0:00

Yoga is not designed as a workout that happens to have spirituality.

Yoga is spirituality that happens to include a workout.

Welcome back to a very exciting episode of The Much Loved Podcast.

I'm thrilled to have our guest Raj, AKA the startup hype man.

0:18

We're going to talk about a lot.

So everyone at home, please give a warm welcome to Raj.

It's good to see you, Raj.

Thanks for having me Nate.

I really appreciate this.

I I dig the setup you got there on your side and I'm I'm especially liking the T-shirt that you're wearing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, I got it from a good friend.

For those who don't know, believe the hype is part of the startup hype man's branding.

0:39

We're going to talk about hype week, which is coming up.

I'm going to talk about a new album coming out and I'm sure cover a lot of ground, but most importantly just want to kick off the episode.

Raj, with what are you most excited about right now because you seem to have a lot of irons in the fire.

Well, a project very near and dear to my heart is finally out.

1:02

The music album I've been putting together for the last year and a half, it is called Goat to Market.

It's a product of, you know, it's let me, let me take a step back for a moment.

1:17

This is an album that is about being an entrepreneur.

It's an album about the startup life, the startup game, about founderhood, about entrepreneurship.

And while I may have just been working on it for the last year and a half, from a production standpoint, it's something that was the seedling for.

1:39

The idea hit me in like 2017, and it's been in the back of my mind since then.

And so it's really several years in the making and it's drawing on, you know, the the music and the lyrics draw on the experience I have as an entrepreneur running startup hype man, but also the experience working hand in hand alongside so many entrepreneurs, you know?

2:06

So it's really meant to share their experience through my voice.

And I'm just, I'm pumped that it's out.

You know, I've been rapping for so long, but now I'm finally, and I finally got my name on these streaming platforms.

So it's it's cool to just be like, Oh yeah, look me up on Spotify.

That's great.

2:22

Is Spotify your preferred area?

Your preferred streaming platform.

It's what I use, yeah.

I mean the album's available on like Apple Music and all these other, you know, title.

If anyone uses a title, it's available there too.

It's you do.

All right.

Look at that.

So it is.

It is on title.

It's on YouTube Music.

2:39

It's on all of these things.

But I'm I'm a Spotify user for the last, like I want to say 11 years now and they've got way too much of me and their algorithm as far as my music preference listening preferences go.

So I don't know if I'll be switching anytime soon.

Well, my wife is an Apple music lady, and it certainly knows her well.

2:58

One of the things I love about what you said, though, describing the album.

You've been working on it a year and a half, but you've had the seeds of it since 2017.

I make art.

To me, a lot of art is a representation of everything up until that point.

So you might first write a bar or first lay down a beat.

3:19

I'm not sure how you're involved in your music, which I want to get into, but everything that goes into that is the culmination of your lived experience.

So I think it's so cool.

You're taking your journey and your client's journey and you're giving it to the world.

I think for that reason I'm happy that I didn't make this a thing 6-7 years ago because I had just started start up hype Man then and I don't think I had enough experience to have made the lyrics as impactful and meaningful as they are.

3:51

I just didn't have the lived experience to your, to use your direct words.

And I'm, I'm glad it took a while for this to come together because I've got 7 years of experience working with startup founders plus add another what two or three of my own experience as an entrepreneur.

4:08

So it's a you know it's a decade of my life plus seven years of the founders that I've been working with.

It's put into this, and sometimes you may want something to happen at a certain time, but it's actually better for you that it doesn't.

That's beautiful.

4:25

I think that I often hear that about fame, that some of the people who are gifted fame as a young person think child actors or musicians who've been put on a stage when they're like Justin Bieber.

And they have to deal with a lot of the growing pains in a lot of their life being very public and it skews their perception of just interacting with people.

4:50

But the people who work towards something, they really craft it and then the fame comes later in life.

They tend to be a lot better adjusted towards it.

I think similarly with art, when you have the time to really cultivate the depth of what you want to say, it can have a lot larger of an impact.

5:06

Who who are you hoping to to reach with this project and and what are you trying to tell them?

Well, given the content of the album itself, you know, it really is, it's a, it's a story arc, it's a concept album documenting the story of, you know, the character is a founder who goes from having an idea and he's on this journey to raising capital, right?

5:31

That's the story being told across the album.

So anyone who's in the startup game is going to relate to that.

But at the same time, I was very intentional with the the construction of the music and the lyrics in that even if you're not a like, you know that's the niche, niche audience for right, The startup community, which is, you know, it's pretty big community, but let's let's still call it niche.

5:56

At the same time, I want the person who's not involved in that world at all to still be able to nod their head into the music and the This is also why, again, I'm so happy I didn't put this into motion seven years ago.

6:12

Because I don't think I would have had that sort of thought process around it or a kind of advanced.

I don't know if wisdom is the right word, but the right.

I don't know if I would have had that that wisdom that I had through the lived experience over the last several years.

