Femi Opaneye works hard to play hard in Bali

Dex: 0:02

Hey, welcome to another episode of In The Black, I am Dex, and you are about to hear from a man who runs a adventure. I want to say, I don't want to say venture capital, but he's got a good story and we're just going to go with it. Femi Opaneye. I apologize for messing up not only your name, but your intro. How's it going, brother?

Femi: 0:31

I'm very well. Thanks. And I have to say thank you for having me on the podcast.

Dex: 0:36

I appreciate you taking the time. And again, I apologize for having to reschedule, but yeah, tell us about your business because it is really fascinating what you do. And I think it's something that a lot of small businesses, and even side hustler can understand where they're going to need your help. So tell me about Pane Ventures.

Femi: 0:58

Yeah, sure. So, my name is Femi Opanea. I'm originally Nigerian, but born and raised in the UK. So in terms of my background, my background is law and investment banking. I worked in that area in the corporate world for 12 years, and I must say I was an absolutely terrible employee. I mean, I spent my days listening to music, listening to motivational speeches by Les Brown, if you know who that is. I do know

Dex: 1:25

Les Brown, yeah.

Femi: 1:27

Eventually I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and complaining and so I decided, you know what, I'm just going to quit. So I went into work one day and within 24 hours I decided I was going to quit my job. I went in, I handed in my notice, and I said I was just going to figure it out as I went along. Um, and so basically I've been an entrepreneur for the past, uh, nine years. And, um, initially I spent three years in Hong Kong. I spent the next three years in, um, London and I spent the last three years in Bali. So Pane Ventures is a startup advisory, and essentially what we do is we help our clients in two main areas, and that's customer acquisition and fundraising. So clients will come to us and they will say, Hey, we're starting this venture. We're not sure what to do. So we can help them with things like development of financial models, pitch decks, business plans, investment memorandums, as well as lead generation via cold email.

Dex: 2:30

Nice. Nice. Naturally anybody that's here that completely understands where that can help them, especially when they want to take their business from, let's say a side hustle to something bigger, they're going to need those angel investors, but there's such a structure that's involved with that, you know, having that pitch deck, making sure you have your financial models. So when you first, speak with people. When somebody first approaches you for their services, what's usually the first thing you have to tell them?

Femi: 3:01

Sure. So, I mean, there's, uh, there's many different angles to, uh, to this game. But what I would say is, first of all, don't necessarily do what I do. Right, because I quit. Yeah. Uh, and I decided to, uh, just jump in. So jump off the cliff, and I found my wings on the way down. It's a tough way to do it, uh, but it did force me, to learn, and to get. Things together. But what I would say is that, let's say you're working on your job. You're working on your 9 to 5 or 9 to 7 or 9 to 9, whatever it is, but have your side hustle and work diligently on it. So, after work, go back home, work on that. And, uh, during the weekends, work on it and build, things over time. Now, the reason I say that is that, uh, your job gives you direct access to capital. Now that is a very difficult situation for a lot of people. So I'll just give you a couple of statistics. So in the UK, for example, only 0. 2 percent of venture capital goes to black entrepreneurs. Now, in the US, the figure is a little better, but it is still less than 1%. So what I would advise you to really do, is to stay in your job and use or funnel your capital, your salary to build your business over time. Now, it's very important that you get the right information. So, for example, Y Combinator has a lot of useful information and it's free information as well. I would also say subscribe to my YouTube channel as well. I give some very insightful updates. A lot of it is free. I also have a free book as well, which is called Meet Active and Verified Investors. If you do decide to raise capital. Now, there are various sources of capital that you can look to. So I'll briefly touch on that. So you can go for a family and friends round. So speaking to your family and friends and say, Hey, this is my business idea. Talk to them about it. I find someone who is an angel investor, who is, essentially. Looking to get better returns than they do from the banks. And finally, I'll just give you a brief example of what we typically do. So I was working with a lady, from the States. Uh, her name is Andrea and she was from California. And essentially what she is is an educator and she started a platform. Now she came to us with an A4 sheet of paper, a Google sheet and said, Hey, this is my idea. But I don't know what to do next. So I said, Okay, give me that information. And based upon that information, we were able to build a financial model for her. We built a pitch deck. We built a business plan. And we also gave us gave us some intelligence on investors because she's a black lady. She was able to, she was looking for specific VCs or angel investors, the funded, black entrepreneurs, but specifically, uh, specifically women. Uh, and so that is, that's a flavor, of the direction that I recommend that people go in. That's awesome, man.

Dex: 6:19

That's, uh, it's kind of crazy having to put all that stuff together and with a lot of people that can be incredibly overwhelming. But you've, it sounds like you've streamlined the process and you understand who is coming to you. What sort of financial information do you require in order for you to be able to help someone?

