Building A Successful Business Requires Sacrifices
I had the pleasure of interviewing Marlin Jenkins. Marlin is the Founder and CEO of Neture. After spending ten years as a leader in a nonprofit in the Bronx and a preceding ten years in the telecom and tech industry, Marlin realized that he had an innate understanding of both the problem and the solution for connecting the disconnected. It was this realization, plus a mother-daughter exchange, that led him to start Neture.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory”?
I am the son of a single mother, twin to a disabled brother and father to four children. I have made a million mistakes, both personally and professionally and probably haven’t learned as much as I should have from those mistakes. Fortunately, due to my mother’s early guidance and inspiration from my brothers and children, I have always had a belief in myself and my ability to adapt to whatever situation I’ve been thrust into, so that’s led me to a lot of success despite my limited learning abilities :) Neture is my second company, my first being QuadInfinity (a mouthful), which was a gaming concept that I created about 15 years ago (funny fact I created a high school gaming league to support the business back then and just saw another brother secured millions doing the same thing in SF..ahh timing lol)
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
One of the most impactful moments of my company’s history occurred just after we incorporated. I was implementing a beta test with a nonprofit community development partner in the South Bronx and seeking guidance / advisors for how to move towards funding. We attended an event in Harlem where an associate we met was launching his accelerator and we wanted to connect further and network. We had an amazing opportunity to pitch to one of the leading angel investors and head of one of the angel networks. He was gracious enough to listen, heard our pitch about connecting low-income families to the internet and proceeded to ask, “Why would anyone be interested in selling to that population?”
Of course, we explained the demographics, spending, opportunity, size of the market and he continued to explain to us that we are barking up the wrong tree, ending with “No one is interested in selling to that demographic, there is no opportunity there.”
At first, it was disheartening, but I eventually leveraged that statement as bulletin board material and now spending every moment figuring out different ways that Neture can create new opportunities not just for the families that we connect, but also that companies who are beginning to understand that the market we serve is an underserved and viable market.
What do you think makes your company stand out?
When you are in the “tech” space, every VC, Angel and other Investor asks the question “what makes your company unique?” or “what’s your special sauce?” — often I talk about the repurposing of old tech in new ways to provide broadband at a lower cost or our resource platform that connects families to local resources. But our biggest differentiator — is that we care about connecting the disconnecting and we will do everything that we can to achieve that goal. It is that focus that has helped us to commit to the company without any financial support since its inception ten years ago.
Just this year, Neture was accepted into the Civic X Accelerator by Points of Light. The accelerator is a national program that hosts weeks of programming in San Francisco, New York and terminates in Atlanta. The day prior to flying to SF to begin the first week of programming, I was diagnosed with a gallbladder infection. I was told that my gallbladder had to be removed immediately. I declined this operation because I knew that this may be my one opportunity to take advantage of leveraging the accelerator network to connect with potential investors in SF, where SoCAP was founded and social capital is booming. Doctors advised me that I could die without removing the gallbladder, but I continued; flew to SF, had an issue with my car rental so I had to sleep in the airport; when I finally got to my rental car, I lost my license; my car was broken into and my laptop and briefcase were stolen (including house and home car keys); I was in pain and nauseous every day — BUT, I made it through and have since held seven VC meetings due to the networks I made while there. If we do not build these networks, I don’t believe the problem will ever be solved.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now?
Yes, we have just been awarded a contract for $437,000 to bring low-cost broadband internet to the South Bronx. We will be implementing that within the next six months. In the meantime, we are looking at opportunities within Rhode Island, Georgia and California. Outside of Neture, I am also working on a company to automate the auto maintenance process for consumers, think of it like Uber for Car Maintenance.
What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?
I think open communication and a willingness to challenge your staff are critical. At Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, I was tasked with fundraising, program design, program oversight, operations assistance, IT oversight and tons of special projects. Why? Because the Executive Director was willing to throw as many different ideas against the wall as possible to achieve an outcome. Was it overwhelming, absolutely, did we get a lot done, yes. Her and I were dramatically different people, but we had an open and honest dialogue that continues to this day. I believe that it has helped both of us become more effective leaders.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
There are many people who have provided guidance, support and love. My mom, my brothers, my daughters, my son and even my ex-wives, friends and my girlfriend — but there is one person that has provided me with the inner strength and guidance throughout my entire life — my twin brother, Michael. Michael has been disabled since birth, with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. Throughout my life, he has reminded me CONSTANTLY that I, literally, have nothing to complain about because I see his beautiful face in my mind. I thank God for him every day.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Honestly, success doesn’t help you bring goodness to the world — you have to be willing to do it regardless of success. I live by that mantra — with that said, I try to give of myself every day in some way, whether it’s talking to a person in need, helping the porters clean up a mess that me or my companions made, sharing my failures with my staff or teaching my children to be open and considerate. My goal in life is to positively impact as many people as I can, and I take that very seriously.
Can you share the top five lessons that you have learned from your experience as a “Black Man In Tech”?
1. Don’t worry about how much money you need, focus on achieving a goal every day — I couldn’t raise money for a beta test, so I partnered with three different organizations to conduct the test and prove the concept was viable with little of my own money.
2. Don’t expect support if you don’t support others — The “it takes a village to raise a child” phrase is easily applicable to founding a company, but you cannot garner that support unless you are willing and able to support others. Build your community.
3. KISS (keep it simple stupid) — if you can’t explain your business to a five-year-old, it’s too complicated to explain to a potential investor.
4. Everything requires sacrifice — I’ve had to sacrifice relationships, money and time to build Neture. See earlier story about almost losing my life :)
5. “Take care of your best customer” — Learned this from Megan at the Civic Accelerator, who said this to me after trying to kill myself to get to the first week — if you don’t take care of yourself (your best customer), you can’t build or take care of your company.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?
Oops, I wasn’t looking downward — but my two are KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) and “Take care of your best customer” (Thx Megan)
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this :-)
Two — Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Why? Barack is the most impactful black man in America and I’d like to learn what he thinks is a way to connect black male founders to more resources. Oprah has created schools and other opportunities for African girls and I’d like to get her thoughts and feedback on how we can build internet capacity in Africa to increase opportunities for those girls and their families.
Jamie Michael Hemmings President & Co-Founder of Best Tyme. He is running a series highlighting black men in tech.
