- 2 days ago
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LifestyleTranscript
01:33I'm so excited to be here.
01:35I hope you guys are having fun at Essence Fest so far.
01:38I'm a vice president at a venture capital firm called New Voices Fund.
01:43And as the name says, we're trying to amplify voices in the consumer space.
01:48And so we invest in entrepreneurs of color.
01:50And here I'm going to start an exciting conversation with two amazing panelists.
01:54We only have 20 minutes.
01:56So I'm going to jump right into it and have them kind of tell their stories as we ask questions.
01:59But I have Naj Austin to my left and then Jasmine Crow.
02:04So welcome, welcome.
02:06Excited to be here.
02:07All right.
02:08So I'm going to start with Jasmine.
02:09Jasmine, you are doing all the activism things.
02:12Super excited for what you're doing, how you're collaborating with business, society, health care, policy to combat and rethink how we deal with food insecurity.
02:22And so please tell me how you think about what propels you forward each day.
02:29Thank you so much.
02:31When I think about what propels me forward each day, it's a really important conversation that 42 million people experience hunger in this country.
02:40But most of them look like me.
02:42And when I started doing this work, I saw there was just billions and billions of dollars that get spent every single year to address food insecurity.
02:49Yet so many people that look like me are food insecure.
02:54And so I started Gooder to just, as you said, rethink how we're addressing food insecurity in this country so that we don't create these vicious cycles that food banks and food pantries have done for decades where they give someone just enough or they give them a box of food without thinking about the dignity.
03:10If they have if they're vegan, if they have dietary restrictions.
03:14So I really just thought we need to make it to where every single time someone interacts with us, they have at least 10 days worth of food because the root cause of hunger is poverty.
03:23And if people can't at least save or predict for a certain amount of time in the month, they're going to still go hungry and then they're never going to have nutritious food.
03:32And so we do that in a variety of ways.
03:34We build free in-school grocery stores.
03:37Right now we have about 22 there in Title I, middle, high school, and elementary schools, and also in low-income senior facilities.
03:45We also have a mobile grocery store that's in New Orleans this weekend.
03:48And we are backing it all in technology.
03:51So that's what we do at Gooder.
03:53Awesome.
03:53Awesome.
03:54Awesome.
03:55And Naj, to my left, global visionary, you're like rethinking how we consider community and you're constantly involving.
04:03So what was it about the current social platforms that we have out today that you noticed was lacking that led you to develop Somewhere Good?
04:12Well, a lot of things.
04:13I think my list is very long, but I'll keep it short because we only have probably less than 20 minutes now.
04:17One of the biggest things we noticed in building Somewhere Good was that most spaces that brought us together online centered mostly white people.
04:27And I wanted to rethink what it meant to gather and connect with one another in a space that felt communal and fun.
04:35So we built a digital platform and we've now moved towards more IRL connections because in the same way that there is a huge food scarcity issue,
04:44there's a huge loneliness issue happening right now.
04:47People have gone very deep into their phones and we've sort of lost the ability to connect with one another.
04:53And so trying to use technology to bring people back to themselves and therefore back to their community.
04:58Awesome.
04:58And I think we need that, especially coming off of COVID.
05:01It's really hard for people to connect in real life or feel true connection.
05:05So that's awesome.
05:06And Jasmine, for you.
05:07So you started with as an entrepreneur in your kitchen.
05:11When did you realize that this idea I have can be more than this?
05:16How can I make it more sustainable with funding?
05:17When did you reach that point and how did you know you needed funding to make your vision sustainable?
05:23I think I knew I needed funding as soon as I was trying to hire people.
05:27And I was like, how am I going to pay them?
05:29What made me create Goodr as a for-profit business as opposed to a non-profit is that in this country we waste about 80 billion pounds of perfectly good food every year.
05:38And so as I started to see what was happening to that food, I realized that people are actually paying to throw it away.
05:45So the waste industry is a trillion-dollar industry.
05:48It never goes away.
05:49We never say, like, we're going to just hold on to our trash.
05:52And so I started Goodr as a food waste management company with the idea that we would take edible food and instead of it going into landfills,
06:01get it to people in need, and give our customers back the data as well as the tax incentives to do so.
06:08And as I started building the technology, which is another very expensive thing, I realized that maybe I should raise some capital.