Femi: 6:42

Yep. I'll use myself briefly as an example. So, like I said, I've been doing this for almost 10 years now. When I first got into this game, I had no idea what I was doing. Um, and so I did a bit of everything. So I went into a sales. I was doing some marketing. I was doing, um. Management consulting. At one point, I was even doing a physical gold sourcing for a client. Actually, it's a very funny story. Um, it was placed in Hong Kong at the time. And I got introduced to this gentleman, a German guy. Who is, he's a physical, uh, he's a physical gold dealer. And he said, Hey, I'm looking for sources of gold in Africa, your Africa, and can you help me? And I said, okay, let's give it a go. I fast forward to, um, about six months later. We were on a plane from Hong Kong to, uh, Liberia. Um, it took us about 40 hours in total, including, uh, this is about 40 hours in total. I land in, uh, Liberia and the first thing the guy says to me, he says, Hey, do you have your yellow fever certificate? Uh, and I said, no, and he, he punched at his bucket on the floor and he says, all right, then I'm not letting you into the country until you take your yellow fever jab. Now, I had to weigh it up in my mind. Do I take the jab that he's going to collect from this bucket? Not knowing what it is. I turn around and go back to, uh, to to Hong Kong. Of course I couldn't. Uh, so in the end I took the job, but, uh, seven years later, I'm still here. Now I give that backstory to stay that you don't need to go through all of this hardship because I've done it already. Uh, and so therefore I have a good understanding. Of what needs to go into a financial model. I have a good understanding already of what needs to go into a pitch deck. I know the kinds of things investors are looking for. I know the kind of KPIs that a startup should focus on if they want to grow their business. And that's essentially what we help our clients with. That's that's amazing.

Dex: 8:54

Um, so are there particular industries that you normally work with? Some that are, like, say, more profitable than others or others that you understand better?

Femi: 9:06

Yeah, sure. So, um, you asked me the question before about the financials. What we do for our clients is that, um. We get information from them, but then we also ask them, okay, or we do research is to find out who their closest competitors are. And then based upon that information, uh, we can build out, a business for them, or we can build out financial based upon, uh, what those, um, the, the, the information from competitors now talking about a specific industries. The, the reason I explain that backstory is just to say that, um, I've been involved in a bunch of different industries. Um, another one that I didn't mention is, uh, real estate. Um, and, uh, I've just been involved in so many different things. I actually enjoy business. I enjoy talking about, business and what makes businesses tick. So anything that. People come to me with, I can get a grasp of what needs to go into it because basically there is a structure, that is required to build, different facets of a business. Um, and that's really what I understand. If I don't understand the business, then look, I will do some research, uh, into it to get a better understanding. Uh, but myself and my team, we can, uh, we, we, we can, uh, get a pretty good handle on things.

Dex: 10:28

So at what point in someone's journey do they come to you, like after they've been in business for years or when they have an idea and they just need the money or something deeper that I'm not understanding.

Femi: 10:41

Um, it's typically at the beginning of their journey, right? So we work with, uh, with early stage, uh, early stage ventures, uh, founders who, uh, uh, solopreneurs, that's, how they typically refer to themselves. So the lady that, I referred to, uh, earlier, she was actually, working in the, in the education field. She still had a daytime job, and then we helped her to build things out. So we typically work with people at the very early stages. Now, the reason we say that, is that people further down the line have tend to figured a lot of things out. However, we still do provide advice to, uh, to clients. Who are later on in their journey. So for example, as a client that I'm currently working with, uh, she's a fashion designer. Now, Hey, I don't know anything about fashion. I really don't, but, uh, I wear plain, I wear plain t shirts. Yeah, me too. But, uh, she, she is looking for partnerships, right? I mean, her business is five years old. She's looking for partnerships. And I said, okay, sure. Uh, we can help you find a partnership. She's also looking for some funding so we can help her with that aspect of a business as well. There's another company that we're working with, and they're a travel organization, and they're looking for help with the lead generation and the sales and marketing aspect of their business. So it tends to be. Early stage founders, who are really, really at the beginning. So we call that the zero stage. They haven't found, there's nothing there. It's just information on a piece of paper all the way up to say, maybe about five to eight years, when people are really starting to build things out. Yeah. So

Dex: 12:27

have you come across a business to where you're like, uh, yeah, this looks good. Their numbers are good. The management seems solid. I might just put in a couple of bucks myself.

Femi: 12:41

Um, sometimes, however, what I would say with, um, with entrepreneurship, with startups, the, there is a difficulty. Uh, and really grasping, what stage the business is or what they're really doing. So occasionally I've come across some and I say, okay, you know, I'd be very interested to, uh, to work with these guys. Uh, sometimes I work with them on an advisory capacity. Right. Rather than, infusing capital, uh, but there have been some guys that I have come across. So just to give you some kind of understanding of what makes a good business, uh, it's actually the management team or the founders, right? Because, um, you can Google trillion dollar ideas and you will come across brilliant author, right? However, it's the execution of those ideas. That's the most important thing. And. Typically it is the entrepreneur, right? The founders of the company, they are the ones that really make a business tick. Um, and it is, uh, it is the management team, uh, that is very important. So for example, we were talking, um, in fact, I just did a video today on, uh, Sam Bankman-Fried, of FTX Capital, because I have a YouTube channel. And I was actually comparing him to, Jeffrey Epstein. Now, a lot of people might not necessarily like these individuals. However, when it comes to business, um, are they leaders? Right? I mean, that's very important. Do they have access to capital? Uh, can they execute, uh, do they have the right connections? Now as much as you may not like these guys, Donald Trump, for example, he has all of those things in spades as well. Uh, Robert F. Smith, these guys, they have all of these things in spades. So these are the kinds of things, that you have to look for, when it comes to, uh success. In business,

Dex: 14:39

so management is always a big thing. It's good to have some sort of, some sort of experience and whatever it is. So it's not just, it's usually not just an idea that people can just come up with and show up and expect to get some sort of funding if they do.

