How This CEO Sold A Company For Over $200 Million To Fuel Black Businesses

Name: How This CEO Sold A Company For Over $200 Million To Fuel Black Businesses
Uploaded: 2025-08-28T19:27:44+00:00
Duration: 39 min 55 s
Channel: Forbes

Forbes

7 weeks ago

Ed Mitzen, the founder of Business For Good Foundation, joins Jabari Young on The Enterprise Zone at the Nasdaq MarketSite for a Black Business Month discussion. In the interview, Mitzen provides updates about the nonprofit organization, which aims to support Black entrepreneurs in upstate New York. Mitzen also shares his experience launching and later selling a pharmaceutical marketing company.

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0:00 - Introduction & My Soundtrack for 2025
1:44 - My Mission & The Entrepreneur I Admire Most
3:06 - Inside 'Business for Good': Our Mission in Albany
4:47 - Where Our $30 Million Investment Went
8:13 - Our Business Model: Proving It Works Before Asking for Donations
10:24 - What's Working, What Isn't, and What I've Learned
13:00 - What I Learned About Myself While Writing My Book
16:21 - Why We're Doubling Down on Our Mission, Despite the DEI Backlash
18:23 - My Upbringing & How Losing My Dad at 18 Shaped Me
22:20 - The Moment I Decided to Quit My Job & Become an Entrepreneur
25:05 - What It's REALLY Like to Run a Pharmaceutical Marketing Firm
28:06 - Why Most Businesses Fail & Our Model to Help Them Succeed
31:45 - My Biggest Positive & Negative Surprises
34:10 - The Tech Boom in Albany & My Plan for an AI Teaching Center
37:22 - How I Made My First Million & The Best Money Advice I Ever Got
38:53 - Where I Invest Outside the US
41:20 - The 2 Books That Inspire Me Most
43:24 - Good vs. Great: What I Look For in a Business & an Entrepreneur

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00:00Offering a hand up, not a hand out.

00:03It's a people first philosophy, and one businessman in Albany says he's using it,

00:07entrepreneur philanthropy, to help black entrepreneurs.

00:10We'll be updating his mission during Black Business Month in August.

00:14You're in the Enterprise Zone at the NASDAQ.

00:21Hello everyone, it's Jabari Young, senior writer at Forbes,

00:24and I am back at the Enterprise Zone at the NASDAQ,

00:28and I have a special guest on Black Business Month, Ed Minson.

00:31He is the CEO and founder of Fingerprint Group,

00:34which is a pharmaceutical marketing company,

00:36and also leads Albany-based Business for Good, a non-profit in the area.

00:41And again, this guy is so adamant,

00:44and he is very serious about advancing black entrepreneurs.

00:48Ed, thank you so much for joining me at the NASDAQ, man.

00:50I appreciate the time.

00:51Last time we saw you, I saw you, we were on your 145-acre farm out in New York.

00:55That's right.

00:56Yeah, having coffee.

00:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58First time at the NASDAQ, I can't believe that.

01:00First time.

01:00A successful businessman like yourself.

01:03Yeah.

01:03And this is your first time at the NASDAQ.

01:04First time.

01:04Well, listen, 2025, man, the year is halfway done, pretty much, man,

01:08as we're heading to, before you know it, it'll be Halloween.

01:10I know.

01:10Be at your house trick-or-treat.

01:11I love Halloween.

01:12Yeah, I do too, man.

01:13It's actually turned into my one holiday.

01:15I love having fun.

01:16Not even a holiday, but still.

01:18Give me your soundtrack to 2025, man.

01:20What's been keeping you motivated?

01:21What's been keeping you creative?

01:22What's been keeping you positive?

01:23I'm a classic rock guy.

01:25Classic rock.

01:25Yeah, so when Ozzy passed away, I listened to a lot of Ozzy and Black Sabbath

01:30and Zeppelin, and my wife knows none of that.

01:33She's on the hip-hop station, and she listens to what the 16-year-olds

01:37are listening to.

01:38Yeah.

01:38I don't know one artist.

01:39Yeah, classic rock.

01:40But hey, listen, man, we all got some Ozzy.

01:42We listen to it from time to time.

01:43Yeah, yeah.

01:44So walk into a fifth grade class, Ed, and you walk in,

01:48they see this guy.

01:49Usually you have your tattoos, Sean.

01:50Yeah.

01:51I'm surprised you didn't wear him now.

01:52Yeah, yeah.

01:52They say, hey, what is it that you do, Mr. Minson?

01:54What do you tell them?

01:55What do you tell this fifth grade class about what you do?

01:57So I tell them that I was successful and lucky in business, and I was able to make a lot of money.

02:06And now my wife and I and our whole foundation at Business for Good is focused on giving opportunities

02:12to other people that may not have had it.

02:13Yeah.

02:14Inspiring people, hardworking people just need a little bit of extra juice, and that's where

02:19we try to come in and help.

02:20Yeah.

02:21Well, listen, that's a perfect segue.

02:22Again, Black Business Month is in August, and before we dive into what you're doing up

02:26in Albany area in New York, give me an individual, right, someone in the black community that

02:32maybe you've looked at from afar, respected for what they did on the business side.

02:36I mean, magic.

02:37You look at what magic has done.

02:38I actually got to work with him years ago through GSK, the HIV business, and he was so

02:45wonderful to work with, the nicest guy I'd ever met.

02:48And I saw him going into the inner cities and putting his money where his mouth was and,

02:54you know, buying up Starbucks and buying up movie theaters and relating to the community

02:58and giving back in that way, and I always found him incredibly inspiring.

03:01Yeah.

03:02And so I would say he's the guy that I, and he's so happy all the time, you know?

03:07He just brings this energy and jubilance to what he does that I find very infectious.

03:13Yeah, man, it's every time he walks into the room, man, it's like a big, big smile.