06:15And I, at that point, was not a non-profit, so it wasn't like a fundraising thing.
06:19I always tell people I tried to do a Kickstarter in 2017 just to raise $25,000, and I was not successful.
06:28But I didn't stop, and now we have raised over $10 million.
06:32Congrats.
06:32Wow.
06:33Get that up for him.
06:34Yeah.
06:34That's awesome.
06:35That's awesome.
06:37And, Naj, staying on the same theme of funding, you're dealing probably with a generation or population in terms of investors who are not on social platforms as much, potentially.
06:47How did you, what was your strategy going into those meetings and to convince them as to why this was a good reason or why somewhere good is useful and beneficial?
06:56So, what was your thought process and your strategy?
06:58Yeah.
06:58So, first thing is I never walk into a room looking to convince an investor.
07:02If they don't already see the problem, it's probably not a good fit anyway.
07:06And in that, one of the things that we focused on was not the technology that we're building or what we're solving for in specifics,
07:13but more so the loneliness epidemic is a billion-dollar business.
07:16You're talking about mental health.
07:18You're talking about apps like Headspace, like Calm.
07:20You're talking about things that distract us that we're using on our app and paying for.
07:24And so, when you think about all those things that we use to feel more connected to the world, it's good business.
07:31You talk about getting people outside of their home.
07:32That's good business.
07:33And so, we think about it from a strategic point of view of we want to connect people to the world around them,
07:39and they're going to use our technology to do so.
07:41And if you believe that people are looking for a way to be connected, you should invest in us.
07:45And we had some success.
07:48We raised about $5 million off of the idea that people need to be connected.
07:52They're looking for more ways, et cetera.
07:54Awesome.
07:54Awesome.
07:55Congrats.
07:55That's really great.
07:56Okay, so I'm not sure if you guys heard us, but the name of both of their companies, Somewhere Good and Gooder,
08:03it centers around the word good.
08:05And so, in your respective or in your own words, what does the word good represent for each of you?
08:10And Naj, why don't you start first?
08:12Yeah, we wanted to remind people that we don't have to go somewhere else to find somewhere better.
08:21Somewhere Good is all around you.
08:22It can be you rethinking how to use a coffee shop.
08:25It's you rethinking what you do in a park.
08:27It's rethinking how you talk to your neighbors.
08:29And all of those spaces could be somewhere good.
08:31And so, trying to think about how we reimagine places that already exist versus adding more.
08:37In the VC landscape, it's all about growth and more and more and more.
08:41And I'm going to keep doing it from my perspective, which I think is fine.
08:45But I think from my perspective, there's so much underutilized space in the world.
08:49And I want to encourage people to almost put on a lens when they look around their city and say,
08:54how can I make this city mine and or ours?
08:58Yeah, that's awesome.
08:59That's beautiful.
09:01Gooder came from the word do-gooder, like a changemaker to do something good.
09:06And when I think about good, I think it just means to leave the world better than we found it.
09:10So, just doing something good every single day.
09:13No, that's awesome.
09:14And so, when you're thinking about the ventures that you have and addressing or combating socioeconomic issues,
09:22sometimes you have to talk to these investors who may be in entities that are marginalizing the people or the communities that you're trying to serve.
09:31And so, how do you maintain that sovereignty in those spaces?
09:35And if you have any examples that you'd like to share, but how can you help the audience here think about that
09:40when they have to enter those spaces where the problem that they're trying to solve is probably caused by the people who are in that room?
09:49I'm curious about your answer.
09:51For us, there's something about community and loneliness that almost, it's inherently human.
10:00And so, there's less convincing on that side.
10:04And the way that I position it is less so, due to systemic racism, this is the problem we're facing, which is true,
10:11but more so, how can we reimagine our cities together by you giving me money to build the tool so that it goes back into the people's hands?
10:19And so, almost subversively getting us there.
10:22I don't ever shy away from it when it comes to statistics and why certain cities look the way that they do.
10:26I think it's often because of systemic racism, if not always.
10:31But I think there is a way to get to what I need to do, which is to build smart technology that connects black people across the world.
10:40And if I have to do it subversively, I'm going to do it.
10:43Nice.
10:44I mean, that's such a deep question.