Femi: 15:00

I was just going to say investors don't invest in an idea, right? They want to see that some kind of execution has been, um, there's, there's been some execution and they look at the management team. Can I work with these guys? Because I always say to my clients that look, um, working with investors or raising capital, um, or even a, um, a successful startup, it's a seven to 10 year game, and that's what investors are looking for. Right. It's, it's effectively, it's a marriage, right? Can I work with this person for the next 10 years? Are they, do they have the strength and wherewithal to keep going when things get tough? And actually you'll find that a lot of people don't. It's very comfortable to be in a corporate position. I was saying that, look, I was a, I was a terrible employee. All I had to do was get to work on time and I would, and I put one earphone in. And I was listening to Les Brown and he was telling me, leave your job. He was motivating me. So it's, it's easy to, to, to sneak, uh, sneak behind the cracks and pretend you're working when you're within the corporate environment. And when it comes to business, you have to find the right person, the right managers or the right founder who can execute, and can keep going when the going gets tough.

Dex: 16:22

Yeah. Don't say the, uh, just show up to work part too loud because they're trying to push everyone back into the offices. That's all the motivation they need.

Femi: 16:33

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

Dex: 16:36

Getting back to you, so you quit this corporate job and you decide to move all over the world. Uh, tell me about that journey from London to where you're currently at Bali.

Femi: 16:48

Yeah, sure. So, I mean, I would say that, um, you know, I was, I was pretty depressed when I was living in London. For a variety of reasons or living in the UK. But then just in general, I would say I was, uh, I was depressed now. Part of the reason, uh, why I was is that, um, I feel I was, um, I, I felt obligated. And I guess in some respects, my parents pushed me into this professional career. I remember my father asking me repeatedly because my dad is a doctor. My mom's a nurse. Most of my sister's a doctor. Most of my family are doctors. They're lawyers. A lot of my friends are in finance. And so my dad repeatedly asked me, he was like, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? What are you going to do? And eventually I said that I'm going to be an engineer. Uh, what kind of engineer, uh, an, an aeronautical engineer. I had no idea what that is, but, but my auntie was one. Uh, and, uh, for a while he kept quiet because he thought, okay, my son is going to be an engineer. This is great. Eventually I realized that, you know, I'm not that good at, uh, science, uh, and so, uh, uh, science and engineering, just, it wouldn't have been the right fit. Uh, and so I picked the next thing, which I thought was pretty easy and straightforward, which was law, but I found out I actually hated it. I hated being, uh, in the law firm. I hated going to law school. I hated. Every aspect of law, although I did go through the process and actually I've learned a lot as a result. And so I thought, okay, if I leave law, I can go into, uh, I'll go into banking. Surely I'll go into investment banking. Maybe I can just make some money. But then again, I was, I was extremely depressed. I used to drink a lot while I was, uh, in Hong Kong. Uh, and that was my way of escape. Uh, eventually, like I said, I just couldn't continue. Uh, and I credit Les Brown with deciding that, look, you need to, I wanted to do something with my life. And so that's why I quit. Uh, but also I was tired of the UK. And so in 2010, um, I had this opportunity to go to, uh, to Hong Kong, to move to Asia, uh, and I thought, wow, you know, this is, uh, this is very different. Uh, from what I know, so I lived there for seven years. I did go back to London briefly again. I couldn't stand the cold weather. Originally I'm African and, I decided, okay, I was going to move back to Asia, and so I moved back to Asia in 2020, the pandemic hit, uh, and then I got stuck in Bali, and this is where I've been for the past three and a half years.

Dex: 19:32

Yeah, poor you being stuck on the beautiful beaches of Bali. Yeah, I mean,

Femi: 19:37

the great thing about Bali, uh, as well is that, uh, that there's a guy that I ran into. Uh, he's from the States. Uh, from North Carolina, and he was starting this organization or he did a while ago before I got here because he's been here for 5 years. It's called black and Bali. And so they curate a lot of events for black people, that are here. Uh, that want to come to Bali as well. And a couple of days ago, there was an event. In fact, there's a, there's an event tonight that I decided not to go to. Uh, but, uh, there's, they're always putting on events for, for Black people that play our music. Um, and you've got a, uh, uh, um, you know, a community, uh, of black. And again, I think that's another reason why I decided to stay, uh, in, uh, in Bali specifically.

Dex: 20:29

That's awesome. Um, throwing back to, uh, your dad pressuring you to figure out what you're going to do with your life. It's kind of funny that when you said engineering, you went alphabetically with the answers. You said aeronautical, you could have said electrical or mechanical. Nope. You just first answer. Let's start with the A's. All right. That sounds good. But we'll go with that, right?

Femi: 20:53

Yeah. Well, I have no idea. And look, my dad is going to listen to this podcast. So, uh, I'm choosing my words carefully because he'll say, Oh, I never pressured you. But, uh, he did, he did, but, uh, you know, he, he, he wanted me to be successful. Um, and he sees, um, he sees medicine as a calling, right. And just briefly explained all the different careers, uh, that I've been involved in and all of the different industries and experience, et cetera. The only thing he has ever done in his life is medicine. And being a doctor, and he takes great pride in that. aNd I understand that he was a doctor for 30 plus years. And, uh, he, he really enjoys the craft. And so he wanted me to choose something. And of course he wanted me to be a doctor. He wanted all of my sisters to be doctors. But in the end, only my sister chose that path. And so, um, like I said, I mean, I, I wanted to do something that, um, the family could be proud of, but I think, you know, it just, it wasn't for me. Uh, and so I'm, I'm just glad I was able to get out, uh, and get away from, uh, from the depression that, uh, I was experiencing as a result. I get

Dex: 22:14

that. I get that. I'm pretty sure my sister was my family's favorite also. So don't, don't feel bad.

