Founders Unfound

Founders Unfound tells the stories of exceptional entrepreneurs and tech founders from underrepresented backgrounds – starting with founders of African descent. We have a regular podcast and complimentary blog created to shine a light on the broad spectrum that reflects all the diversity in startups today.

Hosted by season tech entrepreneur Dan Kihanya (@dkihanya), the show explores the origin stories of under-the-radar tech entrepreneurs working on venture-worthy, big opportunity ideas.

Follow us (@foundersunfound) and listen in!

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OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:

the global venue for entrepreneurs to experience events, content, and community.

Check out founderslive.com to join and to find a live event streaming from your city.

In this episode Abbey and Dan discussed:

• Growing up in the slums of Lagos Nigeria
• Key philosophies: fall forward + you are enough
• The transition from balmy Nigeria to frigid Minnesota
• his first startup which gave access to water for quarter-million people
• Pitching 300+ investors

Episode Shout Outs:

Samir Goel (Co-founder)

Beth Noveck

Acumen

Global Good Fund

Sinai Ventures

Zeal Capital Partners

Impact America Fund

Abbey Wemimo is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, a revolutionary fintech platform transforming the connection between data, tenants, and property. Esusu empowers renters around an important financial identity: the credit score. 

Abbey was born in Nigeria, and as he puts it, "raised in the slums" of Lagos. His mother sacrificed over half her salary to make sure Abbey was able to reach beyond and attend the best schools. He studied alongside the children of the country's elites, taking him to the US, with stops and degrees from the University of Minnesota and NYU. His early career covered politics, finance, and international development. And his first entrepreneurial endeavor led him to providing clean water for over a quarter of a million people in developing regions.

Abbey and his co-founder Samir started Esusu with a major innovation at its core: using rent payments to enhance credit score. By tracking and using data, Esusu can transform the credit prospects for the 70 million Americans who have little or no credit history. Meanwhile, Esusu provides property managers with insights, analytics, and tenants who are motivated towards timely payments.

The company is now in half a million rental units, across 40 US states. Abbey and Samir have raised over $4 Million in funding from investors like Impact America Fund, Zeal Capital, and Global Good Fund.

Esusu is a word with origins in Nigeria. It essentially means a form of societal cooperation where groups of individuals together contribute for their mutual benefit. But if ask Abbey he will tell you a much simpler version:

"If you want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, you fundamentally go together"

Make sure to listen to his wonderful story.

Abbey:

linkedin.com/in/wemimo-abbey-62382a2a/

Esusu:

esusurent.com

esusurentrelief.com

linkedin.com/company/esusu/

twitter.com/getesusu

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!

Abbey Wemimo is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, the leading financial technology platform that leverages data solutions to empower tenants and improve property performance. Abbey was raised in Lagos Nigeria, came to the US for college, worked on Obama’s re-election campaign, launched his first start up, and even did a stint with Goldman Sachs - all this before starting Esusu with his co-founder Samir.

Make sure to tune in to hear his wonderous story.

FULL EPISODE drops November 26th!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:

a collective of black women tech founders that exists to identify, support and encourage black women to build billion dollar businesses.

BWTT is hosting Face of the Founder Summit on November 17th, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and partners for an exciting gathering. Registration is free, but spots are limited. You don’t want to miss it! 

Sign up here!

In this episode Kirt and Dan discussed:

• Growing up in Trinidad
• Coming to the US to study computer science in college at 16
• What gives him empathy for the indie music creator
• His spin on creating a music label
• How music fits in the creator economy
• His approach to the chicken-and-egg of building a marketplace

Episode Shout Outs:

Kirby Winfield - Ascend VC

Brick Lane Records

Steven Wolfe Pereira

5-star reviewer: Jessica, sySTEMic flow

Kirt Debique is the Co-Founder and CEO of SyncFloor, a company revolutionizing discovery and acquisition of music for productions of all types - from advertising to podcasting, filmmaking to fitness, TV to eSports.

Kirt is an entrepreneur and a renaissance man. A native of Trinidad, Kirt started college at sixteen. He passed on grad school at Stanford to work at Microsoft. His career there paralleled some of that company's major milestones, But after a successful 20-year stint at the tech giant, Kirt decided to take his career in a different direction. He founded Brick Lane Records, an Indie music label. He started Brick Lane with a set of principles that made the artist the priority - a key opportunity he recognized hanging out in the local Seattle music scene. Oh, and by the way, Kirt is also an artist on his label.

Today Kirt leads his own tech startup, SyncFloor, which is an amazing fusion of his expertise: music and technology. Listen in to hear more about Kirt startup journey.

Kirt:

linkedin.com/in/kirtdebique/

twitter.com/katewayo

twitter.com/BrickLaneRecs

instagram.com/katewayo/

SyncFloor:

songsforpodcasters.com

syncfloor.com

linkedin.com/company/syncfloor/

twitter.com/SyncFloor

instagram.com/syncfloor/

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!