The template I started looking at was like, how come I can listen to an entire Biggie album or I can listen to like a Pusha T album, who I love and I have never sold a drug in my life, But why do I still feel like I can relate?

6:45

And why do I still feel some some version of myself in what I'm hearing in those words?

And that's what I wanted to bring.

Was that kind of a vibe to this album where, yeah, it's meant for startups, it's meant for founders specifically or people around that life.

7:02

But, you know, my litmus test along the way with each of the tracks was my wife, who's a dietitian, and my brother, who's a doctor.

And even in that, even in saying that, my wife doesn't totally count because she's around me.

7:17

So by proxy, she knows you know more about startups than, like, my brother does.

So really playing some of these songs for my brother and him being like, oh, this is hot now I'm like, OK, that's a mainstream audience, right?

Someone who's not tied to this at all, they can vibe with this, even if they're not going to catch every little micro reference along the way.

7:38

Sure.

Well, I love that you reference Pusha T He's one of my my favorites, especially when it comes to that bodybuilding music.

You know, for my clients moving weight.

I am, I am coming you live from the basement gym slash studio.

And I have a client who's coming here for a workout after this episode, so.

7:57

Beautiful.

Might even be a Pusha T day in the gym.

There you go, body work.

There you go.

I love, I love what you're talking about and how you think about your audience intentionally and you want it to be accessible, even if they're not your intended.

Like, hey, this is exactly for you.

I think that that's what's beautiful about music is anyone who feels it can enjoy it and can love it.

8:20

I also think that if you would have released this project, you probably wouldn't have had the creative strategy that you're using to roll out the album, AKA Hype Week, which is extremely ambitious and I'm, I'm proud to be a part of.

Talk just a little bit about the upcoming Hype Week.

So Hype week is September 25th, 29th 2023.

8:38

So hopefully people are listening to this or are listening to it beforehand and if you listen to it after, well now you have the the pre thought something that we're that that would be a retrospective at that point.

But you know I it's a big endeavour.

But I always knew with doing this album I wanted to do a release party.

8:57

And I was like well, let's just make this kind of like a moon shot, lightning strike kind of moment and go bigger than just the release party and flank that with other events for the tech community throughout the week.

9:13

And make the whole week a celebration of the startup community highlighted by the album release party in concert.

And it it just, it started to align really well.

You know, like we had a a a key sponsor who wanted to get involved with hype week and they were already like, hey, like if your release party's going on, why don't we do this VIP dinner event for some founder for some select founders, Why don't we do this happy hour?

9:40

And then I was like, yeah, well, why don't we now just let's add it.

Let's add a little bit more to that now, right now.

I started to tap into the communities that I've become embedded in over the last several years to to pull this thing together and create, you know, to create hype week.

9:57

And again, it's meant to just be this celebration across the entire week.

There's an event, at least one event every day, happening from the 25th to the 29th of September.

And you know, from a marketing standpoint too, I thought, well, how do we create more buzz around the highlight event?

10:15

Maybe it makes sense to flank it with these other events.

So now there's this almost this like this like surge that comes in at the middle of the week where you've got people coming to the other events, but now they're like, oh, I should, I should hit up that release party too.

Sure.

10:30

Well, and when I used to intern in the event space specifically, we did a lot of events for our hip hop artists.

We managed there was this three-part component to an event.

What do you do to prepare and promote for the event?

How do you make sure everyone has the most fun at the event?

10:46

And then how do you recap and kind of create that FOMO so people are at the next one.

And so even if your your apex pinnacle event is Wednesday night, well, on Thursday and Friday, how do you get people thinking, oh man, I really should have been there.

I got to go stream the album and and still doing what the point of the release is, is to generate that excitement.

11:04

So I I just think it's a, it's a brilliant strategy in looking at the diversity of the events you put together.

Was that a byproduct of the diversity of your interests or was that the diversity of your your network or how did how did it happen?

11:20

Because you've got things from running to basketball to restaurant to E sports and then even a panel on diversity.

So let's let's kind of jam on that a bit.

OK, this is a this is a good question.

I'm glad you asked it.

It's making me think.

I I think it's a byproduct of.

11:37

I think it's all three.

It's a byproduct of my own collection of interests as well as the communities that I know, I know I'm part of.

And on top of that, I looked at where can I plug in other people to help make them successful as well and make it part of this thing.

12:01

So like, let's take a look at Monday night.

The 25th is Startup Grinds E Sports Fireside chat with Keisha Howard from Sugar Gamers.

Startup Grind is a global organization run by volunteer, run individual chapters around the world.

12:20

I happen to be the chapter director for Startup Grind Chicago, so I was like, well, that's an easy win, is to add a Startup Grind event to this entire week, right?

The the infrastructure is already there with Startup Grind.

Just got to find a venue that's going to host it basically and figure out who the speaker should be.

12:38

And I thought, you know, I looked back at what are the events we've done over the last year with Startup Grind.

And then I looked at this week, this week, you know, the, the feature of the week is entertainment.