03:16Yeah, big, big guy.

03:17Yeah, great.

03:18Well, again, man, you're doing some fascinating things up in the Albany area as well, man,

03:23a city area where I had a chance to visit, you know, a few months ago with you, and you

03:27were taking me around, driving me around to different areas and neighborhoods that definitely

03:32need help.

03:32Yeah.

03:33And, you know, you're putting your money where your mouth is, you know, helped that

03:36area, you know, get a black business, black chamber of commerce of that area, built,

03:41purchased a building and where that building is now, that chapter is now housed at.

03:45And then you're also investing in a lot of black businesses.

03:47Take me inside the mission of Business for Good and what you guys are doing up there

03:52for those people who may not know.

03:54Albany, the city of Albany has, has, has been in rough shape for years.

03:58Yeah.

03:58And COVID really was sort of the death blow for a while.

04:02And you look at the city of Albany has twice the national poverty rate of the rest of the

04:07United States.

04:08It's not a lot of opportunities for people there.

04:12Crime, like any, any midsize city exists, a lot of drugs, a lot of guns, ghost guns that

04:18have sort of permeated the younger kids.

04:20Yeah.

04:20Um, and what we try to do at Business for Good is focus on really four pillars, uh, entrepreneurial

04:26and small business assistance, um, economic mobility and trying to get people up the income

04:32curve, uh, housing affordability and workforce and economic development.

04:36And, and just trying to demonstrate that somebody cares and we're willing to go into these communities,

04:42make new friends, make new relationships, um, and, and, and try to show them that, you know,

04:47we're here to help, um, without an agenda, uh, venture philanthropy, right.

04:52You call it venture philanthropy.

04:53You started Business for Good in 2021.

04:55Right.

04:56Um, and apparently according to the wall street journal, you've invested 20 million up in

05:00that area, right?

05:02Wall street journal article in 2022.

05:03Yep.

05:04Um, break that 20 million down for me.

05:06Where did it go?

05:07And, and what's the investment in that area?

05:09Yeah.

05:09Fast forward to today, it's closer to 30 and, um, it's been a lot of an exact number, uh,

05:14right around 30.

05:15Yeah.

05:16It's give or take.

05:17So from 2021, since Business for Good opened till now, you've invested about 30 million

05:21dollars in the area.

05:22Okay.

05:23And, uh, it's been a lot of differing, uh, projects, right?

05:28One of the nice things about being blessed financially is you can try things and if it

05:31doesn't work, it's okay.

05:32You'd move on and try something else.

05:34So, um, the, the black chamber of commerce, that was probably a $5 million initiative with

05:39the building, the rehab, uh, giving them capital and cash and marketing support to be

05:44able to staff and get that, get that thing going, uh, develop a board.

05:48Um, we, we had done quite a bit in, um, we purchased a restaurant in downtown Albany

05:54that had been abandoned in, in a really rough part of town, um, put several million dollars

05:59into that, um, launched, uh, launched the restaurant, hired kids from the community.

06:04And we just pivoted recently and worked with a nonprofit up there that trains young kids

06:09on, uh, getting culinary skills, um, whether or not it's front of, front of house, back

06:14of house.

06:15So they, we now gave them the restaurant for a dollar.

06:18They come in and they're, they're running their culinary program out of their 5,000 square

06:23foot kitchen.

06:23They can pump a lot of these kids through, get them trained.

06:27Um, and then they can get, um, I like to say good paying jobs, not livable wage jobs.

06:32Um, two weeks ago I was, I was at Albany County jail talking to young kids that had been recently

06:37incarcerated.

06:38Again, a lot of guns, 15 to 17 years old.

06:41And to see the despair on these kids faces, like, like their lives are shot.

06:45Right.

06:46And, and I try to encourage them that, look, you made a mistake.

06:49You're going to get out.

06:50There are plenty of, uh, uh, tech jobs or jobs where you can, um, develop skills, electricians,

06:57plumbers, uh, you know, sheet rock, rock workers, uh, um, you know, culinary, you can get in

07:04there and if you show up and you work hard, you can make a decent living nowadays.

07:08I'm hiring these folks and I know there's a shortage of workers in a lot of those areas.

07:12So I think just trying to reach into these communities and, and, and build up a trust

07:17with them because they don't know me.

07:19They, most people that look like me have probably screwed them over in their lives.

07:22I recognize that.

07:23So, uh, just trying to be a, a voice of support and help where I can.

07:27Yeah.

07:28Well, listen, the business model, you know, again, nonprofits, I could be very skeptical about

07:33them because a lot of money gets lost in operational costs.

07:36And it gets lost so much in trying to run the business and it doesn't get down and trickle

07:40down to the people that actually help it.

07:41Right.

07:42If someone is skeptical about business for good, how do you get their minds to be at

07:46ease when doing business with Ed Minson and business for good?

07:48It's a great question.

07:49Um, you know, we have a very low, uh, overhead, you know, we've got maybe 10 employees or so.

07:55Um, and everything that we funded to this point for the most part has been my wife and I's dime.

08:00So what we're trying to do before we went out and solicited donations is to demonstrate

08:05to people that we're not going to ask you to invest in anything that we haven't invested

08:08in ourselves and that we can prove that it's actually working.

08:12Um, because you're right.

08:13I mean, I, I've met a lot of affluent people and unless they can see their name on a hospital

08:18wing or an art gallery, they're skeptical to write a check because they don't want half

08:23of it to pay for staff and bloat and inefficiency.

08:27Yeah, once you look at, you know, again, I'm there and I'm seeing the neighborhoods and

08:31I'm, you know, these houses with big giant red X's on them and communities and neighborhoods

08:35just showing me when we were out touring Albany area.

08:38Uh, this is a black population in Albany city, about 26%, if I'm not mistaken, and the total

08:43population in that area, about a hundred thousand, $80 billion economy in Albany in the region

08:48as in itself though.

