Access and Opportunity

Dhani Jones is currently the Chairman and Co-Founder of Qey Capital Partners, a strategic consultancy firm that helps companies find investments. After an eleven year career in the NFL and starting several ventures of his own, Dhani helped launch the Hillman Accelerator, which focuses on investing in tech companies with women and people of color in leadership roles. In this episode, he explains how his career as an NFL linebacker taught him to be intentional about his entrepreneurial ambitions and to build a community to support that shared vision. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Edith Dorsen is the founder and Managing Director of the Womens VC Fund, which focuses on investing in companies with diverse leadership. Joining her is Reggie Van Lee, an early believer and advisor to the Fund, as well as the Chief Transformation Officer of the Carlyle Group. Together they work towards fostering equity in the venture capital industry. In this episode, they discuss the inspiration behind the Fund, the challenges they faced early on to persuade skeptics of the value in diversity and the Fund’s plans for the future. Come on and join us for the ride.

Check out the HBR article "Institutional Investors Must Help Close the Race and Gender Gaps in Venture Capital" co-authored by Reggie Van Lee and Ilene H. Lang.

You can take the Access and Opportunity listener survey.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Carla speaks with investor and three-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala about becoming a venture partner at the Catalyst Fund, which focuses on investing in companies founded by African American, Hispanic and women entrepreneurs.

Andre Iguodala, best known as a three-time NBA champion, is now a venture partner at the Catalyst Fund. Iguodala has leveraged his success in the league to build a prominent career investing in the technology sector, and his work with the Catalyst Fund focuses on supporting startups with founders from diverse, underfunded backgrounds. In this episode, Iguodala takes us back to how he got started in investing, the importance of surrounding yourself with smart, experienced people and how his work with the Catalyst Fund is helping African American, Hispanic and women entrepreneurs secure funding they need for growth and more innovation.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Carla speaks with investor Chris Lyons, head of the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreesen Horowitz, a fund that connects Black cultural leaders as Limited Partners to new technology companies, and benefiting organizations working for a greater African Americans presence in tech. 

Chris Lyons is the head of the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreessen Horowitz, a D.C.-based fund created to connect Black cultural leaders with tech companies while elevating African American creators in the tech industry. Chris began his career as an audio engineer, but found himself catching the startup bug when he started PictureMenu in 2010. He eventually moved to Silicon Valley through the NewMe accelerator. Since then, he has been all-in on the startup world, eventually taking on the role of investor. In this episode, Chris takes us through his journey in the technology industry and how he continues to advocate for increased African-American and diverse representation in tech. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Carla speaks with entrepreneur and former NFL cornerback Shawn Springs, founder and CEO of Windpact, a company focusing on impact protection across industries, including sports, automotive, and the military applications.

Shawn Springs is the founder and CEO of technology company Windpact, a startup focused on something near and dear to him: impact protection. Their technology has applications in industries ranging from sports, to automotive, to the military. In this episode, Shawn tells us how events in his own life inspired him to create technology that can change the lives of others, how he leveraged the relationships and lessons from his 13-year NFL career and how his vision for Windpact has changed as the company has grown. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

Morgan Stanley is acting as financial advisor to General Motors Company (“GM”) in connection with the formation of a strategic relationship between Cruise LLC (“Cruise”) and Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”), and Microsoft’s investment into Cruise, as announced on January 19, 2021. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. General Motors has agreed pay fees to Morgan Stanley for its financial services. Please refer to the notes at the end of this report.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Carla speaks with media entrepreneur Ana Flores, founder and CEO of #WeAllGrow Latina Network, a community that has elevated the voices and stories of Latinas for the past 10 years.

Ana Flores is the creator of the first and largest community of Latina digital influencers, and is among the only 1% of Latina owned companies to ever hit the $1 million revenue mark. In this episode, Ana walks us through her upbringing between El Salvador and Houston, her early career in television, and embracing an entrepreneurial spirit that led her to start her first company. Today, she continues to elevate Latina voices through the power of her community, as she celebrates #WeAllGrow Latina Network’s 10-year anniversary. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2021 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

----- Transcript -----

Ana Flores: In 2010, really the conversations that we have now of VC funding for women, and especially for Latinas, were just not being had. Because what I created was something so new. People didn't see the value. And I knew that.