So I thought, well, let's let's do a Startup grind event that flanks off of entertainment and is around E Sports.

12:55

And that's you know that Fireside Chat with Keisha is all about, you know, her story of breaking ground in E Sports becoming one of the top voices in the E Sports community and and she's going to, you know talk through her journey there.

The Tuesday daytime event that Nate Ventures is partnering with us on is Venture Hoops.

13:15

Well one of our clients at startup Hype Man over the years has been Swish House and I'm a customer of theirs as well.

And I became they became Startup Hype Man's client because I was first their customer and I said I love this and we got to figure out a way to work together.

Swish House is a is a Chicago local startup.

13:33

It is a basketball fitness class.

So you take High Intensity Interval Training and you put it on a basketball court.

Think lay up lines, dribble and shoot, catch and shoot, cone drills, the weave, those kinds of things.

Team based shooting or skills contest.

13:50

That's what a Swiss House class is.

And whether you are, you know, as their founder Jonathan Dudes likes to say, whether you suck at basketball or whether you are Michael Jordan, you will get the exact same workout experience and burn the same amount of calories, right?

14:07

That's that's what Swish House is.

And this idea for venture hoops was something I thought of months ago and it was just something I had in a conversation with a friend who was an investor.

And I was like oh, like I was just talking up Swish House just as like a a fanboy of it.

And I was like, I think, I bet there's so many people in this community, in the venture community who would have a ton of fun and it would just be a really cool networking way to network.

14:32

And so, you know, again, it's like we're like these things you pick up along the way.

And then I start putting together Hype Week and I'm like, well, wait, I had that idea a while ago.

I already surfaced it with one person.

Why don't let's make Venture Hoops a thing for this?

And so it's, you know, venture hoops is a private swish house class for the venture community and our venture partners, Nate Ventures being one of them.

14:51

So we're getting a lot of investors together and some of the ecosystem players for you know, just a fun swish house class and then there's a light lunch after that.

Tuesday night is the happy hour that's sponsored by Akiva.

You know, they were the, the first partners of this entire project, the software development company.

15:09

And so they're, you know, they're going all out for that one.

Like we've got 1871 where is where we're hosting it at which is Chicago's like you know, premier tech incubator we've got and we and we thought, well let's do something that it's it's a Tuesday.

15:25

Taco Tuesday is always a thing, so let's do tacos in tech, AKA Techo Tuesday.

And we've got like live Taco stations for this.

You know, we've got bartenders on site, all that kind of stuff.

Just a great way to get people together and just like a no pressure situation.

15:42

You were mentioning the fun run.

That's because through, you know, doing this work over several years, a founder who I have met, Karishma Bali with drip tech.

Her company is a smart wearable technology for athletes and just for generally people when you're exercising that monitors your hydration levels.

16:04

So I happen to see actually, and this is where just if I can sidebar for a second.

And when you think about marketing and event planning, you don't have to come up with all the ideas yourself.

You can look to what's been done before that looks interesting to you and kind of draft off that.

16:22

So I actually happened to see that Karishma in partnership with Tech Chicago Week back in July.

There was a drip, a morning fun run and walk.

That drip did and it looked cool.

I couldn't go to it that day, but it looked cool.

And I asked her about it and she was like, yeah, it was great.

16:38

You know, there were it rained, but like the people still came out and I was like, OK, do you want.

Yeah, I looked at text her.

I was like, do you want to add on a fun run this morning of of Hype week?

And she's like, yeah, let's do it.

And so that's another thing, right?

Like the infrastructure, quote, UN quote, is already set up.

16:54

Karishma knows how to organize a fun run and walk.

So she's like, this is going to be the meeting point.

This is the meeting time.

And she's like, you know, really doesn't matter if you jog or run or walk.

We know exactly like how to pace people out.

And I'm like perfect.

And then I just, you know, we just kind of like set them up with, OK, here's the marketing materials for it.

17:12

And then it kind of goes forth from there and then of course we've got, you know, we've got several other events.

I don't need to go into everything, but that's just kind of like the at least at least half the week, right?

Yeah, no, I I love it and I certainly don't want to stop your flow.

What I think is impressive about at least that first half is as an entrepreneur, achieving any level of success really comes down to who is around you.

17:38

Who can be your client, who can be your vendor?

Who can be your brand champion?

Who can be the person who opens the door for you.

And every single relationship that you mentioned falls into one of those categories.

And you've been able to take a week and have it be the living embodiment of the startup hype man.

17:56

And you've made this hype week out of it, which I think is a great way to show your worth in to the community as a whole and also celebrate.

So would love to kind of take that perspective as I think about the back half of the week.

Well, and and you know, one of the things you asked earlier was like, is it a, is it drawing from your personal experience or whatever?

18:15

And I think for me, health is very important to me, health and Wellness and fitness.

So it just made natural sense to me to be like, let's do a basketball fitness class as part of this.

