Podcast appearances and mentions of marlon nichols

What makes a great founder? How do VCs really decide who to back?In this episode of Demo Day, host Sean Goldfaden sits down with Marlon Nichols, Managing Partner at MaC Venture Capital, to explore what separates good founders from great ones, the mindset of successful venture capitalists, and the hidden power of community-driven events like CultureHouse and LA Tech Week.Marlon breaks down the qualities he looks for when investing—including “repeat exceptionalism,” founder resilience, domain expertise, salesmanship, and more. Plus, he opens up about navigating blind spots, evolving Mac's investment strategy, and what it takes to succeed in today's fast-moving startup landscape.Whether you're a startup founder, aspiring VC, or someone looking to break into tech, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical advice.Topics covered include:1. How VCs really evaluate early-stage startups2. Why repeat exceptionalism matters more than a resume3. Common blind spots that derail even top-tier founders4. The evolution of LA's tech and venture ecosystem5. How to build relationships with LPs as a first-time fund manager6. Why CultureHouse has become a cornerstone of LA Tech Week7. Marlon's advice for the next generation of builders and investors

When I learned that MaC Venture Capital just raised $150 million for its third fund since 2020, I immediately reached out for an interview with Marlon Nichols, the firm's co-founder and managing general partner. Marlon previously co-founded Cross Culture Ventures, which merged with M Ventures in 2019 to form MaC VC. In this interview, we talked about his path from enterprise software into venture capital, the concept of cultural investing, and MaC VC's focus on diverse founders. He also explained what types of startups the new fund is open to and discussed some of the criteria he uses to assess the strengths of founding teams (and their ideas). Runtime: 45:44 Links Marlon Nichols Contact Marlon MaC Venture Capital Exclusive: MaC VC raises $150 million for its third fund in four years (Fortune) The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers, Ben Horowitz Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It, Scott Kupor Subscribe

In this episode we speak with Marlon Nichols, co-founder of MaC Ventures Capital, who discusses his diverse career path from starting as an early employee at an enterprise software company, moving into consulting, and ultimately venturing into the world of venture capital. He explains the founding and growth of MaC Ventures Capital, sharing insights into their investment thesis, sector focus, and the types of companies they seek to partner with. Marlon also provides invaluable advice for new fund managers and entrepreneurs, touching on the current fundraising landscape, strategies for success, and the importance of aligning with a firm's culture and team dynamics   MaC Ventures Capital is a seed-stage venture firm that invests primarily in North America, with a focus on California. While the firm does not have a specific sector focus, it considers itself a generalist firm run by sector experts. Marlon explains that the common thread among their investments is a focus on popular culture and future trends. The firm seeks to identify emerging behaviors and trends early on and invest in companies that align with these shifts. This approach allows MaC Ventures Capital to invest in a wide range of sectors, including fintech, B2B SaaS, digital health, and space and defense.   If your company is looking to scale its AI initiatives, head over to Tesoro AI (www.tesoroai.com). We are experts in AI strategy, staff augmentation, and AI product development.  Founder Bio: Marlon Nichols is the co-founder and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see. Marlon has an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global and cultural trends, along with shifts in consumer behavior, has helped him uplift and accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of their breakthrough moment. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Faze Clan, FINESSE, Gimlet Media, LIT Videobooks, Mansa, MongoDB, Pipe, PureStream, Ryff, Solo Funds, Spill, Thrive Market, Wonderschool and others. Thanks to his background as a professional athlete, Marlon utilizes sports leadership philosophy when working closely with CEOs to build the ventures of tomorrow. His diverse network of media and entertainment industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives and sports professionals helps him develop strategic partnerships and promote brand expansions for his portfolio companies.Marlon serves on the board of directors for the Kauffman Fellows program, where he has been instrumental in growing the representation of underrepresented minorities. He also serves on the advisory board for Los Angeles Mayor's office's PledgeLA. Marlon has been honored on the LA500 in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and ranked among top early stage investors on Business Insider's Seed 100 for three consecutive years. He was also named Pitchbook's 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch for the last six years. Marlon has been featured in Axios, CNBC, Cheddar, The Information, Crunchbase News, Fortune, Yahoo! Finance and more. Prior to MaC Venture Capital, Marlon was co-founder of Cross Culture Ventures. He eventually enacted the merger with Adrian Fenty's M Ventures that resulted in MaC Venture Capital as it stands today. Prior to Cross Culture Ventures, he served as an Investment Director at Intel Capital and earned hands-on experience as an operator himself. Marlon earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University and an MBA from the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, where he was also adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital.   Time Stamps:   02:57 Marlon's journey from early operator to VC founder 08:55 Venture capital as a path to diversity and strategic engagement 12:14 MaC ventures Capital investment thesis and strategies 16:25 Fundraising challenges and advice for new founders 21:04 Strategies for First-Time fund managers targeting LPs 23:25 Fundraising realities for new VC managers 26:18 The multifaceted role of a founding general partner 28:56 Strategies for startups targeting successful exits 31:42 Evaluating seed stage investments 34:03 Venture capital's shift to sustainable investment strategies 38:25 The impact of AI on business 41:40 What is coming up in 2024 and how to get in contact with MaC Ventures Capital team   Resources   Company website: https://MaCventurecapital.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MaCventurecap/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MaC-venture-capital/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaCVentureCap

Learn how Marlon Nichols, founding partner at MaC Venture Capital, is reimagining VC to be more equitable and empowering. Hear how MaC VC is investing in the future the world wants by backing startups focused on the 99% - not just the 1%. Marlon shares his vision for a more diverse portfolio and examples of MaC's investments in marginalized founders.-----------Sign up for a free 30-day trial of the SNS Global Report - The world's most reliable source of advanced information at the intersection of technology and the economy for 25 years. https://www.stratnews.com/subscribe/------------Sign up for updates about the Future in Review conference at http://www.futureinreview.com------------Subscribe to Future in Review Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/future-in-review-podcast-w-berit-anderson/id1650665335Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWRpYS5yc3MuY29tL2Z1dHVyZWlucmV2aWV3L2ZlZWQueG1sSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1aZsFcVINhGAe2FvaDif0e?si=f8add49fa10040c8

Marlon Nichols is the founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see. Prior to MaC Venture Capital, Marlon was founder of Cross Culture Ventures and served as Investment Director at Intel Capital. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, MongoDB, PlayVS, Pipe, Thrive Market and Wonderschool, among others. Follow Black Tech Green Money: @blacktechgreenmoney, @btgmpodcast Follow Will Lucas on Instagram: @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marlon Nichols gives top tips for people who want to become a venture capitalist and describes what a cultural investing thesis means for MaC Venture Capital. Guests - Marlon NicholsWebsite - https://macventurecapital.com/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Justin Gordon (justingordon212) talks with Marlon Nichols (@MarlonCNichols), the founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see, and helping entrepreneurs bring the future into focus to find their breakthrough moment. MaC Venture Capital is the result of the merger between successful Los Angeles and Bay Area based Seed funds, Cross Culture Ventures and M Ventures. They are focused on finding ideas, technology, and products that can become infectious, investing in technology companies that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace. They recently raised their $203M Fund II.Marlon is a Kauffman Fellow who also serves on the Board of Directors. Prior to MaC Venture Capital, Marlon was founder of Cross Culture Ventures and served as Investment Director at Intel Capital. Marlon has an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global and cultural trends, along with shifts in consumer behavior, has helped him uplift and accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of their breakthrough moment. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, MongoDB, PlayVS, Pipe, Thrive Market and Wonderschool, among others.Marlon was recently honored as a member of the 2022 class of the LA500 list and as a top early stage investor on Insider's 2022 Seed 100 list. Additionally, he is the recipient of MVMT50's SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity's Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award and was a TechWeek 100 winner. He was named Pitchbook's 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and one of Silicon Republic's 26 VC professionals spearheading change. Marlon has been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Cheddar, MSNBC, Blavity and NBC, and is adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.Website: MaC Venture CapitalLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marloncnichols/Twitter: @MarlonCNicholsMarlon on the Just Go Grind Podcast in March 2021: Episode #285 on JGGShow Notes: What enabled MaC Venture Capital to double their first raise, closing a $203M Fund II The value of a strong reserves strategy MaC Venture Capital's investment in Pipe, which transforms recurring revenue into up-front capital for growth without dilution or restrictive debt The story behind MaC Venture Capital's investment in Truebill, now Rocket Money (check out Co-Founder Haroon Mokhtarzada's episode on the Just Go Grind podcast) What makes a stellar founder How they ended up investing in Mahmee and what makes their founder Melissa Hanna such an investable founder Where Marlon is excited to invest next How Marlon educates himself on new geographies and markets Marlon's perspective on investing in the current market downturn More about the show:The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 400+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series. The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors. The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital. More about us:Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.The Vitalize Team:Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVCCaroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/

