[Rodney]: Hey everybody.
My name is Rodney Sampson.
Welcome to Black Futures Month.
I am incredibly excited about the conversation today
with one of the pioneers of the internet, Emmit McHenry.
(inspirational music)
[Rodney]: Emmit, how are you doing?
[Emmit]: I'm superb, my man, superb.
[Rodney]: Well, not to belabor the time,
why don't we jump right into our conversation today?
So, as a Black man, growing up in Atlan-, uh, in America,
coming through that era,
how are you able to balance navigating
you know, the fight for your human and civil rights
at the same time
the positioning of your curiosity and creativity?
[Emmit]: Being a Black person in America
has had its effects
but it also - the pressure,
the "in-ness" of it.
Every-
you gotta be better.
So my teachers always focused on rigor.
Rigor.
That rigor has stuck with me.
Also, the understanding of,
"If it's possible, then you can do it."
You're not waiting for someone else to do something.
[Rodney]: Last year, $156 billion went to founders.
Less than 0.5% of that went to Black founders.
If it were reverse,
and you and I had access to the 99%,
what would be different?
What do you think would different?
[Emmit]: If we only had access to 15%?
[Rodney]: There you go.
[Emmit]: We don't want an unfair advantage.
We just want a fair advantage, in the scheme.
I sold a company for a little money.
It ended up going, being a $23 billion enterprise.
If I had a quarter of that,
how I would've invested my money,
and the outcome of that, would've been different.
Most folks in our tribe who have wealth as entrepreneurs
it's the wealth of their company.
It's not their liquidity.
[Rodney]: Mm-hmm.
[Emmit]: Liquidity is a tool
that you can use to lever growth with others.
It's not desirable for most to take money
out of their out operating company,
'cause they're thinking that money helps that company grow.
And so, we wonder why we don't support each other more,
it's a function of liquidity.
[Emmit]: And in our tribe,
it's about survival instincts.
I can't speak for others.
So, if you don't have a survival instinct
as a Black entrepreneur,
I don't know how you do it because
you don't last very long.
[Rodney]: An old investment buddy said,
"Entrepreneurship is not like Little League.
Everybody doesn't get a trophy."
[Emmit]: Nah. Nah, nah.
(Both laughing)
[Emmit]: No. True.
[Rodney]: You know he said something.
Now, I would believe this.
If it were reversed,
and because of how we are belonging
and including, as a person,
it would be more equitable for everybody.
[Emmit]: People talk about civil rights.
Every piece of civil rights legislation that has passed
has helped the majority
more than it's helped the minority.
Let's take government programs for the poor.
There are more poor white people
in America than there are Black people in America.
[Rodney]: Mm-hmm.
[Emmit]: And we talk about it as though
it's a Black thing, being poor.
Poor is poor.
We are done a disservice by politicians and media,
when they want to do a good thing,
and they simply focus on Black folk as the talking point.
They need to acknowledge that this money is going go to
poor people, and it's gonna include Black folks
on an equal basis.
[Rodney]: Black history is indeed American history.
It seems so limited to want to, um,
erase the part of history because
it doesn't make you or your children feel a certain way.
The truth is not always comfortable,
but when you you learn Black history,
the resilience and the results
that came out of
not having a lot to start with.
And if you are an entrepreneur
and you don't know about innovators that happen to be Black,
or are innovators because they are Black,
then you're doing your body of work a disservice.
[Rodney]: You know,
what is a message to young entrepreneurs?
[Emmit]: Clarity is power.
[Rodney]: Wow.
[Emmit]: How do I get personal clarity?
I need to be clear about purpose and desired outcome
of what it is I'm trying to do.
And if I can articulate that clearly enough,
and explain it to Joe on the corner,
then I'm empowered to implement.
[Rodney]: Mm-hmm.
[Emmit]: But if I don't have clarity,
if I can't, don't have a clear purpose in mind,
if I don't have an outcome-
yes, random things happen.
People happen.
Successes gonna happen in a random way,
but you can't bet on that.
Be open to learning. Be open to you.
Read case studies.
Knowledge in the space you're in
is really important,
but you don't have to be the smartest person to do that.
You don't have to be the smartest person in the room.
I always want people smarter than me about what they do.
I want the CFO to be a better financial engineer than I am.
And if you can't find people smarter than you
for what you need,
um, then you gotta look around at people as advisors
who are smarter than you.
[Rodney]: Emmit, thank you so much.
Um, on behalf of Opportunity Hub and GoDaddy,
thank you for being transparent, being candid, um,
telling us about your journey, um,
and taking us into the future.
[Emmit]: Thank you. Thank you.
(inspirational music)