Let's do a fun run as part of this, not just let's just do like classroom lectures or workshops or stuff like that.

18:34

You know, there it's it's the whole week is one part education, one part networking, one part entertainment, one part fitness, but all parts fun.

Well, and that's what stood out to me about the the diversity of the events and why the basketball one was a no brainer.

18:53

I mean, I grew up playing basketball my whole life.

But with COVID, I really took a step back up, maybe played twice since 2020.

So I was like, I'm excited.

And that's also a great networking piece that isn't standing around shaking hands trying not to hear the the loud music, which is great sometimes.

19:11

Sometimes it's also nice to see who on that court has that dog in them and it's just going to work and get a sweat and chase after a loose ball and and that could teach you a lot about somebody's ethics outside of of a basketball court.

And that's what I've found too, right?

Over the years like some of the best relationships I have developed have been through let's call them air quotes.

19:34

Unconventional like ways of meeting.

You know years ago one of the things I used to do when someone was like someone would reach out and be like, hey, can I pick your brain which that's all sidebars.

Like we can talk about that I don't love like the quote UN quote pick your brain asks.

19:51

But like or like hey do you want to you know I would.

I've seen what you're doing with love to meet that kind of thing.

And what I used to do is when I was doing yoga, all the time was I'd be like.

I'm taking a yoga class this time this place.

Come take the class with me and we can talk afterwards.

20:09

And that was, you know, a couple things were accomplished by that one.

It would kind of give me a sense of like to what level of open mindedness do they have?

Or do we already have a shared interest perhaps if they already are a yoga practitioner?

20:26

And then I didn't necessarily, like, carve out new time, right?

I could instead of overwhelming myself and then constantly feeling like, oh, I'm, I'm stretching myself too thin or spreading myself too thin and all to try and meet all these people is like, if I can just bring them into what I'm already doing, then that's a lot easier, you know, and for both of us too.

20:45

And it creates A memorable experience.

So some of the people that I built really strong relationships over the years started with like, hey, come to my yoga class.

I think that's really important.

Key Observation 11, the reason I share that belief.

21:00

I told you I have a client coming over to work out.

He's my best friend as he's gone from company to company throughout the years.

They bring me in where I can be valuable.

We get in a workout and then we get some work done or vice versa.

It fits into our lifestyle already.

But I also think that's a tip people could take into the world for dating, both dating in the romantic sense and dating in the Is this a good fit for somebody to be a business partner since?

21:26

Because a lot of times people go to these events that are curated for like, hey, you're going to break up your normal routine and go to something that you don't do well, that's cool.

But if you're meeting somebody in the energy of, like, this isn't who I am and how I normally in in the world, then maybe I'm not even bringing my authentic self to the relationship.

21:44

And like, I found that my marriage has worked because we integrated each other into the lives that were already working.

We didn't drop what worked for ourselves to see like, hey, do I like this person now Let me try and introduce them to who I am.

So I I just think that's a really, really authentic way to to establish a relationship in general.

22:04

Similarly, when I was single, I would always suggest first dates.

That would be like, I don't know, unconventional, I guess, like let's go to the driving range or let's do this other activity as opposed to I'm like, I mean, sure, do I meet a friend for like a beer every now and then?

22:26

Yeah.

But I'm like, I don't otherwise just like go hang out at a bar on like a Monday night.

So why am I choosing that as a date option?

Yeah, I think it's kind of, it's kind of odd, but some people like Will complain, oh, I can't, I can't meet a girl, I can't meet a guy.

22:46

And it's like, all right, well, where are you looking?

What's the, what's the energy you're putting out?

And where are you seeking?

I always liked when I heard like, oh, go to church or go to a bookstore or, you know, if if you want somebody who's improving themselves, like go do something that a person would do to improve.

23:03

Themselves go to a seminar, you know, like, yeah, and it's not a silly that you're like, I'm going to this to meet someone, but if you start doing the things that you like, chances are you will find other people who like those things in either sense, right?

Whether it's romantic or just friendship.

Yeah, absolutely.

23:19

I think that it actually comes down to like a pretty deep yogic principle about being the change.

Like, everyone knows that quote from Gandhi, but I don't think a lot of people have, like, actually sat with that idea of like, oh, if I'm frustrated at how my relationships are in life, maybe there's something inside of me that needs to change.

23:39

Or maybe I need to change my perspective on this thing and in the same way.

Oh, I'm single right now.

Maybe I'd like to be part of a union in some kind.

Well, maybe I should go be the person that would be ready for that partner, and then that partner will find me.

And I've.

23:54

I've always just loved that, that perspective.

And a lot of what this comes down to, and this is something that I think it's just a philosophy I've carried for a long time, is it kind of plays off to be the change thing.

But it's like I have long subscribed to this mentality of like I'm just going to create the things that I want to see in the world.

24:19

And you know, coming back to the hype week stuff like this is the kind of conference conference, if you will, that I would want to attend even if I wasn't throwing it myself.

A basketball event, a a fun run, a happy hour, a concert, right.