Carla Harris: On this episode of Access and Opportunity, we welcome Entrepreneur Ana Flores, Founder and CEO of #WeAllGrow Latina Network. Ana is the creator of the first and largest network of Latina digital influencers and is among the 1% of Latina-owned companies to ever hit the $1 million revenue mark. With no outside investment, she continues to elevate Latina voices through the power of her community as she celebrates #WeAllGrow Latina Network’s 10-year anniversary.

Carla Harris: In this episode, Ana takes us through her upbringing between El Salvador and Houston, her early career in television, and her embrace of an entrepreneurial spirit that led her to start her first company, SpanglishBaby and then ultimately #WeAllGrow. Come on and join me for the ride!

Carla Harris: Ana, thank you so much for being here with me today. It's a pleasure to have you on the show. Let's jump right in. Are you ready?

Ana Flores: I'm ready. Carla, thank you so much for the invitation. Let's do this.

Carla Harris: All right. First, congratulations on your tremendous success, especially as you come up on your 10th anniversary with #weallgrowlatinanetwork. You have been committed to raising Latina voices and scaled and monetize outstanding brands to advance that cause. So now let's go back to the beginning and talk about your path.

Ana Flores: Yes. I was born in Texas. I was born in Houston. My dad still lives there. Both my parents are from El Salvador. And thankfully, they decided to get divorced when I was six years old because that really defined everything and who I am. My mom moved back with myself and my younger sister. Grabbed us, you know, in a pickup van, I think it was, and moved us back to El Salvador — where really I grew up, where I had my formative years. But my formative years weren't only there. They were also in Houston. I grew up between both countries, between two different cultures. I grew up speaking both languages. I don't remember how I learned Spanish or how I learned English. My mom doesn't seem to remember either. I was in an American school in El Salvador, but that really defined this wholehearted 200 percent Latina American person that I am, that it has defined my career as well. And when I was 18, I moved back to Texas. To go to college. I ended up following a boy to Florida. That's the honest truth.

Carla Harris: I was about to ask how you got to Florida.

Ana Flores: He was going to Embry-Riddle, he was a pilot. And I had a lot of friends, actually. There's a really big community of Latinos in Gainesville and a lot of Salvadorians where there also. So, I ended up just finding there. But the thing is that I knew I wanted to end up working in Univision in Miami in the network. I was studying TV production, and I really didn't have role models. I really didn't have a mentor. I really didn't have anybody that I knew that was a producer. But somehow, I knew that that was my path. And so being in Florida got me closer to that. And I did go to University of Florida, again, always surrounded by this huge community of Latinos. And we have to really understand that Latinidad wasn’t really what it is now and what it has been growing to. Even, you know, this was like mid 90s, early 90s. And I got my first job, my internship at Univision in Miami and internships back then for TV, I would have to sit and watch the scrolling credits, right? And like, Oh, that's executive producer, write a letter right and try to get in the door. And they didn't even have an internship program. But I got myself in there and I just started learning everything that I could. And within a year I graduated and a job opened up. And I started my career there. And it was a very exciting time to be in Univision in like 96, 97. It was a youth revolution back then. Latinidad was among us. This was when Shakira had just moved from Colombia. I was learning English. You know, we were the ones listening to, like bootleg copies of the CDs coming from Colombia, Mexico, whatever. This was when Ricky Iglesias was getting started. Ricky Martin did La Vida Loca in the Grammys, which really changed, that was the first time we felt seen. That was the first time we felt our culture really, really in this main stage. I remember where I was and the moment that I was. So it was a very exciting moment to be in Miami, to be part of the Latino culture and creating content by and for us. But then I fell in love with Mexico City. I used to have to go to work to Mexico a lot. And I think I connected with that deep with that part of it. Obviously, my Latinidad my my Latin roots and that love for the culture that I didn't really have. El Salvador is is not as strong culturally as Mexico is. Not many places are. And and this huge city where I saw that I could do my career, I could work in what I love, and do it from there. So I decided to quit. And that was, I guess, my first journey into entrepreneurship, right. We didn't really also have the word entrepreneurship as much back then. I was a freelancer and and I grabbed all the executive producers from Univision, and I told them, “I will be a freelance producer in Mexico.” And I cashed in my 401K. Not that I recommend people do that when they're 28. But I cashed in my 401K and moved and I, you know, it was actually a really good move in the sense of I was making money as a freelancer, which was much more than the $20,000 I was making a year working as an assistant producer. So that really led me on on a path. But then I ended up years later ended up moving to MTV, Latin America. And also continued working with this more Pan-American Latino — because what Univision is U.S. Hispanics, and learning how to talk to U.S. Hispanics and program and create content for U.S. Hispanics is different from creating content for Pan Latin America, where you are broadcasting to everybody from Argentina to the Caribbean through Central America, South America, which can be very different. Like one word can make a huge difference in Spanish or what it means in Mexico, what it means in Argentina. So I learned how to speak to a more global community of Latinos, right? — which, in Latin America we each identify as the country we're from, not as Latinos. And then that ended up moving to L.A. to…I was the the the team that was in charge of opening up the offices here for Mun2, which was a project of NBC and Universal to create content by and for Latino youth. So back over here doing that.

