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I'm joined by Ivan Alo & LaDante McMillon, co-founders of New Age Capital, a seed stage venture capital firm and lifestyle company that invests in tech and tech-enabled startups that are founded and led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. We discuss their journey to launching New Age Capital, common hiring roadblocks they see in the startup world, and what traits they look for in the leaders that they invest in. Ivan and LaDante also touch on how to develop a growth mindset around team building and share tips for how to become a more self-aware and effective boss. IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:The reality of capital allocation for Black and Latinx founders How to decide when (and if) you should raise money The most important hires to make early on in your company Ivan and LaDante's thoughts on bringing on an assistant The number one thing that Ivan and LaDante look for when they're vetting a startup RESOURCES: Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David GogginThe Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter CONNECT WITH IVAN & LADANTELearn more about New Age Capital: newage.vc Read their blog: keepit100.vc CONNECT WITH JACKIEFollow People Principles: @peopleprinciplesLet's TikTok: @peopleprinciplesLearn more: peopleprinciples.co Visit the Hiring School website: hiringschool.com
Our guests on this episode of The First Close are Ivan Alo and LaDante McMillon, co-founding general partners of New Age Capital. New Age Capital is a thesis-driven seed-stage venture capital firm investing in technology and tech-enabled companies founded and led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.Ivan and LaDante met as students at Boston College, where they formed their friendship and discovered a shared passion for entrepreneurship. In 2014, they founded their first company, Lionshare, and from there they also started supporting other first-time startup founders. At that time, they saw—and experienced—a severe lack of capital going to Black and Latinx founders at the earliest, most critical stages.In 2016, Ivan and LaDante decided to do something about the inequity they saw and started New Age Capital to invest in these founders. While they each had a wealth of experience, they had no investment track record. They began by methodically building a network of established, top-tier investors and developed a close relationship with Lightspeed Venture Partners, who tapped them to be investment scouts for the LSVP Scout Program. As scouts, Ivan and LaDante not only grew their investment track record, but also built the foundation of their first fund.In this episode, we discuss how they have built a firm that has both a strong institutional foundation and a strong brand, their approach to growing their networks of founders, VCs and LPs investment track record, and their view on the value of building long-term relationships in VC.Learn more about New Age Capital ›
This is Investor Perspectives, I’m the host of Investor Connect, Hall T Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In this episode, you’ll hear about a new company in the gifting sector called Gesture. Our featured guests are , Managing Partner & Portfolio Manager at LunaCap Ventures, as well as and , Managing Partners at New Age Capital, all investors in Gesture, and , Co-Founder & CEO of Gesture. Gesture is an on-demand gifting platform used to send gifts in a simple way through a mobile application. It is tackling the problem of unreliable delivery, overpriced gifting, and horrible customer service using advanced technology the same way Uber took on the yellow cab industry, and Netflix took over Blockbuster. Since January 2019, Gesture has delivered thousands of gifts, grown more than 245%, is now available in more than 35+ cities, launched new products and revenue channels, and helped thousands of people stay connected in these unfortunate times. Gesture is a company that believes in connecting people using emotional tangibility to make the world smaller and more personal again. Our host today is Ashley Matthysse. I hope you enjoy this episode. ______________________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: Check out our other podcasts here: For Investors check out: For Startups check out: For eGuides check out: For upcoming Events, check out For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group
In this episode, Dr. McElderry is joined by Ivan Alo and LaDante McMillon, cofounders of New Age Capital and 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 recipients for venture capital. Their core mission and vision is to create and support a world where people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, lifestyles and environments are exposed to new ideas, democratized information and boundless opportunities through the use of technology.” Listen in to hear more of this transformational story of how two black men were able to start and now run a successful seed stage venture capital firm investing in tech & tech-enabled startups founded/led by Black and Latino entrepreneurs. You will also learn the in's and out's of what make's up a solid business and the mindset necessary to truly succeed in a market where you might be unvalued and underrated. Connect with Ivan and