24:34

All these things, a diversity panel.

That's the type of stuff that I would click on and be like I need to be at that if I was, if I was just looking at what someone else was doing.

So, you know, that's that's, I feel like that's how a lot of this comes together, is that philosophy of like what are the things you actually do want to see happen and just, you know, be the person to make them happen?

24:56

Yeah, I love it.

I I think the diversity panel is really interesting to me and I certainly don't want to take away from what that event will be.

So obviously if you've got some, you know, hot takes you don't want to share yet, obviously hold them in.

But I think we're about to witness a really interesting battle between the letter of the law and the intent of the law.

25:20

Because by all intents and purposes, a lot of these diversity focused initiatives are in violation of laws the way they're written, you know, treating people different based on certain characteristics that are protected.

However, when you look at the intention of why the law is written that way, it was designed to protect people and the only person being harmed by many of these diversity focused initiatives, especially in the funding space as it relates to VC.

25:52

It's just protecting people who statistically don't need protection and that's that's what I find fascinating about it.

So I'm I'm very excited for the event and I'm I'm sure that you've already heard a lot of really interesting perspectives on this issue.

That and you know, so this is something that I was like, the idea was brought to me actually about doing a some kind of DEI themed event.

26:17

Originally it wasn't on the calendar, and that's only because I was like the no, it's not that I was saying I didn't want it.

It's just I was just like, oh, we've got enough events.

Like maybe I've maxed out the number of events that I can plan.

But the person who's our facilitator for that panel discussion, her name is Sindhu Thomas George.

26:37

She's ADEI facilitator, facilitator with Shuck the diversity training.

She messaged me on LinkedIn and was just like, hey, saw your stuff for hype week if you want, you know?

Not sure if you're planning anything around diversity, but happy to like, you know, get involved if that is something that you're you're planning.

26:57

And I was like, it's not in my plans right now.

But let me get back to you and right around this time is when the lawsuit against Fearless Fund came to light.

And so for those who are not aware, with the repeal of affirmative action by the Supreme Court, it has kind of created this like Wild Wild West scenario of doing things that center around the support or promotion of diversity.

27:29

Because now, like, diversity as a concept is not necessarily, like, protected by law.

So what you've seen come out of this is, you know, there's this group who's like suing companies left and right for the fact that they have diversity policies of any kind, saying that it's actually, it's like reverse discrimination.

27:52

If you're if you're upholding one group, then you're discriminating against another group.

Now what they're actually doing is essentially being like if you have something that is meant for this cultural group, it's actually now a discriminatory discrimination against white people.

28:08

And really more than anything, like white men is what is the case that they're making.

And because of this repeal of affirmative action, legally, to your point, like they may actually have a case here.

And that's kind of that's why this is really problematic that this was taken down.

So, you know, one example is McDonald's was slapped with a lawsuit by this one group for having the DEI policy listed on their website.

28:33

And then what kind of hit close to home for all of us in startup land was there is this VC group called Fearless Fund, which specifically invests in black women entrepreneurs.

And they've got one specific, you know, like fund program they had that was doing these grants.

28:51

It was in partnership with MasterCard, I believe, doing different levels of grants for black women entrepreneurs.

And they have received a lawsuit from that same group saying that this is actually like unconstitutional, right.

Or I don't know if unconstitutional is the right word, but this is now discrimination.

29:08

This is, this is no longer, you know, based on the law from 18, whatever 1860 something.

After the Civil War, we have legal grounds to say you are discriminating against everyone else if you have a fund that just supports black female entrepreneurs.

29:27

Even though might I add that only I think .5% of all the funding in the last year went to black female entrepreneurs.

So I think this creates a really interesting discussion because I can look at that and I can emotionally be like this is effing ridiculous how this could possibly become a lawsuit.

29:49

At the same time you can have someone on the other side that's like, but according to law it's not ridiculous and I and so that I think there's a lot, there's a healthy discussion that needs to be had with this.

And So what we're doing is bringing together four really unique viewpoints in this for this panel discussion.

30:10

So you've got the founder who represents a under resourced group themselves just having a product in anything, right.

They don't even have like ADEI themed product.

They just happen to represent an underprivileged or under resource group themselves.

30:32

Then you've got a second viewpoint which is the founder who is building something that is DEI focused.

The third viewpoint is the investor who has ADEI thesis and says like as part of our existence as a fund we're we're allocating money towards this group.

30:50

And then also the 4th viewpoint is the investor who has no thesis around diversity.

It's not to say they're anti diversity, it's just to say they have not declared our fund exists solely to support this group or these groups and those are the four voices that actually now shape what this landscape is going to look like over who knows how long and all of their voices really matter because of that reason, right?

31:19

If you are the founder who's building ADEI product now, perhaps the game changes on what you actually can and cannot do.

In fact like one of our clients right now is a is a start up female founded that has ADEI software specifically for helping companies meet their ESG goals environmental social and governance.

