Mecca Tartt
Hello and welcome back to the Atlanta Startup Podcast. My name is Mecca Tartt and I am your host. I am the Executive Director of Startup Runway, the leading nonprofit connecting underrepresented founders to capital as well as to investors. I’m excited today because we have two amazing founders that are right here in Georgia. That’s Sed with StageWing and Gbenga with GoodAction. They are finalists from the recent Startup Runway showcase. Welcome, so excited to see you both. What was the experience like for both of y’all, because we have hundreds of applicants that apply for the Startup Runway showcase for each showcase and you all were selected as finalists for that opportunity. What did that preparation look like for you all and just being able to get on stage and pitch in front of so many different investors from all over the US? What was that experience like for you offset? I see you smiling over there.
Sed Joseph
I’ll say this, it was maybe only five minutes for our pitches but I know the energy was so high, the vibration, it just felt like, “Oh, my goodness. It was an awesome experience, I’ll tell you that. It went by very quickly, that five minutes, you think that it was kind of easy out but that five minutes goes by very quickly. But I had an amazing time. I met some really cool people there and to know that you’re a finalist when there are so many other startups that have also tried to go for the same goal that you have, it’s a true honor. I can definitely say that for us and for StageWing, we were very grateful to be in the space and be in the room, and the other finalists as well, too.
Mecca Tartt
Let’s back up for a second. Let me pause because I want to make sure that you have the opportunity first, Sed, to introduce to all of the listeners, we have listeners who tune in from all over even abroad and introduce them to who StageWing is. Let’s get your 60-second elevator pitch. Introduce them to StageWing.
Sed Joseph
Thank you so much. I’m Sed with StageWing. We are simply like Airbnb and DoorDash of AV lighting, and sound DJ equipment. If there is a need anywhere, there’s a dance floor or an event, or a party, we will make sure that that person can find the equipment that they need to make that event accessible. Let’s say you wanted to play something like you have a piece of equipment like microphones that are just sitting in your garage, you want to put it on our website, someone who’s in the area may want to rent that at their event, they connect with you through our site, and then you would deliver it to them. Everything is working out pretty smoothly. It’s a simple, simple solution to a real-world problem that a lot of people in the event industry have and finds themselves with. Because technology and equipment are going to be the same across the board. We just wanted to make sure we serve our community in the live event space a lot better than we have in the past.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. Thank you so much for that, Sed. Gbenga, what about you?
Gbenga Arotiba
Thanks, Mecca, for having me. This is really great. Interestingly, GoodAction, actually since the last time we did the pitch in a competition, but our why is still the same, it’s just out that is changing a bit. What we do now is we are going to empower corporations to objectively measure, track, and report their social impact. The best way to see us is GoodAction companies. With better-performing companies stemming from better culture, better employee retention, better community engagement, and better social responsibility overall. Why did we pick up to this point? When we launched, we actually tested everything through a particular a different target market. We saw that, oh, this is a viable business, but the sustainability is going to be tough, especially because of how we launched and there is an ever better pressure for most corporations to actually do good. Last year alone, over 18,000 companies in the US declare their environmental performance. They did that because 680 financial institutions accelerate. These 680 financial institutions have about $1-2 trillion in assets. We know that there’s an opportunity for us to actually play because we build a framework already that takes the community to these corporations and makes it easy for them to actually create initiatives and employees can lead search initiatives. That’s what we do now. That’s what we’re working on. It’s going fast and going really good.
Mecca Tartt
That is awesome. Let me ask you both because there are some pre-seed founders and individuals that are just interested in creating their own startups. When did you have that Aha! moment that made you move forward and say, this is not just a passion project. This is not just an idea but this is actually a business that could do extremely well. When did you have that moment? Or were there several moments where you tried several different businesses and you got to this point, what has your journey looked like?
