Mac and the Search for the RareBreed Entrepreneur
- 73.9M
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
SUBSCRIBE and listen on your favorite platform!
Show Overview:
On today’s episode of Get Found, Get Funded, we speak to our very own McKeever Conwell about his new fund RareBreed Ventures. We touch on his background, how he created RareBreed Ventures, and how he uses Twitter to help other entrepreneurs.
About GFGF:
The Get Found Get Funded podcast is at the intersection of entrepreneurship and social justice where we focus on entrepreneurship as a possible path to wealth creation — specifically for Black and Latinx communities.
Featured Guest: McKeever Conwell
McKeever Conwell, Founder & Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeever
RareBreed Ventures: https://www.rarebreed.vc/
Mac on Medium: https://macconwell.medium.com/
Key Takeaways:
- Start with your sight set on building the best business or company possible and user acquisition strategy.
- You don’t need to have a ton of customers from the start, but you should have a strategy on how you plan to acquire them and then retain them.
- Develop a personal pitch deck to maintain a focused strategy on the business you want to build.
- The right mentors can open doors and offer the guidance you need to succeed.
Timestamps:
1:24 The formation of a career in entrepreneurship and VC.
4:03 How RareBreed got its name.
6:29 Using Twitter as a unique VC fundraising tool.
7:33 Seeing areas of improvement as an opportunity to innovate/Rolling Funds
13:56 Entering the trade ecosystem with tools from creating startups.
18:06 Value of mentorship
22:52 Treating investing and entrepreneurship as pay-forward industries.
26:02 Trusting your ability to learn and adapt when thrown into new challenges.
28:38 Imbalance of the pandemic, the process of reorienting and stabilizing.
36:56 Seeking out room for improvement as a strategy for investment
39:26 What it means to be “industry agnostic”
41:40 Things to look for in an LP
43:31 The infrastructure of RareBreed
48:49 What should the focus for entrepreneurs as they build their businesses
51:48 Closing remarks and well wishes looking ahead
Items Mentioned in the Show:
RareBreed Ventures: https://rarebreed.webflow.io/
Mac on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MacConwell?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Deal Camp (VC training program): https://ecosystems.500.co/berkeley
Builders Fund (Preseed fund for women & minority-led companies): https://www.thebuildersfund.com/
Quotes from the Show:
- “Don't focus on raising capital. Focus on building a strong company that has really good economics, has a strong customer acquisition strategy and to retain your customers.”
- “We care about not just being different and not just changing ventures, but we care about people and community.”
- “Start off with building the best company you can build, you know, start off with having a strong user acquisition strategy, and then after that, figure out a way to retain those customers and then all the other stuff comes.”
- “I had a lot of advisors and mentors who supported me, who sent job offers my way, who wrote letters of recommendations, who gave me advice, who told me where to go to get, you know, some training and education.”
- “Me and my team basically put up a website that has a button that says become an LP; if you click on that button, and you fill out a simple form, it takes you directly to our subscription docs where you can fill out. So literally, you could sign up to be an investor in RareBreed Ventures, and have never talked to me or never have met me.”
