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Breakr Founders Discuss Innovation and Support from Us

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Breakr


The relationship between Breakr founders Anthony and Ameer Brown is what happens while you mix innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience. As siblings, their love for one another runs deep, and they convey that very same admiration to their work as co-founders of a dynamic platform that connects artists, brands, and creators as they work to rework the landscape of the music industry.

As a tech company, Breakr quickly became an industry powerhouse, changing the best way music, talent, brands, and influencers are discovered and shared. Since its launch in 2020, Breakr has been connecting artists with labels and brands seeking to capitalize on the creator economy. Beyond that, Anthony says ensuring creators are paid what they’re value keeps him up at night (in the easiest way) with regards to business.

“We’ve been doing this for about three and a half years now, and you can get tired if you don’t have a reason to,” Anthony said. BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP. “I think our why has really crystallized over the last few weeks, which is really more like months. It’s like, Hey, we want to make it easier for brands and labels to find creators, but we also want to make it easier for brands and labels to interact and provide value to creators.”

“The most important thing is streamlining those payments. Payments was a really important innovation that we pushed at Breakr,” he continued. “We made it our business and kind of our modus operandi to pay these kids in real time. For us, that stops evictions. That stops people from having to have a job and be a creator on the side. It allows people to go out and price themselves appropriately because they know they’re going to get their money immediately.”

The company’s name comes from the beatbreaker that DJ is, and the opposite half of its name comes from the concept that the corporate desires to act as a switchboard or an off switch for the entities that use its platform, whether or not they’re creators, brands, or record labels.

“We want to be the central infrastructure,” Ameer explained. “Think about a home. All the different devices in your home are powered by electricity, but they need to be told where to go, what voltage needs to be delivered, all the information that needs to get there is transmitted through the electricity that goes to that device, so we think of Breakr as a way for the creator economy, we want all the different inputs and all the different devices to get the right information. They need the right payment. They need the right resources. They need the right performance. They need the right data that they need at the right time, and that’s basically why we’re called Breakr. We’re just a routing engine that connects people and solves problems at an efficient scale.”

As founders of Breakr and graduates of the esteemed HBCU, Florida A&M University (FAMU), the Brown brothers’ vision for the corporate got here as an “aha” moment at the identical time the world was shutting down attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brown brothers were in a position to bring their friends along on the journey. For Anthony, working alongside his siblings was “the biggest, most stressful, amazing experience” of his life.

“We started Breakr with two other co-founders who are friends of Ameer,” he recalls. “They did a ton of events together in college. They went to FAMU, Daniel Ware and Rotimi Omosheyin, and that was the beginning. They created a whole culture from the beginning in terms of how they operated together, and I think Breakr works because from my perspective, as a technical outsider who didn’t know how they operated together, I kind of got to know them, and what they mastered together was culture. It’s a deep appreciation of culture. My background was more in finance, Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, but they spent so much time in culture, curating culture, and creating culture, that it ended up being part of our DNA as a company. We really stand on the shoulders of that culture.”

Breakr’s culture itself attracted early investors like rapper-turned-entrepreneur and culture maven Nasir “Nas” Jones. Through a program called General Assembly, which each Ameer, along with his background in PR and communications, and Anthony, along with his work in tech, had access to earlier of their careers, they not only got a deeper dive into the world of digital marketing and coding, but additionally caught the eye of Nas and Queensbridge Venture Partners, this system’s early backers.

The pair had no concept that not only would they meet Nas just a few years later at Hip Hop’s fiftieth anniversary party, but that it will occur while they were fully immersed of their entrepreneurial careers, constructing Breakr from the bottom up.

“The story has come full circle for Tony and me and everything,” Ameer said. “We’re both from Queens. Our family is from Southside Jamaica Queens. Our whole story is from Queens, and Nas is basically a Queens kid, you know what I mean. So the fact that he is who he is and we know him is the coolest thing in the world.”

Anthony added, “We had the opportunity to meet him in person, tell him the whole story, take pictures, etc. It was just a great moment, a complete turnaround, to meet him as an entrepreneur who literally taught himself technology and coding through an investment he made years ago. And also for him to reinvest in our company, which was significant for us in those early days in terms of just giving us a battery in the back to keep going.”

“The opportunity to actually fund our business is just crazy. It’s a story that no one would believe if it wasn’t true,” Anthony continued. “I actually wrote it. My essay to get into the General Assembly was read and they said, ‘Why did you name your essay that?’ I was like Nas said in 2009: it meant ‘worst of the worst, coolest thing ever.’ And I thought, I want to be the greatest tech guy. I want to be able to do tech with the best of them, right? So I named the paper. And that was the thing that the person at the General Assembly who read the essay said that convinced me. She said, ‘That’s a unique approach and I think it’s a great story and I want to hire you for the program.’ So it’s a crazy story.”

In addition to being an investor, Nas is included in Breakr’s ever-evolving roster of artists using the platform. Other notables include Megan Thee Stallion, Gunna, Rick Ross, Future, and more. In addition to musicians, corporations like Meta, Live Nation, and P&G are among the many brands currently tapping the startup for various campaigns with the aforementioned artists.