LaDante of New Age Instagram linkedin Website LOOKING FOR FURTHER SUPPORT? Free 20 min Discovery Call New LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP: Click here Purpose to Profit Masterclass Click here Purpose to Profit Business Accelerator: Click here Enroll in our new TRANSCEND program for 2020 Want to start your own podcast? Podcast Launchpad Book my GIGS (podcasts, clients, speaking engagements): GET BOOKED program Join our FREE SHIFT Mentorship Connect group! Book to Speak: BOOK NOW Pre order MY BOOK: PREORDER NOW Morning Ritual Course: ENROLL TODAY LEAVE US A RATING AND REVIEW IF YOU ENJOYED, WE WOULD LOVE IF YOU SUPPORTED THE MOVEMENT TO GROW Follow us on social IG: @evolveupodcast FB: https://www.facebook.com/evolveupodcast/?ref=bookmarks email: hello@bryanmcelderry.com www.bryanmcelderry.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/evolveupodcast/support
On our eighth and final episode of CHOP'N IT UP season 1 we sat down with Micah Brown. Micah is the CEO and Founder of Centiment, the first brain powered analytics company in the advertising & marketing industry. Centiment is building tools capable of true representational understanding of human thought within AI, starting with an application to advertising to ensure that as more forms of deep and machine learning are created, they are done so with the least amount of bias as possible. https://centiment.io/beta/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc New Age Capital Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/
This week we’re talking to Julian Rodriguez. Julian is the co-founder/CEO of Bazaar, the online marketplace that allows bodega and small restaurant owners to place food inventory orders through their online platform. The goal is to empower small business owners to make better purchasing decisions and increase margins. This industry is ready to be digitized as the process of ordering and delivering is extremely time consuming, prices are often inaccurate, and there’s no analytics on consumer behavior or product demand. https://www.accessbazaar.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc New Age Capital Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we interview Crystal Etienne, founder and CEO of PantyProp. PantyProp is a direct-to-consumer underwear and swimwear brand that protects women and men against leaks. https://www.pantyprop.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is an interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc PantyProp Socials https://www.instagram.com/pantyprop/ https://www.facebook.com/Panty-Prop-1024586117585885/?ref=hl https://twitter.com/pantyprop New Age Capital Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we're talking to Esosa Ighodaro. Esosa is the co-founder and CEO of Cosign, an app that allows users to tag products within social content and get paid if tagged items are purchases. Esosa is also the co-founder of Black Women Talk Tech, a collective of black women tech founders whose mission is to encourage and support black women to build the next billion dollar business. Black Women Talk Tech hosts an annual conference specifically for Black Women. There are panel discussions, fireside chats, a pitch competition and a room full of like-minded individuals focused on building world changing companies. https://www.blackwomentalktech.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we interview Rebecca Lima, founder and CEO of The Lieu. The Lieu is a modern and accessible self-care solution for women, aiming to bring curated beauty and wellness products to restrooms within spaces of connectivity through a functional and scalable medium. https://www.thelieu.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we we sat down with Joe Leiva, co-founder and CEO, of TargetDocs (formerly Protrakr) a software platform that gives construction firms and their subcontractors a visual panel to organize & track recurring government contract documents to achieve compliance and timely payments. He talks about learning entrepreneurship and work ethic earlier from his immigrant parents as well as takes us through the construction tech industry. CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ https://www.targetdocs.com/ https://twitter.com/TargetDocs Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we interview Kobi Wu, founder and CEO of VisuWall. VisuWall presents eye level media and metrics that matter in the form of vacant storefront windows. https://visuwall.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ https://www.instagram.com/visuwallgram/ Like and Subscribe to the channel!
This week we're talking to Kai Bond. Kai is the Head of Investing at Catalyst Fund, the venture capital arm of Comcast Ventures that invests in early-stage startups led by minority entrepreneurs. He also heads esports and gaming investments and NYC seed investing for Comcast Ventures. http://cvcatalyst.com/ CHOP'N IT UP is a interview web series created by New Age Capital that highlights a few of the dope Black and Latino tech entrepreneurs within the New Age Capital network. CHOP'N IT UP Merch https://thechopnshop.com New Age Capital https://newage.vc Socials https://twitter.com/newagecapital https://www.instagram.com/newagecapital/ https://keepit100.vc/ https://twitter.com/cvcatalyst Like and Subscribe to the channel!