Gbenga Arotiba
I’ve been around for a while. Growing up in Nigeria, I’ve done so many things. I lived over a decade in South Africa to build a startup from scratch. I’ve been in this space, but I’ve never built anything like a tech company going through the norms, and the first thing about a startup, is all the vibes so it’s new
for me. When I started GoodAction was also when I actually started my MBA. It was an interesting time because I was directly in implementing most of the things I learned in my MBA, which is the reason I went there anyway. I wouldn’t say from the beginning it was passion and it was a passion because we believe that the world needs change. And individually, we have what it takes to create this change. I have a simple philosophy. I believe we are blessed to bless others. And every opportunity, I have to put a smile on people’s faces, I like to do it, and I take that opportunity. For GoodAction it came up when I was trying to donate my TV stand. I moved my TV to the fireplace, and I wanted to give the TV stand out. And to be honest, I didn’t want to just drop it to a platform where they sell it, and you know, they use it. I wanted to give it a purpose and give it to somebody that will value it. I looked out there and I searched for a platform that can actually tell me a there is somebody 10 miles away from you that needs this stand, would you like to give it to this person based on their stories? I did not find anything. I noticed that all these things are in silos, you go to Salvation Army, you ask people from churches, you have to talk to someone, I was like, why can’t we build something like that? I spoke to a lot of friends and did a lot of customer discovery. I figured out that people have so many things in their basements that they don’t need and even costs them more
money to dispose of them. I was like, wow, this is something we can do to create a platform where charity becomes so easy. People can donate things blocks away from you, find someone that needs stuff, give it to them create it in a way that people can build communities close to their zip code, and bring more people to participate in such things. That’s how we started. I believe it was actually viable from the beginning because looking at the market size and the need is always there. Another important thing that also gave me an opportunity, was when COVID started, everything was digital, and transformation technology accelerated by almost five years. But guess what, the solutions, people don’t need stuff, and the way they get things did not change. So that means we have to look for innovation that actually catches up with this, or we have to look for a solution that catches up with the innovation that has been going on and we just think is a good time to actually change the way we do charity and make it easy. Don’t wait for an organization to go and raise funds for you where you can just come on GoodAction and ask for it. There are more people that will love to help you out, you know. So, to me, it’s always been the passion that pushed it and the passion is still there. But to answer the question about when is that aha moment? I think that our point towards the end of the year after the pitch competition, actually and I started talking to executives, and they started giving me a lot of emphasis on what ESG is today. Looking at data out there, 99% of CEOs believe that ESG sustainability actually is critical to the success and future.
Mecca Tartt
Thank you for that, Gbenga, and I love what you said I believe we are blessed to bless others. That’s such a strong and powerful statement and it’s something that I also believe in. Sed, tell us how you got into creating StageWing. When are you a DJ, what’s your background? How did you arrive at this
point? Did you, like Gbenga, have other startups that you were involved in? How did those come to the forefront?
Sed Joseph
Thanks for that question. That’s a really good one. So yes, I am a professional DJ. I’ve been DJing for about 16 maybe even 17 years. Prior to that, I’ve always been DJing but also working other jobs. I was doing property management for rental properties. I was also doing a little bit of government contracting and project management as well, too. I have a little bit of corporate experience but I also have a creative side and my creative outlet. StageWing came about, honestly, through a pain point that I had. I was hired to DJ a wedding in 2017 in Chicago. I’m from New Orleans, but I live in Atlanta, and that was my first time going to Chicago. So super excited, I brought my equipment with me, and when I got to the hotel to just do a quick practice as the wedding was the very next day, I noticed that TSA damaged my equipment in transit. Immediately, anxiety kicked in all the things and you hear that you’re thinking, oh, my goodness, these people pay for me to come to their city to play for them, I was already going into that negative self-talk. But luckily, I was in Chicago, and I found a shop because you can’t really get it at any regular like Target or just a regular, brand-name store. You have to really go for a music store that has a specific piece that I needed. But I was lucky. I know that if I was in a rural area of Illinois or somewhere else, it wouldn’t have been the same case. And so when I got back to Atlanta after that experience, I thought there’s gotta be something out there that if I was in Atlanta, I have my network, I have my community. So if something breaks, I can call some friends in my community. Someone can show up for me just the same way that I would show up for them in that same method. Basically, where I was taking technology to do what we
already doing in the community, in the AV community, and the DJ community, we’re already supporting each other and already sharing gear, we’re already sharing gigs, things like that. So I wanted to make sure that we could do this and broaden our community and bring our community together in a worldwide way with technology to be able to make that a reality and a lot easier and smoother. That’s how StageWing came about. And so right after that, I did a little customer discovery, I attached myself to some programs, pre-accelerator type programs with business programs, and a lot of research to see what was available as a nontechnical founder. I even took a coding class. I actually tried. I tried my hand at coding and that’s not my ministry. That’s not my forte, I realized that very quickly. I thought I could do it all but I just need to stick to DJing and pushing this forward in the way that I know best. That was the first version of StageWing. And then as I started telling my network and people about what we’re doing, everyone was like, I can’t believe this didn’t exist and this hasn’t existed since the gig sharing community started coming about this gig sharing economy started coming about like with Ubers and Airbnbs and everybody else that was out here that we all are familiar with. We’ve been getting really good reception, people understand what we’re doing, and they’re taking to it and they’re giving me ideas day by day, every time we talk with folks. It’s been an amazing ride. I mean, it’s not gonna be all like peaches and sunshine, but we’re definitely excited about what’s to come for us and with our business and how we’re helping the community grow as well too.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. You talk about things not being peaches and sunshine, or are easy, right? Because everyone wants to boss up and be a bosspreneur and be their own boss, and I think there’s this moment where it comes off like it’s sexy to be an entrepreneur, but what people know, that is in it, that have startups is that you will work harder trying to build the startup thing you will ever work working for someone else. I want to ask you both what has been your biggest win today because I look for those and I call them links from God. For me those links are those wins, right? Where it’s like, okay, I’m going in the right direction. What has been your biggest win today and how did you position yourself in order to be able to receive that opportunity?
Sed Joseph
I think the first win was getting accepted to Atlanta Tech Village in the pre-accelerator program. I think knowing how competitive that one was, and I had to actually apply for it, and seeing okay, cool. Someone else sees the vision. They get what I’m doing and then I did that course and we were able to get through that course. And then another win was working with honestly, outside of the DJ community working with ABC TV networks for the television show Queens reached out to us, for us to provide them with equipment that was going to be used as a prop. And I’ve never thought about that. I was like, wait, it’s not just the DJ to DJ, because that was the initial concept, it was going to be just DJs to DJs. But it’s bigger than that. And so we’re now seeing that we can expand to people who find themselves still within our customer base that we didn’t even imagine in the beginning and that there was a need for it as well to it within their community. So there’s been stuff like that it’s been that acceptance to these programs, did NASDAQ milestones and I did Black Ambition. And even being a part of the Startup Runway showcase here, I think all of those things that I know are competitive and that we can constantly get ourselves in spaces, and be able to talk and have those opportunities
and share about our businesses are all wins for me to say that we’re able to keep moving the needle for more people to know about what we’re doing and want to help us along the journey.
Mecca Tartt
I love that. One of the things that I wanted to ask you about is with Atlanta being considered black Hollywood, or just really where they’re filming a lot of movies, we have Tyler Perry who has one of the largest movie studios here, and not even just here, I would say in the US. I forgot the comparison to the different locations where he has a lot of property and where he’s doing a lot of filming. Anytime you drive down a street in Atlanta, you see a lot of filming taking place. For you, Sed, you have the show Queens that reached out to you, has that caused you to actually go after a different audience or a different customer or change your avatar a little bit for your company?
Sed Joseph
Yes, it definitely has. We started working with television. We’ve done theatrical productions, like schools and local communities would come together and ask us for fog machines for a Frozen production. Even wedding planners, which you would think would automatically be someone that we would immediately take to but even wedding planners have reached out to us. So yes, it has caused us to pivot our messaging a lot in terms of how we are now marketing ourselves and we’re actually working on a whole new brand and communication campaign around that so that more people see us beyond just being a DJ service, equipment service, but more so that they can see themselves in our company as well.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. Gbenga, let me ask you the same question, what has been your biggest win to date and how have you positioned your company GoodAction in order to be able to benefit?