10:45I'm solving hunger, which definitely affects a lot more people that look like me, which is not a lot of investors.
10:52And quite frankly, a lot of investors have never been hungry.
10:55And I remember meeting with them, and they would say things like, well, where is HBCU?
11:00Because I would say, like, I'm an HBCU alumna.
11:03Now, remind you, this is before George Floyd when they actually kind of started making quotes and pledges.
11:09But I got asked that question, like, just where is HBCU?
11:12So I already knew I was in the wrong rooms.
11:15And they definitely would say things like, well, hunger is already being solved.
11:19And I was like, no, it's not.
11:21Just if I had a cure for cancer, would you tell me American Cancer Society is already working on it?
11:26Or would you be open to hearing my idea as well?
11:29So I'm happy to say that two of my largest investors happen to be black people.
11:34And it took me almost 200-something meetings to meet with one black investor.
11:40And he happened to be from Detroit.
11:42And he said, I know about hunger.
11:44Yeah.
11:45Yeah.
11:45So he finally invested.
11:48And then when he said yes, others said yes.
11:51I think for me, I just, I had to realize, and it sucks to say this, that, yeah, they could be part of the problem.
11:56Also, they're very ignorant of the problem.
11:58And so I really needed to just talk to them about the business opportunity, how much money was being wasted, that it's 2% of all GDP, that we could create healthier communities by getting people access to food.
12:10So I sadly would kind of add hunger as the cherry on top because I realized after 200 no's that leading with hunger and leading with we could solve hunger and make sure our neighbors have access to food wasn't moving the needle for me, sadly.
12:25I also just want to add to affirm you're finding black investors.
12:30We also have about 60% of our investors are black.
12:33Amazing.
12:34Which is to show that it's possible.
12:36I think we often have these conversations and it feels like, well, we find money where we can because we need to and we are trying to build businesses that are strong and viable.
12:43But it is possible to find.
12:45It definitely took me also around 200 meetings.
12:47So you've got to put in the work.
12:48But people are out there and they want to see us succeed when you have strong, viable businesses.
12:54Awesome.
12:54That's good to hear.
12:55So there are black investors out there.
12:56It might take longer to find them, but they are there.
12:59And then also if you feel like the people who you're asking for funding from don't understand the problem, try reframing it in a way so that they can understand why there's an issue.
13:08Or leave that room.
13:10Like if you're like, I've said it three different ways.
13:12I mean, you've got to get healthy.
13:14Yeah, because you also just don't want everybody investing in you.
13:17Yeah, that's true.
13:17So sometimes you've got to say, no, all money is not good money.
13:20Yeah.
13:20And as an investor, a lot of times we tell our companies this is like a marriage when you're going into it with an investor.
13:26And so you want to make sure that relationship makes sense.
13:28So sometimes, yes, you need the money, but you want to make sure you have a good relationship with them also.
13:33Okay, so as you guys are both social entrepreneurs, creative technologists, a lot of times when we're thinking about a for-profit business, what we hear is that monetary gain is the fair measure of success or impact.
13:47In your opinion, do you think it's only how much profit you're making or how do you balance that with the fact that your company is inherently having an impact?
13:55I think that two things can be true at once.
14:02I think it's how I hold space for it, which is that we need more culturally nuanced spaces in the cities in which we live.
14:07And I think money can be made from that.
14:09And it's just trying to figure out a strategic way to do it, which is any good business, right?
14:14If we all have the same idea and we all do it, well, then that's probably not the best business idea.
14:18But it's really trying to figure out that nuance of, okay, I'm going to bring people together in their city, in their neighborhood.
14:23I'm going to focus on identity.
14:24I'm going to focus on, like, kind of getting deeper and deeper and trying to figure out what will people pay for and what's the value.
14:30Because we're always thinking about revenue.
14:32It's a real thing that keeps the business sustained.
14:36And I have a team of 12 folks, and they want to have children and pay for mortgages.
14:40And we want to go on vacation every now and then.
14:43And so trying to move in that direction doesn't always negate building businesses that are also good for people, period.
14:50That's great.
14:51That's true.
14:52Yeah, I think we think about impact all the time because, for us, every dollar we make, it's directly tied to how many people we're going to feed.
15:00And that's really cool how we've set up our business model.