08:50Um, what are the opportunities here?

08:52Like, I mean, again, I know what business for good is going, going around and offering this

08:55entrepreneurial advice, but what is the opportunity that you see when you're starting this non-profit?

08:59Because again, you're trying to take this thing and go nationwide with it.

09:02Right.

09:02Well, what we're trying to do is we we've worked with a lot of public officials to try to demonstrate

09:07that through a business lens, we can accomplish quite a bit.

09:10Right.

09:10Um, we've, we've Governor Hochul just pledged $400 million to downtown Albany to try to

09:15rejuvenate it.

09:16And they're soliciting bids now on potential opportunities for, you know, to sort of jumpstart the economy

09:21there.

09:22Um, the biggest thing they need are jobs, right?

09:24There's not a lot of jobs there.

09:25A lot of them have moved out.

09:27Um, you know, when the state pivoted and did, uh, work from home during COVID, a lot of the

09:32restaurants shut down.

09:33Not, not dislike, not unlike many other cities in the country.

09:37Um, you've got 85,000 college students that are there, uh, but then they all leave at the,

09:42in the summertime.

09:42So trying to get them opportunities to stay, do internships, um, and, and just sort of re-energize

09:49the community.

09:50Yeah.

09:50You started this again off the, you know, Hills of George Floyd and what happened to him

09:55in 2020, you know, re-murdered by a police officer.

09:58But, um, after that in business for good goes up, like what's working and what's not working?

10:04What are you identifying that?

10:05Okay.

10:05You know what?

10:06Let's stick with this.

10:07And maybe something you had to pivot on because again, one of the nonprofit is so sketchy.

10:11It's so tricky.

10:12There's so many different verticals and elements to it.

10:14I always like to find out what is the business model of a lot of these nonprofits and how

10:19is it going to be effective?

10:20Right.

10:20What's working at business for good and what isn't working?

10:23And maybe you had to pivot.

10:24Yeah.

10:24So I, I've had to learn to be a better listener and not come in like, you know, the savior.

10:28Hey, I've got the checkbook.

10:30I know what you need.

10:31You know, let, let me help.

10:32I had to really understand what their issues were.

10:35Yeah.

10:35And, um, you know, we work with a soul food kitchen in Albany, wonderful woman named Kizzy

10:39Williams.

10:40And, uh, and, uh, great mac and cheese, great mac and cheese.

10:42And, uh, you know, I need to understand what her needs were.

10:45She, she needed a catering van so she could increase her business.

10:48She wanted help getting set up on payroll, people on payroll.

10:52We renovated her restaurant.

10:54Um, and then through her hard work and some of the connections that we had, we were able

10:59to get her mac and cheese packaged in the big grocery chain out there, a price chopper.

11:04And now she's killing it.

11:06And, um, a lot of it, um, I would say a big learning for me was, um, getting in, building

11:11trust and then putting the relationships that I had together, uh, with these folks that

11:16didn't have those relationships to try to improve their businesses.

11:20Where we've missed, I think, is where in the beginning we didn't have a good system for

11:26approving grants.

11:27So I was just handed money and, you know, we had one, there's a, there's a non-profit

11:32up in Albany called the Baby Institute, which helps mothers, young mothers become better

11:36mothers.

11:37Their van was vandalized.

11:38So we bought them a new van, which I was glad to do.

11:41But then we got 30 requests for vans, right?

11:44And, and we had to create a, uh, a system with board approvals and, and, and governance

11:50and things like that to make sure that we were, um, you know, backing the best, the best

11:54folks that we could, knowing that when you start a small business, most of them fail

11:58anyway, regardless of what color you are.

12:00So, um, you know, we had to say no to some people where we thought their business plan

12:03just didn't make sense or they didn't have experience in the, in the market.

12:07Um, you know, one of the things I learned in, in business school was don't start a sports

12:11bar because you like to go to sports bars.

12:13You actually, actually have to know something, have worked in a sport, you know what I mean?

12:16And understand the, the, uh, the business.

12:18So we had to, you know, be careful with who we backed, but, um, we, we've had definitely

12:23more wins than losses.

12:25So that's good.

12:25Yeah, most definitely, man.

12:26Listen, in 2023, I know you published a book, you know, Wealthy and White, why guys like

12:31me have to show up, step up and give others a helping hand or give others a hand up, I

12:37should say.

12:38Um, and in that book, you break down, you know, why you want to level the playing field

12:42for people without the same privileges and opportunities you and your wife had as, you

12:45know, wealthy white Americans.

12:47What did you learn about yourself writing that book?

12:49I learned that, um, first, when I started the journey, I was very ignorant in terms

12:55of, uh, how hard it was going to be to build this nonprofit.

13:00Um, I needed to become a much better listener.

13:03I needed to establish relationships in the community.

13:06Um, I also needed to be humble.

13:08I, I think I came in with a sense of arrogance, like, Hey, I've been successful.

13:12Let me help you.

13:13And not, um, really trying to understand the root cause of what a lot of these folks were

13:18experiencing.

13:19You know, I, I, I grew up, um, lower middle class, but I didn't worry about, you know,

13:23getting shot.

13:24I didn't have to worry about drugs.

13:25I didn't have to worry about being hungry or cold at night.

13:28Um, so just trying to understand the issues that a lot of these families were facing,

13:33um, and how hard it was for them to, to get ahead.

13:36The decks just stacked against them.

13:38And I think I mentioned to you when you were up there, I, I, I used to live in, in a rough

13:42part of Albany when I got out of college.

13:43I was, I was, I was living in this cockroach infested apartment, um, by the grace of God,

13:49I was able to get out of there and, and have a career and, and, and, and accomplish some

13:54really incredible things.

13:55And a lot of the folks are still there.