Gbenga Arotiba
That’s an interesting question. I’m glad Sed went first because I was thinking about which one is the first one. I’ve had a lot of wins. I don’t know which one is the first, from the first angel that actually dropped some cash to accepting me, to my professors at the Georgia Tech Executive MBA, Professor McGregor, when you talk to them, and they give you positive feedback, it’s like validation. To Startup Runway finalists, all those things have actually been like a checkpoint at every point, like, oh, I think you’re doing something good, and more importantly, to the people that actually agreed to work with me. I’m talking about the team. I have Alejandra who is actually a senior VP, I’m talking about interim CMO, Alex who is actually a CEO right now at a startup company. I have Derrick Lewis, who is actually a board member for different startups and the owner of the Bronx Foundation in New York. When people like that agree to actually work with you, it says a lot, you might not have figured out the exam model, but you’re actually on to something great. I really can’t pick which one is the first win. And even from the first day, my wife agrees, push that on, and I’m going to support you. I think that’s the biggest one. Let me just say that so that I can actually go ahead and do some stuff and have someone to support me, I tell them that’s the biggest because last year, I was clocking over 18 hours a day. I have an MBA, I have a full-time job, and I’m doing a startup and building. It was ridiculous. But it was possible because of the team, because of the environment, the ecosystem, I’m part of CREATE-X, because of the family, because of everyone around me, and more importantly, because of the customers that exist. I still see the need and the passion. I’m sorry, I didn’t give you the first one. but I’ve actually had multiple wins that actually kept me going.
Mecca Tartt
I love that because one thing that I’ve talked to a lot of founders about is, a lot of times, you could get into a place where you’re so focused on building the dream, right, building your startup, that it can become a lonely road. And so I think it’s important for and this is one of the reasons why I really love just how Startup Runway brings together so many founders is because I think it’s so important to remind yourself the importance of building that network of people that are going through the same experience that you’re actually going through, and then reaching up to actually tap on the shoulders of mentors and startups where companies where they’ve exited, and they’re doing extremely well with their startup. I think it’s important, you’re able to see the vision, the end goal, but you’re also able to connect with people that are experiencing exactly what you’re experiencing at the moment. One question that I have for you and I know we have lots of angels and lots of VCs that attend the Startup Runway showcases when we host them, but you mentioned angels, and you said that was one of your wins. It was someone actually buying into your startup, buying into your dream, how did you get an angel onboard to invest in GoodAction? And for those that are listening in, did you seek out the angel or did the angel come to you? How did that connection take place?
Gbenga Arotiba
Well, that’s the million-dollar question right there. Because the truth is, I think the short answer is networking. I’m gonna say it’s pure networking. But angels always invest in the founder because they know 99% of the time, everything will change. If they can see the passion that this person really, really wants to actually create a change. To me, I was just being myself. I’m also lucky that I have a background skill that proves that I can build what I want to build. That will stick but the passion has to be there as well. The networking, I didn’t mention, one of my very close friends that I’ve been working with, it’s also part of the chain. Because you said something about it being a lonely journey and one of the things that have kept me is I also have a friend, Dr. David is in Cape Town. I call him up, what’s going on? Think about this idea. Let’s see what’s going on. I remember when I spoke to the founder of easystartups.com. He told me something like, you’re gonna edit your pitch deck more than 100 times. I was like, unbelievable. To be honest, I think I’ve edited my pitch more than 150 times since I started. The truth is, it’s all about networking. My neighbor saw what I was doing and wanted to invest I was like, no, don’t invest. He found a way to bring his training to actually invest in the startup as a company investing. Be yourself and show quality. To be honest, because the network is there, but you need to show quality. Show that you have the passion and you have what it takes to actually take that company. And three, you really, really need to show that you are also willing to listen. I just think that’s so important when people see people that listen to them like, oh, this person will listen to advice. At least when it’s actually going off the rail, we can try and get him back on track. Just to summarize, again, one is networking because I got people to invest even from my MBA class, that’s all I was doing. I got neighbors to invest. Most of my friends invested so I got extra people that don’t even know at all to invest then someone actually called his father in Florida to investigate. Saw that passion, networking, and humility are important, these are personality stuff, that shows that you can build what you want to build, network well, and also have quality in what you’re building.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. I love that you shared the importance of networking because it is absolutely key in every aspect of every area. You can have the greatest product and someone can come along with a similar product, but because they network and because they know so many people, but most importantly, so many people know them in their product, they can have an upper advantage with selling and doing extremely well because of the network. l I will tell you Gbenga, the fact that you also mentioned that you have friends that also support and buy into your product is huge as well, that have invested in you. Because as an entrepreneur myself, I always go after the external customer base before I reached out to friends necessarily. My network is different sometimes in my friendship circles and I find sometimes the hardest person to convince a lot of times are your friends. It’s easier honestly, for me to convince people outside of my network all over the US when it comes to the products that I sell. But the hardest person a lot of times is the friendship circles. I love that you said that and it’s not about them not being available to support but I just feel like those are the ones that have the most questions. I do have another question for you both. There are peaks and valleys in life and you experience those peaks and valleys? especially as you’re building a startup. How do you stay confident? How do you stay positive? How do you stay optimistic, keep the passion, and keep the positivity moving forward when you’re in the valley? What does that look like for you?