Femi: 22:21

Well, she, you know, she was, she was the youngest. So, uh, she stayed at home. Uh, she stayed at home with my dad. There was no one else that he could convince. Let me put it that way. There was no one else that he could convince. There was nowhere else she could go. And so she, but she,

Dex: 22:38

nobody cared. So

Femi: 22:42

like I said, and my mom is a nurse as well. So what else would she do?

Dex: 22:47

Yeah. There was no convincing necessary. That's like, listen, you're walking down this tunnel with us, right? Yeah.

Femi: 22:53

And, uh, and I have to actually give credit to my sister. I mean, she, um, she, she spent a lot of time studying. Because in the, in the UK, I know it's similarly, it takes longer in the, uh, in the States, uh, but I mean, it's a six year degree, here in, uh, in the UK. And prior to that, she also did, another degree in biochemistry, um, or something. So, uh, she was studying for close to 10 years, and now she's, uh, she's a doctor in the UK. So, uh, I take my, I tip my hat to her. She, uh, she was dedicated.

Dex: 23:29

Shout out to sis, man. Shout out to sis, dude. So, um, let's also throw it back to, uh, Black in Bali. Um, tell me a little bit more about that organization, because it sounds like I'm going to end up having to reach out to them for an episode.

Femi: 23:47

Absolutely. I'm sure they would, uh, they would appreciate that. So the purpose of Black in Bali, and again, I don't want to say I'm their spokesperson, but I'll give you a bit of a flavor. They, uh, their intention is to build a community of, uh, of Black folks in Bali. All right. Um, and so what they have been doing for a while now is they have a Facebook group, which is, uh, which is pretty popping. They also have an Instagram as well, which is pretty popping as well. So if you, if you type that in, you definitely come across that information, uh, but they create different events. So, on Wednesday, for example, they had a meet and greet. Um, and also we were, we were playing, um, playing, uh, board games and there was, uh, there was a spoken word, um, so it's, they, they were creating a, um, like I said, I mean, it's a, it's a community on a Friday. There is a nightclub event that, uh, that everyone is attending. And of course the music is going to be, Afro beats, R& B, hip hop, et cetera. So you're not going to turn up and hear house music, and dance music. So these are the different, types of, uh, events that they curate. Now, Juneteenth is a big thing because most of their audience. I believe 80 percent of the audience, um, or the community. Is, uh is Americans, um, okay. And so, Juneteenth, a lot of, Americans actually flying in for Juneteenth, uh, which is, uh, well on the 19th of June. So for next year. Yeah, actually a lot of them are already preparing for that, and as well, so, uh, so yeah, if you come to Bali, I mean this, uh. You can plug into the, uh, the WhatsApp group. I should, uh, I should that as well. So, uh, so yeah, and, you'll be able to speak to, uh, to, to black people. You'll be able to speak to people that look like you, that are from, uh, different parts of, uh, I think at the last event, I, I met people from the states. From the UK, from Australia, from Africa, so, uh, there's, uh, there's a lot of things to do here, um, and, uh, plug into it.

Dex: 26:05

I do find that kind of crazy that, uh, you know the basis of Juneteenth, right?

Femi: 26:12

Um, not really, no.

Dex: 26:15

Okay, I'm about to put you on, bro. It's, uh, so, are you familiar with the Emancipation Proclamation? Okay, so, the, the enslaved people in Texas, they didn't know about until three and a half years later, on the third week of June, and when they found out, it was crazy, it was a party. And so, that's what, that's in memory of, it's in, in memory of the, of those Southerners that didn't know that they were free, when they found out they were. But I find that ironic that they celebrate it outside of America because it's, we're free from the toils. That, American society gave us before we're so free. We took that energy to Southeast Asia.

Femi: 27:06

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's any excuse for a party. Let's put it that way.

Dex: 27:12

Amen. That's you kind of summed it up with that one. I tried to take it complex. He took it simple, bro. Absolutely.

Femi: 27:21

Um,

Dex: 27:23

So, 1 of the, uh, the other things that you do, um, that 1 of the services that you offer is lead generation and it's via cold email. Do you already have a list of people that, uh, of companies that have, uh, invested? Or do you just find them out randomly?