Terri talks to Micah Brown about his experience as a founder of color in New York City and how we can change the funding dynamics for founders of color and female founders and ultimately the definition of success. This is the second part of the interview that we abruptly cut off last week leaving you, hopefully, hanging on the edge of your seat for Micah’s experience with the diversity investor. Wait no more. Who is Micah Brown? Micah is a self-proclaimed visionary technologist with an intersection of skills consisting of data and algorithm understanding, HCI-centric digital technologies, financial services, financial engineering and media services. He has over 10 years of experience (up to the SVP level) across companies like Aon, Barclays, NBC and Viacom. Micah has a deep technological understanding and a strong commitment to social causes; at the center of Centiment and FilmFundr is the need to level the playing field in media for minorities. Show Highlights Micah talks about an experience with an investor with a diversity lens who led him to take a hard, corrective action. The investor said that Micah was example of a POC founder that should be invested in although he doesn’t actually invest in diversity. Micah points out some logic to the investor about his portfolio, the data around the startups in his portfolio, and then the data about the POC company in his portfolio which was beating out all the other companies in the portfolio. Micah points out the importance of deploying raw intellect with these investors to point out the flaws in the investors’ hypotheses to ultimately shift. Terri talks about how difficult for people to shift off their value sets to Terri poses the question as to whether we are going to be able to get these primarily white male investors to shift in their investing or do we need to create a new ecosystem of funding. Micah talks about how difficult it is starting up a company and raising money and the difficulty for the investors to empathize with struggling founders of color. Micah talks about the difficulty in getting funding if you are a person of color because of the makeup of the current VCs. Micah talks about the importance of getting LPs to invest in funds that can create a new ecosystem of funding to invest in startups because right now saying that you invest with a diversity lens is PR and there is no substance behind it. Micah talked about the H&M and Pepsi advertisement debacle where they had badly sourced focus groups. This was a perfect example of why having people who could potentially be offended in the decision-making process Last year in NYC, there were 780 non-POC companies that got funding in 2017 and only 15. He talked about the importance of naming and shaming to raise awareness and begin to affect change. Terri talked about how Trump’s election triggered many people, including her, to no longer be complacent, and emphasized the need to speak up and take action. She was cautiously optimistic after the Justin Caldbeck scandal but then more optimistic after Harvey Weinstein and then the politicians in terms of we might be able to move the needle and move more quickly in leveling the playing field. Terri talks about the importance of getting LPs to invest not because it’s a diversity play, but because it’s a good business play. Terri is concerned about the funding gap in later stages for these startups. Centiment is brain-powered advertising. Micah said that big companies are able to get away with what they are doing because their processes and perspectives are narrow. Centiment.io is scalable neurocomputing delivered by SaaS that can be used to provide responses as one would get in focus groups. They have an emotional search that takes the ideas and provides feedback as to what the emotional response will be. If Micah could wave a magic wand, he would change the definition of success. Once you change the definition of success, you can affect so much including how women perceive themselves and promoting opportunities for the American Dream for a larger group of people. Micah and Terri talk about what they have sacrificed, and the cost associated with pursuing ‘success’ as it is currently defined. Terri’s Key Takeaway We need to redefine the definition of success that is more inclusive and is more aligned with a broader value set. References in the Podcast Centiment: https://centiment.io/beta/ Film Fundr: https://filmfundr.com/ Harlem Capital Partners: http://harlem.capital/ Kapor Capital: http://www.kaporcapital.com/ Backstage Capital: http://backstagecapital.com/ Charles Hudson: @chudson Monique Woodard: http://www.moniquewoodard.com/ Jillian Manus: http://structure.vc/ New Age Capital: http://www.newage.vc/ Comcast Ventures: http://comcastventures.com/ StitchFix: https://www.stitchfix.com/ Neuromarketing: Neuromarketing is a field that applies the principles of neuroscience to marketing research, studying consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli (Wikipedia). How Centiment could have helped H&M avoid the PR issue: https://brandthropologie.com/hm Founders Privilege: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/founders-privilege-doing-everything-nothing-ainsley-patrick-brown/?trackingId=CuoGabO7WC4wrR8OXAEyMg%3D%3D Girl Boss Radio: https://www.girlboss.com/podcast/ Contact Micah can be reached via Twitter @MicahAPBrown You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium: https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead. Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com. To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife.
Ivan Alo and LaDante McMillon, founders of the venture firm New Age Capital which invest in pre-seed Black and Latino led startups, gave us a reality check on how having self awareness (or being woke) can help you avoid many pitfalls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices