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Very…Very few tech companies generate revenue the day the product is built.  For that reason, many would-be tech entrepreneurs find the jump from a steady paycheck and/or name brand employer to full-time entrepreneur.   One way to bridge this divide is by creating a services business.  Like an employee, you are still trading hours for dollars, but the benefit is the opportunity to test your idea in the market by using your expertise to solve a customer pain point.   Today’s guest, Jasmine Shells, worked at a Big 4 accounting firm (Ernst & Young) before moving into non-profit where she began testing her business idea as a “side-hustle”.  By launching a networking and events business, she understood where value was created in this space and began to build a reputation that inspired potential corporate customers to request her services.  Armed with the learning lessons from running her services business, Jasmine built tech that would allow her to serve her soon-to-be corporate customers at scale.   Founder Bio: Jasmine is the Co-Founder & CEO of Five to Nine – a virtual event management and evaluation software for program leaders at companies. A few of Five to Nine's customers include DoorDash, MasterClass, and Verizon Media, among others.   Jasmine was recently named Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for enterprise technology, a Google for Startups Recipient, and a US Department of State Fellow for teaching entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Jasmine graduated from the University of Notre Dame and is pursuing her MBA at the University of Chicago where she was named an Entrepreneurial Scholar.   Jasmine served on Notre Dame’s Black Alumni Board, is a P33 Chicago Advisor, and teaches entrepreneurship to companies, universities and non-profits globally. She’s been featured in Vice, Forbes, Business Insider, TEDx, Black Enterprise, Yahoo Finance, and Marketwatch.           Timestamps: 2:45  Born and raised in the Midwest – from Toledo, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois 5:23  Launching her career at a Big 4 Accounting firm 7:10  Leaving a cushy corporate job to setting foundation to start a business 11:11  Launching a networking community as a springboard to building a tech platform 14:36  What is FiveToNine?  Evolving from a services business to a tech company 17:13  Building the first version of the product 18:30  Establishing an initial team to build out tech 24:45  Lessons learned in selling into enterprise customers as a startup 31:18  Sales and implementation consideration when pursuing enterprise vs SMB customers 34:27  Creating value through data driven insights 38:19  Defining business objectives where AI creates tangible ROI 42:25  Fundraising history: Leveraging grants, accelerators, and then seed round ($1mm+) 43:35  Lessons learned from fundraising

When faced with an existential crisis in business, tech founders are left with three basic but tough decisions: maintain the status quo, change markets, or shut down the business.  Prior to the pandemic, our guest, Fatima Dicko had launched a rapidly growing business which served as the “Craigslist” for college campuses.  When universities shut down, she found herself pondering which of the three decisions she would make.   Today, Fatima is leading the charge as an innovator in proptech.  Her team at Sugar is closing on a $2.5mm funding round to enable their mission to bring connectivity to residential living.  In this episode, Fatima gives a live sample of her investor pitch.  It was completely unplanned, and she nailed it! Make sure you tune in!   Founder Bio: Fatima Dicko is the Founder & CEO of Sugar. Sugar makes residential properties feel like home by fostering community among residents and integrating deeply with the technology stack that powers modern buildings. The company has raised VC funding from some of the top investors in the PropTech sector. Before Sugar, she worked as the youngest senior engineer on a product innovation team at Procter & Gamble, receiving several awards such as ‘Most Transformative Product Research’ and the P&G ‘Global Innovation Seed Fund Grant’. Fatima came to the U.S. from Mali at a young age and grew up in New York City, receiving her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University and MBA from Stanford Business School.  Fatima is a frequent mentor and volunteer for organizations such as Built By Girls, Black Girls Code and MLT.   Timestamps: 2:36  What Fatima and her family moved from Mali, Africa to New York City 5:26  The decision to study chemical engineering at Columbia Univ. 6:45  Developing products 3-5 years from going to market (at P&G) 11:10  Getting started as an entrepreneur + Uncomfortable conversations with parents 14:00  Humble beginnings and overcoming failure on the path to entrepreneurial success 19:20  Pivoting: Launching Sugar as a “hyper-local Craigslist” on college campuses 21:15  Should I shutdown? How Fatima decided what to do after COVID shutdown college campuses 27:28  Fatima’s approach to raising a $2.5mm VC round 32:51  The little known secret to interacting with investors 36:57  Fatima’s experience building an MVP and the VERY interesting way she found her CTO

Latino sports fans are known to be passionate and die hard.  Though sports is the one industry that unifies people across the globe, culture and geography play a key role in how we prefer to get our sports fix.  Our guest, Marcos Araujos, grew up a huge fan of the popular US sports content curator, Bleacher Report.  That exposure, combined with his Brazilian roots, led him to question why there wasn’t a similar content curation platform for Latinos – so he built one.    Founder Bio: Marcos is the CEO and founder of Esportudo, a leading digital sports content provider in Latin America that is creating new ways for fans to engage with their favorite teams and sports. Esportudo now reaches over 40 million Latino sports fans a month and helps brands engage this growing demographic. Before founding Esportudo, Marcos was a key driver in launching HubSpot Inc. in LatAm. Winner of Latino 30 under 30, 25 Most Influential People of Color and other awards.   Timestamps: 2:13  Marcos’s roots in rural Brazil.  Humble beginnings in the suburbs of Boston 4:43  Thoughts on co-founding a company with family 9:19  How being a child of immigrants and facing economic hardships influenced entrepreneurship 12:03  Launching a career at Hubspot and leading expansion into LATAM 16:08  Hubspots 3 reasons for building a team in Colombia 19:49   The competitive advantage in leveraging LATAM talent 25:24  The genesis of Esportudo | Curating sports content for Latino sports fans 30:29  Bootstrapping the first 2 years in business, before joining Techstars 32:18  Serving the often forgotten but quickly growing and strong Latino market 36:12  Using an US agency to build MVP + the strategy behind building a dev team in Brazil 40:48  Selecting the first dev hire in Brazil 49:18  The value in leveraging artificial intelligence to hyper-personalize content consumption

Authenticity is a common term discussed when we think about branding and how entrepreneurs should present to customers.  It’s also a challenge many minorities work through when navigating homogenous environments.  For Amanda, a Jewish and Brazilian background created some questions about identity in her early years.  Her passion for education empowered her to answer those questions, which has ultimately helped her to understand her place in the world as a tech entrepreneur.   Amanda is transforming education by creating social learning environment for AP students, outside of the traditional education system.  She’s a non-technical founder whose voracious appetite for learning has allowed her to quickly acquire the business acumen and tech wisdom to launch a growing tech company.   Founder Bio: Amanda DoAmaral is an educator, activist, and co-founder of Fiveable - a social learning network for students. She spent a half a decade teaching high school history in Oakland, CA, where her passion for creating equitable educational opportunities was ignited. Amanda has been a vocal advocate for inclusive history curriculum and is active within the Milwaukee tech community.   Timestamps: 2:11  Growing up as a “history nerd” and the inspiration for becoming a teacher 4:14  How Amanda found her lane within the education industry 6:31  Finding her identity as a biracial youth and how being a Teacher empowered her authenticity 11:27  How a toxic work environment in education led to a career as an activist 15:55  The origins of Fiveable | How former students pulled Amanda into entrepreneurship 18:30  Becoming a first time founder without business experience 20:50  Hacking together a no-code solution as a non-technical founder 22:38  When and how Amanda decided to bring in a technical co-founder to build the platform 25:50  Joining an accelerator and the decision to share equity 29:45  The benefit of building a tech company outside of tech epicenter cities 34:22  Why Amanda rented a home in Philadelphia to house her entire team 36:44  What is Fiveable and the magic behind social learning? 40:45  Fiveable has grown from serving a handful of students to serving over 600,000 students 42:00  Using content as a demand gen strategy 45:30  Establishing the pricing model at Fiveable

Imagine posting up in Silicon Valley for a year to soak up the entrepreneurial ecosystem while while waiting for inspiration for a startup idea.  Sounds artsy, but from a business perspective it can be incredibly helpful to sort through various uses of technology and the business modes that get them to market.  Fresh off a career in private equity and a short stint studying medicine, Chris Bennett took this exact approach.  With a passion for using technology to improve the quality of human life, he has built Wonderschool to improve the quality and access to childcare.   Founder Bio: Chris Bennett is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur and early childhood education advocate passionate about the power of the Internet and using it for social good.   Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Wonderschool, an all-in-one online platform that helps families seeking childcare and microschools to find available options near them and supports those who provide that care and education. Born out of Chris’s realization that early childhood education is what enabled him to be the first member of his family to go to college.   Since its start in 2016, Wonderschool has expanded its offerings and partnerships, pivoting to meet the unique needs of today’s families and providers. Recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies, Wonderschool has been funded by Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Imaginable Futures, Cross Culture Ventures, Uncork Capital, Rethink Education, Edelweiss, Lerer Ventures, 500 Startups, FundersClub, and others.   Timestamps: 1:54 How his uncle’s experience as a black doctor in Honduras influenced a passion for entrepreneurship 7:24 Life at Wharton (Undergrad) | Struggling as a student, but thriving as an entrepreneur 10:00  Exploring the right early career fit – private equity, medicine, and then to Silicon Valley 11:55  The origins of Wonderschool 15:18  Strategy for validating market demand before building tech 17:56  Raising $2mm to build engineering team to build product 18:30  Wonderschool described – platform, functionality, and value prop within childcare 22:40  Matching supply and demand in a marketplace 27:30  Chris receiving his first investment via NewMe accelerator (and 500 Startups) 30:30  Benefits of joining and accelerator 34:33  What help investors can provide…not including funding 38:35  Taking the team remote and moving to a global talent strategy