Femi: 27:46

So I mean, yeah, that's a great question. So I'll just give you an example. Um, There was a a company that I was working with in the states and they were looking for They wanted to target wealthy people in the states Uh, let's put it that way and so what we did is we went out and we conducted research to find a list of a list of names Uh, and then what we do is we populate that list. Okay. So we, we have the list of the names. We can find the, uh, the name of their company, their title, their email address, uh, their LinkedIn, uh, if they have Instagram. All of that information, um, is, uh, is available publicly, uh, those ways to get this information. Now, before someone talks about us spamming people, I would say that, uh, I would say that, um, the, the most difficult thing that, uh, poor people deal with is making money. Uh, and the difficult thing that wealthy people deal with is investing their capital and getting a good return. So, these people are looking for great companies to invest in. Uh, as long as you're a great company, uh, we can find information, uh, on these individuals. Uh, and we'll reach out to them, uh, on your behalf, uh, tell them about what you're doing. Um, and, uh, they will certainly sit down with you, as long as your financials make sense. As long as the business makes sense, as long as it's their specific area. So, for example, we only be targeting people, that invest in that specific niche. So we're not going to just randomly. Uh, send pitch decks out to people just because they call themselves angel investors. We want to know what they've invested in in the past. Uh, are they an active angel investor, for example? So are they currently investing? So some angel investors will dedicate, let's say 100, 000 per annum. Because that's the kind of liquidity that they have at the moment. So we're going to have a conversation with them and say, Hey, are you, are you currently investing? Sometimes they'll say, Hey, we've, we've, uh, used up all our allocation. I've invested all of this money. And then the conversation ends there. Can we reach out to you again in six, six months, nine months, et cetera. Some will say yes, some will say no, uh, but this is the way that, uh, that pitching works, uh, effectively. Let me put it that way, because there are a lot of people that just go around spamming other people, hoping that, that something is going to stick. Uh, but in actually in, in reality, you just end up annoying people. And that's the best way to approach raising capital. That's, that's

Dex: 30:36

awesome. I, um, I'm wondering, you know, cause you talked about angel investors for very specific industries. I wonder how often there's a crossover of an angel investor, uh, investing in company a, and then finding out about company B and realizing that company a could use information from company B. And so they kind of have their hands in two pots at the same time. Does that become a conflict of interest or they're just like, Hey, I'm going to end up winning no matter what.

Femi: 31:07

I mean, look, it's, it's unethical, but it does happen, right? Uh, it does happen in business. I mean, it, it happens far too often. So there's a, there's a company called, uh, flow, uh, that was set up by a guy called Adam Newman. Now, Adam Newman, initially set up a company called WeWork, uh, which ended up being a complete disaster. Now, I did a video on these guys. You've heard about the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Well, I created my, I created my own term frauds, 30 under 30, because a lot of these guys, yeah, I mean, a lot of these guys have ended up being a fraudulent, uh, in the way they presented themselves. Uh, in terms of who, uh, their business is. So Sam Bankman Fried, for example, he was on the Forbes 30 under 30, uh, Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos. She was also on the Forbes 30 under 30. Um, actually she wasn't, but she, she presented. At the, uh, she was, she was linked to the actual, uh, forum. So I think she presented, but she wasn't, uh, on the list. Uh, Martin Skreli, uh, he was on the . He went to, uh, to, to prison for fraud. Uh, pharma, bro, he's, he's, he's managed to, uh, escape it. Uh, but I say that, uh, only to say that, a lot of unethical things are going on in this world. And, um, it's, it is, it is actually said that, Adam Newman himself, so based upon, so he made a billion dollars from, um, from his time at WeWork. Um, I don't know how, because he managed to run that company into the ground, but SoftBank gave him a billion dollars, uh, as severance pay, which is crazy to me. Uh, but anyway, he went and he started investing in a bunch of different businesses and one of the businesses that he came across, um, has. Interestingly enough, the very same or a very similar idea to the business he decided to start, which is called flow. And, flow raised money from, uh, Andreessen Horowitz, and they've been given a billion dollar valuation again, uh, crazy because he has, uh, no product. But a lot of people came out during that time and they said, look, um, as I stated before, when you're, when you talk about the VC world, which is actually pretty much rigged, um, black entrepreneurs, particularly women, uh, they don't get a look in. I mean, the reason I mentioned women is that, a lot of entrepreneurs, particularly in the U S. And in the UK, for example, they are starting all of these businesses, but they cannot raise capital. And, um, fearless fund was recently sued. So fearless fund gives, um, I think it's 20, 000 grants to, uh, women of color. And, uh, they were sued for discriminatory practices, which is, you know, which is, is, is crazy to me, but they were recently, they were, they were recently sued. And I think that, uh, that lawsuit is still pending, uh, but, uh, but this is the nature of business. I mean, it's, it's really is like the wild, wild west out here. Yeah.

Dex: 34:29

That's, that is so crazy, man. Like at some point. It just becomes numbers, that amount of capital, it can literally change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. And just these single people just have the power to control that many people. And it's, it's mind

Femi: 34:54

boggling. Yeah. I mean, WeWork was running to the ground. I mean, this guy was, um, he bought a company jet for 50 million, uh, for 50 million, this is Adam Newman I'm talking about. Yes. Adam Newman. Yeah, eventually they, they, they have to kick him out of the company. They couldn't save the company. The actual business model of the company was terrible. But in the end, I think they must've, they, I think if they haven't, they're actually on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and this guy made a billion. He made a billion dollars as a result of that company. The CEO of SoftBank actually lost his job because he, he, he, uh, he gave them so much money. Uh, and then we get back to someone like, uh, Sam Backman Fried. Um, and, uh, he, he lost 9 billion. Um, and, uh, again, we just talk about this, like it doesn't matter. Um, I know he's currently on trial. He's facing 115 years, but, uh, I won't be surprised if he suddenly disappears. Now make up that what you will, but, um, I think there were a lot of, uh, There are a lot of powerful people that collected money from him, particularly from the Democratic party. And a lot of people don't want that information to be revealed because he effectively had a platform that was, uh, that was launching money. And all of these political figures, celebrities, in fact, what has come out from the trial is that a billion dollars was spent on celebrity endorsements. Uh, sponsorships and I, I just, it just, it's mind boggling how, uh, how this, uh, how this thing, uh, continues to happen. Um, I just add one more point. There is a, there is a, there is an organization that a lot of people don't talk about. Uh, and it's called the Center for Effective Altruism. Uh, now these guys are These I know the ones you're talking about.

