopSocial.com turns your 1 man Instagram crew into an entire team helping you get your content out to a larger audience - the right audience based on superior demographic and location targeting.   Use my code of10podcast (no spaces, all capital letters) to get $20 off the first month. Visit popsocial.com and use my code of10podcast to get $20 off your first month today!

This is a special edition of the OF10podcast - a revisit in honor of AfroTech 2018 with guest, Everette Taylor who just gave FIRE talk at the largest Black Tech Conference in the world. He dropped many gems on stage, and I wanted you to hear the gems he also dropped on this episode in case you missed it or just in case you need a refresher.   AfroTech 2018 was another amazing event, and all I can say is - we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. And after this podcast, my hope is that you’re even more convinced of your ability to go out there and do something remarkable.   If you have a business, maybe you are your business, or maybe you just have a super-lit IG that more people should be following, you’ve got all these great things, but how do you get your content and your profile in front of a larger audience? And not just any audience, but the right audience based on their location and interests.   That’s where PopSocial comes in. PopSocial.com turns your 1 man Instagram crew into an entire team helping you get your content out to a larger audience - the right audience based on superior demographic and location targeting.   Use my code of10podcast (no spaces, all capital letters) to get $20 off the first month. Visit popsocial.com and use my code of10podcast to get $20 off your first month today!

Erin Horne McKinney is Managing Partner for Inclusion at Jumpstart, an accelerator and venture capital firm in Ohio, and she's Co-Founder at Black Female Founders. She previously served as Senior Advisor on Innovation and Entrepreneurship to the mayoral administration in DC. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willlucas Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Rod Robinson is the founder and CEO of ConnXus, a supplier diversity software company that connects diverse suppliers to Fortune 2000 companies. He spent nearly 20 years as chief procurement officer at a major telecom, and as a management consultant with firms like Accenture and AT Kearney.   Rod holds a bachelors from West Virginia University, and got his MBA at Wharton.   In 2012, Rod was recognized as a finalist for Ernst & Youngs Entrepreneur of the Year award. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willlucas Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Season 5 Coming Soon! Enjoy this advanced release of episode 1/10! Marlon Nichols is a co-founder and managing partner at Cross Culture Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm with a focus on cultural investing. Before founding Cross Culture Ventures, Marlon was an investment director at Intel Capital. Prior to his time in venture capital, Marlon led successful careers in software and strategy consulting in the technology, private equity, media and entertainment sectors. Some of Marlon’s investments include Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, and more.  Subscribe to my Youtube Channel at: http://bit.ly/2kymc8n Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wlucasii Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Mandela SH Dixon is co-founder at Founder Gym, an online training center that teaches underrepresented founders how to build successful tech startups. She began her career in Silicon Valley in 2011 as a startup founder backed by Kapor Capital, 500 Startups, and Imagine K12. She led a global entrepreneurial program called Startup Weekend Education that spanned six continents and empowered thousands of entrepreneurs to launch edtech startups. Most recently, Mandela worked at venture capital firm Kapor Capital, where she supported the success of over 120 tech startups. She’s spoken for TEDx, Google, and Facebook. She’s Forbes 30 Under 30, LinkedIn's Top 10 Voices in Venture Capital and Startups, and Medium's Top 10% of Writers.   Subscribe to my Youtube Channel at: http://bit.ly/2kymc8n Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wlucasii Learn more about OF10podcast at: https://willlucas.co

Jason Mayden is the co-founder and CEO at Super Heroic, an activewear brand designed to enrich the lives of kids through play. He was previously the global design director for Nike’s Jordan brand where he designed shoes for Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Eminem among others, and he was Director of Innovation on the Digital Sport side at Nike. Today, he’s leading a fast paced brand of his own, and recently announced a $7 million venture raise to jetfuel Super Heroic. We talk about black people magic, why he can only compete with himself, and what he learned from Michael Jordan.