13:56They haven't been able to get out.

13:58They didn't have the same, um, opportunities that I had.

14:01They, they, their parents didn't own their home.

14:03So they couldn't borrow on a home equity line to start a company or education may not have

14:09been there for them.

14:10They, they didn't have opportunities to go to college or, um, you know, just, just trying

14:15to really understand the community.

14:17And I know a lot of folks like me that want to help and they just don't have the relationships.

14:21They don't know the people in the community and they're afraid of saying something that's

14:26going to offend somebody.

14:27They don't want to be canceled, so to speak.

14:29So they write a check to the United Way instead, which not that there's anything wrong with

14:33that, but what we're doing takes a lot of work and really getting our hands dirty in

14:37the community and, well, that's why I respect you, Ed, because again, I was up there and

14:41I've seen these people faces and I watched them and we've talked while you were walking

14:45down the halls and I know they trust you, right?

14:47I know that these black, you know, Americans up in Albany really are putting their futures

14:53in business for good hands and, and really hoping that you guys don't walk away.

14:57And so I ask you because you're kind of playing a contrarian here we sit in 2025, right?

15:01You're still all in on helping black entrepreneurs where the narrative and the ideology of the

15:06company may have shifted the other way because of the shredding of DEI with the current, you

15:10know, presidential administration.

15:11Have you faced any backlash this year for continuing to, what appears to be, doubling

15:16down on your help for black entrepreneurs?

15:17No, I mean, I, and I don't care, to be honest with you, if we do face backlash.

15:21I believe in what we're doing.

15:23We've had to modify some of our requests for grants as we just started to do that and have

15:28it be for lower economic people as opposed to just people of color.

15:33And there's nothing wrong with that.

15:34I mean, there's a little, where I live in upstate New York, there's a lot of poor white

15:37people in these rural communities that need help too.

15:39And we're, we're going to be looking out for them too.

15:41Yeah.

15:41Um, but I, I believe in what we're doing.

15:44Um, I, I think it's needed and, um, I think everything will swing back.

15:50I think we've lost in this country, a sense of empathy and a sense of helping our neighbors.

15:55Right.

15:56And, um, it's sad, but, but I'm, I'm optimistic that it's going to swing back the other way.

16:01Well, let's flashback, man, and kind of talk about how you got there, right?

16:03You grew up in Voorheesville, New York, right?

16:06It's a suburb of, of Albany.

16:07Yeah.

16:08I mean, you talked about it, but what was that like for you growing up in Voorheesville?

16:11It was, it was a very nice place to grow up.

16:14It was a, it was a, a sort of a country town.

16:17Is it like Pleasantville on the movie?

16:19Yeah.

16:19I mean, I had a hundred kids in my class, so it was very small.

16:22By the time you had graduated high school, you'd probably dated every girl in your class

16:26at one point for a week or two.

16:27But, uh, it was nice.

16:28Everybody looked out for one another.

16:30The parents all knew each other, you know, whether or not if it was Little League games

16:33or Pop Warner, um, people went to church.

16:35It was, it was a nice community.

16:37It was not diverse at all.

16:38It was 99% Caucasian.

16:40Did that change your outlook as you grew up and you started to see more diversity?

16:44I mean, how did that impact you when you're growing up and you really don't see any people?

16:47Well, it made me realize, and it was like this when I went to college too, that in my fraternity,

16:51I think we had two people of color.

16:52So, um, again, it was just, I didn't have the relationships.

16:56It wasn't that I was, um, you know, prejudiced or anything.

17:00I just didn't, didn't socialize, didn't know a lot of folks.

17:03And it's been incredibly, incredibly, um, loving, a loving experience to be able to go

17:09into these communities and, and see how much they care for one another.

17:12And I wish in a lot of ways, my community was like that too.

17:15But Boreville is a great place to grow up.

17:17Um, and, uh, it's, it's certainly not affluent, um, but, uh, and now you look at a lot of

17:24these communities and, and we did some economic development in my downtown where I grew up

17:29because it was nothing there.

17:30You know, the subway moves out, the McDonald's moves out, the diners, the only thing left

17:35and there's nothing there.

17:36And, um, and you see that in a lot of these upstate rural communities, um, where there's

17:41just, you know, there's not a lot of opportunity for people.

17:44Yeah.

17:44Your dad, uh, was a biochemist, right?

17:46Yeah, he was a biochemist.

17:47Your mom was a nurse at Albany Med School, but, uh, your dad, he died two weeks after

17:52you graduated high school.

17:53Looking at it though, you know, summing it all up, two things of something that you learned

17:58from your parents that you're taking with you today.

18:00Yeah.

18:00I mean, my, my dad always taught me to be nice to everybody, regardless of, of, you

18:06know, who they are or what they do.

18:08Or, you know, I, I was told to be nice to the janitor, just like you'd be nice to the,

18:12the, you know, the principal at your high school.

18:14Um, and my parents, the principal can fail you, the janitor, you know, but, um, and just

18:22to, you know, my mom was a nurse.

18:23My mom is 78 years old now, still works in a food pantry, volunteers her time in a food

18:28pantry.

18:28Like we, we grew up feeling blessed, even though we didn't have a lot, but we, we didn't,

18:33you know, we didn't, I didn't go hungry.

18:36Um, you know, losing my dad at 18 was a really tough experience for me.

18:41Um, you know, we talk a lot about mentorship and, and how young men need mentors and he

18:46was my mentor and then he was gone.

18:48So my first two years of college, I completely floundered.

18:52Um, I graduated, ultimately graduated 2.8 GPA.

18:56I wasn't a, I wasn't a whiz kid in high school.

18:57I did great because I had him pushing me.

19:00And, and, um, so that was, that was a learning experience to try to, to pivot and, and try

19:05to, um, get my life together when I could have very easily just spiraled in another direction

19:10when that happened.

