With the Number 1 Pick, 500 Global VC Unlocked Selects….
On May 1, 2024 I received a scholarship offer to attend the 11th Cohort of VC Unlocked: Silicon Valley by 500 Global, one of the world’s most renowned educational programs offered in collaboration with the Stanford Center for Professional Development. This exclusive program is uniquely designed for emerging leaders eager to shape the future of the venture capital industry.
The letter was the sports equivalent of a draft eligible athlete hearing Roger Goodell stepping to the podium and saying, “with the first pick…”, for a variety of reasons and further confirmation that God has set a path for me that is aligned with a purpose.
For starters, just 1% of the $70 trillion wealth management industry is controlled by women or people of color, which had a direct impact on the number of dollars invested in unrepresented founders. Today, Black investors make up 4% of venture capitalists in the United States. Only 3% of Black investors hold key decision-making roles within venture firms. The representation gap is particularly acute among Black women, who comprise only 1% of the U.S. venture community; 58% of venture capitalists are white men, 20% are Asian men, 11% are white women, 6% are Asian women, 2% are Black men, and 1% Black women, 1% are Latinx men, and nearly 0% are Latinx women, however the most glaring statistic is that white men control 93% of the venture capital dollars, so I immediately knew that with acceptance into the program there is a responsibility to serve the industry to add diversity and leave it in a better place than I found it when all is said and done. From that point forward, my life was going to change. As in my view, this scholarship is not only financial support, but comes with a responsibility to serve the greater community within the sector of which the scholarship was provided.
Some reading this may know me from my work in the sports business, from my tenure as Director, Business Development of NBA Africa, where I oversaw the strategy, execution and financial performance for NBA’s business with corporate and global marketing partners within 19 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. In this pan-continental role, I was responsible for growing a wide range of business lines across Africa, including global partnerships, events, new business, marketing communications and broadcast media, and helped lead the NBA’s expansion into South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.
Prior to the NBA, I was Head of Business Development at Sony FIFA Partnership Office, where I managed all business to business and consumer-facing campaigns that drove increased user growth, engagement and brand relevance with consumers worldwide for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and prior to Sony I served as Director of Basketball Operations with the Cleveland Cavaliers overseeing the domestic scouting and draft efforts, and led the team’s player program initiatives and player personnel matters.
Through this work, particularly in Africa I have forged a path into Venture Capital (VC) — a form of private equity and a type of financing for startup companies and small business with long-term growth potential.
If there is one thing, I learned in business is that being smart and working hard has its merits, but proximity to power can make all the difference. Drawing from over a decade of experience, 500 Global is opening up its playbook to share invaluable insights taught by the best in the industry through live, interactive sessions within a dynamic learning environment that goes beyond theory, providing actionable strategies for real-world success. In short, I’m in the room.
So, what’s there to gain? Professionally, it’s as a master class on everything from fund modeling, optimizing deal flow, cap tables, legal terms and term sheets and financial considerations are being taught by the most experienced minds within the industry. Personally, I’m excited to meet my colleagues. I know from this point forward I’ll be aligned with a network of like-minded colleagues who are doing some amazing things to serve critical needs throughout the world through venture capital.
When Mlondi [Mashinini] and I launched Rumble Ventures, venture capital was not in the cards. In a way VC found us. We began as consultants who wanted to apply our experiences to grow the sports business throughout Africa. Anyone who knows us calls us the perfect pairing. Mlondi began his career in real estate finance for both Sun International, one of Africa’s largest entertainment, gaming and hospitality group in Africa and Investec a South African international and wealth management group. From there he went to the sports sector to do business analytics for Real Madrid FC and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was at the suggestion of one of my closest friends Joe Branch for us to connect as we held a similar throughout process around the sports sector in Africa.
Which brings me to our investment thesis — of accelerating the development, commercialization and digital transformation of the sports and entertainment sector throughout Africa. Why Africa? The global sports sector is undergoing an extraordinary transformation. Sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms, and High Net Worth investors are all competing for sports assets globally. Every week brings news of another significant development in the global sports landscape, whether it involves golf (PGA), tennis (ATP), or the acquisition of top-flight European soccer teams. These developments are likely to accelerate as live sports become an even more unique experience in a world increasingly filled with virtual experiences and artificial intelligence.
Africa’s rapidly growing sports sector is poised to be the next battleground for these assets. It is the youngest continent in terms of demographics, with a youthful and sports-loving population. Many of the world’s top sportsmen and sportswomen hail from Africa. Rapid urbanization and widespread mobile phone adoption have driven significant growth in the sector over the past few years. These developments are now drawing global sports entities to the continent. The NBA recently launched an African basketball league, NFL opened an African office and Formula 1 motor racing is exploring opportunities in the region. The growth of the region is something I discussed as a guest on Bloomberg Business of Sports Podcast: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2023-02-15/rumble-ventures-elevating-africa-s-sports-market-podcast
In the context of developing Africa’s sports economy, venture capital would be a catalyst to do so. Africa is sports rich, but investment poor. Sports represents less than 0.5% of African GDP, compared to over 2% of GDP in other parts of the world. Hence the need for direct investment in the development and commercialization of the sports business in Africa, by delivering innovate solutions to a growing asset class and driving financial performance and business impact.
As a company we’re in a good place. We’re in a sector and region of the world that is experiencing transformational growth as the continent is set to remain the second-fastest-growing region after Asia. We have a robust pipeline of some promising startups, become a go to for other VC firms to partner with and have acquired commercial rights for some of the most innovative sports properties such as HYROX, the world series of fitness racing. We are engaged in discussions with stakeholders in basketball, football, soccer, motorsports and sports merchandising for entry and growth; and are in the process of launching SportsTech Africa a sports tech accelerator that will serve as a platform for us to bring together entrepreneurs, industry leaders, investor and affiliated stakeholders to dive innovation throughout Africa’ sport ecosystem by bridging financial and intellectual capital. We have partnered with Blakeney Management, a London-based private equity firm with over twenty-five years of investing in Africa, to identify opportunities by leveraging their fund management expertise and our sports business.
My goals and objectives with this opportunity are pretty clear: expand network and partnerships, deepen knowledge of venture capital, focus on Impact Investing, gain insights on scaling businesses and access to global deal flow. Learning from 500 Global will be a turning point for me both personally and professionally and will undoubtedly make me more effective in leadership and decision-making from this point forward.