Danielle Leslie is an online course creator and growth strategist for startups and personal brands. As founder of the Founder Course Alechemy, she helps brands and startup founders create & launch online courses. She previously worked as a course launch strategist at Udemy where she helped influencers including Guy Kawasaki earn collectively millions of dollars by monetizing their content & expertise through online courses. She has created 4 courses that have over 50k people enrolled around the world.

Emeka Anen is founder at Instasneaks, known today as THRONE, an online community built for the sneaker and streetwear ecosystem. The app has ranked in the top 40 of hundreds of thousands of apps in the Sports category. We talk moving the culture, making it in technology in outside of Silicon Valley, and Lil Yachty.

Jessica Matthews is the founder and CEO at Uncharted Play, the hardware technology firm that’s providing off-grid power for the developing world. She was invited by President Barack Obama to the White House, and currently serves as an Ambassador of Entrepreneurship for Nigeria, and also received praise from Bill Clinton. She’s among Fortune’s Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs, Forbes 30 under 30 list, Black Enterprise’s Innovator of the Year, Oprah Supersoul 100, and Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation.    I met Jessica in New York earlier this year, and she’s as much a rockstar in person as she is on her resume.

Tyler Scriven is the managing director at Techsters Atlanta, where he helps find and prep startups for the big stage. Prior to joining Techsters, he was an executive at Palantir, serving as Chief of Staff and Head of Operations - helping grow the firm from 100 to nearly 2000 employees. In 2014, he was featured alongside Tristan Walker and Erin Teague in the Fast Company magazine story discussing diversity in silicon valley.

Dave Salvant is co-founder at Squire, and app that enhances the barbershop experience for both customers and barbers - allowing customers to book and pay for their cuts at the push of a button. I originally met Dave when we were shooting an episode for Puff Daddy’s REVOLT TV channel in New York. I found him to be incredibly inspiring. He just completed Y Combinators latest batch, and dropped out of his MBA program at Wisconsin-Madison to found Squire. I’m launching an online course to help you build your brand on and offline. It’s called The Code - and you’ll learn how to make money with your brand, how to be recognized as a thought-leader in your industry, amplifying your reach online - and more. I want to see you in this class. Go to will-lucas.com/code to learn more.

Rodney Williams is the co-founder and CEO at LISNR, which is a communication technology that sends data over audio - think Bluetooth on steroids. He previously worked as a brand manager at P&G, Proctor and Gamble, and Lockheed Martin. Rodney is a TechStars alum, Adage 40 under 40, Jet Magazine 40 under 40, and a lot more. He has two bachelor degrees and two masters degrees - including an MBA from Howard. Stunt.   On this episode we discuss what drives him to succeed, education, and startup focus.   This episode is brought to you by Classana.com. Companies use Classana to organize educational resources for professional development.

DIVINE is Founder and CEO at The BLAK Group, and "The Official Andreesen Horowitz Rapper", certified by super venture capitalist, Ben Horowitz. His fintech (Financial Technology) startup aims to help minorities who've been shut out of the financial system. This episode was supposed to fall at episode 4 this season, but I was so excited for you to hear it that I changed my timeline. Once you're a few minutes in, I think you'll understand my eagerness. This episode is brought to you by Classana.com. Companies use Classana to organize educational resources for professional development.

Alexia Clincy is a research-oriented social media consultant and trainer now based in Los Angeles. As founder and executive director of Capitalize Social, she’s designed successful social media strategies for clients in a variety of fields, including motion pictures, best-selling authors, government, and publishing.   On this episode we discuss her history in as a social media consultant, daily goal writing, and strategies to build a social media following.   This episode is brought to you by Classana.com. Companies use Classana to organize educational resources for professional development.

William Crowder is a venture capitalist at Comcast and DreamIt Ventures. At Comcast, he leads the Catalyst Fund which is focused on investing in startups with diverse founding teams. He previously served as Director of Strategy and Business Development at AOL. We discuss diversity, what he looks for in startups, and building tech outside the norms. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.