19:11Yeah.

19:11But still, you get, you do get your life together.

19:131989, graduate from Syracuse University with the, uh, degree, uh, in biology, of all things.

19:19Uh, and then you work your way, go to get your MBA from University of Rochester, Simon

19:24Business School, uh, and started working in the hospital for a few years.

19:27But I want you to take me back to that 30 year old Ed Minson, right?

19:30The one who is, you know, just coming out of working in the hospitals, learning the marketing

19:35and pharmaceutical side, transitioning into an entrepreneur.

19:38Because if I'm not mistaken, you were in Columbus at the time and getting home and it's a very

19:43rough day.

19:44You got your two year old son on the bed.

19:45You're watching ESPN and you doze off or zone out only for your two year old to roll

19:50off the bed and then hits you that you're overworking yourself and that you want to go

19:54into business as an entrepreneur, thinking that that was going to help, you know, you

19:58become a better father, a better husband.

20:00Um, that 30 year old Ed Minson and one is Ed Minson and one is transitioning to an entrepreneur.

20:05What's his mindset at that point?

20:07I think like a lot of young fathers, um, I was really conflicted.

20:11If I was at work, I felt like I was a bad father and I should be home with my kids.

20:15Yeah.

20:15And if I was home with my kids, my career is going to stall.

20:19I need to be outworking everybody.

20:20I need to be there turning the lights on in the morning so I can impress my boss.

20:24So I was conflicted.

20:25And when my son rolled off the bed and, you know, tears filled up in my eyes and my wife

20:31was ready to rip me a new one.

20:32And then she saw how upset I was.

20:35Um, I realized that I had to do something different.

20:37So I, um, I actually resigned the following Monday.

20:40Where were you working at?

20:41At Cardinal Health, a large pharmaceutical, uh, company, pharmaceutical distributor in

20:46Columbus.

20:47I love Columbus, Ohio, by the way.

20:48It's a great city.

20:49Under 30 summit coming up.

20:50The only thing that was bad is every single person I met was a Buckeye.

20:54Yeah.

20:55So, uh, that was, that was the only problem.

20:57But, um, and then I, it was sort of like Cortez burning his ships.

21:00I, I needed to just say, okay, I'm going to try this.

21:04Um, I had talked to a potential client before I left and said, hey, if I do this, I was wanting

21:09to start a consulting business.

21:11I said, if I do this, do you think you have a project for me?

21:14And she said, absolutely.

21:15So I knew I had a couple of months of oxygen where I could pay the mortgage and pay for

21:19diapers.

21:21And, um, I figured if it doesn't work, it's not going to be because I got outworked.

21:25It's just because I, I always felt like I had a really strong work ethic and it just

21:29one after the other, it just started to work.

21:31And I hired people smarter than me.

21:33And before you knew it, I was sort of off and running, but.

21:36And this is the communication company, Palio, is it?

21:38Palio.

21:39Yep.

21:39I had Palio and then, uh, sold that business in 2006 and started FingerPaint in 2008.

21:45So it's 2008, sold it for about $30 million.

21:48It was, that was the total sale, but yeah, there were other people that had stocked it.

21:51That's right.

21:51You walked away about nine.

21:52That's right.

21:53And then took that money and was able to roll it over to start FingerPaint in 2008.

21:56FingerPaint.

21:57FingerPaint.

21:57Excuse me.

21:58That's right.

21:58A lot of people do that.

21:59In 2008.

21:59Yeah, yeah.

22:00Um, when you did that, right, starting a healthcare marketing firm, like what does that entail?

22:05Like if an entrepreneur is looking at this now and a lot of people maybe without jobs now,

22:10federal government would do a lot of layoffs.

22:12Yep.

22:12Um, and they want to say, hey, you know what?

22:14Pharmaceutical industry is not going anywhere.

22:15Right.

22:15How does one start a pharmaceutical healthcare marketing company?

22:19Right.

22:19So, so, so I had worked at various pharmaceutical companies in the marketing department.

22:24So I knew sort of the game.

22:26I w I was a drug rep at one point.

22:28So I understood sales and marketing at the pharma level.

22:31Um, I had hired companies to help me launch products and launch brands.

22:35So I knew what I liked and didn't like about them.

22:38Um, and I felt like, okay, I've seen, I've seen this world and I think I could have what

22:44it takes to maybe build a successful company.

22:45Um, I had a lot of relationships, which helped, um, and knew a lot of people.

22:49So I could at least come in and make a presentation and ask for some business.

22:53And it was a lot of just, you know, 80 hour weeks and, and, and working my tail off.

22:58And I think back to, you know, the 3am wake up calls to get a 530 flight from Albany to

23:03Philly to meet with a client.

23:04And, you know, it was exhausting 20 year run.

23:07Yeah.

23:08It's a lot like you see on Mad Men in the movies you got, or in the, on the TV show,

23:11you have to go out and make presentations.

23:13And, and once you build up a nice reputation and you've done some good work and you've

23:17won some Clio's, um, they will then call you and say, Hey, we'd love for you to come

23:21in.

23:22Um, you've got to have a real full suite of services.

23:24So we do everything from branding the drugs.

23:27So all those bad names you see, we, we are part of that.

23:30Um, so blame you.

23:31Yes.

23:31Blame, blame us and a couple other companies.

23:34Yeah.

23:34Um, and then, you know, branding the clinical trials, um, doing all the medical education,

23:39helping to educate the thought leaders, the doctors, um, patients, um, making sure that

23:45it's priced properly so it can get reimbursed at the managed care level.

23:49Um, there's a, there's a whole, uh, it's a very complicated industry and a lot of different

23:55moving pieces, um, you know, managing their indigent care program.

23:59So people that can't afford the drug are able to access it.

24:01It's a very complicated, a lot of high science.