Gbenga Arotiba
I think it varies. But I will just talk about things that have worked for me. I will say the best thing is to surround yourself with a support system. Because there will always be valleys, if you surround yourself with a support system, it’s easy for them to carry you through the valley. Another thing that will keep you going is how stubborn you are. You need to be passionate, you need to be consistent, you need to have grit, and you need to believe in what you’re trying to build because sometimes you’re going to talk to a thousand people. A thousand people will give you a thousand different ideas. But the truth is, they actually don’t know what you’re trying to build. So if you really don’t know what you’re doing, you will be derailed the first day you start a business, because everybody has an idea, even though you’re not building it but the ability to listen and take and filter what is important from what they’re telling, in fact, just a quick division. I learned at the beginning so much from the negative feedback I got because now I know who my customers are not. I also know what is most concerning to who my customers are now and actually use that to still build a good product. So the ability to listen, filter, being a data guy we want all the data points. It’s going to help me to actually make the better decision. So to summarize, it is actually having a support system and its support system goes beyond where you start your setup. A support system has to do with your personality and the kind of people you surround yourself with. If you want to be smart, surround yourself with smart people. If you really want to just try and place yourself well with a system that can carry you along, your wife, your friends, positive things you impact, what kind of content do you actually put in for yourself? How do you manage your time? All those things are all variables that we actually become the package that moves on. That’s why I just put it as creating an ecosystem or a support system. When that time comes, they will help you through. When you have a vision that is written down, sometimes you’re done, but when you look back into it, and you see what the output looks like, you just jump back up and be like, hey, let’s go I need to build this.
Mecca Tartt
I love that. Sed, thoughts?
Sed Joseph
I mean he’s really summarized it. Honestly, this is your environment, the people that you have around you like what you call your personal board of directors. The folks that you feel accountable to and that watch everything that you’re doing and they encourage you they speak to you you know and speak life into what you’re doing even when you’re down hard on yourself. Saving those receipts in your brain, hey, like I was able to make it this far, why stop here? Always going back to those wins and those links that you were talking about earlier helps a lot because a lot of this is important when you’re starting a startup is the mindset. You gotta have your mind ready for this type of journey because like you said, it’s not going to be peaches and sunshine, there’s going to be some days when it’s like, dang it, I thought I had this investor. I thought I had this person who was going to be my customer and bring up their all their fan base or whatever it is. It might not go through but you just got to keep going. You just got to tell yourself to keep going. The thing is because I’m a DJ and music is very important to me as well, too. Keeping positive music, love positive affirmation music, Tony Jones is a really good artist out there that has like really positive music, but keeping that as well too, in your brain when you’re not around your board of directors, or when you’re not around a good environment, also having good music around you that can keep your vibrations up is also key for me.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. I think it’s definitely important to ensure that you also speak to what Gbenga said about even your wins. I think it’s critical that you celebrate your wins no matter how small those wins are because you rob yourself of the experience of being able to truly celebrate yourself when you don’t stop at that moment. I think a lot, especially society is don’t sleep, you got to work hard, you got to get it done. But yes, yes, you should be gritty, and you should work hard, and you should be passionate about whatever you are doing in life but at the same time, you have to be able to stop and pause, sit in the place of gratitude, and be thankful for your wins. I have another question for you all and this goes back to building a team and identifying talent. What has that journey looked like for you all? Have you started building a team? Have you started that process? What has that looked like for you? How do you identify talent that would work well, there are also situations when people create a startup and the next thing you know, the board of advisors or the person that you brought on is trying to vote you off of the company that you created and started there have been many cases of that in history where we’ve seen that happen. Trust is also very important as well as building that relationship. Sed and Gbenga, have either of you started to build out your team and what does that look like for you?