Carla Harris: And what year was this Ana?

Ana Flores: That was 2005, 2006 that we launched it.

Carla Harris: So, 15 years ago. So now these folks are in their 30s or late 20s.

Ana Flores: Yes.

Carla Harris: And you were understanding how to speak to them and how to create content that they would consume.

Ana Flores: Exactly. So, and it's tricky, right? Because I think music is a very universal language, right. But also, how do we speak to Latino youth, which is constantly changing, which navigate into two worlds. They can navigate watching MTV as they can navigate watching Univision with their parents or their grandparents, to wanting to watch sports and then also wanting to connect to their soccer teams locally, but also keep up to date. And that they enjoy everything from rancheras to, again, po

Carla speaks with media entrepreneur Morgan DeBaun, Founder and CEO of Blavity, a voice for Black millennials in the media and marketing landscape, about staying true to your vision as you grow and evolve.

Morgan DeBaun is one of the first African-American women to raise over $1 million in venture funding. Now she has raised more than $9 million for her company, Blavity, and its brands reach over 80 million monthly users. In this episode, Morgan takes us through her roots in St. Louis, the struggles of bootstrapping your own business, and what she’s learned about fundraising along the way. All this began when, at age 24, Morgan noticed that mainstream media was lacking a voice for Black millennials. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. 

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2020 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

From immigrant kid, with a love of movies, to media entrepreneur, with a deep connection to the hip-hop community, Sanjay Sharma's professional journey has taken him across the American legal, tech and media landscapes. Carla welcomes him, on this first episode of a new season of Access & Opportunity focused on innovators working for equity in the media and entertainment industries.

Now the Founder and CEO of Marginal Mediaworks, a media brand that’s all about genre storytelling from marginalized voices, Sharma’s perspectives are both familiar and radical. A serial entrepreneur, he has launched seminal ventures, including Machinima and ALL DEF Media, tuned in to underserved communities far from mainstream representation. In this episode, Sharma takes us through his eclectic journey from lawyer to screenwriter to CEO, and how he continues to advocate for the unheard stories in the margins. Come on and join us for the ride.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2020 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC

Welcome back for Season 7 of Access & Opportunity! We're staying focused on the challenges faced by women and multicultural-led businesses in accessing capital, and the overlooked opportunities they represent for investors. 

This season we’re speaking to influencers in the sports, media and entertainment fields who've committed to reframing the narrative for women and people of color. Stay tuned for Episode 1, launching December 2nd!

On this episode of Access & Opportunity, we welcome investor Soraya Darabi. A former serial entrepreneur, Soraya is a founder and General Partner at Trail Mix Ventures, an early-stage investment firm focused on the future of living well. We are also joined by Sarah Sheehan, the co-founder and COO of Bravely, a startup that remotely connects employees with certified coaches.

In 2017, Soraya and Trail Mix Ventures invested in Bravely’s seed round and the two organizations have been close partners ever since. Throughout this episode, Soraya and Sarah share how they respectively became an investor and an entrepreneur, what Soraya saw in Sarah and her company, the key steps they took during, and after “the deal,” and how they’re each adapting to the ever-changing business landscape brought by Covid-19.

https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity

Disclaimer text

The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.

© 2020 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.