Dex: 36:56

Yeah, sorry, I know the ones you're talking about. Please go on, I apologize. These,

Femi: 37:02

these guys are a group of billionaires, uh, who funded his company. And A lot of people are just talking about, uh, this guy, uh, that is Sam Bankman Fried, like he was, uh, you know, just some teenage boy who was playing video games who, uh, who lost a bunch of money. Uh, but actually I believe it was a lot more nefarious because, uh, this money was just I mean, it was floating around the world. So I think there were about 130 companies, uh, in a very short space of time that he himself that is, Bankman Fried was involved in funding. So, you know, this was not, this was, this is not a case of, uh, of missing money. Uh, this is, this is a lot of money that, uh, that was used for a lot of nefarious activities. Uh, that was used for a lot of illegal activities. It's just nobody wants to talk about it. They're just pretending that, uh, it got lost, but it didn't. It was very deliberate.

Dex: 38:02

I think it got lost in the laundry.

Femi: 38:08

Of course. And, uh, and, uh, and this is why, this is why in my, in my most recent, um, YouTube, uh, video, I should compare, I compare him to Jeffrey Epstein. Because Jeffrey Epstein was also a financier and he had the, uh, he had the means to, uh, to move capital from one place to another. Um, and actually, uh, you'll find that, uh, you, you really do need some very serious. Banking connections, uh, when it comes to, uh, to this kind of thing. So let's say for example, because one thing that, uh, that, uh, FTX did is I think they paid off the Chinese government to the tune of $150 million. Now, I don't know anyone who could move that kind of money. I mean, really, I mean, the, you, you need some very, very, very high level connections to move $150 million because. People should ask questions. I mean, if you go to the bank and you say, Hey, I want to withdraw all of my money. They're going to sit you down and ask you where you're going. They're going to make you speak to the bank manager. Somehow, nine billion dollars have vanished. And, uh, you know, everyone's sitting around saying, Hey, we don't

Dex: 39:24

know what happened. The press of a button, man. The press of a button. It's That's too crazy. It's, it's such a headache thinking about that. Instead of doing something good with that money, they're just doing it, using it to do more bad. And I don't want to get into the politics of it, but it's just so Daunting to think about it, because my audience is just people that I don't want to use the word struggling, but they're doing their, their best to carve out their little piece of the world and, you know, just have the freedom to take care of their families, take care of themselves, go on vacations, just make some sort of control in their life. Like, I don't, I don't have millionaires and billionaires on this show. I have. I know I've said it before. I have the guy up the street that started up a small business and has found some success in it. I find that one person who's done a niche that no one's ever heard of. One of my earliest episodes was a black beekeeper. And he told me about the history of, you know, black bees. He said that he could count seven black beekeepers, including himself. You know, in America, yeah, and it's, it's kind of crazy if you think about that, because, and this is just a throwback to that episode. If you guys want to hear that episode again, it's with Edward, the beekeeper, but I'm going to paraphrase what he said. And he comes from a, uh, a black farming community in North Carolina, and there were tons of farms around there and the farms are always flourishing. Well, you need bees to. To keep germinating and pollinating the crops. And so what he suspects is that someone set up bees in the woods near those farms, and then they made money from the honey and the wax from those bees. So it's, it's just. It's funny how, um, Black labor, especially, keeps getting exploited so often. And that's the reason why more and more of us need to start our own. Uh, not to exploit other people, but to use our resources, use our labor for ourselves, get more of the pie for ourselves. So I guess that's

Femi: 41:52

the point of this podcast. Yeah. I mean, a lot of it is about, uh, access to capital. Now, Sam bankman Fried. Mm-Hmm.. He was 31 years old. Uh, and somehow he got access to billions of dollars. Now, his parents, yeah, they were highly involved in a lot of these fraudulent in, in, in a lot of this fraud. In fact, I'm surprised that they're not behind bars, right. I mean, they were just, yeah, it's just, um. People, people often think, or they often say, Oh, we come up with a great idea and people will find you. But actually that's not true because if you have, uh, let's say for example, my, my, my father was a partner at Goldman Sachs and I went to him and I was like, Hey dad, I'm on my 10th business idea. I need another 5 million. And he says, okay. Speak to Jeff. Uh, actually, no, you spoke to Jeff the last time, uh, speak to, uh, to Andy. You know, I think he has some lying around, um, these things actually make a huge difference. Whereas, I know, uh, an entrepreneur, a black entrepreneur from the UK, um, and I asked him, I was like, how much are you trying to raise? He said 125, 000 and he's been trying to raise that sum of money for quite a while. Right. And, uh, a lot of people just, they're, they're, they're struggling to, uh, to do this. They're struggling to pay their rent. Uh, they're struggling to eat, uh, but they have this dream and they continue to, uh, they continue to work on it. Whereas there's some other people that just have, they have access to capital. Um, and a large part of the world does not have access to capital. People think that. If you come up with a good idea, uh, like I said, the people will find you, uh, but actually that is not true. Uh, if you have the means to promote your idea, and talk about it and you have high level people that will back your idea. So, I mean, if you look at the, uh, the board of Theranos, for example. I mean, it just read like the who's who of the American military and, uh, and, and political connections. And I was thinking, wasn't Kissinger on that

Dex: 44:10

list?