31:41

But now the term ESG is off the table in this post affirmative action world specifically the S in ESG.

So we've been having to rethink how do they pitch this So they're affected by it.

The founder who's not building that, but you know, let's say is a black male themselves or is a Latin X female themselves just building something generally cool there.

32:05

Whether they want to or not, they are now affected by it.

And so their voice matters in this conversation.

And on the investor side, to what extent can the investor now be like, well, we support this group.

If it is technically now you know if there's potentially A lawsuit that could be looming around the corner because as that 1800s law was written, it is matters big or small.

32:29

It does not say you must be a Fortune 500 company to now have something.

It is any any business really can be up like start a pipeman potentially could be under fire because we've given money in the past specifically to under resourced entrepreneurs through our pitch fund.

32:47

Sure.

What?

I think that there's a lot of things at play.

I will start by saying I am so much less politically involved than I was as an adolescent.

I was on the congressional debate team in high school as part of a team that won 10 out of 15 state titles in a row.

33:06

So they had a pretty good idea what they were.

It's.

Good thing you're hosting a podcast now.

The Man.

The man knows how to talk.

And well, I'm grateful for incredible leadership.

I had wonderful coaches and and really great people who came before me on the team to teach me.

But what I learned at at a young age was that there is evidence to support either position on any viewpoint.

33:30

Meaning I can go gather statistics that I can use to paint the picture of what I believe, and I can come up with an argument, pro or con, on any topic.

That's what makes somebody really good at winning a state championship, is being prepared to speak at any side on any issue.

33:49

And the more I I dove into that, I realized a lot of the things that people use to justify their arguments are complete bullshit.

It's what can I grab that makes the thing I already believe sound better.

And you're not going to change what's in people's hearts with statistics, but you can change what's in people's hearts with from messages that come from the heart and stories.

34:13

In that.

One of the things I felt personally was I was chatting with a a friend of mine who's a business associate for ADEI Thesis VC Fund.

And I was pitching him one of my friends businesses who was raising.

And he didn't check any diversity boxes.

34:30

So they passed on it and for a moment I was like, yo, that's kind of fucked up.

Like this guy's got a really good business.

They can make some money here, like they won't support him because of the color of the skin or his background.

And I paused for a second and I went, That just means this one building, it does not have a door open for him.

34:50

But it doesn't mean that the rest of this neighborhood doesn't have dozens and if not hundreds of opportunities for him.

The very reason this building exists with a closed door to him is because these other buildings are failing to let in people who they're trying to help.

So they decided to open up their own building.

35:06

And I go, OK, if he can't get over this micro rejection, like, there's not a chance he could actually empathize with a diverse founder.

So in feeling the pain of why he was rejected, to take it in in a bigger perspective, that's the very reason why that opportunity exists in the first place.

35:24

So for me, as somebody who wouldn't necessarily qualify for that type of fund, I can go, all right, You're actually an independent business trying to solve a problem.

You're not some bakery who's saying, like, I don't want to make gay people cakes, which, I mean, you don't have to.

35:41

Like.

I'm pretty sure the courts just ruled if you don't want to make gay cakes, you don't have to make gay cakes, like.

So gay cakes, you know, like it's one of those things where I go like so many people take stances and positions on things that don't affect them.

The company that's doing this, they're just going after easy money because whenever there's major constitutional upheaval, it means there's a lot of money on the table and they probably don't have a personal horse in the race, they just want to make some cash.

36:08

So I don't necessarily look at it as an affront to me, but I think that people can be so Willy nilly with the livelihoods of people who are affected.

That's the part that's troubling to me.

I mean I don't know how much you've paid attention to case law around affirmative action, but that was one of the the topics I actually studied a lot.

36:30

And the case I think with Harvard has really been the tipping point of saying like we don't want to allow Asians into our school or a certain amount of Asians.

We want to create these quota systems.

I think as soon as the what people call the DEI initiative went from how do we elevate opportunities to now how do we put a perceived ceiling on on others, that's when some people got involved who I don't think would have.

36:57

That's that's just my personal take.

Well, it it's a highly complex issue and you know, I know my like, personal stance on it, which you know more or less can be boiled down to it.

37:12

It boggles my mind that you can that the the reason there is these opportunity programs is because as you mentioned before, the doors have been closed for so long and the opportunity doesn't otherwise exist.

Were it not for these programs in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling now I can I may have that personal and emotional stance, but it it has less merit now or perhaps it has no merit.

37:42

And I think in the case of fearless fund like there's there's a quote UN quote case to be made.

I may not agree with it, but there is a case to be made that in creating a fund that only supports one group, you as a, you know the as the fund owner are not upholding your fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders, your stakeholders to value profit maximizing profit above all else.

38:14

So again, I just think it's a really fascinating discussion that if we bring the right voices together, which we are, it's going to, it's it's a conversation everyone needs to be you know, leaning into.

So it's, you know, it should be, should be a great event and we're doing that at work Box in River North.