Sed Joseph
I think I can start. My co-founder was a mentor of mine for quite some time. It was a really great fit for us and some of the other team members, I’ve all kind of met through either friendship, or they were already friends that are just doing really well in a specific area. So if it’s user experience, or if it’s marketing and communication, they really believe in what I’m doing, and really want to help them. So that’s how I was able to bring them on. I know a lot of people are like, oh, they’re friends? You might not want to bring your friends to work with you. So far, it’s working out really well for me. I am still looking for talent to add to my team. I’m nowhere near where I felt like my team is complete. I have a good amount of people on my team that have really great core capabilities smarter than me in those particular areas. I’m so happy they are so that they can continue to keep moving the ball forward in those areas, too.
Gbenga Arotiba
It’s been an interesting journey when it comes to the team. I think there should be like a startup about, about teams or something like a podcast just to help you pick teams and things like that, to be honest because people take it lightly, but it’s actually something that can make or break the entire startup. At the beginning, I thought I could do it all. I was trying to set up everything. My infrastructure was building some stuff, I actually recruited engineers myself, trying to manage all of them, and I almost crashed. It was horrible. You need to look for people that can help you do this and I think the reason I wanted that at the beginning was like, it might be a good idea to have a product or something out there before you start talking to people so that they can believe you know, but I think you need to do that before nothing is out there. Because when they believe at that point, that’s something that can actually help you build your product. So six months through production, I fired the entire team. Thank God for technical skills, I could see that what they were building was actually going to kill the product. It was rubbish. Delivery was horrible. I was so much into middle management because I was actually managing all the engineers, managing these doing UI, doing UX, doing infrastructure, then I have to create pitch decks, and I’m still doing my MBA and everything. It was horrible. So I was like, Oh, I can’t do this. I went back to my network. You know, the first person I spoke to was actually a friend I’ve mentored in the past, a DevOps guru. And it was like, dude, what you’re doing is awesome. They did not ask for anything, they just want to be on the team. They took over my DevOps. The second person I spoke to is an engineer. He was like, what you’re doing, forget about it, let’s just get something out there. As I said, networking is a big deal. I met Alejandra and Alex during my MBA. I believe that we’re all studying and seeing what these guys like before they agreed. Even Alejandra, took a year before she actually committed. Because of what I’m building, it’s actually easy to get people on board but at the same time, I want people that align with what we’re trying to do. If you don’t really believe in helping someone, you are not right to be on my team. To be honest, it doesn’t matter what the skill is because when you believe in putting a smile on someone’s face, no matter how small it is, if you believe that is what we created. I’m a Christian, I always tell people about what the real gospel is. It’s not really preaching, it’s all about how many naked people you see and whether have you clothed them. How many hungry people did you feed? We’re getting to a world where we have so much waste, we have so many things and individual people can feed the entire world. Well, guess what is not happening? Why? Is it because of the connection? Is it because there is no domino effect? If I take one or two people right now, and I feed them, you take one, too, imagine a hundred of us taking two, that alone is actually going to create a change, like a reaction. I want people that align with a passion and dream to come on my team. So far, it’s been good. I have someone managing operations. I have Alejandra taking care of marketing and operations as well. I have Derrick calling me, and we’re having conversations, he’s a very busy guy, but still, anytime I think I’m onto something great, this guy is just taking time off. I have to look for a very fair equity to give to them because these are guys that believed in everything and helped me to push it through. When you build a startup, it’s a relationship like a marriage.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. Gbenga, one of the things that you mentioned, you did have to fire and let go of the entire team. That’s part of the business that a lot of people don’t talk about and it is difficult. It’s firing or letting people go when it just does not work or it’s not working for the company, maybe the goals aren’t aligned, or maybe the person’s not being productive. I will tell you even in entrepreneurship, for myself, one of the most difficult times was having to have a conversation with a friend of mine that I had to let go because the person wasn’t working. The person just wasn’t working. I had to have a tough conversation and so there are founders out there that have brilliant ideas that are moving their businesses forward. But management skills are key because I feel like there are so many amazing managers and executives that I’ve worked with, and everyone has their different management style, but ensuring that you have that skill set, that you learn how to become a manager first, it starts with managing your own self. But that you learned to be able to lead is so very important. A lot of times, for some it’s innate, but for others, they go to school or they get that training or development or they go to a leadership enrichment program, have either of you had any type of training specifically when it comes to leadership development, whether it’s schooling, or whether it’s tapping into some type of curriculum or program in order to ensure that you also have that under your belt as a founder?