Kyle Bailey, from Detroit Michigan, is an engineer at Uber where he’s deeply involved in diversity efforts and outreach to HBCUs. Before Uber, he spent time engineering at VMware and was co-founder of his own startup. He graduated with his CS degree from Michigan State, and is currently pursing his MBA at Wharton.   We discuss diversity in tech, the midwest mindset, and I ask questions from Black Men in Tech. A slack group for black male tech engineers and founders. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.

Ruben Harris began his professional career in Atlanta working in Finance, and now works in Partnerships and Leads at Honor, an Andreesen Horowitz funded Bay Area startup modernizing non-medical home care for seniors. He also serves as an advisor to AltSchool, which is working to reimagine education. He’s an accomplished cellist, playing for more than 22 years. We talk a bit about his journey, his Young and Cultured project, and an article he wrote titled Breaking into Startups.

Ryan Smith is Director at Magic Johnson Enterprises where he helps the superstar basketball player and business phenomenon decide on investment opportunities. He’s a Howard and Stanford GSB grad, previously spending time on Wall Street. Ryan is the prototype of Black Excellence. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com

Rodney Sampson is the Chief of Diversity + Inclusion Initiatives at TechSquare Labs in Atlanta. TechSquare is an incubator, seed fund, and co-working space in the heart of Atlanta’s prominent Technology Square - an area near Georgia Tech where more engineers graduate than MIT and Stanford combined. He’s an MBA, entrepreneur with 2 exits, an Author and Bishop. He’s responsible for casting Troy Carter on Shark Tank, worked on Mark Burnett’s The Bible Series and Mel Gibsons Passion of the Christ, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia, and so much more. We discuss the economic divide, Atlanta's startup scene, and budding engineers. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.

Mark Daniel is CEO at Strut, a mobile app that aims to serve as your guide to style. He dropped out of college based on prompting of Paypal co-founder, and the first outsider investor in Facebook, Peter Theil. Peter also stuff a hundred grand in Marks pocket to do so. Mark, finishing the fellowship, Mark then swiftly raised another 1.5 million from Vinod Khosla - founder of Sun Microsystems.   We discuss education, existential crises, and the desire to be great. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com

Ruth Mesfun is a co-founder at POCIT which stands for People of Color in Tech. They run features on minority tech personalities from Founders, Engineers, and Marketers. She’s also a teacher at a middle school in Brooklyn, and launched a program to teach girls in her class how to program. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.

Kristy Tillman is design director at Society of Grownups, a company offering financial services. They call it “ A masters program for adulthood” where the curriculum covers everything from investing in a 401K to having that hard talk about a budget to how to pick good, cheap wine. She’s a beast on Twitter, sitting at 10k tweets to date, and prominently tweets on pop culture, music, and social justice. We discuss opportunities for Blacks in technology, design, and IDEO. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com

Everette Taylor is an entrepreneur and marketing pro who served as Chief Marketing Officer at Sticker Mule. The hugely popular custom stickers startup. He’s also founder at MilliSense, a marketing firm headquartered in Los Angeles. He built GrowthHackers with three partners, and partnered with NFL free safety Brandian Ross to create the brand Unity Over Self, which helps children with autism. We discuss how students coming out of college break into marketing for startups, and tips for startup teams to get to Product Market Fit. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com

Angela Benton is founder and CEO at NewMe Accelerator in San Francisco. She serves as a startup coach at the Wall Street Journa, and writes for USA Today and Inc. Magazine. On this episode, we talk diversity in tech, the "Black Mark Zuckerberg", and what makes founders successful. This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.

Season 2 Finale features: Paul Judge Kathryn Finney Charles Hudson Kimberly Bryant Navarrow Wright Erin Teague Megan Rose Dickey Michael Seibel Justin Washington Brian Dixon Makinde Adeagbo

Jewel Burks leads the mission at Partpic as CEO. She’s somebody you don’t want to compete against in a startup competition as she’s usually the one who takes the check home. Partpic is headquartered in Atlanta, but Jewel finds herself bouncing between the budding startup town and the bay area quite frequently. Partpic is recognition software in these enterprise space that helps people find and identify hardware parts by merely snapping a photo.  

