Black Tech Green Money

Ep. 136: If you're a small business owner, often in the early days of your business you struggle to hire the best talent. With todays conversation, I want to help you rethink this challenge, and encourage you instead to develop your own talent. I share some of my experiences in getting solid at the skills I needed to hire for myself, what convinced me to start developing talent instead of falling to the idea that I couldn't hire qualified and skilled people to grow my business, and a few strategies I used to find ambitious people to join my team. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ollen Douglass is the Managing Partner of Motley Fool Ventures. The $250 million company is one of the largest Black-run venture capital firms in the world. Wemimo Abbey is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, the leading financial technology company helping individuals save money and build credit. This conversation presents a fireside chat from AfroTech Executive Brooklyn 2023. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Osinachi is a self-taught digital artist based in Lagos. The first crypto artist out of Africa, he makes artworks that mirror his personal experiences through a unique visual language that he has perfected for over 15 years.  In addition to numerous collaborations with big players in the art world, in 2021 Osinachi became the first African artist to auction five unique NFTs in Europe through Christie’s, the world-leading art and luxury business. He was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans for 2022 by New African Magazine. Osinachi makes his art using the word processing software Microsoft Word. On this episode, Osinachi speaks with AfroTech’s Will Lucas about fine art in digital form, the true value of digital art, and his unique method of creating visual art using only Microsoft Word. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles ‘Beloved’ Kuykendoll is the founder at RNB House Party, a unique party experience where R&B and Gospel music are at the center, bringing the vibes, as well as the nostalgia. Just recently, RNB House Party was acquired by Blavity, Inc., which is also the parent company of AfroTech and its rebranded as Blavity House Party. Charles comes aboard as the General Manager of Community, charged with creating even more experiences for us to connect globally around music, networking, and more. On this episode, Charles speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about starting RNB House Party, his new role at Blavity as GM of Community, and the future of Blavity House Party. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chaucer Barnes is Chief Marketing Officer of Translation + United Masters, the parent company of award-winning creative agency Translation, and artist services platform UnitedMasters. In creating a new normal for the way brands and creators alike mint and trade cultural capital, Chaucer applies tools and lessons from every chapter of his life – as a media planner, brand strategist, creative director, partnership architect, and independent musician. In this episode, Chaucer speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about how advertising has embraced culture, the challenges marketers and advertisers face with trying to break through the noise, and strategic content creation. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mandy Bowman is founder and CEO of Official Black Wall Street (OBWS), a marketplace app that is the fastest growing platform for finding and supporting Black-owned businesses in the United States. Internal reports say her app has recirculated about $10 million in sales and business services back into Black-owned businesses. Now, she is focused on expanding her services to ten other countries including Canada, South Africa, France, the UK, and the Netherlands. In this episode, Mandy speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about thriving Black small businesses and their characteristics, being a non-technical founder, and how she's outsmarting the many on-comers in Black business directory startups. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Angela Yee is a Radio Hall of Fame inductee and multi-business entrepreneur who runs companies in various industries. She recently started her solo radio show, Way Up with Angela Yee, after her long tenure at The Breakfast Club. In this episode, Angela Yee speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about her holdings, being a 'serial' entrepreneur, and how to decide what to focus on. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alphonzo "Phonz" Terrell is founder and CEO at Spill, and Kenya Parham is Global VP, Community & Partnerships at the culture-first social media app. At launch, Spill jumped to the top of the app store and still maintains a formidable position. On this episode, Phonz and Kenya speak with AfroTech's Will Lucas about how Spill makes a lasting impression in the social media landscape, why we needed another social media platform, and how they knew how much money to raise. 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 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.

Ruben Harris is the co-founder and CEO at Career Karma, which bills itself as the easiest way to find a job training program online. Rachelle Olden is Lead at Google’s Tech Equity Collective, which creates energizing paths into tech for Black people.  Together, they’re launching the Black Genius Academy — a software initiative to demystify fast-growing tech career fields and support Black talent in identifying technical education programs that prepare them to enter the industry with no prior experience required. On this episode, Ruben and Rachelle speak with AfroTech's Will Lucas about the launch of the initiative. 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.