Gbenga Arotiba
I think my entire life is actually the School. When I was in Nigeria, I was a student leader. I had to learn leadership. When you’re a true leader, when you really love people one way or the other, you’re going to tend towards there because it’s not about managing people, it’s all about caring and being vulnerable. That’s actually one of the most difficult things that took me time. Because I will say that when you build your character over time, you see that insecurity is not what you need. You have to be vulnerable. If you really want to learn and hear the truth from people and things like that you need to be vulnerable, share the stories, as well as share your pains. Another very important thing over time is listening. You know, I think all those things took time. It’s still a journey. I’m still learning every day but at least till I was 30, I wouldn’t call myself a leader. I think I was just learning but I was positioning myself as a leader and when other opportunities come about leading people, guiding people, giving back, and all those kinds of things, you keep saying it. I read a lot of books from John Maxwell. All those things. I was breathing John Maxwell in my 20s. To be honest, I read a lot of books, I always look for opportunities, and look for challenges. Immediately you start finding out ways to undo challenges, ways to manage issues, and things like that are gonna come. Career-wise, I’ve had the opportunity to be there. I was one of the guys. I worked for a telecommunication company in Africa. I led the development of the data warehouse across 21 countries, working with everybody, sea level, offshore, onshore, everybody in the organization, and you get bitten as a consultant. You have to learn a lot of things. There was actually a checkback that we did. I went back to everybody I’ve led and I asked some questions about things I did and I did not do well. It was a tough thing to ask and I’m talking about people I have led and I went back to people I’ve actually trained and mentored in the past to give feedback. Gbenga, you were one of the best bosses we ever had but I think you’re so passionate, sometimes you take it on us. I was like, oh, okay, I did that. I got feedback from 15-20 people and I looked back, I was like I’m at a different place in my life right now. I need to learn from everything I’ve done in the past. Okay, I wouldn’t do that. So it’s a combination of experience, school, and opportunities, and you need to be willing, to be honest. So, that’s it for me.
Sed Joseph
Anyway, I was a student leader as well, too. Like, I honestly went back for a high school reunion, and I looked at a picture on the wall with our class, and it had my name as senior class vice president. Did I do that? I forgot that I was doing that even in high school because I definitely was involved in college. And then moving into my career, I find myself always kind of being in a leadership role wherever I was going anyway. I did get a lot of mentorship working for the government contracting firm that I was working with for about 15 years. Honestly, the president of that company had taken me under her wing and just kind of showed me everything it was to build up a small business from the ground up. I think that was the biggest way that I learned, piece by piece every single day, we’re looking at operations, we’re looking at who’s doing what, productivity, we’re looking at where are we with the budgets, with our finances, with our tax, all of that stuff. I was involved in every single part of that business. That’s the key for me. I didn’t really go to school for leadership or took any program but I got on-the-job training every single day working with the government contracting firm that I was with, so I think that was super key for my growth and my development. I’m still learning as I grow moving into StageWing.