24:03I hire people that, you know, PhDs in molecular biology and genetics, and, you know, that can,

24:08that can take, um, you know, a complex scientific problem and, uh, and, and distill it down into

24:15sort of a core element.

24:16Um, it's very rewarding work.

24:18I know the pharma industry gets knocked a lot, but, um, when you're working on launching a

24:22drug for Alzheimer's or a drug for pancreatic cancer, and you know that you're going to be

24:27able to be in a position to get these patients into, into a trial and helped, um, it's very

24:32rewarding work.

24:33Yeah, something you have written or in your book about, you know, maybe you have said it,

24:36but, you know, how most businesses, and I, I feel like a lot of black entrepreneurs probably

24:41fall into this.

24:42Most businesses, they don't fail because they're not good.

24:44They fail because they don't have the cash.

24:46Right.

24:47They don't have the capital, right?

24:48Right.

24:48Are you seeing that when it comes to a lot of, you know, black owned businesses, especially

24:52in Albany?

24:52Because you just mentioned, right, Ollie B's.

24:54Yeah, yeah.

24:54Up there, we had lunch.

24:56Listening to Kitsie's story and how she started off, she certainly had the entrepreneurial mindset.

25:01She didn't have a lot of know-how.

25:02Right.

25:02She didn't have a lot of understanding on how, what the business entail, how does it

25:06work, even though she had her own business.

25:08And here you go coming in and you're allowing her to, to get that knowledge.

25:11Right.

25:11And now she's on billboards and now she has her, her, her, her product in, in stores

25:16up that way.

25:16Right.

25:16Because when you say business model for business for good, I'm looking like, okay, if someone

25:20didn't understand what the model was and you let me know if I'm wrong, you are going, investing

25:24in these, you know, black businesses or people who are in underserved areas, teaching them

25:29the know-how, helping them perhaps, you know, with the capital, uh, renovation and things

25:34of that nature.

25:35And then hoping that they can gather that, those resources, fix their business, enhance

25:40it and help the next person down the line.

25:42Yeah.

25:42And that, that's it.

25:44Yeah.

25:44I mean, like with, with Kizzy, it was, it was helping her to get a line of credit.

25:48She didn't really understand what a line of credit was.

25:50It's really, she's a miracle that she's been so successful without any of that help, without

25:56understanding that she might need business insurance in case somebody drives through

26:00the front store of her, of her shop by accident, or, um, you know, how to set up payroll, how

26:06to get a good accountant so she can take the tax deductions that she's, she's entitled

26:10to, um, all of these things, again, are just, it, it's not a big lift to try to put her

26:16in touch with people that we know to say, Hey, let, let these folks help you to her credit.

26:21She's like, bring it on.

26:22I'll take all the help I can get.

26:24You know, I've met some black entrepreneurs that only want to hear from other black entrepreneurs.

26:28And I'm trying to say to them, look, there's, I know a lot of people that can help.

26:31Let us, let us come in.

26:32Is that short-sighted?

26:33Because I find that to be the case too.

26:35You get a lot of people in, you know, on one side of the fence and they're all talking to

26:38each other, which is, I think it's great.

26:39But you also want that diversity of thought, right?

26:42Because, you know, when I see what you're doing up in Albany, I'm thinking, man, you're

26:45not only bringing your resources, but you're bringing your business know-how so that you

26:49can help these people kind of understand maybe things they may have missed.

26:52Yeah, I think that's true.

26:54But I also would never judge them for being skeptical, right?

26:57Because, you know, they don't know us.

27:01They, you know, we have, you have to build up the trust with them.

27:06You know, we helped two wonderful lawyers start their own private practice, Wallace

27:10Turner Law up in Albany, the only black-owned law firm in the state's capital, which is pathetic

27:16when you really think about it.

27:17And we helped them get going.

27:18And, you know, I said to them early on, you know, we'll give them some capital to help

27:21them get going, give them office space, computers, marketing help.

27:25But I can't help you be a better lawyer.

27:27I don't know when to hire a paralegal or if your rates are good, or I don't know anything

27:31about that.

27:32But I have friends that are white that can come in and help you if you want the help.

27:38And, you know, they agreed.

27:40But it was tough at first.

27:41And I understand it.

27:42And being women, too, they want to talk to women and they want to talk to black women.

27:46But unfortunately, there aren't a lot of them around where we are that are lawyers.

27:52So, and the guys I know, they want to help.

27:55They've done it.

27:55They're in their 60s and 70s.

27:57They don't look at these small startup law firms as a threat.

28:01They want to come in and help.

28:02Because it appears as though you earned the trust of that black community up in Albany

28:06as well as others.

28:07So you're off to a good start.

28:09But what does it take to run an effective nonprofit?

28:11So I think it's, you can't be a one-hit wonder.

28:13You can't go in and help these folks and then disappear.

28:16They want to know that you're in it for the long haul.

28:18You have to be authentic and honest.

28:20You have to have a structure in place.

28:23And this is where I credit my wife, Lisa.

28:24I'm sort of a bigger idea guy, but I'm not a detail person.

28:29I will openly admit that.

28:30So she is the person that makes sure that we're doing everything legally correct, that

28:35we've got contracts in place, that our board is set up and approving things the way they

28:39are.

28:40And I think you've got to be buttoned up, right?

28:43And that's been, having that partnership has been really effective.

28:49Having a great board, a great staff.

28:50Um, it's just, it's been, it's been an incredible journey for us.

28:55We're, we're so, by far and away, the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

28:58Biggest positive surprise of Business for Good since 2021.

29:02You open it up.

29:02And I know philanthropic, you know, efforts have been in your heart for a long time with

29:06your parents.

29:07But you see George Floyd and what happened to him.

29:09You open up Business for Good in 2021.

29:11Here we are in 2025 now.

29:13So you're in.

