Tyler Scriven is the managing director at Techsters Atlanta, where he helps find and prep startups for the big stage. Prior to joining Techsters, he was an executive at Palantir, serving as Chief of Staff and Head of Operations - helping grow the firm from 100 to nearly 2000 employees. In 2014, he was featured alongside Tristan Walker and Erin Teague in the Fast Company magazine story discussing diversity in silicon valley.
Dave Salvant is co-founder at Squire, and app that enhances the barbershop experience for both customers and barbers - allowing customers to book and pay for their cuts at the push of a button. I originally met Dave when we were shooting an episode for Puff Daddy’s REVOLT TV channel in New York. I found him to be incredibly inspiring. He just completed Y Combinators latest batch, and dropped out of his MBA program at Wisconsin-Madison to found Squire.
I’m launching an online course to help you build your brand on and offline. It’s called The Code - and you’ll learn how to make money with your brand, how to be recognized as a thought-leader in your industry, amplifying your reach online - and more. I want to see you in this class. Go to will-lucas.com/code to learn more.
DIVINE is Founder and CEO at The BLAK Group, and "The Official Andreesen Horowitz Rapper", certified by super venture capitalist, Ben Horowitz. His fintech (Financial Technology) startup aims to help minorities who've been shut out of the financial system.
This episode was supposed to fall at episode 4 this season, but I was so excited for you to hear it that I changed my timeline. Once you're a few minutes in, I think you'll understand my eagerness.
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William Crowder is a venture capitalist at Comcast and DreamIt Ventures. At Comcast, he leads the Catalyst Fund which is focused on investing in startups with diverse founding teams. He previously served as Director of Strategy and Business Development at AOL. We discuss diversity, what he looks for in startups, and building tech outside the norms.
This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.
This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.
Ruben Harris began his professional career in Atlanta working in Finance, and now works in Partnerships and Leads at Honor, an Andreesen Horowitz funded Bay Area startup modernizing non-medical home care for seniors. He also serves as an advisor to AltSchool, which is working to reimagine education. He’s an accomplished cellist, playing for more than 22 years.
We talk a bit about his journey, his Young and Cultured project, and an article he wrote titled Breaking into Startups.
Ryan Smith is Director at Magic Johnson Enterprises where he helps the superstar basketball player and business phenomenon decide on investment opportunities. He’s a Howard and Stanford GSB grad, previously spending time on Wall Street. Ryan is the prototype of Black Excellence.
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Rodney Sampson is the Chief of Diversity + Inclusion Initiatives at TechSquare Labs in Atlanta. TechSquare is an incubator, seed fund, and co-working space in the heart of Atlanta’s prominent Technology Square - an area near Georgia Tech where more engineers graduate than MIT and Stanford combined.
He’s an MBA, entrepreneur with 2 exits, an Author and Bishop.
He’s responsible for casting Troy Carter on Shark Tank, worked on Mark Burnett’s The Bible Series and Mel Gibsons Passion of the Christ, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia, and so much more.
We discuss the economic divide, Atlanta's startup scene, and budding engineers.
This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.
This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com
Ruth Mesfun is a co-founder at POCIT which stands for People of Color in Tech. They run features on minority tech personalities from Founders, Engineers, and Marketers. She’s also a teacher at a middle school in Brooklyn, and launched a program to teach girls in her class how to program.
This episode is brought to you by Classana. Find the best books to read and classes to take on Classana.com.