Mecca Tartt
Absolutely. One thing that both of you said and have reiterated is the importance of continuing to learn to be an avid learner and also being humble enough and not having an ego where you’re receptive towards the feedback. Now, before we wrap up, I wanted to see if you all have any few thoughts of last and maybe a couple of little notes or pearls that you want to leave with the listeners that have been tuning in for our podcast today. Gbenga, do you want to start off with just some thoughts that you would like to leave listeners with, or how do they stay connected with you as well?
Gbenga Arotiba
Before I say that, thank you so much for having us on this platform. To be honest, these are the kinds of things we need because, without these opportunities, people will not know who Gbenga is or Sed and things like that. So really appreciate this. I know I’ve said a lot during the interview, but if there’s anything, I just want people to know that there are people out there 10 blocks away from you and you don’t know what they need. It doesn’t have to be using GoodAction, but if we can create a world where we can actually care about people, it’s just a matter of time, the world would be a better place. That’s just what I want to say, just be kind. What we’re doing is we want to create a community of kindness, you want to create people that care and let people know that, hey, you see them as you see yourself. By doing three jobs, just to be able to buy a refrigerator and you have like, three, four, you can just give one. It is a chain reaction. Continue to be good for those that are good. For those that are not, look for opportunities to be good. It’s therapy for yourself. That’s what I will say. And in terms of getting towards GoodAction is like what we have right now is functional. We have some nonprofits on board, and we have communities created, we just even implemented individuals, and communities, so people can actually tag along to do good together. My website is https://www.goodaction.com and if you go to the App Store or the Play Store, you can also search for GoodAction. Download GoodAction, we need the support and somebody out there needs your support. Thank you.
Sed Joseph
The two things I would say would be first is to let go of imposter syndrome, especially for women startup founders, for sure. That has been something I think a lot of us have always talked about and shared. We don’t necessarily think we can do it immediately, when we’ve done it, we still look back and think that we can’t do it. Continuously, just keep speaking life into yourself you can do it. You don’t have to learn code, you don’t have to do anything. You just feel passionate about something that you want to solve a problem. Or just put it out there, just go for it. Give it your gusto and everything will fall into place. If you continuously give it all you get. The other thing is just to spread love. That’s always been my message even when I’m DJing and even when I’m doing StageWing, we always want to make sure we spread positivity and love as Gbenga has mentioned. StageWing you can find us on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, all of those. Please follow us. Please share how you feel about the business. If there’s anything that you feel we can use, I would love to learn about it. Love to connect with people. I’m Sed Joseph on LinkedIn as well. Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was wonderful being able to be a part of the Startup Runway as a finalist, and I’m just so happy I got a chance to meet Gbenga. He and I are gonna be working together this year as well, too. Good things are on the horizon.
Mecca Tartt
I love it. That’s why we love bringing our founders together for the Startup Runway showcases and so I’m so happy to have had you Sed and Gbenga for this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast. We look forward to tuning in with you all next time. Thank you so much for listening in. We also look forward to seeing you all at the next Startup Runway showcase that is coming up soon. Please stay tuned and guess what you can find out about all of the Startup Runway showcases at startuprunway.org. Again, that’s startuprunway.org. Until next time, we’ll see you all soon.
Lisa Calhoun
We’re thrilled to have you as an Atlanta Startup Podcast listener to help you get the most out of the experience. Let me invite you to three insider opportunities from our host Valor Ventures. First, want to be a guest on this amazing show. Reach out to our booking team at atlantastartuppodcast.com. Click on booking, It’s a no-brainer from there. Are you raising a seed round? Valor definitely wants to hear from you. Share your startup story at valor.vc/pitch. Are you a woman or minority-led startup valor sister program? The Startup Runway Foundation gives away grants to promising startups led by underrepresented founders. The mission of the Startup Runway Foundation is connecting underrepresented founders to their first investors. Startup runway finalists have raised over $40 million. See if you qualify for one of these amazing grants at startuprunway.org. You can also sign up for our next showcase for free there. Let me let you go today with a shout-out to Startup Runway presenting sponsor Cox Enterprises and to our founding partners, American Family Institute, Truist, Georgia Power, Avanta Ventures, and Innovators Legal. These great organizations make Startup Runway possible. Thanks for listening today and see you back next week.