With exponential growth in a brief time frame, Breakr has built a world database of 55 million creators, and the corporate is growing by the minute, employing over 70,000 creators. Looking ahead, the Brown brothers hope to succeed in over $25 million in transaction volume by the tip of next 12 months.

“I think it’s not unrealistic to see a world where we’re doing over $160 million in transactions by 2026,” Anthony said. “In fact, by 2027, we predict we’re doing somewhere around $330 million to $350 million in transactions. The North Star for me is what’s it going to take? How long is it going to take us to get to a billion dollars in payments processed per 12 months? So every strategy and all the things we do is tied to attending to that in the following five years.

Crash Here to learn more about methods to join the Breakr community.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Business and Finance

Business schools increasingly want to show that they have a positive impact on society. But how should they measure it?

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Still an economist in 1970 Milton Friedman The famous argument that corporations have one responsibility: increasing profits. For a long time, the so-called The “Friedman Doctrine” was dogma in some circles, including many business schools.

Loads has modified since then. Governments and other education funders are increasingly demanding that universities prioritize social goals equivalent to those set out within the UN document 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Meanwhile, business schools are combating latest market pressures, including: world rankings that now take social impact under consideration, and students, professors, and accreditation bodies that increasingly value social responsibility.

But what’s “social impact” and may it’s measured? as professor of entrepreneurship and a former business school dean who went through the impact determination process, my interest in these issues will not be just theoretical.

A brand new standard of impact

In 2020, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB, an accrediting body over 600 business schools within the US – made a very important decision: it revised its accreditation standards to include them engagement and social impact.

Social impact, as defined by the AACSB, refers to “how a school makes a positive impact for the betterment of society, consistent with the school’s mission and strategic plan.” Although AACSB-accredited schools are actually required to “demonstrate a positive impact on society,” the organization gives schools considerable discretion in how they work to meet the standards.

While the general response was positive, business schools were searching for additional information to help them discover and measure their social impact. After all, universities profit their communities in some ways. If you want to track the impact of a business school, where should you even start?

Impact assessment tools

In my personal experience, it’s a good idea for a business school to start by reviewing its strategic plan.

That’s why determining impact is a complex process this requires the evaluation of giant amounts of information. Because it could possibly be so vast, it’s mandatory to discover and measure the impact that is best approached in alignment with the organization’s strategic intent.

A college’s strategic plan can function a solid basis for identifying areas of impact that are consistent with the college’s aspirations. It also sends a signal to accreditors and all stakeholders that its areas of influence are close to the core of its business.

The next step for a lot of schools, including my university, is to adopt an impact framework. An impact framework is a tool utilized by organizations to discover initiatives and measure progress toward goals. Research shows that influence frameworks can effectively sustain a corporation locked in a purposeful journeyoffering guardrails to keep people from losing sight of their goals.

One such framework, tailored to the needs of business schools, is obtainable by the European Foundation for Management Development, which is a global accreditation organization based in Brussels. In addition to accreditation activities, the muse offers the so-called The business school influence systemwhich has been initiated in over 90 business schools around the globe.

The business school impact system might be the longest-running system of its type, having launched in 2012. There were no other resources available on the time – unless the college used a consulting firm to conduct an impact evaluation at a high cost. The The structure of the business school influence system analyzes 120 indicators in seven dimensions of impact.

Other organizations equivalent to the UN sponsored Principles of responsible educationprovide further instructions.

What this implies for business schools

Evaluating impact offers many advantages for business schools. For example, it could possibly improve a program’s popularity by attracting potential students, employers, and school. Can also offer compelling evidence for fundraising campaigns and grant applications. Additionally, insights from impact assessments will help inform curriculum development, making programs relevant to contemporary societal challenges.

Finally, social impact assessments can supporting stronger partnerships with community organizations and industryencouraging universities to prioritize real-world learning opportunities for college students and enabling them to make direct contributions to society through collaborative projects and research initiatives.

Business schools have long played a key role in shaping society – this was true in Milton Friedman’s day and continues to be true today. What is latest is that business schools try to measure their impact. I believe it’s a positive change.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Business and Finance

The founder’s closest uncle gives advice to Beyoncé and LeBron

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The Black woman behind the best-selling African-American-founded spirits brand of all time responded with just five words when Beyoncé and LeBron James entered the alcohol industry: “Take all their money.” Fawn Weaver, CEO of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and Grant Sidney, Inc. (GSI), was completely happy to welcome Beyoncé and LeBron James to the Black-owned spirits sector.

On Tuesday, the serial entrepreneur and investor took to Instagram post a video shot at her Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, by which she advises the “King” and “Queen” on their spirits endeavors.

“So many of you have asked me what I think of Beyoncé’s new whiskey collaboration with Moet Hennessy? What do I think of LeBron’s new Cognac partnership with Moet Hennessy? We, all of us in these parts of Tennessee, have nothing but love for our king and our queen,” Weaver said as he accepted the 2 crowns.