38:36

They were awesome about wanting to host it. 5th star funds is going to be part of that there and they are you know one of the funds in Chicago that is specifically supporting traditionally under represented founders.

So I want to, I want to see where the conversation goes especially and I want people to be challenged in this conversation as well.

38:57

I don't want it to just be a rah you know a rah, rah.

Oh no, we need to do better.

I want to.

I really want to hear the person who doesn't have a thesis around diversity.

I want to hear what that investor believes their role should or should not be moving forward in that conversation.

39:13

Yeah.

Well, I think that you raised an interesting point when you talked about maximizing profitability.

And there's there's a lot of debate on Is that ultimately a corporation's true purpose or is it just one of the purposes?

39:29

That's one of the things I think's fascinating about the Certified B Corporation, these corporations who exist to serve a public good while making money, who care about the impact.

And I was watching on Apple TV the other day, the series on Magic Johnson.

39:48

And one of the things that was fascinating when you partnered with Starbucks to open coffee shops in predominantly black neighborhoods, he was like, yeah, they found out black people drink coffee too.

And there's this, this component of diversity that in my opinion, a lot of times it's about putting people into a box.

40:06

Oh, you're this, you're that, you're that.

When our similarities are often.

Far, far greater than our differences.

What a truly effective diversity and inclusion policy before DEI was the term, all that sought to do was help a corporation be reflective of the communities they serve as well as the talent available in their area.

40:28

I had like a really great conversation with a 30 year diversity vet who was basically telling me that a lot of times companies would have a goal like, hey, we want our staff to look like our customer base.

Well the radius that they're in does not actually have that that diversity.

40:45

So now they have to look outside that radius.

How do they create a talent and attraction initiative and how do they make their culture in the office something people would want to be a part of?

Like I think that goes a long way towards profitability but also towards creating just a better work environment.

41:02

So like, I know I'm very, very biased on that, but I I think that over time, companies who don't have that as their thesis, they're just not going to get top talent because top talent doesn't want to be in a place where one perspective or one way of doing things is the only way to do things.

41:20

Oh yeah, I think that's absolutely true.

And the one of the counter arguments to that is, hey, diversity of thought matters too.

And, you know, mistakenly, that's something that I believed a long time ago.

And what I was, you know, through education, through enough conversations with the right people, what I realized was how much diversity of thought are you truly going to have if it's ten people in the room who grew up in basically the same area, who look the same and have had more or less, You know, you could have individual life experiences.

41:55

But I think what's important is if the world has reacted to you throughout your life in roughly the same way, how much diversity and thought are you truly developing in that room?

Yeah.

No, I I definitely get that.

I think that it plays out different internally, but as far as the how have you felt from the external being the same, you're you're absolutely right.

42:21

I know we're kind of coming close here on time.

The last thing I really want to make sure we get to before the question I asked all my guests.

But for you specifically, I want to talk to you about yoga.

When we first met, I complained about the whitewashing of yoga and it kind of struck A chord with you.

42:39

For people who just think yoga is a place where you go to stretch and get a sweat, tell them what they're missing.

Because I just love your perspective on on what yoga is really about.

I I don't remember if I had said this to you in that conversation when we hung out, but I think there's this general understanding that yoga is a workout.

43:04

Yoga is exercise.

Now yoga can be those things.

But you know, when some classes try to introduce some of the spirituality to it, it actually turns away certain certain students who are like, I just want the work, I don't want the, I don't want the spirituality fluff.

43:22

It's not for me.

And I think the the dynamic here is that yoga is not designed as a workout that happens to have spirituality.

Yoga is spirituality that happens to include a workout.

43:40

And you know, funny enough, when I got into my own yoga practice originally, the studio that I was going to didn't have a ton of the spirituality to it.

They didn't not, they didn't.

They didn't dismiss.

It just wasn't part of the overall, like standardized culture of the studio, which was fine, but it also allowed me to.

44:04

I think it made it more accessible upfront instead of like beating me over the head with like, let's call it just like gospel, for lack of a better phrase, or dogma or anything like that.

But you're not really going to get into yoga class.

I think you get the idea.

And then through that I was able through the physical, I was able to tap into the spiritual.

44:22

So I think there's a, there's a lot to be said for physical being the easiest access point to ultimately get to the spiritual.

The challenge I'm that I'm seeing in the yoga community now that I've been a part of it for a while and you know, established a role in it as an instructor and as a result someone who carries responsibility is that it's not just that some area, some classes, some teachers, some studios are choosing to use physical as the access point to the spiritual.

44:54

It's that they are going out of their way to remove the spiritual.

Or maybe if you ask them they're not going to say Oh no, we don't move the spiritual.

Anyone can come as they are.

Anyone can practice however they feel feel is worth it for them.

But if you're not on your side, also doing enough to like encourage the spiritual or make make it known or make the opportunities available, I think you're actually doing the students a disservice.