Marlon Nichols is the founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see.Marlon is a Kauffman Fellow who also serves on the Board of Directors. Prior to MaC Venture Capital, Marlon was founder of Cross Culture Ventures and served as Investment Director at Intel Capital. Marlon has an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global and cultural trends, along with shifts in consumer behavior, has helped him uplift and accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of their breakthrough moment. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, MongoDB, PlayVS, Pipe, Thrive Market and Wonderschool, among others.Marlon is the recipient of MVMT50's SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity's Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award and was a TechWeek 100 winner. He was named Pitchbook's 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and one of Silicon Republic's 26 VC professionals spearheading change. He's been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Cheddar, MSNBC, Blavity and NBC, and is adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.https://macventurecapital.com

Marlon Nichols, a VC with Mac Venture Capital is on the main stage helping us understand startup funding rounds, and their impacts on the cap table, a spreadsheet or table that shows the equity capitalization for a company. Cap tables include all the equity in a company, like common and preferred shares, and more. Marlon is THE person to give this talk, he's a seed-stage venture capitalist that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity (which owns AfroTech), Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, MongoDB, PlayVS, and more. This talk was presented at AfroTech 2017, held in San Francisco, CA. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more about other Black tech disruptors and innovators at AfroTech.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In Episode 20 of Venture Games, my guest Marlon Nichols, Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital, discusses his firm's thesis of investing in culture and companies impacting culture; his investment in PlayVs; his investment in Faze Clan; and some of his thoughts on diversity in the VC/startup ecosystem.

Name: Marlon Nichols Current Title: Managing Partner, MaC Venture Capital   About Marlon: Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly known as Cross Culture Ventures), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. He's a former Kauffman Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital, with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media, and entertainment. Marlon's unique eye for global trends and shifts in consumer behavior has helped him capture many high-potential investments, which include Gimlet Media, MongoDB, Thrive Market, Fair, LISNR, Mayvenn, Blavity, Pipe, Wonderschool, and other companies that reflect overlooked markets.   He serves on the board of directors for Ajua, Blavity, Finesse, Kauffman Fellows Program, LISNR, Ryff, Sote and Wonderschool. Marlon is the recipient of MVMT50's SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, a 2018 nominee of the ADCOLOR in Tech award, Digital Diversity's Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award, was named Pitchbook's 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch in 2018 and 2019, was a TechWeek 100 winner and was named one of Silicon Republic's 26 VC professionals spearheading change. He's been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Blavity, and NBC, and is adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.   DURING THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSSED: Understanding how venture capital works and the different types Which types of businesses should pursue venture capital funding When is the right time for a business to consider raising venture financing The role of a venture partner in a business What happens at the end of a companies life cycle What to expect after receiving funding and business expectations Tips for qualifying investors to make sure they are a right fit to invest in your business Are you a business owner looking to get more clients and exposure? Does your business provide professional services that would be beneficial for a business owner starting their business? If so, submit your business to be listed in our directory, The Connect!  You may submit your business at:  https://blacktobusiness.com/theconnect/   For complete show notes and resources mentioned for this episode go to: blacktobusiness.com/73   Thank you so much for listening! Please support us by simply rating and reviewing our podcast!

Black Entrepreneurship & Fundraising in 2021- have we made any progress?In this special episode, we bring you the fireside chat moderated by Dan with: Amira Rasool, CEO of The FolkloreDaricus Releford, CEO of StoreCashKwame Boler, CEO of neuIn the session we talked about the state of black entrepreneurship and fundraising in 2021. As we experience Juneteenth for the first time as a National holiday, we ask:What has changed? What has remained the same?Where are the opportunities for improvement?The panel kept it real, as the conversation covered everything from exasperation to optimism, and everything in between.This event took place on June 24, 2021 and was hosted by the Techstars Seattle Accelerator and Managing Director Isaac KatoAudience Resources and Shout outs:Kwame's episodeAmira's episodeDaricus' episode - coming soonTechstars Seattle, office hoursshoutout: Marlon Nichols, MAC Venture Capitalshoutout: Paystackshoutout: fellow black Techstars alum Ikechi NwabuisiFollow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow.PODCAST TRANSCRIPT See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today Marlon talks about MAC Ventures and how he, Mike Palank, Adrian Fenty and Charles D. King tap into their deep networks to identify shifts in cultural trends and behaviors.

On this episode of the Startup of the Year Podcast, we hear an “Ask Me Anything” session from our 2020 Summit, where the Established Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Jen Consalvo, talked with Marlon Nichols, who is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital. Marlon is a former Kauffman Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital, with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global trends and shifts in consumer behavior has helped him capture many high-potential investments, which include Gimlet Media, MongoDB and many other companies that reflect overlooked markets. Marlon was also recently featured in an LA Times full spread article on the front page of the business section (https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-05/black-latinx-and-female-entrepreneurs-are-still-ignored-by-most-venture-capitalists) and he is als an investor in SoLo funds, which is also one of our Established Ventures portfolio companies. We also want all of our listeners to know that the 2021 Startup of the Year Application is open! The top 100 startups will come together for additional opportunities to connect, showcase, and potentially take home the title of Startup of the Year at our annual Summit. You can see if your startup fits our criteria and apply today at: soty.link/apply We also want to let our listeners know about some of our partner deadlines that are coming up. The DoD SBIR/STTR 2021.2 deadline is June 17th and you can apply at the following link: https://rt.cto.mil/rtl-small-business-resources/sbir-sttr/ The Greater Colorado Pitch Series Application deadline is June 18th and you can find the info for the event at the following link: https://airtable.com/shrtwoOvOBMHrjiaV Lastly, the SBA Growth Accelerator and SBIR Catalyst Prizes deadline is July 2nd and you can apply at the following link: https://www.sbir.gov/accelerators We also continue to spread the word about companies and services that can really add value to startup founders. One of those companies is TaxTaker, which offers an easy to use tech solution that helps startups claim R&D tax credits and earn back tens of thousands of dollars or more every year. They're on a mission to help startups and founders fuel their growth efforts so they can continue doing what they do best - building awesome companies and changing the world. Get started now for free at TaxTaker.com/SOTY. Finmark is another company that can help startups. Finmark is financial planning software for startups for revenue forecasting, cash projections, and runway. It is one of those few products that we truly believe in and I think that it will help a lot of our community members, so please go check out Finmark and signing up for 30-day free trial at est.us/finmark Lastly, we invite you all to join our community today to access the support, expert advice, and resources you need to to elevate your startup by going to: est.us/join Thank you for listening, and as always, please check out the Established website and subscribe to the newsletter at www.est.us Checkout Startup of the Year at www.startupofyear.com Subscribe to the Startup of the Year Daily Deal Flow: www.startupofyear.com/daily-dealflow Subscribe to the Startup of the Year podcast: www.podcast.startupofyear.com Subscribe to the Established YouTube Channel: soty.link/ESTYouTube *** Startup of the Year helps diverse, emerging startups, founding teams, and entrepreneurs push their company to the next level. We are a competition, a global community, and a resource. Startup of the Year is also a year-long program that searches the country for a geographically diverse set of startups from all backgrounds and pulls them together to compete for the title of Startup of the Year. The program includes a number of in-person and virtual events, including our annual South By Southwest startup pitch event and competition. All of which culminate at our annual Startup of the Year Summit, where the Startup of the Year winner is announced, along with an opportunity at a potential investment. Established is a consultancy focused on helping organizations with innovation, startup, and communication strategies. It is the power behind Startup of the Year. Created by the talent responsible for building the Tech.Co brand (acquired by an international publishing company), we are leveraging decades of experience to help our collaborators best further (or create) their brand & accomplish their most important goals. Connect with us on Twitter - @EstablishedUs and Facebook - facebook.com/established.us/.

Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly known as Cross Culture Ventures), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. A career started in consulting eventually led to venture because as a VC, one has skin in the game for the length of that investment. It offers the ability to directly shape the nature of the companies, supports more diverse entrepreneurs and identifies opportunities to address traditionally underserved communities through entrepreneurialism. Slowly, there are signs of increased focus on diversity in the venture capital space with many groups reporting on their diversity numbers. “A nerve has been struck, and people are digging in and seeing the value; not only the social value but the economic value of diversity.” Coining the term, “cultural investing,” it seeks to identify global behavioral shifts with potential staying power. Pop culture is the driving force, so it is used as a key indicator in predicting where major cultural movements are heading. ————————————————————————— To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit *salt.org/talks* ( http://salt.org/talks ) Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci.

Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly Cross Culture Ventures), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. He’s an industry veteran – a former Kauffman Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital, where he launched Intel’s $125M diversity fund. Marlon, with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment, has a unique eye for global trends and shifts in consumer behavior. This has helped him capture high-potential investments, which include Gimlet Media, MongoDB, Thrive Market, Fair, LISNR, Mayvenn, Blavity, Pipe, Wonderschool, and other companies that reflect overlooked markets. He serves on the board of directors for Ajua, Blavity, Finesse, Kauffman Fellows Program, LISNR, Ryff, Sote and Wonderschool. Thanks to his background as a professional athlete, Marlon utilizes sports leadership philosophy when working closely with CEO’s to build the ventures of tomorrow. His diverse network of media and entertainment industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives and sports professionals helps him develop strategic partnerships and promote brand expansions for his portfolio companies. Marlon is a 2018 nominee of the ADCOLOR in Tech award, a recipient of MVMT50’s SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award, was named Pitchbook’s 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch (2018 – 2020), was a TechWeek 100 winner and was named one of Silicon Republic’s 26 VC professionals spearheading change. He’s also been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Blavity, NBC and many more. He has been featured as a keynote speaker and regularly appears in the media as a thought leader in investing and cultural trends. Marlon earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University and an MBA from the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, where he is also adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital. MaC Venture CapitalMaC Venture Capital is the result of the merger between successful Los Angeles and Bay Area based Seed funds, Cross Culture Ventures and M Ventures. MaC Venture Capital is an early stage venture capital firm focused on finding ideas, technology, and products that can become infectious. They invest in technology companies that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace. MaC VC helps entrepreneurs bring the future into focus to find their breakthrough moment. Their proven track record of 100+ investments has unlocked growth opportunities through capital, advisement, and relationship building. Their previous funds’ portfolios have returned capital to investors and continue to appreciate in value. About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies. They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches. They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs. Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company. Learn more at variasearch.com. Some of the Topics Covered by Marlon Nichols in this Episode How MaC VC invests How they identify emerging behavioral and cultural trends How M Ventures and Cross Culture came together to merge into MaC Venture Capital The process and challenges of merging venture funds How Marlon got into VC The process of fundraising for their first fund What institutional LPs are looking for when investing in a fund Knowing when to be innovative and when to stick to what is proven to work Startup ecosystems Marlon has seen evolved during his time in VC and how they look at new markets How they first heard about some of their portfolio companies like Gimlet Media and Zero Grocery, how they evaluated them and why they decided to invest How Marlon manages his time The growing industries of exchanges, trading platforms and fractional ownership What's next for Marlon and MaC VC Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

On this episode of the Startup of the Year Podcast, Frank Gruber talks with Rohit Bhargava about business, marketing, and his book “Non-Obvious Mega Trends.”    Rohit is an innovation and marketing expert and the founder of the Non-Obvious Company. He is also a Wall Street Journal best selling author of six business books and also teaches marketing and innovation at Georgetown University. His most recent book is titled “Non-Obvious Mega Trends” and it is the culmination of a decade of Non-Obvious trend books. You can buy the book at: www.nonobvious.com/megatrends   Rohit is hosting The Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit on January 26 - 29th, where Frank will also be speaking about investing in diverse startups along with Courtney Caldwell of ShearShare, Travis Holoway of Solo Funds, Ash Kumra of Peak Mindful, Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital, and Allyson Kapin of The W Fund. Find out more about the event and at: www.nonobviousdiversity.com   As always, we invite all of our listeners to get involved with our program by visiting: established.us/programs. This is the best way to get notified of the various startup opportunities that we come across while working with various partner organizations and in a number of ecosystems across the country.   Thank you for listening, and as always, please check out the Established website and subscribe to the newsletter at www.est.us   Checkout Startup of the Year at www.startupofyear.com/   Subscribe to the Startup of the Year Daily Deal Flow: www.startupofyear.com/daily-dealflow   Subscribe to the Startup of the Year podcast: http://startupoftheyear.libsyn.com/   Subscribe to the Established YouTube Channel: https://soty.link/ESTYouTube   *** Startup of the Year helps diverse, emerging startups, founding teams, and entrepreneurs push their company to the next level. We are a competition, a global community, and a resource.     Startup of the Year is also a year-long program that searches the country for a geographically diverse set of startups from all backgrounds and pulls them together to compete for the title of Startup of the Year.    The program includes a number of in-person and virtual events, including our annual South By Southwest startup pitch event and competition. All of which culminate at our annual Startup of the Year Summit, where the Startup of the Year winner is announced, along with an opportunity at a potential investment.   Established is a consultancy focused on helping organizations with innovation, startup, and communication strategies. It is the power behind Startup of the Year.  Created by the talent responsible for building the Tech.Co brand (acquired by an international publishing company), we are leveraging decades of experience to help our collaborators best further (or create) their brand & accomplish their most important goals.  Connect with us on Twitter - @EstablishedUs and Facebook - facebook.com/established.us/.