Brian Watson is the Director of Partnerships at Visual Supply Company - the makers of the hit photo app VSCO Cam. He’s formerly an investment analyst at Union Square Ventures, the powerhouse VC firm led by Fred Wilson and boasting early investments in Soundcloud and Twitter. Brian and I discuss the Detroit tech scene, Paul Judge quotes, and the need for external validation.

Richard Kerby is a venture capitalist and Vice President at Venrock, the venture firm located in Palo Alto. He’s been profiled by CNN, and TheSearchLights Project,  he’s also been a guest contributor to TechCrunch - which we’ll discuss. As a VC, his focus is on early stage startups as he bounces from New York to Silicon Valley, while keeping his eye on all points in between.

Dwayne Reeves is a software engineering lead at Facebook based in Menlo Park, CA. He's also an MIT grad and one of the poster boys for successful blacks in tech. We discuss his daily responsibilities at Facebook, the lost dreams of Google, imposter syndrome and Christian hip hop.

Ashley Nelson-Hornstein is an iOS engineer at Dropbox - another of my favorite startups. Previous to Dropbox, she spent time at Apple and the news startup, Circa. She’s not only an incredibly talented developer, she also evangelizes for Dropbox around the world speaking at tech conferences. Her popularity is growing - along with the products she builds.

Frederick Hutson is the founder and CEO at Pigeonly - which is a startup that creates tech products designed to help prisoners communicate. Beyond the ingenuity of his ideas, Frederick himself is an anomaly. Once just a budding entrepreneur in his 20’s, his entrepreneurial spunk was exercised in an industry that landed him behind bars with a sentence of 51 months. But, Mr. Hutson prevails, and he’s fresh out of Y Combinator and fueled by not a little bit of investment dollars.

Aston Motes was employee #1 at the quote - unquote ‘Unicorn’ startup Dropbox. This is a startup he helped usher into the billion-dollar club. An MIT grad and drummer - we deliberate about curiosity, posit black music, and thrash out starting startups where competition is already heavy.

Grant Oladipo is an MIT grad and serves as the mobile lead at Medium, founded by Ev Williams - the co-founder and former CEO at Twitter. Medium classifies itself as a new place on the internet where people share ideas and stories that are longer than 140 characters, and not just for friends. On this episode, we discuss how to find your way in San Fransisco, his favorite books, and keeping focus on your startup.

Baratunde Thurston is a writer, comedian, podcaster, startup founder, and New York Times bestselling author. We chatted about success and failure, as well as his startup Cultivated Wit.

On part 1, I talk to Kathryn Finney, founder and Managing Director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Kathryn received the Champion of Change Award from the White House, and served as Editor-At-Large at BlogHer, INC.   I talk to Kathryn about minority participation in accelerators, how her blogging for fun turned into a multi-million dollar opportunities, and black-female tech entrepreneurship.   Part 2 is Dr. Paul Q. Judge - a serial entrepreneur and noted scholar. He’s cofounder and Executive Chairman of Pindrop Security, cofounder of Monsieur (the robotic bartender), a founding partner at Tech Square Labs in Atlanta, and currently serves as Chief Research Officer and VP at Barracuda Networks.   I talk to Paul about  his daily routine, how he got into tech, and his thoughts on the startup landscape. He gives some great advice for founders looking to raise capital.

On this episode, I talk to the dynamic Kimberly Bryant of BlackGirlsCode. Kimberly was a professional biotechnology engineer before founding the program and has been recognized by Oprah Winfrey and Toyota for her work during Oprah's The Life You Want tour. She's been commended by the White House as a tech champion, and has been profiled by Forbes, MademeNoire, Marie Claire, and CNN. Part 2 features a discussion with Semil Shah, a VC at Haystack Fund on his ideas on minority tech entrepreneurship, and his thoughts on how we might find solutions to issues in investment capital.

