Marcus Byrd’s Post

🏈🚀 Super Bowl and Innovation Impact! 🚀🏈 I'm more of a basketball fan (I love the NBA), but the Super Bowl is a fantastic example of the power of innovation as a tool to impact. There's more to the #SuperBowl than touchdowns, over 115 Million viewers in the US and halftime shows; here are some elements between the Super Bowl and impactful innovation.👇🏼 📲 Innovative Technology: From state-of-the-art stadium designs to groundbreaking broadcast technology, advancements in fan experiences, player safety, and game analysis showcase the power of technology to transform sports. 🏢 Corporate Partnerships: serves as a platform for corporations to showcase their latest innovations and initiatives. Whether it's sustainable practices or community outreach programs, brands use it to make a positive impact and drive meaningful change. 📣 Social Impact Initiatives: Beyond the game, the Super Bowl brings attention to critical social issues. Campaigns for charitable partnerships address topics such as education, health, etc. 🟢 Inspiring Entrepreneurship: from local businesses capitalizing on the influx of visitors to startups launching innovative products and services tailored to sports enthusiasts. 🎉 Fan Experience: Reflecting on the history of the Super Bowl, we see a legacy of innovation, from instant replay technology to the evolution of halftime entertainment. Whether you're a fan, a technologist, an entrepreneur, or a changemaker, there's something to learn and appreciate in the intersection of sports, innovation, and social impact. What do you think? 🌟 #SuperBowl #Innovation #Impact #SportsInnovation

Loved interviewing Stuart Trevor the founder of AllSaints last week at Home Grown Club as part of their Rockstar series. Stuart is full of amazing stories, from his time as Design Director at Reiss to building All Saints. His three top tips for founders: - Drive and determination. You can't predict obstacles, you just need to be focused enough to know you'll overcome them - You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Just think of what you can bring to it that's different - whether that's your story, your experience or the way you execute it - Surround yourself with the right people. It's all about building meaningful connection and working with people who light you up Really exciting to also hear about Stuart's next venture - his eponymous label, Stuart Trevor: a clothing brand that doesn't produce any clothes. Would love to hear your top tips! And if you're looking for a host or speaker for your next event then send me an email and let's collab: [email protected] #founderstories #eventmoderator #founders #eventhost

What is an experiment you are running to allocate capital to mission-aligned founders with a long-term view? If this resonates, email me for access to a small group conversation among mission-driven investors this Friday in Austin at Black Future House SxSW: https://lnkd.in/gn5j2FMm We are convening investors who are exploring new models to fill the capital opportunity that is hiding in plain sight. This is not a panel. This is a closed-door roundtable discussion where we can be open and honest about how we're pursuing the opportunity in front of us. Our team at Cinematica Labs is convening this conversation in partnership with Black Future House as well as Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL) and New Media Ventures (NMV). I have talked for years with Lauren Washington, Jill Johnson, and Jessica Salinas about the experiments we're running to innovate on the capital stack to build sustainable, futurist entrepreneurial ecosystems that support intersectional founders. We as investors have the opportunity to build new structures and strategies to realize the future that is within our grasp. I have led an AI-powered venture fund, an angel syndicate, an angel network, and most recently a mentorship program with Black Ambition supporting 600+ founders. The common pain point I am experiencing, along with many asset managers I talk to, is that we need to collaborate with other investors while we develop capital stack. After Marcia Chong Rosado, Trivia Edwards and I joined forces with Jennifer S. Roberts of Building Utopia to convene the Cultivating Capital Investor Roundtable at Afrotech bringing together Ansley Carlisle, Monica Dean, Evan Boswell Hamilton, Dominick J. Ard'is, I Nasir C. Qadree and others, we knew we had to run it back. Check out more on Building Utopia's Afrofuturist Toolkit here: https://lnkd.in/gMmb3rqk

Forget "Build It, and They Will Come" - Build WITH Your Community! 🫂 Building something amazing is only half the battle. Who are you building it for? So often, creators pour their hearts into projects but miss the mark because they haven't connected with their audience. ⬇️ 📌 Problem First, Product Second: We all love innovation, but it's crucial to understand the problem we're solving. Building in a vacuum can lead to products that no one wants. 📌 Build WITH Your Community: Don't wait until everything is perfect! Get your potential customers involved from the start. Their feedback helps you solve REAL problems, not imagined ones. 📌 Build the Right Thing, They'll Come Running: When you deeply understand your audience's needs, you build something they not only want but RAVE about. These passionate fans become your biggest advocates! Are you building something amazing? Tell me in the comments how you're involving your community! ⬇️💬 #communitybuilding #creators #entrepreneurlife #buildtogether #audienceengagement #growthmindset

WAKE UP, CREATORS! 🚨 This moment we're living in is truly special. ❤️ You hold the power of free distribution right in your hands. 📺🎙️ Gone are the days of gatekeepers. 👍🏾 You are the talent; we've forged our path as founders and built a media empire on this very principle. 🤴🏿🎙️ Remember those times you felt overlooked, not chosen, or told you didn’t fit the mold? I was there as well. I swore to myself I will create my own empire. Social media has shattered those barriers. It's a level playing field now. 📺 Stop waiting for validation and take action. 🌎 You have the ability to connect directly with brands; the power lies within you. 🚨 You can cultivate your own audience and forge direct relationships with brands. #fyp #explorepage #garyvee #cofounder #ceo #creators VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk

Short LinkedIn Rant: Getting back into LinkedIn following a break of a few months. I struggled through a lot of fluff, opinion, and 5 lessons I learnt while wiping my... What I have enjoyed recently, is use cases and successful collaborations. Today for example fresh use cases and user experiences from the F1 in Miami. The past few days I have shared business opportunities directly and via HYPE, and there is a massive thirst to create and drive for traction amongst founders. So any high-tech founders with a technology that could seriously impact the sports industry. Let's talk. Now is the Time. Some accounts with LESS fluff and GOOD stuff. > Andrew Petcash > Federico Mari > Rich Johnson > Daniel Bernard More transparency, less BS. Unless you tell an excellent joke, then let's hear it. :) #RantOver #SportsTech #SportsBusiness #HighTech #AISolutions #SportsInnovation

Forget "Build It, and They Will Come" - Build WITH Your Community! 🫂 Building something amazing is only half the battle. Who are you building it for? So often, creators pour their hearts into projects but miss the mark because they haven't connected with their audience. ⬇️ 📌 Problem First, Product Second: We all love innovation, but it's crucial to understand the problem we're solving. Building in a vacuum can lead to products that no one wants. 📌 Build WITH Your Community: Don't wait until everything is perfect! Get your potential customers involved from the start. Their feedback helps you solve REAL problems, not imagined ones. 📌 Build the Right Thing, They'll Come Running: When you deeply understand your audience's needs, you build something they not only want but RAVE about. These passionate fans become your biggest advocates! Are you building something amazing? Tell me in the comments how you're involving your community! ⬇️💬 #communitybuilding #creators #entrepreneurlife #buildtogether #audienceengagement #growthmindset

I'm comically late to the "It's absurd that Caitlin Clark is paid less than some NBA mascots" discussion. But when the topic was trending, I didn't have a take because I don't like feeling powerless. "This sucks," is not the take I generally have, even if it's how I feel. But then I was chatting with one of our earliest public company customers and had a little lightbulb. Her decision to use Ethena in our early days had a huge impact on our ability to fundraise, get other big companies to sign on, and honestly, to be successful. She took a chance on us and it changed, in a meaningful way, our trajectory. When I asked her why she went with us she said, "The compliance space has been around for a long time. All the vendors look the same. So when I kicked off my evaluation, I did a quick search to see if there were any women-founded companies, and I found you." We still had to win the evaluation process but at least we were in the game. And this made me realize something sort of obvious: as consumers, we actually do have power. Each time we select a product, a vendor, a movie, or a game, we're impacting the people behind it. In my space of venture-backed companies, all-women founded companies get around 1.5% of venture funding. That number has been as high as, wait for it, 2.1%, which is, well, absurd. So I think my very late to the game take is this – I'm going to watch some WNBA games. While my tiny consumer habits aren't going to impact Caitlin's wallet overnight, it's literally the least I can do. And TBH, it's a lot coming from me because I don't watch sports (unless the Netflix F1 series counts).

Growing up, I always wished there was a pro athlete who would show us the real, unfiltered off-court life - the business moves, the lifestyle, the whole nine. That player never existed for me. So I decided to become that player for the next generation. Enter Kuz Kontrol - your monthly, all-access pass to my world as an athlete and entrepreneur. This isn't just another newsletter. It's a direct line to my life, unfiltered and authentic. No media middlemen, no PR spin - just real talk about my experiences on and off the court. In our debut issue, I'm taking you behind the scenes of an NBA off-season and sharing financial wisdom I've gained from legends like Kobe and LeBron. My message to young athletes? It's time to level up your finances: Pursue ownership, not just endorsements Negotiate for equity in your contracts Build your brand beyond basketball We're more than athletes - we're entrepreneurs. And I'm here to share that playbook with you. But Kuz Kontrol is bigger than just business tips. It's about creating a community where we can explore the intersections of sports, business, and lifestyle together. Most importantly, Kuz Kontrol is about inspiring athletes to take charge of their own narratives. It's about breaking down the barriers between players and fans, creating genuine connections, and sharing our journeys authentically. I believe every athlete has a unique story to tell, and it's time we tell those stories our way. To read my first newsletter and join the Kuz Control family, click here 👇🏽

MediaPost published my latest Op-Ed on the Importance of Storytelling for Black Businesses. Thank you Steve McClellan for the opportunity! Regardless of your background, the brands that invest in storytelling are always the ones who will come out on top and stand the test of time. My PR agency Brennan Nevada Inc. represents some of the largest BIPOC -owned companies in the world without any investors or partners backing me. I credit much of this growth to the power of storytelling and building meaningful connections. Want your business to go to the next level? You know what to do. 🏆📰🗞️📺📻📡🎙️ Read more ⬇️ #PR #media #thoughtleader #press #storytelling #content #startups #BlackBusinessMonth