Kirt Debique is Co-Founder, CEO and CTO of SyncFloor, a company revolutionizing discovery and acquisition of music for productions of all types - from advertising and podcasting to filmmaking, TV and eSports. Kirt is a former, fast-rising exec at Microsoft and a founder of his own Indie music label. He has an amazing story that starts with coming to the US to attend college at 16!

Make sure to tune in.

FULL EPISODE drops November 12th!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:

the global venue for entrepreneurs to experience events, content, and community.

Check out founderslive.com to join and to find a live event streaming from your city.

In this episode Bee and Dan discussed:

• Being the only young black girl who liked Japanese Anime
• What derailed her journey to be a doctor
• How blogging uncovered a community, and a business
• Quirktastic's reset from COVID-19
• Working with HBO's Lovecraft Country

Episode Shout Outs:

Digital Undivided

Snap's Yellow Accelerator

UNC Charlotte

5-star reviewer: Jean-Que, Artiste Pro

Bee Law is the Founder and CEO of Quirktastic (soon to be QuirkChat), a networking platform where geeks and hobbyists can join fandom communities and create collaborative social video. If you are into Manga, Marvel Universe, or Cosplay - they have a place for you.

It's no wonder Bee created Quirktastic (from quirky + fantastic). She grew up in North Carolina as the only young black woman she knew who liked Anime and metal rock. Bee felt the sting of bullying and the struggle for acceptance. As an adult, she tapped into her uniqueness, and once online she realized there were large communities who wanted to connect and share the joy of their fandom. This epiphany led her to start Quirktastic - a community now 200,000+ strong. Bee and her company have been featured in TechCrunch, Essence, and Forbes. And she's been backed by Digital Undivided, SoGal Ventures, and Snap Inc's prestigious accelerator Yellow.

Come hear Bee's journey, which goes from Anime enthusiast and non-profit pioneer in high school, to cytogenetic scientist and aspiring doctor, and now to fast-moving tech founder. Her energy and positivity are simply inspiring.

Listen in!

Bee:

twitter.com/bossassbee_

instagram.com/bossassbee

linkedin.com/in/bryanda-law

Quirktastic:

quirktastic.co

wefunder.com/quirktastic

twitter.com/QuirkChat

instagram.com/quirkchat

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!

Bee Law is Founder and CEO of Quirktastic, a social video and networking platform where geeks and hobbyists can join fandom communities and create collaborative video. Bee is a former cytogenetic scientist turned entrepreneur, and Quirktastic with its 200,000+ online followers has been featured in Essence Magazine, TechCrunch and Forbes. Tune in to hear her amazing story.

FULL EPISODE drops October 29!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!

Hey Unfound Nation! Can't believe it's already October, 2020. What a year...relentless. At Founders Unfound, we've been working hard to consistently put out episodes all year. The team wanted just a brief break before we finish strong for the year. Don't worry, we will have a new episode ready to go at the end of the month. In the meantime, please take the opportunity to listen to one of our first 20 episodes that you haven't enjoyed yet. They are all gems!

As always, thank you for your support and for listening in.

We'll be back soon...

NEXT EPISODE drops October 29!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:

a media company that lives at the intersection of data and diversity for the startup and tech communities.

Check it out at tpinsights.com ; Use code UNFOUND to save $10 on an annual subscription.

In this episode Jim and Dan discussed:

• Going from Long Island to Pittsburgh
• Life at Carnegie Mellon
• His first job as a coder
• How an inspiration at a lunch meeting lead to MeterFeeder
• Jim's approach to paying it forward

Episode Shout Outs:

Branding Brand

Y Combinator

Startup Boost

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Jim Gibbs is Co-founder and CEO of MeterFeeder, a company that predicts parking availability, and enables vehicles to pay for parking with no human interaction. Jim is a brilliant coder and visionary, with Carnegie Mellon and development work for the likes of USA Today and America Eagle on his resume. And even though he's originally from New York, he wants to convince us that Pittsburgh is the place to be; it isn’t even a question. Jim wants to build the next billion-dollar tech business in Pittsburgh. And in doing so, he's happy to wear the mantle of being a scrutinized black entrepreneur. As Jim sees it, if he can have a big win, it will make it that much easier for the next black founder coming up next. Make sure to listen in to hear his awesome story and great insights.

Jim:

twitter.com/heezo

linkedin.com/in/james-gibbs-4ab8/

MeterFeeder:

meterfeeder.com

twitter.com/meterfeeder

instagram.com/meterfeederapp

linkedin.com/company/meter-feeder-inc

Follow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Podcast Day everyone!

A big shoutout to all the great podcasters out there. And thanks to our audience, staff, and our great founder guests!

- Dan Kihanya, Host

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.