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) reflect on 2020 and talk about what excites them in 2021. Frank made some of the classic resolutions which included healthier eating habits and exercise routines but also started a new one, where he’s been drawing a new thing every day. Some examples are on his Instagram or Facebook stories (http://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17885120833920189/).   Frank also celebrates the following people from his network:   ​—Natalie Buford-Young has become the new CEO of Springboard Enterprises (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/springboard-enterprises-appoints-natalie-buford-young-as-ceo-301192546.html).   ​—Matt Van Horn on his startup June being acquired by Weber (https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/12/weber-acquires-smart-cooking-start-up-june/).    ​—Andrew Yang is running for Mayor of NYC (https://gothamist.com/news/andrew-yang-enters-mayors-race-scaled-back-plan-universal-basic-income). ​  —Jen Consalvo, Cat Hernandez, Charles Hudson, Jenny Fielding, Lolita Taub, Mac Conwell, and more for being highlighted in Forbes for investing in underrepresented founders (https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2020/12/10/51-vcs-who-want-to-invest-in-women-black-and-latinx-and-lgbtq-founders/?sh=d8f13c8a6425).    Frank and John also talk about the following upcoming events:    ​—The Non-Obvious Diversity Summit (https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/) is coming up January 26 - 29th and I'll be speaking about investing in diverse startups along with Courtney Caldwell of ShearShare, Travis Holloway of Solo Funds, Ash Kumra of Peak Mindful, Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital, and Allyson Kapin of The W Fund. Register at the following link: https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/.  ​   —NASA iTech is looking for innovators who are interested in sharing their latest with NASA Chief Technologists. If you know anyone interested apply by 1/29, more details here: https://www.established.us/nit.   The guys talk about these new books/articles:  Where in the world is billionaire Jack Ma?   —Jack Ma was China’s most vocal billionaire. Then he vanished - https://www.wired.co.uk/article/jack-ma-disappear-ant-group-ipo   Real-life Faceoff?   —Wearing someone else's face: Hyper-realistic masks to go on sale in Japan - https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN28Q194   Llama inhaler for COVID relief    —Asthma-style inhaler filled with powerful LLAMA antibodies could be used to treat patients with severe COVID-19 - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9079137/Asthma-style-inhaler-filled-powerful-LLAMA-antibodies-treat-COVID-19.html   First-Night Effect = Half Your Brain Sleeps, While Other Stays Awake   —Night Watch in One Brain Hemisphere during Sleep Associated with the First-Night Effect in Humans - https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30174-9   Lobster technology   —Ropeless fishing, called ‘crazy’ by some, could be real in five years - https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/ropeless-fishing-called-crazy-by-some-could-be-real-in-five-years   Here's a rabbit hole if you're interested   —UFOs: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Collection - https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ufos-the-central-intelligence-agency-cia-collection/   This stuff is getting real   —A Harvard professor says an alien visited in 2017 — and more are coming - https://nypost.com/2021/01/02/a-harvard-professor-says-an-alien-visited-in-2017/   Apple car is coming in 5 years   —The Apple car, briefly explained​ - https://www.vox.com/recode/22197401/apple-car-explained   Progress for gender equality in pro sports starting with basketball, thank you San Antonio Spurs   —Spurs' Becky Hammon: Being first woman to serve as NBA head coach 'a substantial moment' - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30627408/spurs-becky-hammon-becomes-first-woman-nba-regular-season-history-act-head-coach   Followed by baseball, thank you Boston Red Sox.   —Red Sox hire Smith, first Black female coach - https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-hire-bianca-smith-first-black-female-baseball-coach   Thank you, big sis!   —The Secret To Success? Having A Big Sister - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/17/947566797/the-secret-to-success-having-a-big-sister      —The TB12 Method (https://amzn.to/3so6lrr)- Whether you love Tom Brady or not, this book came out a few years ago and offers a unique approach to a longer, healthier life. It struck a chord, as the strength training I did as an athlete in high school and into college was very similar to what Brady encountered. He realized that pliability is just as important as strength training. I wish I would have had this book 20 years ago but it's never too late to become more pliable and make a change for the better.    Please check out our other podcast:   —On the Startup of the Year Podcast I interviewed Kara Goldin, the CEO and founder of Hint water and author of the bestselling book, Undaunted. Find the episode here: https://podcast.startupofyear.com/0042-startup-stories-with-kara-goldin-ceo-of-hint-and-bestselling-author-of-undaunted.    Lastly, Frank has been testing out his new CamPark Trail Camera (https://amzn.to/3bNiRe2) - Jen gave me this trail camera for Christmas and I've added it to my regular morning routine. It shows we've had lots of visitors in the last couple of weeks as seen here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18151245490107201/.    As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us. Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

I’d like to share with you my conversation with Marlon Nichols, Managing General Partner at Mac Ventures. After almost twenty years building careers in tech and then in consulting with clients such as Blackstone Group, Marlon earned his MBA from Cornell and then transitioned into venture with Intel Capital. Get on the email list at ventureunlocked.substack.com

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about the new COVID-19 vaccine that is getting rolled out to address the ongoing pandemic that has taken 300,000+ lives in the US alone. To put that in perspective, WWII took over 400,000 lives, so this vaccine may go down as one of the most important medical breakthroughs in our lifetime. Frank and John also chat about a few ridiculously large IPOs in the tech sector and the trend of migration from big cities.    Frank also shares some stories and remembers the life of his good friend, Tony Hsieh. You can read his article celebrating Tony’s life at: https://tech.co/news/celebrating-tony-hsieh    Frank also celebrates the following people from his network:  Lou Mintzer  https://twitter.com/mintzer/status/1330873819809144833  Danica Kombol https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mwwpr-acquires-everywhere-agency-leading-influencer-marketing-firm-301190293.html?tc=eml_cleartime&fbclid=IwAR3ZquaI9FMezgAmN21I30x6aVWQhmY0WQOqQgI6ILW51dvcthZOUzP-3Ag   The guys talk briefly about the 8th annual Startup of the Year Summit that occurred in November. From the startup pitches, to the conversations with folks like Tim Draper, Kara Goldin, and Mike Evans, Lo Toney, and many many more. We also had AMAs with Marc Nager, Carolyn Rodz, Marlon Nichols, NASA, USAF.   We also hosted 500+ Curated Office Hours during the summit, not to mention all the interactions and conversations that attendees set up on their own. We also had an amazing Top 100 semi-finalists this year! Here are a few fun stats:  OVER half of our startups have a female on the founding team 74% of teams have a founder of color nearly 20% were Veteran-led companies SoLo Funds was named the 2020 Startup of the Year and Jeenie won the .US Veteran Startup of the Year. The Top 5 finalists included SoLo Funds, Jeenie, Finmark, GLASS, and Hoy Health. We also named Grifin as the People’s Choice Award winner. As always, remember to register for your free .us domain offer at est.us/SummitUS.    We hope to see you in 2021! Sign up now to get notified about our 2021 application and upcoming events at: established.us/programs and startupofyear.com    Up next, Established will be helping to host the Unvalley 2020 conference on December 17th and 18th. Our team at Established is the Production sponsor and some will be conducting the interviews at the event. This is not only an opportunity to see great speakers it is an opportunity for anyone looking to find a job that best fits their culture or vibe outside of the valley.  Register for Unvalley at the following: https://est.us/unvalley20    Unvalley is a two day virtual conference to connect attendees with the biggest opportunities in tech between the coasts. Speakers include the following: Steve Case from Revolution and Rise of the Rest.  Arlan Hamilton from BackStage Capital  Rand Fishkin from Moz Mary Grove from Bread and Butter Ventures and many many more.  The guys also discuss the following things they are reading/watching: Do you know the origin story of Monopoly? Monopoly Was Designed to Teach the 99% About Income Inequality. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/monopoly-was-designed-teach-99-about-income-inequality-180953630/?fbclid=IwAR0Uzcy2c-GkxVwiLSmnBCirgo8lPp12YIh5wKJreyoHHd439G5czv2dtyw Movie night is going to be at home in 2021. Warner Bros. Smashes Box Office Windows, Will Send Entire 2021 Slate to HBO Max and Theaters. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-smashes-box-office-windows-will-send-2021-slate-to-hbo-max-and-theaters Wonder Women on Merry Christmas!!! Wonder Woman 1984 will be released on HBO Max the same day it’s in theaters for no extra cost. https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/18/21504152/wonder-woman-1984-release-delay-new-date-warner-bros-disney-black-widow-dune-tenet Aliens are helping us prevent war. Israel's Former Space Security Chief Says Aliens Have Prevented Nuclear War. https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgzg97/israels-former-space-security-chief-says-aliens-have-prevented-nuclear-war?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-motherboardvice&utm_content=later-12615309&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram Would you give up your treasure? Treasure hunter marks five years in jail for refusing to give up his gold. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/14/tommy-thompson-treasure-jail-ship-of-gold  Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

In this episode, I chat with Jamaican American Marlon Nichols where he shares his story of moving to the US and his journey into Venture Capital. Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly Cross Culture Ventures, a top decile performing fund), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. He’s an industry veteran with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment, has a unique eye for global trends and shifts in consumer behavior. Connect with Marlon Nichols - Twitter | Instagram Connect with @carryonfriends - Twitter | Instagram | FacebookEnjoyed the show? Please remember to leave a rating and review in Apple Podcasts. A Breadfruit Media Production: Twitter |InstagramSupport the show (http://glow.fm/carryonfriends)

Morgan DeBaun, Founder & CEO of Blavity. Fresh out of college, she headed to Silicon Valley to learn from the best and brightest about Product Management and Design. The St. Louis native became a growth hacker and small business advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs. In 2014, she launched Blavity - the largest media startup and lifestyle brand for black millennials. Under her leadership, Blavity has successfully acquired 2 companies, raised over 9 million in venture funding, and reaches millions of people a day online. Today, Morgan manages a team of over 65 employees and 100 contractors with offices in LA, ATL, SF and NYC.Morgan is one of the first 15 American women to raise one million in venture funding. Her list of accolades includes: The Root Top 100 Most Influential Black Americans, Ebony 100, Black Enterprise Founder of the Year, Forbes 30 under 30, Silicon Valley Top Women in Tech, and has been profiled in Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, WSJ, Forbes, and many more. Learn more about Oracle for Startups(Interviewed by Marlon Nichols, Managing Partner at Cross Culture VC.). 