15:03Sometimes I think I hate to take, like, a higher profit when more people are needed.
15:09And so a lot of my operations people are kind of like, Jasmine, you know, you care too much about people.
15:16And it's good that I have people that also care about numbers so we have a good balance.
15:20But I'm someone who's kind of like, I know the budget is to feed 100 people, but let's feed 200.
15:25And let's just, you know, we'll figure it out.
15:27And there's been good and bad with that.
15:30Because we do so much good, I really believe that's why a lot of good comes to us.
15:34And so I always don't put profit first, which is probably why a lot of investors don't, like, love me.
15:40But I put people first.
15:41And because of that, something always falls out of the sky or really big opportunities.
15:46And I think it's because people first, the profits will come, especially when you're in a business like mine where we're focused on feeding people and ending hunger.
15:55You've got to put people first.
15:57That's awesome.
15:58I love that.
15:58Yeah, let's pop it up.
15:59And so you guys both, respectively, are doing amazing things with your business.
16:04And I know on your journey you probably encountered things that you didn't foresee or you didn't think about.
16:09So can you share with the audience here just maybe a breadcrumb of something that you learned that you wish you knew before as you were thinking of growing something, your business that has a social impact, but you're also trying to grow as a for-profit business?
16:23There's probably a lot of nuggets.
16:24Yeah, there are so many.
16:25You know, I still always say that so many people have good ideas, but a lot of people lack good execution.
16:32And one of the things that is so true, if I probably had a dollar for everybody who said to me, oh, I had an idea just like your business.
16:41I thought about that.
16:42I always wondered about that.
16:43I always wanted to do this.
16:44I could have probably had, like, a million dollars just from that.
16:47So I think the only thing that I did different is I just kept going.
16:52I heard no a lot.
16:53I heard that's not going to work.
16:54And I just really believed that what I was doing was meaningful.
16:58It mattered.
16:59And here we are 50 million meals later.
17:03And it's worked for us.
17:04So I just think the biggest thing is to keep going.
17:07And my grandmother always says plan your work, work your plan.
17:10And if you have the idea, just start doing it.
17:13And that's really the only separation between you and the people that you think have it all figured out.
17:19Because we don't have it all figured out.
17:20I be struggling.
17:21I have days where I'm just like, how long are we going to survive?
17:25I mean, the market is so terrible right now.
17:27You know that as an investor.
17:29So I just kind of keep going.
17:32And I think it's going to get hard.
17:34And it's hard if you're working for someone.
17:36It's hard if you have your own business.
17:37But you have a choice every day to keep going.
17:40And I would suggest you do that.
17:41I love that.
17:43I think 95% of being a founder is choosing to do it.
17:47There are a lot of mornings where I can, you know what?
17:50I'm going to not today.
17:51And then we do.
17:52And then the world gets a little bit better.
17:55My advice would maybe be something around like, you don't know what you think you know.
18:02I think once you get past Jasmine's point, which is like, okay, I'm going to do the thing.
18:07You're doing it wrong.
18:09It just, you have to start.
18:10It's an increasingly humbling experience being a founder and putting something in the world
18:15and constantly moving towards this goal that you see that you're kind of moving through an obstacle course.
18:22And I think that once you realize that, it becomes easier in a way because then you're not fighting against the dynamism of life.
18:31You're just like, okay, well, how are we going to figure that out today?
18:34And then tomorrow, how are we going to figure that out?
18:36Versus, oh, no, things keep going wrong because change is the only constant in life.
18:40And I think I, you know, I'm a type A Aries, so this was a big learning for me, which is that I'm wrong and I don't know what I'm talking about.
18:50I'm hardheaded.
18:51So I got there, though.
18:52It took me like a year.
18:54But I think once you internalize that, the road becomes a bit smoother.
18:58Love that.
18:59I love that.
18:59So basically what she's saying is you're going to fail over and over and over again, but you got to just keep on trying.
19:05And choosing.
19:06And choosing to try.
19:07No, love that.
19:09Love that.
19:10Can we give it up for Naj Austin and Jasmine Crowe?
19:14That is what a measurable moment in conversation we've had here.
19:19Thank you for gracing the stage of Blacktopia Afropunk, and I appreciate you guys being here.
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