45:20

Because, you know, I'm sure you've experienced through a physical yoga practice, you will get into some of the best mental headspace and and tap into some of the most, like, spiritual experiences you maybe you've ever had.

And some of that might happen naturally.

But if you don't create the space for it, it's really hard for that to happen naturally.

45:38

And the more we, I don't know, kind of like bastardize the practice, the more the narrative shifts towards yoga's just a workout.

Don't bother me with that other stuff.

45:56

Well, I think there's a couple key things you hit on.

But for anyone who's studied this concept of the seven layers of self, it starts with the body.

So the idea of someone being drawn to a a class where we're practicing asana and we're getting a sweat and we're connecting with our breath, well that's great because the breath is now the second layer of self and that's going to connect us to our mind, which is the third layer.

46:19

And now we've got that that bridge that happens between the the mind and the body through the breath.

But I think what throws me is when that's as far as someone goes and then decides, oh, I'm going to go be a teacher now and I'm going to teach other people how to do this mind body thing through asana.

46:41

But I'm not developing my spiritual self to even expand on what this, what this rich lineage really is.

And and that's when you end up with just these, you know, Bikram yoga factories that you know, no offense to someone who practices Bikram yoga, but if you look at their lineage like that's not a good guy.

47:00

And if you've taken the time to study him, you know, all he did is he ripped off, you know, somebody else's set of asanas and took them to America and turned it into this marketing thing.

And he had all the wrong, all the wrong energy.

Like he took, he took magic and he used it negatively.

47:17

Is a is a very it was a very damaging thing he did.

But so many of the people who got caught up in the damage didn't even know to look for the light of the spirituality that is yoga.

So I I think that's the thing that's always the what I get cautious about.

47:33

It's like in school.

Yeah, maybe you teach the five year olds that Thanksgiving was about Indians and it was about Pilgrims.

And you dress up and you, you know, you're like, Oh yeah, this is Thanksgiving.

But by the time you're in middle school, you really need to know what Thanksgiving was about.

And it's it's about building towards that.

47:51

This is, this has been great.

There's one question I ask every guest of mine, and I want to make sure I ask you, knowing that this is going to be online and out in the ether and can reach anybody, who's the one person you'd really like to connect with that you haven't yet, and hopefully our network could make happen.

48:09

Wow, what a question.

Can it literally be anyone?

Anyone.

I would love to connect with Lin Manuel Miranda, the founder and the creator of Hamilton.

Why His work with Hamilton was such an inspiration for me in a few different ways.

48:33

One it, you know, actually it's funny as we're recording this, I'm literally like going to see Hamilton again tomorrow night, which will be the 4th time that I'm seeing it.

But you know, in a few different ways, I have literally created projects based off of Hamilton.

48:51

I created a a fun, you know, kind of casual yoga class called Hamel Flow that was yoga set to the Hamilton musical where the poses are sequenced to the lyrics of the songs.

I, you know, several years ago I created a my own mix tape called Hamel Flow as well that was just me covering and remixing a handful of tracks on Hamilton.

49:16

But beyond those direct creations, being exposed to Hamilton several years ago is what unlocked a new layer of creativity in me and kind of showed me what's really possible if you can figure out how to like blend different worlds together.

49:37

And I think seeing it done so well there, it it allowed me to do what I'm doing now.

I think like I've blended Hip Hop with startups.

49:56

I don't know who else is doing that, but I've blended Hip Hop with Star.

Maybe someone else's, but I don't know.

Them, I mean other than Nas and Jay-Z.

Yeah, I mean, right.

And they're like kind of like the the big, you know, mogul, like Empire Builders.

But I made an album about startup life and I don't know if Hamilton had not come out, if I would have felt I could, I could pull that off.

50:20

All right, Sure.

And so for that reason, for the fact that I just think he's a cool dude, I think we get along.

I think we could talk a lot about hip hop together and and building these interesting projects and and all that kind of stuff.

I think I think it would be amazing to meet Lin Manuel Miranda.

50:41

There we go.

Hopefully Lin Manuel hears this somehow.

Whether somebody who knows, somebody who knows somebody gets you connected would certainly love that.

I think he wrote.

For Encanto, which is the Disney movie, it was a big.

Hit Yeah.

50:57

And my nieces and nephews love that one.

I I resonate with the character who's the older sister who's always putting everything on on our shoulders, so that's great.

Hopefully like a drip.

Drip, drip and it never stop.

That's right.

Hopefully we can get you guys connected.

Raj, I hope by now you're getting great results on your Spotify, people are downloading the album and most importantly that we have a really great Startup Hype Week coming up.

51:24

Appreciate it man.

Thank you for having me everybody.

Make sure you go and copy the album on any streaming feed.

Just type in goat to Market or Raj Nation and the album is yours.

Well, if you have at least one person on title, that's going to be me because I'm team title all the way.

51:43

Love it man.

Thank you for having me and excited to partner with you for Hype Week.

Yeah.

Take care, Raj, and much love everybody.

Then a treat.

Much love.