Femi: 44:11

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I was, I was just thinking, how did these, she didn't have anything. That's the, that was the worst thing about it. She was being invited to the White House. She didn't have anything. She was a complete fraud. And now she is doing a decade in prison. I don't know how she only got a decade because, if you were to, if you were to run into the, uh, the local liquor store with a gun and stick them up, uh, you're definitely getting a lot more than a decade, but she defrauded investors out of billions of dollars. Somehow they gave her 11 years and they said, oh, actually we're gonna knock two years off that, uh, 11 years. Uh, and then probably she'll probably be out in six and they'll say, oh, and, and she'll appear on, uh, I don't know, uh, on, on, on some morning show

Dex: 45:05

saying 60 Minutes or the, yeah, she'll appear

Femi: 45:10

on, on the view and say, oh, I've, I've reinvented myself and, uh, I'm sorry. And people will give her a chance.

Dex: 45:18

I'll be really disappointed if she doesn't come out of prison wearing cornrows. I feel like the justice system will have failed us.

Femi: 45:27

Well, before she, before she went in, she actually, uh, she did reinvent her image. So she started calling herself Liz Holmes, rather than Elizabeth. I don't know how that makes a difference. She got married. She's had a couple of kids, and apparently she is, uh, she's repented. Of her sins. Uh, but then again, um, I've heard stories of people that were sent to prison at the age of, uh, who, who went into, you know, juvenile detention centers at 14, uh, and then they're coming home at 40 or 50 years old. Uh, and they've yeah, essentially been institutionalized and there was no one there to forgive them. So, um, you know what, what, what makes her, ah.

Dex: 46:15

Uh, the fact that she's probably going to still have some money coming out of prison and she won't have to work for the rest of their life. I mean, I don't know how much they, they clawed back from her, but I'm sure there's going to be enough there to where she, she won't have to actually work if she doesn't want to. Yeah, I think she,

Femi: 46:33

yep, she, she got married to a wealthy guy. I don't know much about his background, but, uh, but that's how she was funding, things. And it seems actually that, uh, that, that Sam Bankman Fried, his parents must be paying for his defense, but they, yeah,

Dex: 46:51

they're like, uh, Stanford professors of their own and say they had like a lot of connections. And that's a lot of it. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, ironically, the, the father was a professor of business ethics, if I remember correctly,

Femi: 47:08

a different kind of ethics that, uh, that you and I are used to.

Dex: 47:19

So he knew of all the wrong things to do, is what I'm understanding that as, but that's neither here nor there.

Femi: 47:27

Yeah. I just don't understand how he managed to get that much money. Because, uh, I know people who have got more solid businesses, uh, and are scrutinized a lot more. So how he was, uh, how his entire operation wasn't scrutinized. Is, uh, is really beyond me because, uh, and you know what the, the ironic thing is, is that there, there are a lot of, um, Sam Bankman Fried out there that tons of, but they just, they haven't gotten into trouble yet. Um, or they, um, or they probably never will, uh, maybe they, uh. Maybe the particular thing they're involved in as a result of the massive amounts of capital they're into, they're able to pump into their business. They, of course, eventually become successful and they become a household name. But I mean, if you can spend a billion on celebrity endorsements, I mean, hell, if I could do that. Of course, I'm going to be successful. Um, and so these guys will never hear about, uh, and like I said, Adam Newman, he, he hasn't been pulled up. Uh, but, uh, I mean, all of the stuff that I hear about him is just, it is, it's crazy. Yeah.

Dex: 48:42

I, um, from what I understand, uh, FTX didn't have, either a CFO or an accountant to run, you know, how that money was. It's, it's crazy that a financial institution could get away with that. And I think it's because the SEC couldn't be involved in it. From what I'm understanding. I mean, if I'm getting it wrong, I'm getting it wrong. I'll correct the record later, but yeah. The,

Femi: 49:08

um, but we're talking about the sophisticated. Allegedly investors, right? We're talking about sophisticated venture capital firms. Uh, the who's who of venture capital firms in the U S that gave this guy money. And I just, I just, I find it, I find it, uh, incredulous that even these guys never raised any, uh, red flags.

Dex: 49:38

I, yeah, they were too close to the, to the trees to see the forest.

Femi: 49:44

Yeah. Well, like I said, I mean, I, I, like I said, I believe that, uh, there was a lot of, uh, nefarious activity going on. Uh, and a lot of people needed access to his platform to move capital, undetected. And that's the reason that, uh, and, and also he was, he was cut from, he came from the right circles, right? His parents were Stanford law professors. Uh, they had the political connections. And so they said, okay, and he had this platform, so they said, okay, well, this is one of our guys, so we can definitely trust him, uh, to do what needs to be done, uh, in order for us to, uh, to, to, to funnel our money. Uh, to, to launch, to wash our money and, uh, yeah, he's,

Dex: 50:39

I, I told him. You know, I think, I think it goes even further than, than just that he's one of our guys. I think it's a combination of, he had parents with a good name and good standing, good reputation. He went to a reputable, highly reputable and respected school. Um, he. Look just, you know, credible enough for them to, you know, pass the muster and then on top of that, he knew more about a technology that a lot of other people didn't know about and he could explain circles around them and a lot of people didn't understand and they just assumed because of that whole stew of, um, ridiculousness. Yeah, this is the guy we're going to give our money to. Even though I I've always looked at crypto and this is just my personal opinion, I've always looked at it as this speculative game. That I don't think anyone should be paying. It's like everybody puts into a pot and then if you pull out at the right time, you get the most money, but there isn't anything. It doesn't make any money any particular way. It's just you pulling out when other people are putting in. And I don't, I, that's my opinion of it. Maybe I'm ignorant to the fact, but that's just what the whole thing has always looked like to me. I thought the blockchain technology was interesting, but it still is dependent on so many other factors.