“But since you’re all entering this industry, I actually have one piece of advice if you happen to would really like to follow it. Take all their money.

Weaver and her diverse cohorts then hopped on their horses and rode off into the sunset while Warren G’s “Regulate” played within the background. In her caption, she further explained her considering as a partnership between “big spirits conglomerates” and big-name stars to promote latest whiskey and cognac brands that are usually not necessarily wholly Black-owned.

“All love and respect. 🙏🏽 Welcome to two of the largest industries in the world – American whiskey and cognac.” Weaver wrote.

“To my #Village who has expressed concern over the last few weeks about what you perceive as some of the large spiritual conglomerates trying to slow down the growth of @uncleearest: Have no fear, for I certainly have no fear. 🙏🏽 They couldn’t and never will be able to because of YOU.”

Weaver continued. “And soon they will learn what you already know: we don’t play checkers. We don’t play chess. We play Go. Expanding the territory for each future generation.”

The video’s daring and sharp message was appreciated by viewers who liked how Weaver, as a substitute of throwing shade, supported Beyoncé and LeBron James in creating their latest alcohol brands.

“Collaboration over competition. $$$$ is enough for everyone. There is no scarcity mindset here,” wrote one supporter.

“Take everything,” another person added.

The “Love and Whiskey” creator founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2016 after learning a couple of previously unknown master whiskey distiller, Uncle Nearest, a formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel how to make Tennessee whiskey. Since its inception, Uncle Nearest has achieved accolades including the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history, the best-selling African-American-founded spirits brand of all time, and probably the most awarded American whiskey of 2021.

But now Weaver will share her territory while Beyoncé continues to promote her newly launched SirDavis American Whiskey. The whiskey is known as after its great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, a Prohibition-era moonshiner and farmer within the American South. The “Cuff It” singer recently hosted a star-studded launch party in Paris, which she shared on Instagram.

The launch party took place right after Hennessy announcing a limited edition VS and VSOP collection titled “Hennessy Limited Editions by LeBron James”. The limited-edition bottles rejoice LeBron’s influence on and off the court with a creative portrait of the basketball legend in purple and orange. The iconic Hennessy Bras Armé has also been updated with a sleeve featuring LeBron together with his signature crown.

“As a fan of Hennessy and its iconic brand, I have always appreciated its commitment to basketball and the way it celebrates the sport’s impact on and off the court,” LeBron said in a press release.

“I was fortunate enough to visit the Maison in Cognac some time ago and it was amazing to see the care and craftsmanship that went into creating each bottle. This collaboration represents a shared sense of dedication and discovery coming to life for all to enjoy.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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The Victoria Building in Harlem showcases hospitality at its best

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The Victoria Theater Building Showcases Harlem Hospitality At Its Finest


The Victoria Theater, positioned in the center of Harlem’s a hundred and twenty fifth Street, has been transformed right into a multi-use constructing that highlights the elegance of the realm.

One sec branches out into the restaurant sphere, the historic constructing stays a standard space for events. Now Victoria is attempting to take her hospitality to the rooftops.

As the restaurant and hotel established themselves in Harlem, he spoke with Mike Garlick, managing partner of Victoria Hospitality Group BLACK ENTERPRISES about their recipe for achievement and impact on the long run.

About his own knowledge, Garlicka states that implementing an idea starts with strategic decisions.

“I think financial resources are just about making the right choices,” the entrepreneur said. “But before I made the right choices, I made a lot of bad choices, you know. So I had to pay my dues and eventually I found myself in a position where I had some money to invest because I started making more right choices and people like my work ethic and my vision.”

He added: “I’m a little bit different, I’m not your average person with a vision… You always need partners because (from) my point of view in business, I don’t want a partner like me. I would like to have a partner who thinks opposite to me. It is better for the company… And this is my business partnership model.”

Taking part in creating Harlem’s first full-service hotel, housed in the realm’s tallest constructing, Garlick believes it was a mix of labor and fate.

“…I want a partnership that will be able to use my knowledge and vision in the best possible way,” he explained. “So as I used to be constructing the business, I had friends and, you understand, other friends, and we sat down and had a gathering where I met the CEO of Silk Hospitality (owner of The Victoria Group), Andy Lee, who was interested in what I could bring to the table with this project . This project is big, beyond just size, and includes many alternative parts.

Creating an area that respects the history of the encircling area stays an enormous priority, from the design to the events which might be organized there. With jazz nights and rooftop spaces, the atmosphere harks back to Harlem’s past and aesthetic roots.

He added: “The project was intended to meet the needs of black musicians and black artists coming from Harlem. You know, it’s a renaissance. It’s not a play on words either, because it gives you the feeling that there were a lot of bars back then.”

He emphasized that Harlem is its own state that’s “changing” and will need to have infrastructure that can evolve with it.

“So you have to find a medium where you can serve the community in a way that you bring something good to the community, you know, by letting them know it and letting them understand it,” he said.

As they proceed to search out recent ways to attach with their community, Garlick hopes to expand their reach with one other hotel, each promoting Harlem’s famous hospitality.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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