Marlon Nichols is Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital – a West Coast VC investing in technology companies that create infectious products benefiting from shifts in cultural trends & behaviours in an increasingly diverse global marketplace. Marlon's also on the Board of Directors of Kauffman Fellows, is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell, and was previously Director of Investments at Intel Capital.   We discussed:   The challenges facing BAME VCs & BAME entrepreneurs trying to raise funding for their funds & their startups Why it is a financial as well as a moral imperative to invest in diversity: “even if you're not a decent human being - at least be a selfish & fiduciary human being” The risk that startups who raise too much capital too early will lose focus & struggle to gain traction   For more insights into MaC Ventures head over to https://macventurecapital.com & for advice on recruiting exceptional talent to scale your software venture check out https://alpinasearch.com

This episode of #Imalittlebuzzed we speak to Marlon Nichols, a man who finds entrepreneurs who have the potential to create the future of industry in America and makes their dreams a reality. Marlon is the founding managing partner of MaC Venture Capital and an investor in high-potential companies like Gimlet Media, MongoDB, Thrive Market, Fair, LISNR, Mayvenn, Blavity, and Wonderschool. He is also the recipient of the SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year Award, named one of Pitchbook's 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch in 2018 and 2019, and a former Kaufmann Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital. Tune in to find out what you can do to be the kind of entrepreneur that Marlon looks for.

In this first episode of our investor-focused season, Nana and Andy are talking to Venture Capital firms and Angel Investors, to demystify the funding landscape and draw parallels between the journey of founders and investors. They sat down with Marlon Nichols, the Managing General Partner at Mac Venture Capital, (https://macventurecapital.com/) to understand his route into VC, the challenges he's faced and why the General Partners believe in them. This podcast is sponsored by Balsamiq (https://balsamiq.com/) , the quick and easy wireframing tool. For anyone looking to create wireframes easily, check out the link below for a promo code to get a 90 day free trial, please visit https://balsamiq.com/go/founders-clinic/. Well worth it! Balsamiq have also kindly donated some of their sponsored airtime to some exciting startups! Say hello to Cledara (https://www.cledara.com/) , a tool that allows you to manage all the subscriptions your company has in one place. Check them out! Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times. You can find out more about Andy's Angel Investing School on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AndysHVC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) or sign up for his weekly newsletter (https://www.getrevue.co/profile/Andy-Ayim ) , to keep up to date with him.

Marlon Nichols, Founder & Managing Partner, MaC Venture Capital Key Takeaways: 1. Companies that can thrive in this environment: health tech space, remote work, collaboration, government/reg tech. 2. Companies will have to make hard changes, but need to keep an eye on how the business is performing and whether you are still achieving the short term goals you set out to accomplish. 3. Diverse founders are historically underfunded, but once funded, tend to outperform non-diverse teams by 30% on average. Investors should continue to find ways to source and support diverse teams much like the efforts of the 'Launch with GS' team.

Join Atento Capital for the fifth episode of our podcast, Be Atento. In this episode we talk with Marlon Nichols, founder and Managing Partner of MaC Venture Capital. Marlon has extensive experience in the venture capital space and has invested in unicorns such as Fair; had numerous exits including Gimlet (Acq. Spotify) and Skurt (Acq. Fair); and has other high flying companies including PlayVS, Firefly, Faze Clan, and Lisnr in his portfolio. Tune in to hear Marlon's thoughts on how COVID-19 will impact the adoption of remote working and learning, his thesis behind investing in cultural trends, and some of the most common characteristics he sees in successful founders.To learn more about Atento Capital, check out our website: https://www.atentocapital.com/Subscribe to the Be Atento Podcast anywhere podcasts can be found, if you need help, check us out on Podfollow: https://podfollow.com/1499376646 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Recorded (11/19): In this episode hear Marlon Nichols, Managing General Partner at MaC Ventures, speak about what he’s looking for as an investor and his thesis around cultural investing! Marlon touches upon how he got into the business of Venture Capital, setting up his own fund, and where he sees white space going forward. 

MAC is a $100m fund writing $500k - $1.5m checks. David and I didn't talk much because Mike had so many great stories.  He tells us about his partners Adrian Fenty, Marlon Nichols, Charles King and some of the cool stuff in interactive media today.   Lil Miquela : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE1J9JxqhFo ... makes our podcast guest list look a little dry  

How to get a job in venture after business school and working at the world’s biggest venture fund (Intel Capital). www.ansarada.com

Let's make your business a reality.Today's guests share their experiences and expertise including the challenges in accessing funding for women-owned small businesses , outline the available financing options such as Angel Investment, and what business owners needs to consider when choosing a financing solution. Our guests include: Meryl Caryn Stoute, Area Vice President, Business Banking at RBC, Jamaican Patria-Kaye Aarons who took the leap from the corporate world to entrepreneurship when she launched her company Sweetie Confectionery and Marlon Nichols, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Cross Culture Ventures (CCV) an early stage venture capital firm.

Marlon Nichols is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Cross Culture Ventures. In this episode, we talk about difficult conversations with partners, the promise of diversity in venture, and more. Signup for our newsletter to get notified of the latest release and to receive the latest insights in VC and startups http://eepurl.com/dzVE5j

Through our partnership with the Coalition of Black Excellence founded by Angela J. we have the pleasure of sitting down with 500 Startups venture partner Clayton Bryan. He sits down with us to discuss his career journey up to this point and to share valuable advice for young leaders and founders, particularly in the VC space. We also promote CBE Week, an event designed to highlight excellence in the black community, connect black professionals across sectors, and provide opportunities for professional development and community engagement.Learn more about CBE Week here! https://www.cbeweek.com/Learn more about Transparent Collective: https://www.transparentcollective.com/Learn more about HBCUvc: http://www.hbcu.vc/Check out the Dorm Room Fund: https://www.dormroomfund.com/Check out 500 Startups' VC Unlocked: https://education.500.com/TRANSCRIPTZach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach, and listen, y'all. Living Corporate is partnering with the Coalition of Black Excellence, CBE, a non-profit organization based in California, in bringing a Special Speaker series to promote CBE Week, an annual week-long event designed to highlight excellence in the black community, connect black professionals across sectors, and provide opportunities for professional development and community engagement that will positively transform the black community. This is a special series where we will spotlight movers and shakers who will be speakers during CBE Week. Today we are blessed to have Clayton Bryan. Clayton has over 12 years of experience in the tech space, initially working as a marketer. He transitioned into business development and over the past 3 years has worked in venture capital. Currently, as a venture partner at 500 Startups in San Francisco, Clayton is focused on the media, e-commerce, and frontier tech. Clayton is also one of the co-founders of Transparent Collective, a non-profit launched to help founders of color connect with investors and mentors. Prior to returning to the Bay Area, as a member of the Dorm Room Fund team in New York, Clayton worked with and invested in some of the best and brightest student-funded startups on the East Coast. With that being said, welcome to the show, Clay. How you doin', man?Clayton: Zach, I'm doing great, and to all the listeners out there, good evening, good morning, good afternoon, whenever you might be listening to this. Happy to be here, and looking forward to, you know, having a good conversation.Zach: Absolutely. So look, man. Of course I read your profile in the introduction, but for those of us who might be wanting to know a little bit more--I know I'm one of those people--would you mind talking a little bit more about yourself and your journey?Clayton: Sure, happy to hit on some of the high notes and the milestones. So I'm originally from the Bay. Big shout-out to Oakland. And, you know, growing up I always felt this gravitational pull towards technology. I was fortunate to be able to have an Apple II back in the day and played, you know, some games on that, everything from, you know, Oregon Trail to Mavis Teaches Typing, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Yeah, those are some of the OG titles.Zach: Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me ask you this real fast about those games though. Did you ever played this game called Gizmos and Gadgets?Clayton: I don't recall that one. That one--Zach: 'Cause man, it was really dope. Okay, okay, but you said Oregon Trail. Did you ever play that Mario typing game? Where you type and then Mario moves?Clayton: Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was a classic too, you know? So for everyone from that era, you know, those were great, and I think that they did a good job of really kind of getting a lot of folks into technology and just, you know, bringing up that awareness. And so once I saw the application of that--and then I also was able to go to, you know, great places as a kid growing up in this area. Places like the Lawrence Hall of Science up in the Berkeley Hills, and, you know, really getting to see all of these cool things happen with science. And so when I got to high school I started to code a little bit, and I took CS in high school. When I got to college, I thought that was gonna be my track as well, but I happened to go to a school where there's a really tough computer science program, and I was like, "Actually," you know, "I think I'm a little more creative than this." So I wanted to touch technology, but not necessarily from the coding perspective, and so I became actually--I was a poli-sci and economics major, and then when I graduated I joined Yahoo as a content marketer, and I was there for a couple years. Then I decided I wanted to go do the startup thing, so I worked at a couple different startups, and that's when I first got--started to really hear the term "venture capital," and back in the 2000s it was a very different time and place within Silicon Valley and the way that we think of things. Investors weren't blogging, they weren't tweeting. It was very obscure as to what investors actually did. Now it's different. Now, you know, you see--it's kind of a who's who on Twitter. Twitter has a VC category you can follow. There's Medium. It's just very easy to kind of stay plugged into that scene if you really want to learn how different investors are thinking. There's a lot of information out there. Back in the 2000s that was not the case, but I was very fortunate at the time--one of the companies I was working with, we had done a Series A and a Series B--and also the check sizes were much different than a Series A and a Series B were today--but I was the seventh hire, and I got to really see, you know, what these meetings with investors look like, and I was exposed to that, and I was like, "This is kind of cool. This is interesting," and that's really, you know, kind of planted the seed for me to want to be on that side of the table. And so fast-forward a couple years. My first--my first kind of role where I was in an investor-like seat was running an accelerator program that focused on underrepresented founders, and so through that program I got to know a lot of folks who I'm gonna shout-out later on in, you know, our conversation. But I got to see--I was even closer, but the problem with that program was that we were not writing checks, and I wanted to actually deploy capital. In order for me to feel comfortable doing that I decided, "Okay. Well, I want to go back to school," which was kind of a controversial decision at the time, because I still think MBAs are not necessarily all that welcome within the space, but I think it's changing now. But for me it leads--the decision was to go back, learn more about finance, build up that skill set, and then finally venture out as a venture capitalist, and so that's what I've been doing since 2015, and I've been incredibly blessed to join a great team at 500 and incredibly blessed to be a part of something called the Dorm Room Fund. And yeah, that's my journey in 3 minutes or less.Zach: Man, that's incredible. And, you know, it's interesting--you know, to your point about some of your decisions being a little non-conventional, still--you talked about yes, there's definitely more information to learn about venture capitalism and being a venture partner. However, Clayton, I have to be honest, man, I'm still really kind of confused when I think about the role of a venture partner. So, like, would you mind sharing a little bit more and kind of breaking it down, what it is your role entails? On, like, what you actually do on a day-to-day basis?Clayton: Sure. And, you know, I think--before I answer that I'll answer a question that I think is a good kind of intro or good for just context in terms of, you know, "Well, how did I get here?" And "Is there a certain path?" Right? I think a lot of folks that want to get into venture are like, "Well, how can I also get into venture?" And I think, you know, a couple years ago there were maybe two different pathways in, where, you know, being a founder that had success. So exited a company, sold a company, right? That was a path. Another path would be, you know, becoming an executive at a top internet company, a big brand that, you know, everyone in the States would know, and then really develop a skill set in sales or marketing or even people ops, and then market yourself to one of these firms as being able to add value. But today, you know, there are so many different firms that are popping up, and I think that if you talk to the folks that are at these firms, they all have different pathways in. And so I think the primary thing is just to have that interest and really network, and be beneficial to founders. Be beneficial to folks that work at these firms. Do the job before you have the job, and I think that's a great way to do it. And there's great programs out there, like HBCUvc, Dorm Room Fund. There's a lot of different programs out there, depending on where you are in your stage of life. We have one at 500 that's called Venture Capital Unlocked. First Round Capital has one called the Angel Track. So there's a lot of programs out there that will help you, you know, kind of get the right skills, because things change so frequently within this space. So I would say that was a little bit of a prelude to the next thing, which is "What do I do on a day-to-day basis?" Well, you know, no two days look alike. I would say the core of my duties, really I'm out here trying to help founders, and so I'm meeting with founders all of the time. If you look at my calendar at any given point in time, there's a lot of meetings with some of the current investments that I have, some of the investments that are a little bit more mature, meaning that, you know, I'm not working with them on a day-to-day, because we have an accelerator program, and so we're--it's essentially like a boot camp for entrepreneurs. So we're helping them with their marketing, their sales. We're helping them really craft the way they're thinking about their investor strategy, and then also with the execution, because a lot of the folks that come through our program, you know, they might be really good at their core competency, whether that's, you know, data science or agriculture tech or spinning up something--you know, some kind of hardware play, but when it comes to the nuances around going out and fundraising and selling your business to the investor audience, it's a little bit of a different type of game. So just understanding and acquainting yourself with the language and the types of models and terms that are being used at this stage. I'm talking about things, you know, as far down as, like, customer acquisition costs, but just understanding things like, you know, your revenue, your different growth rates, right, and how to present that in a way that's meaningful, impactful, but translates well into the minds of investors. So a lot of what I do is coaching. I'm always looking for the next best--the next greatest thing, right, that I can invest in, but even if I can't invest in it right now, I still need to be able to talk to with those founders, help them as much as I can, because I'm always looking for potential, and that means a couple--that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but I'm out there always looking for potential. So a lot of what I do I categorize kind of as just, like, helping founders. That would be one big category, and then other things that I do is meeting with other investors and really trying to assess how they're looking at the market or markets right now, what's interesting to them, because as someone that's at the seed stage, I--at the end of the day, I need to have confidence that I can help my companies raise money, and if the later-stage players are not as actively looking for deals in that category, it might be--it might not be the right time. Timing is so big in what we do, right? It's a