Femi: 52:04

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a nascent, uh, technology, so a lot of people don't understand it, uh, quite yet. Um, and, uh, and don't forget, a lot of these guys were, they're just being paid to endorse it, right? So if someone comes to you and says, Hey, I'll give you a quarter of a million to say a, B, C. Um, and, uh, this is why I think, um, this is why I think, Elizabeth Holmes is able to get all of the, uh, the who's who on her board because she was able to, uh, to raise so much capital. So, um, I think the, a lot of this fault comes from the, the VCs. Obviously, but it is also this, uh, this attitude that we should only fund people that look like us that go to certain schools, uh, that go right that, uh, that have a certain status and a certain background. Uh, whereas they could have, they could have given all of that money to thousands of entrepreneurs, thousands and thousands of entrepreneurs. And, uh, they would have gotten, they would have gotten a better, a much, much better return. And, uh, this, this notion that there isn't enough money to go around, there isn't enough currency to go around. It's all a lie. Uh, we know it's all a lie because, uh, they're, they're constantly, uh. Laundry, uh, the, the money right in front of us. And, uh, I think that in, in many respects, they're just thumbing their noses at us to say, look, this is. Our high level game, you guys are not involved, but we will tell you that, um, there is no money and you just have to accept it. That's

Dex: 53:52

that's it right there. That is it. I, uh, I want to wrap this up with a thought. yOu talk about. It's all about capital, and I, I'm going to just addend into that. I think it's about connections based on everything that has been spoken today. I think connections is even more important than capital. And I'm going to, I'm going to parrot something that one of my old professors told me. It's not who you know, but it's who knows you. So, yeah, um, that's definitely what I'm going to, um, That's definitely the thought I want to leave this particular episode with. Uh, do you have any parting shots?

Femi: 54:37

Yeah, so, um, you know, I mean, I would say it's, look, it's not all, uh, doom and gloom. If you really do believe in your idea, and you really, uh, you really do. Want to back yourself, then I think you should certainly go for it. Um, find a, uh, a mentor, uh, find a coach that can help you, uh, and that will continue to help you move forward. Get your spouse, your family, your friends to, uh, to support you as well. Uh, but I would also say that, um, in, in this, uh, game, also be cognizant of your health. Um, and I say this, uh, very important because, uh, a lot of entrepreneurs, they tend to neglect it. Um, and, uh, there is this notion because we watch TV and we watch the movies and, you know, this guy, he just works so hard and he drinks a lot as well. Um, and he's very successful, uh, but actually in reality, um, you may not. You may not make it that far. And even if you do, you become a multimillionaire. You don't want to be spending all of that money, uh, to, to, to repair yourself on all of the damage that you've done, because entrepreneurship is, is, is really hard and I think a lot of entrepreneurs. Suffering from a high blood pressure. I certainly know that that is something that, uh, started to become evident for me, uh, in the last couple of years. Um, and so I've started to dedicate a lot more time to focusing on my health, um, both mentally as well as, uh, as physically. So, uh, people should definitely look into that.

Dex: 56:16

Awesome, man. Awesome. Uh, where should people go to find the best financial models, the best pitch deck and the best lead generations for their investors?

Femi: 56:28

Sure. So, I mean, if you, if you want to get in touch with us, it's the paneventures.Com. I'm also on Instagram, so you can just type in my name. I'm also on LinkedIn. Um, I have a crunch base. Um, I have, uh, Do you know, I, I run the gambit of, uh, all of the social media, I have a link tree as well. So you can definitely get in contact with me. I also have a YouTube channel, um, and that's a great way, a place to go for education, uh, free education, uh, I might add, but, uh, if you decide that, uh, this is something that you want to do outside of us, uh, there's some very good information from, uh, from Y Combinator. Uh, that is a startup accelerator, um, and interestingly enough, uh, the guy over there, Michael Seibel, he is a black entrepreneur. I think he must be worth close to 150 million now. He was the, uh, he was the founder of Twitch. Uh, it used to be called Justin TV, but, uh, he puts out a lot of, uh, a lot of very good information. And, uh, you can certainly, get, some good information from Y Combinator, including their free, um, their startup school, which is, uh, which is free. That's awesome, man.

Dex: 57:44

I, and all that information is going to be included in the notes, but, um, yeah, Femi, I can't thank you enough for being on the show. You dropped nothing short of absolute knowledge. Um, great conversation. Um, you're incredibly informative and I think you're a very valuable asset for, uh, my audience and. Guys, if you need to scale up and reach that next pinnacle, this is the man you need to reach out to. And that's again, painventures. com. Um, uh, and again, all that information is going to be in the show notes. So for my guest Femi, I am Dex. This is In The Black and we will see you next time. If you want to support the show, the best way to do that is to share it with a friend. If you don't like this episode. Share it with two people. You don't like, that's a great way to get back at them. But again, thanks to my guests for me, I'm Dex, and we will see you next time.