On this episode, I chat with Navarrow Wright, CEO at MaxLev Solutions and co-founder at Global Grind which he founded alongside Hip Hop Pioneer Russell Simmons. We discuss the complexities of getting young minorities interested in tech and STEM education. On part 2, JJ McCorvey, an editor at Fast Company Magazine. We discuss his work covering technology companies, and his cover story which featured Walker & Company founder and CEO, Tristan Walker. On part 3, I chat with Maryanna Quigless who is founder at TiltFit about getting introduced to technology and Silicon Valley, and black female founders.

On this episode, I chat with Jon Gosier, an investor at Third Cohort Capital, Serial Entrepreneur, and past TED Fellow. We talk about music studios in Atlanta, international experiences, and investing in startups. On part 2, Alaxic Smith, cofounder at Communly, an online platform which allows users to unite in virtual communities with others who have similar interests. We discuss his startup journey and education.

On this episode, I chat with co-founder and VP of Growth at Balanced, Jareau Wade. We discuss financial technology (FinTech) startups, getting more kids involved in technology, and ramble a bit about our history with the music industry. Part 2 features Lo Toney, a venture capitalist at Comcast Ventures. He spent time as the chief executive officer at Learnstreet that provided online education for computer programmers. He was also the executive in charge of Zynga Poker at Zynga. We talk about startup funding, Miles Davis and Rachmaninoff, and his journey in technology.

On Part 1: This chat with Erin Teague who is Director of Product at Yahoo is refreshing. You'll hear her talk about everything from her top 5 favorite rappers, to the constant awareness of how gender and race affects the mindset of many minorities in tech. It's an honest reflection on the thought process of a technology executive even at the highest levels. Part 2: Wayne Sutton was featured on CNN's Black in America in 2011 as co-founder of a high profile minority-focused accelerator in Silicon Valley and he's been on a rocket ever since. Founder at BUILDUP.vc, Wayne is insightful on the landscape of San Francisco for startup founders on non-traditional paths.

On this episode, I chat with the phenomenal Charles Hudson of SoftTech VC on part 1. At SoftTech, Charles is a partner and focuses on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces. We discuss venture capital, the perfect pitch, music, and Charles drops knowledge bombs one after another. Part 2: Megan Rose Dickey. A rockstar personality, recovering journalist, and all around tech enthusiast. We discuss her journey in technology and startup storytelling.

Part 1: In this chat with Snapchat QA Engineer Justin Washington, we discuss his journey to the ultra-popular and high-growth startup Snapchat, how he became a believer in the product, and working with Steve Jobs. We also talk about growing up in the midwest (he’s from Detroit), ambitions in the music business, and both of our impeccable tastes in music. Part 2: Brian Dixon is very smart, and he knows startups and pitching like the back of his hand. He’s a VC at Kapor Capital, a venture firm focused on startups making a significant social impact. In his role, he’s on the hunt for the next big thing. We talk about how to pitch effectively to get VC attention, and Silicon Valley.

On this episode, I chat with two incredible and accomplished minorities in tech, Michael Seibel of Y Combinator, and Hadiyah Muhjid of Black Founders + Playpen Labs.  Michael was a co-founder at Justin.TV which rebranded as Twitch and sold to Amazon for close to a billion dollars in 2014. He recently became a full partner at the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator for startups. Hadiyah is a full stack software engineer. She graduated with her CS degree from University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and received her MBA from Drexel. She founded Black Founders, an organization which serves as a platform for minorities in technology in Silicon Valley and across the US.

On this episode, I chat with Makinde Adeagbo, the Engineering Manager at Pinterest which brands itself as '...a place to discover ideas for all your projects and interests, hand-picked by people like you.' Makinde displays his thoughtfulness and smarts in the fun chat. He’s such a smart guy and we could’ve talked for another hour. We discuss his growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, his thoughts on whether or not kids should be coding at an early age, and tips for startup growth hacking. Makinde has done some extreme marathons, including a 50 mile race in 2012. We’ll chat briefly about that.