Long before here exciting life as a proptech founder, Vanessa Alvarez was debating whether college was right for her after poor grades forced her out of school in her Sophomore year.  A not so gentle nudge from loved ones and a starter career in tech as an analyst changed her entire life.  Vanessa has emerged as a leader in blue chip tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft.  She is the perfect “anything is possible” example and is joining us talk more about her life, from a small Latino town in Rhode Island to the mecca of tech in Silicon Valley   In this episode, we really dive into Vanessa’s story as a first-generation child whose parents immigrated to Rhode Island from El Salvador.  She describes her early struggles with school and lack of visions and how love and tech changed her life.  We also dig into her experience in startups and big tech, as well as her decision to keep her job while launching a company.  So many gems to pull from this conversation!   Founder Bio: Vanessa Alvarez is the co-founder of Seattle based startup, Nexme, Inc, an on demand real estate platform that instantly connects homebuyers and sellers with access to homes. Launched in May 2020, Nexme is available in the greater Seattle and greater Boston areas. She spent time at a number of startups in the Bay Area before joining Amazon Web Services and most recently Microsoft, where she is a Sr. Program Manager. She's fluent in Spanish and is a mentor to young Latinos looking to enter the technology industry. You can find her on Twitter: @vanessaalvarez1.

As a Grammy award winning producer and songwriter, Devo Harris has made a career of turning ideas into inspiring experiences.  Insight into what moves people has driven the success of previous ventures, such as founding GOOD music alongside business partner (and cousin) Kanye West.  Devo is a visionary armed with a skill for organizing the right technical talent to bring game changing ideas to life.  Recognizing the incredible potential brought on by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Devo has built an interactive video platform that enables companies to provide their customers with a more dynamic and real-life buying experience.   Founder Bio: Devo Harris is a serial media executive who merges world class creative, cutting edge technology and business strategy. Devo started his career in strategy at PwC before joining Kanye West to found GOOD Music. At GOOD, Devo won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song (Kanye West’s “Diamonds (from Sierra Leone)”) while producing and writing for artists from Britney Spears to Jay-Z & more. He also discovered and signed EGOT Winner John Legend to GOOD Music while leading national product launches across several consumer categories. Devo hacked YouTube to pioneer interactive web video in 2010 followed by time leading video player product at streaming giant Vimeo as Senior Product Manager. Devo is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School.   Timestamps: 1:28 Teaming up with Kanye West & John Legend| Devo’s beginnings as a music exec 4:56 Reinventing his career – from media exec to tech mogul 10:40  Introducing Adventr.io | Creating smart video at scale 13:13  How companies can use interactive video 15:35  Building a prototype as a founder without an deep engineering experience 18:25  Validating market demand with prototype via A/B testing 21:17  Getting the right talent onboard to develop a marketable solution 23:25  How Devo raised a Friends & Family round 29:09  Latest development at Adventr 32:00  Earned media | Creating demand and driving inbound product interest 38:37  Why Devo believes AI is the future and how it’s being incorporated in Adventr 41:34  How non-technical founders can leverage other skillset as a competitive advantage 45:40  Learn more about Adventr.io and connect with Devo (@springsteezy)