29:14Yeah.

29:14What's been the biggest positive surprise?

29:17I know, you know this, but we, we made a donation, uh, to the survivors of the Tulsa

29:22race massacre.

29:23And we went out to Black Wall Street and made a donation to the families.

29:27And the amount, it was a million dollars.

29:29Okay.

29:30And, uh, the, the outpouring of national, um, just cheers and support.

29:36And here's this guy in upstate New York going to Oklahoma to help these people that are in

29:41their hundreds that have been wronged.

29:42And seeing how many people that inspired, especially in the white community saying, good for you.

29:48You know, you, you guys, it's fantastic what you're doing.

29:51I want to inspire the feeling that I got meeting their families and shaking their hands.

29:56And these were total strangers to us.

29:58I mean, I had tears in my eyes when I was meeting with them.

30:01And I wish that other people in our position could experience that level of unbridled joy

30:09that you get from helping people where you don't have, nothing's in it for you.

30:13And you're just trying to, to help folks, you know, have a better life for themselves.

30:16And I think I've been surprised at how unbelievably emotionally rewarding this has been for us.

30:23Biggest negative surprise, something that maybe caught you off guard and you didn't anticipate?

30:26It's very hard work.

30:28And you get people coming out of the woodwork to try to, I don't want to say blackmail, but they, you know.

30:37They probably talk to you about it, though.

30:38You know, they think like, well, you've got money.

30:41What's the thousand dollars to you?

30:42I need help here.

30:43I need help there.

30:44And when we don't support everybody, there can be some backlash.

30:47I've also had people online post about that I hate white people, which was surprising.

30:52I didn't see that coming.

30:53And I'm looking around going, you know, is that, you know, how do you even, how do you even come up with that?

30:58But I think it's social media and it's all the anonymous.

31:01How do you counter it, man?

31:02I don't even, I don't even address it.

31:04Really?

31:04Yeah.

31:04I'm not a big social media guy.

31:06You missing out.

31:07All the fun.

31:07I do LinkedIn, but, but.

31:09That's, that's safe.

31:10Yeah.

31:11But, but I just don't engage because it's, it's like, you know, you're, you're swinging a pitch in the dirt.

31:18Right.

31:18Absolutely.

31:19Get you out of here on some fun stuff, man.

31:21And first of all, thanks a lot and, and, and for that entrepreneur too, before I get into the million dollar question, but you know, I'm checking out Albany, Ed, and I'm preparing for this interview.

31:31There's a lot going on up there.

31:32Yeah.

31:32I mean, I know the areas you've showed me are, are, you know, very rough and, you know, you walk around and you see these big giant red X's on homes again.

31:40And that means that if it catches on fire and you let me know if I'm wrong, they let the house burn.

31:45Yeah.

31:45And right now the real estate investment up there isn't as powerful, but, you know, they got the nanotechnology, microchips.

31:50This is a tech volley up that way.

31:52I mean, $10 billion investment from New York.

31:54They're saying this is only one of three national semi, uh, semiconductor technology centers in the entire nation.

32:01Right.

32:01And so there's a lot of good stuff going on in Albany.

32:04And here we are on this AI phase.

32:06When you're talking to that entrepreneur about moving up that way, I mean, do you try to steer them into the tech sector?

32:10Because I know you're a restaurant guy.

32:12Yeah, no, no, I'm not a restaurant guy.

32:14Well, you, you respect the business of it because it takes a lot of work.

32:17You got to get the food, right?

32:18You got to get the clientele base, right?

32:19And you're hoping that people are going to walk in there, taste your food, it's going to be good, and then replicate that over and over again.

32:24Very hard work to do restaurant things in that nature.

32:27But again, technology sector is where it's headed at.

32:30I mean, do you see anybody up there or any entrepreneurs trying to start a semi-conductive business with all these incentives?

32:35You know, it's funny.

32:37Literally two hours before I got here, I sent the person that handles our grant writing and said, let's, let's come up with it.

32:44There's a, there's a beautiful church in downtown Albany that's been neglected for years.

32:47It's abandoned.

32:48I said, let's go see if we can raise some money to turn it into an AI teaching center and renovate it.

32:53Because I agree with you.

32:54I think if you go to college nowadays and aren't studying some type of AI application and you're studying 17th century French poetry, you're missing the boat.

33:05I mean, everything is going that way and it's going in a hurry.

33:08But we, what we want, we want to try to do is if the kids aren't going to go to college, maybe they can learn AI through tech schools and things like that.

33:16That's great.

33:17But there are other opportunities beyond tech.

33:20And if you decide you don't want to go in $200,000 in debt to study, you know, medieval studies, you can, you know, there are jobs out there for you to get.

33:29And you can have a really nice living and raise a nice family.

33:33But I agree with you.

33:33I mean, the tech sector is exploding.

33:37There's a, there's a wonderful nonprofit up in Albany called Ken Code, which teaches young kids how to code.

33:42I'm sure they're migrating into AI because a lot of that coding business is going to go away with AI.

33:47Absolutely, yeah.

33:47So you're right.

33:48I mean, it's an exciting time.

33:49It is, it is.

33:50I mean, listen, I'm going to have to move up there myself, you know, get a tech job and semiconductor line.

33:54Get you out of here on some fun stuff, man.

33:56First million dollar question.

33:58Million dollars, I know you made it already.

34:00You didn't have sold your businesses, but is that first million, is that when you made it, when you were selling the communications company?

34:06No, it was, well, I had, when I was doing the consulting business, we got to the point where we were about $5 million in sales and it was probably about a million dollars in profit.

34:15Nice.

34:15So you were able to take and pay yourself with that.

34:17Yes.

34:17So that was your first million dollars in sales.

34:19I had a friend of mine once tell me, focus on your second million because the first million is really hard.

34:24Yes, it is.