huge--I would say timing and [seeds?] are so important. So you really have to get an understanding, if you're a founder, "Is this the right time for me to go and fundraise for this business? Should I try to hunker down, just focus on product right now, and come out in 6 months when things might be a little bit different?" Right? So again, going back to that fundraising strategy piece, but a big part of what I do also is just networking with investors, networking with other stakeholders in the States, folks that might be doing products at Slack or Pinterest or wherever and just asking them, "What are you seeing that's interesting within your category," right? Because that's helping me make more informed decisions when I'm looking--when I'm crafting my theses, my investment theses, and when I'm starting to go out and I'm meeting with different founders trying to see "Can I find founders that think similarly about the way the future's going to be, and then can I back those founders?" And that's--at the core of my job, as someone that's thinking actively about my fiduciary to my [inaudible] partners, I'm constantly thinking about that, right? Constantly trying to think about the trends that not everyone else is seeing just yet, right? Especially at the early stage. That's what we have to do. We have to be able to look across--look around not the next corner but two corners, because we're investing at such an early stage.Zach: Man, that's just--that's incredible, and there's--you know, I have--I have a couple questions about that role and how you show up. Before I ask that question, you know, all of the things you're talking about and the brands that you're mentioning and the conversations that you're having, I'm curious, how many--how rare is it to see black men moving in this space? And I'll say--I'll just say people of color. I'll just say non-white folks to start, but then how--but how rare is it? It seems like it would be rare.Clayton: Yeah. I mean, like, it's rare to see women. It's rare to see Latinx. It's rare to see black men. It's rare to see anyone that doesn't fit a certain profile of what you're already named, right? And so it is rare, but I think it's starting to get better, and, you know, I can't quantify that growth rate, but I think that more and more investors are starting to realize that there's a need to have multiple perspectives, right? We can't all think the same when we're doing an investment. We can't all, you know, have been trained at the same academic institution and travel in the same social groups, because we're gonna miss out on big movements. And even on a geographical note as well. There's big things that are happening across the continent of Africa, right? And there's big things that are happening all across the world, and we can't just think in that tunnel vision of "What's the next greatest thing that's gonna come out of Northern California?" We have to think--we have to think beyond that, right? And so there are things that are helping. There are things that are getting us where we need to be, but I think that the pace can pick up. And I mentioned, you know, groups like HBCU VC, which I think are great, but we need more of that. We need more of that, and we need more funds like what, you know, Chris Lyons is doing with the Cultural Leadership Fund. We need a lot of that. We need to amplify that times 10 at least, because I'm not seeing enough folks that look like me and have similar backgrounds when I go to these different conferences, different networking events, and I think that's problematic when we start to really see, you know, what's getting invested in, who's getting invested in, right? There's steps out there that talk a lot about that, you know? Talk about the amount of fundraising going to folks of color compared to, you know, folks that are coming from, you know, I'd say more common backgrounds within tech, and it's staggering in terms of the disparity.Zach: You're absolutely right, and we actually had an--we actually had an episode about that last season where we talked about--where we talked about being in venture capital while black, being in venture capital while other, and we discussed the disparity and fund allocation to the point where--they were talking about certain demographics, it was, like--to represent it in dollars would've been, like, basically zero, right? So it's nuts, and that--to your point though about the role, you know, it seems as if your role requires, like, a cocktail of being able to kind of influence without direct authority, a lot of emotional and social intelligence, and then also all of that still being backed up by significant business competence. Can you talk a little bit about how you show up being, you know, one of the few, and what is it that you're doing in these spaces that are--that are majority white? And what challenges, if you have any, have come with that?Clayton: Yeah. I mean, I think it's just, like, being able to paint pictures. Like, for one, I mean, you definitely need to have your facts, right? You need to have your facts and your stats down, and you need to be able to help those around you, and I'm talking about other investors, see what these trends are telling me. I need to translate that over to them, right? And I need to translate it over to them in language that they will be able to understand, because at the end of the day, like, we're all here to try to, at minimum, 3X our money, if not greater, right? 5X, 10X, and sometimes, you know, if these other investors lack that background, they might not be able to understand things in the same manner, right? And this is why I think every board room--and you're starting to see this within big tech companies, like the Twitters and the Salesforces and the Googles of the world, where they're realizing that they're building products for the entire world, so they need to have a team that reflects that, right? And so--but in the venture scene, we're not seeing that as--you know, we're not seeing it develop as quickly. So for me, in order to go in, you know, I need to be able to pound the table, have the facts, but really build these theses in a way in which can align with what my firm wants to do, right? And so I think a lot of it is just, like, you have to go the extra mile, right? You have to really put in that extra work, and it's making me a much better investor, but part of me is like, "It shouldn't have to be this hard," at the same time, right? Like, if I want to do a deal that's founded by a person of color and I think that--and I'm able to show the data, the trends, all of this is really supporting going in this direction, right? And it's funny, sometimes even money that's coming from outside of the United States sees it better than money that resides within the United States, because it's--like, they understand how emerging markets work, and sometimes, you know, if you put it in that lens, like--I mean, we're not emerging, but we have the same capability of an emerging market in terms of the growth potential. Then a lot of the dollars from overseas are like, "Oh, I want in on that," right? And so sometimes it's just you have to be creative, but, like, you just have to--you have to persevere. I think that's the biggest thing, is really, like, you just have to keep willing to push through, and that's the same note that I want to give out to the founders listening, which is, you know, you have to knock on--especially the seed level. You're gonna have to knock on a lot of different doors. I have founders that come in and tell me, like, "Look, I heard "no" 91 times, and I heard "yes" 9 times, but that's all I needed to close my seed." So don't get--you know, don't get, you know, depressed. Don't have anyone try to knock you off your hustle. You're gonna just have to find the folks that your message resonates with the most, and so that's the message I want to give to the founders that's out there.Zach: No, that's incredible, and you're absolutely right. You know, my father--you know, he's a bit of entrepreneur, financial background, sales background, and what he would--he always tells me is he's like, "Son, you know, you don't need but one yes." Like, often times you just need that one. Like, people keep on--like you just said, you know, the majority said no, but you really just needed, like, a scant few to say "yes" for you to continue forward. And I think it's hard though when--you know, when you continue to present and you present and you present, and, you know, who knows what those no's look like, right? 'Cause a no is a no, but, like, you know, the way that they--sometimes the way people tell you, you know, can hurt. Like, maybe you were told no like, 10 times, even though you were just told no once. You know, so those types of experiences. It's tough, so that's great advice. Before we--before we let you go, do you have any other parting words, shout-outs, or special projects that you're working on?Clayton: Yeah. So I just want to, you know, give a shout-out to Transparent Collective. You know, it's a great initiative that we're trying to, you know, continue, and we're actually looking for sponsors for that. So that's a--it's a great initiative. It's a labor of love, and I want to see that continue in the future. So folks out there that might be interested in sponsoring, hit me up. Big shout-out to--you know, this is gonna be a little bit of a long list, and there's people that definitely if I--it could be a lot longer, but, you know, I want to keep time in mind. So big shout-out to Monique Woodard. She's done a lot to help me out professionally. Big fan of hers. Chris Lyons, Marlon Nichols, Connie LaPuebla, Richard Kirby, Eric Moore, Austin Clements, just to name a few. And then also I love what initiatives like Black VC are doing and also HBCUvc, which I mentioned a few times in this podcast. So that's it. And also one last shout-out to all the founders out there, all the hustlers, all the innovators that are grinding right now. You know, keep building. Keep moving forward. Keep persevering. I know it might be tough. I know that, you know, it might be disheartening when you hear "no" here and there, but you really gotta keep grinding, and you will find your path. And, you know, to the best extent that I can, I'm always willing to make myself available for folks that have questions on the businesses that they're building or the careers they're trying to build, because I believe that you really have to pay it forward in this world. So on that note, that's all I have, and signing off. Thank you, everybody. It's been a great pleasure to have this conversation.Zach: Clayton, man, first of all, the pleasure has definitely been ours. Wonderful feedback, thoughts, and points of advice here. We're gonna make sure that we list all of the organizations that you listed, that you named off, that you shouted out, in the show notes, and then we'll also make sure to have your LinkedIn information in the show notes as well so that people can reach out to you as they're able. Now, I think that's gonna do it for us, folks. Thank you for joining the Living Corporate podcast, a Special Series sponsored by the Coalition of Black Excellence. To learn more about the Coalition of Black Excellence check out their website CBEWeek.com, and make sure that you actually sign up for CBE Week, which is gonna be happening February 18th to the 24th of 2019--that's this year, come on, y'all--in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you go to their website, you'll be able to learn more, get your tickets, and all that kind of stuff right there. Now, make sure you follow us on Instagram though, okay? @LivingCorporate, and make sure you follow CBE at @ExperienceCBE. If you have a question you'd like for us to answer and read on the show, make sure you email us at livingcorporatepodcast@gmail.com. Check out our website, living-corporate.com. This has been Zach, and you've been speaking with Clayton Bryan. Peace.

Investor, Marlon Nichols talks about Venture Capital and gives feedback to a budding entrepreneur. We play digital Truth or Dare with Jay Ellis aka Lawrence from Insecure and we chop it up with Dr. Peace Amadi about online dating and the new swipe culture. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/commas/support

With a portfolio consisting of Gimlet Media, Macro Ventures, Fair, Thrive Market, Blavity and tons of others, Marlon Nichols is no stranger to picking and creating winners. The co-founder and managing partner at Cross Culture Ventures has rooted his company's philosophy in the phrase "Culture as Currency." Recorded live Urban Tech Connect, Marlon walks us through how adopting an inclusive approach to local and global cultures is at the heart of sourcing the next billion dollar company. See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnTVRm9_SdM.

Marlon Nichols is the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Cross Culture Ventures, along with co-founder Troy Carter. Marlon previously served as a Partner at Intel Capital. He has worked with several startups, invested in companies like Mayvenn, Gimlet Media, Blavity, Airspace Technologies, Codeverse, and many others. Marlon is huge on CULTURE when it comes to uncovering hidden opportunities. Today, he talks about the power of culture and diversity, the value of mentorship, and how to assemble a winning team.

Jamarlin talks with Marlon Nichols, co-founder of Cross Culture Ventures, about the culturally-themed fund he started with Troy Carter. They discuss the burger-flippin' robot, Flippy, and socially responsible investing. Marlon offers advice to founders seeking investment, and answers questions about whether there is too much "shut-up-and-dribble" in Silicon Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

LIVE AUDIO: This week we talk to MTTLO Rico Love and Marlon Nichols. Learn more about the music industry and venture capitalist. Tech Beats + Bytes A weekly social gathering of tastemakers in food, entertainment and technology. Conversations, libations, music and knowledge over R&B and Old School Hip-Hop. Join us live as we cover the growth of entrepreneurs, music industry leaders, trendsetting chefs, community building and current topics. The revolution won't be televised but it will be streamed. Hosted by Michael Hall + LaToya Stirrup. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

LIVE AUDIO: This week we talk to MTTLO Rico Love and Marlon Nichols. Learn more about the music industry and venture capitalist. Tech Beats + Bytes A weekly social gathering of tastemakers in food, entertainment and technology. Conversations, libations, music and knowledge over R&B and Old School Hip-Hop. Join us live as we cover the growth of entrepreneurs, music industry leaders, trendsetting chefs, community building and current topics. The revolution won't be televised but it will be streamed. Hosted by Michael Hall + LaToya Stirrup. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Marlon Nichols, General Partner at Cross Culture Ventures chats with, Silicon Valley, Tech Editor, Sequoia Blodgett, about being in business with Atom Factory's, Troy Carter, almost flunking out of business school and having swine flu?!

He was born in Jamaica & received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University. After working a few years in consulting, he decided to move to London to pursue career and athletic opportunities. After returning from playing professional basketball in Europe, he received his MBA from Cornell University only to have unsuccessfully pitched an investment deal to his team at Intel Capital that has successfully achieved exponential growth. Fast forward a few years and now he is a successful venture capitalist at Cross Culture VC,  a board member of Kaufman Fellows, and a a mentor to several entrepreneurs. Marlon Nichols has the type of drive and vision that most people can only dream of. As a partner in the unique firm, Cross Culture Ventures, Marlon knows what it takes to turn a dream into a reality. In this frank discussion with Roshawnna, Marlon talks about the personal journey that has carried him to his lofty position. Though Marlon is highly technically educated, much of what he chooses to illuminate in this discussion is the inter-personal dynamics that can make or break a person’s success in reaching their goals. Marlon shares insights in to what investors look for in an idea and a team, as well as illustrating the points from his own path that could be used by anyone that wants to take their career to the next level. Marlon’s dedication to his craft is inspiring and the knowledge that he shares in this conversation with Roshawnna would be a great help for anyone looking to take their career to the next step! Roshawnna and Marlon discuss: [3:30] Marlon shares the story of his beginnings as an entrepreneur. [11:00] As a Venture Capitalist, Marlon outlines some of the tech industry trends that he is excited about right now. [12:30] There are always some bumps in the road. Marlon relays a story about a regret in a deal that he could not land and the lessons that he learned from this and used moving forward. [14:30] Marlon talks about how he built his inter-personal skills to further his career success. [16:30] How differing perspectives can teach you things about yourself. [17:00] Mentors have played a huge role in Marlon’s life and career. [24:30] Marlon talks about what makes Cross-Culture Ventures unique and the types of investments that the firm prefers to make. [27:00] Marlon talks about what he and his team look for in a founder, idea and company to invest in. [35:00] The importance of networking and making friends for getting in front of investors. [37:00] Marlon talks about the impact that maintaining his health and fitness have on his mental clarity and productivity.

Marlon Nichols is a co-founder and general partner at Cross Culture Ventures (CCV), an early stage venture capital firm with a focus on cultural investing (global trends and shifts in consumer behavior). Before founding CCV, Marlon was an investment director at Intel Capital where he completed his Kauffman Fellowship. 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 Afrostream, Gimlet Media, Hingeto, LendStreet, LISNR, Mark One (Vessyl), Mayvenn, Mirantis, MongoDB, mSurvey, Sidestep, Skurt, and Thrive Market. Marlon earned a Bachelor of Science in MIS from Northeastern University and a MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Marlon currently serves on the board of directors for private companies LISNR, Shottracker and Sidestep, and was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Kauffman Fellows Program. Marlon was named to Silicon Republic's list of 26 venture capital professionals spearheading change in technology investing, was a recipient of Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award, and was named a member of theRegistry's 40 under 40 Top Diverse Talent. Marlon has been featured in a number of magazines, blogs, and podcasts. http://crossculturevc.com https://twitter.com/crossculturevc

Cross Culture Ventures founder Marlon Nichols joins me to chat about his path from corporate consultant to passionate venture capitalist. We also talk about the traits great founders share, how Marlon thinks about new opportunities, and his advice on pitching. Say hi to Marlon on Twitter: @marloncnichols Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB101

In 2018, Los Angeles announced that ⅔ of all cannabis retail licenses would be set aside for Black and brown folks disproportionately targeted by the War on Drugs. And like many in South LA who qualified, a young woman from the Jungles saw it as a chance to gain economic parity and generational wealth for her family. But if you're lucky enough to get a license, where do you get the resources, financing, and construction knowledge to start a $1.5MM cannabis dispensary? The short answer is you don't. Making under the poverty line and knowing she couldn't do this alone, Aja Allen set out to find a trusted partner to help make this opportunity a reality.Three years, numerous delays, and Millions later, with the help of a local black-owned startup, Aja finally opened Sixty Four & Hope (La Cienega above the 10Fwy). A dispensary concept explicitly created to build generational wealth for social equity licensees. Aja is the first LGBTQ owner in LA, and one of 21 social equity licensees to open newly "essential" Sixty Four & Hope dispensaries, all at no upfront cost to the licensee."I want Sixty Four & Hope to be a platform to help people from my neighborhood identify and develop their talents. I want to empower them to be their best selves. I'm ready to get this business up and running so that I'm able to be a pillar in my community," said Aja standing in the middle of the bright and cheery store with its inclusive lineup of LGBTQ, Black, Latinx, and APPI-owned brands. Aja can't believe her day has come, and she didn't spend a dime. Sixty Four & Hope is determined to live their ideals—driving economic parity for people of color. This, coupled with a respect for the plant and culture, opened the door to diverse collaborations that strive for authenticity— Angela Rye, Live Nation's new Cannabis Nation, Alien Labs, and Ball Family Farms. And prominent Black investors, Troy Carter and Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital and Julius “J” Erving III, Executive VP at Sony Music Entertainment, who see their support as a well-spent investment in communities of color.