Darius joins Kimmiko James, Host of the Black Enterprise Network podcast, to discuss artificial intelligence and why it’s critical underrepresented tech founders get involved in it’s development.  They dive into it’s impact in business and the real world as well as strategies to get educated and up-to-speed on the technology.   Check out Kimmiko’s podcast at: https://www.blackenterprisenetwork.fm/   For more content, subscribe to the Build Tech Stack Equity Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Don’t sleep on Latin America! In fact, for tech entrepreneurs it deserves several moments of your undivided attention.  Whether we’re talking about markets for product expansion or hubs for top tech talent, LATAM is a bright spot for tech innovation.  Forward thinking tech entrepreneurs and executives have already begun thinking through the best strategy for participating in the growth of LATAM.  Today, we sit with Colombian trailblazer, Fernando Gutierrez who is the head of a cutting edge AI startup focused on Oil & Gas.  Fernando launched his career in the US and quickly gained experience as a sales leader in the Middle East and various LATAM markets.  He has returned to his home country to begin shaping the future of his firm as a tech leader across the Americas.   Guest Bio: Fernando is Chief Executive Officer of Tachyus. As CEO of Tachyus, Fernando is responsible for leading the Company to continued success.   Prior to Tachyus, Fernando, held several consulting, sales and management roles across many countries. He started at Schlumberger and worked at other oil and gas services companies for over 16 years, with focus on reservoir/production engineering integrated solutions in the digital transformation space of the industry.   Fernando holds a MSc. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M, USA and a Bs. in Geological Engineering from Escuela de Ingenieros, Colombia.   2:47  From Medellin, Colombia to Texas A&M University to Australia to England 4:35  Building a career in oil and gas technology | Learning English on the fly 6:48  Developing unique insight into product as the liaison between software devs and sales 12:15  CEO of Tachyus | How an expertise in sales enabled a leadership position at a high growth startup 16:43  What Fernando saw in artificial intelligence that inspired his desire to participate 19:03  Keys to selling AI/deep tech to non-technical customers 24:07  Selling in Latin America versus selling in North America 26:50  The untapped opportunity in building tech in and for LATAM 31:31  Leveraging LATAM as a resource for tech talent 36:35  Keys to identifying the ideal customer to target and accelerating the buying cycle 40:35  Fernando’s favorite tech tool: Slack 42:05 Who inspires Fernando

Description: In sports, it’s a given that perfecting your craft requires consistent coaching.  Is there an industry more important than education that this same concept should apply?  Athletes receive coaching on a daily basis, but unfortunately teachers aren’t yet afforded those same growth opportunities, relying on quarterly assessments rather than consistent feedback.  Technology is changing the game.  Like in sports, teachers are now able to watch their own game film and learn from industry experts how to take their game to the next level.    In this episode, I sit with Will Morris, Founder and CEO of edConnective.  His team is leveraging technology to provide consistent professional development opportunities.   Founder Bio: Will received his Master of Education from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. There he researched instructional coaching as a promising lever of teacher quality. Before UPenn, Will spent a year working with a cohort of 30 African American freshmen as an Urban Prep Fellow in a Chicago Charter School. During his year in Chicago, Will became a Starting Bloc Social Innovation Fellow and participated in a social entrepreneurship institute that sparked his desire to create systemic impact through social innovation.   Timestamps: 1:59 The genesis of edConnective | Solving systems level issues in education 4:13  On the ground experience | Working at Urban Prep in Chicago 5:04  How Will used grad school to incubate his idea for a startup 6:19  Why teacher performance is the linchpin for driving educational outcomes 9:13  Why the traditional form of teacher coaching/evaluation is flawed 12:29  The edConnective product and how coaches are coached 15:54  Finding the best coaches to help teachers develop professionally 20:49  Leveraging technology to create predictable process behind coaching strategy 24:32  Tough lessons learned as a solo founder and the value in teaming up with a technical partner 28:33  Testing the business hypothesis as a service before scaling up with tech/software 31:38  The journey to getting traction and generating revenue “Wandering in startup wilderness” 34:20  Keeping the startup dream alive while waiting to get traction 37:12  The Founder’s most important job is to validate demand 38:57  In a marketplace business model, which side of the marketplace do you validate first 41:54  Where to find Will and edConnective

Total Addressable Market is a key metric that VCs use to determine whether an idea is investable and one that some tech founders use to determine whether they’re solving a large enough problem.  This begs the questions “how can you accurately assess the magnitude of a problem without having actually experienced the problem yourself?”.  This gap in problem awareness has created an incredible opportunity for underrepresented founders to build solutions that speak to the unique needs and build valuable solutions that improve the lives of overlooked populations.    In this episode, we sit with Maria Burns Ortiz, Co-Founder and CEO of 7 Generation Games.  Her team is building video games that close the math skills gap found in underrepresented communities.   Founder Bio: Maria Burns Ortiz is co-founder and CEO of 7 Generation Games, a video game studio making immersive educational games and interactive apps with a mission of breaking down barriers to success, one math problem at a time. Previously, Maria was a multimedia journalist and NY Times best-selling author. For her work at 7 Generation Games, she was an invited speaker at the 2016 White House: State of Women Summit, received the National Latina Business Women Association-Los Angeles’ Rising Star in 2017 and named one of Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's 40 Under 40 in 2021.   1:15  The many interesting facts about Maria Burns Ortiz’s life 4:011  An atypical path to tech entrepreneurship |A career as an ESPN reporter 6:02  Reinventing your career| From reporter to video game developer 10:02  Operating as a cofounding team in the early days 11:29  What is 7 Generation Games and what problem it is solving? 14:22  The extraordinary value in serving underserved communities 15:45  The process of video game development 20:02  The importance of engagement UI/UX vs the tech itself 24:02  Building the first version of a gaming product 28:32  Testing your product with real world customers and getting traction 31:02  Finding the ideal customer for the product and communicating ROI to schools 35:02  How solving a problem in a niche creates a reputation of success 36:10  The promise of AI in EdTech | The personalization of the learning experience 40:13  Continue following 7GG at 7generationgames.com