34:24I know.

34:25I'm only, I'm about $999,000 away from the million.

34:28I'm going to get there though.

34:29I'm telling you I am.

34:30Berkey, okay, you're making it doing consulting.

34:32How did you spend it?

34:33What's your first million?

34:33How did you spend your first million?

34:36Kids, a nice house.

34:39Basically reinvesting it back into the business.

34:41Yeah.

34:41So you wouldn't change anything?

34:42No, I don't think so.

34:43Not at all.

34:43Best money management advice you've ever received.

34:46Hire people that are the experts and let them do it as opposed to thinking I'm going to do day trading or I'm going to invest my own money.

34:54And just being, making sure you surround yourself with smart people.

35:01Yeah, love that, love that.

35:03And all the estate planning and all that kind of stuff.

35:05I mean, it's maddening.

35:07You know, get a good estate planner, a good tax attorney, you know, because when you start making it, they're going to come take a lot of it.

35:14Yeah, absolutely.

35:15You know, and the more that they don't take or the less they take, the more I can invest in the community.

35:18Like I said, I'm not buying a $500 million boat.

35:21I couldn't anyway, but I wouldn't if I could.

35:23Yeah, we're going to hit the lottery, though.

35:24We might.

35:24Yeah, yeah.

35:25Nielsen says Black America spending power, Ed, is going to reach $2.1 trillion by 2026, now only months away.

35:32Yeah.

35:32When you hear that figure, knowing now also what you're trying to do in Albany, what you are doing in Albany, expanding nationwide, you hear that $2.1 trillion figure by 2026.

35:42What comes to mind?

35:43That it's doable and that there's great momentum across the country, I feel.

35:48Are we perfect?

35:49No.

35:49Are there pockets that are in real trouble?

35:52Absolutely.

35:53But you look at where we were 20, 30 years ago, I think we're, I mean, just the fact that we're here is wonderful.

36:00Yeah.

36:00I'm optimistic.

36:01I think we're going to get it right.

36:03I think we need potentially new leadership, more empathetic leadership, but I think we're going to get there.

36:08Yeah.

36:08Look around the world.

36:09What country does Ed Minson invest in right now, country or continent?

36:13I know you were just out in Africa.

36:14Yeah, we've done a lot of work in Uganda.

36:16There's a very poor village called Jinja outside of Kampala in Uganda, and we've helped to build a school there with some other people and an orphanage.

36:26And the reason why we love to go there, A, the nicest people in the world, even though they are, they make Albany look like Beverly Hills, but your money can go so far there.

36:39I mean, we built a medical clinic for less than $60,000.

36:42Yeah.

36:43So for us to be able to go there and make these enormous changes in these villages, you know, $5,000 to build a well so the kid doesn't have to walk two miles for drinking water, to be able to have that kind of impact in a small community like that is incredibly rewarding.

37:00And we go back every year.

37:01We love the people there.

37:02Love that, man.

37:03Three books that inspire you to perform your best or motivate you.

37:07You're implying I've read three books.

37:08Yeah.

37:09The Millionaire Next Door.

37:12That was an older book that talked about how many of the millionaires that are walking around us drive pickup trucks and shop at Walmart.

37:20Like yourself, right?

37:21Yeah.

37:21I have a pickup truck.

37:22That we were in, yes.

37:23Right.

37:23They're not all, you know, driving Bugattis.

37:27I would say that one.

37:28I would say Cast by Isabel Wilkerson.

37:31That really was a punch in the gut.

37:33When I read that, I think I might have been telling you I had to keep putting it down like every 30 pages because it was so disturbing.

37:39But it was also, I felt like I needed to read it.

37:43And gosh, I don't know if I have a third right now.

37:46I'll have to think about it.

37:47That's cool.

37:48Well, my third one is I'll give you a free of your layup.

37:50All right.

37:50Right?

37:50It's Good to Great.

37:51Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

37:52We can do that.

37:53Sure.

37:53Great way to end the conversation, man.

37:55As I always do with Jim Collins' phenomenal book, Good to Great.

37:58What's the difference between, and you should know this, Ed, the difference between a good business and a great one?

38:04A great one has leaders that you want to follow that care about the people in the company as much as the results of the company.

38:11They have high ethical standards, and they aren't afraid to take out the trash like they ask you to do it.

38:18Yeah.

38:18I love that.

38:19Love that.

38:19One thing I didn't forget, I forgot to ask you then, what do you look for in an entrepreneur?

38:23Like, what trait that you look for?

38:25I look for passion.

38:27I look for somebody that wants to work their tail off because it's a lot of work, and somebody that has some insight into what company they're trying to build.

38:37They have to have some understanding of it.

38:39They don't have to be an expert and have worked in the place for 20 years, but half of being a great entrepreneur, I think, is just showing up and working hard.

38:48And when you get to a point when you can hire somebody, hire people that are better than you are because if I'm the smartest guy in the room, we're in trouble.

38:57Remember that 2.8 GPA, and it was a struggle to get to 2.8.

39:02But you're a smart guy, though.

39:03You're a smart guy, man.

39:04Hey, listen, thank you so much for the work that you're doing again, man.

39:07I haven't seen it personally with my own eyes.

39:09I haven't been through that community and walked it with you and seen how many people are actually counting on you, man.

39:14And one person, you know, asked him to describe you, he said committed.

39:18That's the word that they use, and so committed.

39:20I hope you stay committed because, again, a lot of black entrepreneurs, a lot of black businesses have had their people turn their backs from them so fast.

39:27And so it seems as though that you're staying committed up there, man, so thank you.

39:30Thank you for having me.

39:31It's a lot of fun.

39:32Ed Minson here on the Enterprise Zone at the NASDAQ, doing some great stuff out in Albany.

39:38We'll have him back.

39:39Check on him.

39:39See what's going on up there next time.