Many non-technical aspiring entrepreneurs are held back from launching tech companies for fear of not knowing how to code.  Tye & Courtney Caldwell had big dreams matched by the drive to manifest their vision for keeping salon chairs filled and beauticians/barbers earning money.  Strapped with expertise in the beauty salon industry, this dynamic duo made relationships the gasoline that powered their knack for getting answers to their most pressing questions at the right time.    Founder Bio:   Dr. Tye Caldwell: Dr. Tye Caldwell is the Cofounder & CEO of ShearShare, the first on-demand salon and barbershop space rental app. A 26-year industry veteran, master barber-stylist, and salon and barbershop owner, Dr. Tye is recognized as a tech visionary and industry pioneer. His mission is to help beauty and barbering professionals around the world maximize their earnings potential.   Mrs. Courtney Caldwell: Courtney Caldwell is the Cofounder & COO of beauty-tech startup, ShearShare, the first mobile app that lets stylists quickly find affordable salon and barbershop space to lease near them. Named an Inc. magazine 2019 Female Founders 100 and the 2017 L’Oreal Women in Digital NEXT Generation Award winner, Courtney’s mission is to empower industry professionals and help keep our small businesses open.   Joint Bio: Dr. Tye and Courtney Caldwell are the cofounders of ShearShare, the first on-demand salon and barbershop space rental app. Recognized as tech visionaries and industry pioneers, the Caldwells’ mission is to help fellow beauty and barbering professionals around the world maximize their earnings potential.   ShearShare is the first Texas startup to win Google Demo Day, L’Oreal’s Women in Digital NEXT Generation Award, and Tech. Co’s Startup of the Year. The Caldwells’ work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fast Company, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Modern Salon, and Salon Today. They are alums of YC Fellowship and 500 Startups, two world-renowned programs for creating top-end entrepreneurs.     The Caldwells live in McKinney, Texas, and are proud parents to son Trey, a second-year cadet and football player at the United States Air Force Academy.   1:56   Why don’t more couples start companies together? 2:43  Making the entrepreneurial leap | The origin of ShearShare 5:50  Listen to your customers problems. They will give you product ideas 8:22  How services businesses can be a great precursor to a highly scalable tech company 11:28  Participating in the Google for Startups Accelerator for black founders 14:39  Preparing ShearShare for an AI future and creating hyper-personalization for barbers and stylists 19:42  Getting to an MVP | Building a tech platform/app as non-technical founders 22:59  Identifying and acquiring technical talent to build the first version of the application 24:49  “You’re saying we should drain the what? The 401k”… Betting on yourself as a founder 27:20  Moving from contractors to full-time engineers 29:50  Learning lessons building a marketplace | Solving the chicken and egg problem 34:00  Establishing a pricing model 35:34  Building traction via word-of-mouth 38:24  The entrepreneurial mindset | Confidence, risk, generational wealth, betting on yourself 44:36  May 2021 – Exciting news coming from ShearShare

Never before has there been such a push to enable the dreams of underrepresented tech entrepreneurs.  From a growth in grants to increased investment interest to community purchasing support, underrepresented founders have not been in a better position to start tech companies.  This podcast exists to highlight these founders’ journey while also providing strategic advice (fundraising, go-to-market, hiring, tech development) to those who aspire to make the leap.  There are many different flavors of tech entrepreneurship and the beauty of being a founder is your ability to create and execute a vision that fits your unique needs and preferences.   This episode outlines what we intend to accomplish with the Build Tech Stack Equity podcast.  Since we will be spending much more time together, I share a bit more about my journey and what drove me to launch this podcast.  I also share what you should expect from the podcast as it relates to episode cadence and topics.   You can find the full podcast at www.dariusgant.com.