Monthly Archives: June 2022

Feature 2021

44. How To Know When To Pivot with Donald Boone

Personal Finance, , , , , , , , ,

You’ll often hear about companies and their founders who made the decision to pivot from their initial big idea that wasn’t quite working right, to something else that ended up being the best thing that ever happened to them. Take Facebook for instance, which got its start as a silly website used by college kids to rate the attractiveness of their classmates, to now being one of the most important information and communications platforms around the globe. 

This example obviously serves as an extreme case where that seemingly small decision to pivot made a world of difference. But one of the best skills a person can have, both in life and in business, is knowing when it’s the right time to pivot, persist, or pull the plug. And while it may feel in the moment like calling it quits is your only option, in many cases, it may not even be your best option. It may just be time to pivot your business (or your career), rather than persist blindly in the face of opposition.

In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Donald Boone, Founder and CEO of BoxedUp, a startup that allows creators to rent high-end cameras and production gear from trusted equipment owners across the country. Donald shares his journey from working on a previous idea and deciding to shut the company down, to working on BoxedUp as a side project while also working full-time as an engineer at Amazon, to making a big career pivot to pursue entrepreneurship full time.

Donald discusses: 

  • The challenges of being a solo founder when looking to raise capital from investors
  • What factors led up to him ultimately deciding to leave the safety and security of working at Amazon and give entrepreneurship another go
  • How his previous experiences as a founder helped give him the confidence and optimism to persevere through the pandemic
  • His process for determining when to persevere, give up, or pivot
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect With Donald Boone:

Connect With Malcolm Ethridge:

About Our Guest:

Donald Boone is the CEO and Founder of BoxedUp Inc., a startup that allows creators to rent high-end cameras and production equipment from trusted owners across the country. He is a father of three and a husband, and has been an entrepreneur for most of his adult life. From 2015 to 2017, before founding BoxedUp, he founded the startup Oleo LLC. Oleo was a mobile app for restaurants and their patrons featuring 40 restaurant locations in Houston, Texas and Washington, DC. Donald graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.



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Feature 2021

43. Keeping Younger Investors Engaged with Seth Wunder

Personal Finance, , , , , , ,

Following the bursting of the dot com bubble in 2000 that stretched all the way into 2002, the American public developed this feeling that the stock market was rigged against them. And considering how many company insiders and those in the know on Wall Street were revealed to have been selling at a time when they were still encouraging retail investors to keep buying, I’d say that sentiment certainly had some merit. 

But what also followed that seminal moment in investing history was nearly two decades of inactivity, indifference, and outright hatred of the stock market, mostly by a generation of younger investors, who at the time were in their 20’s and early 30’s, and in some cases, never returned to the markets in a meaningful way.

On this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Seth Wunder, Chief Investment Officer at Acorns, to discuss ways to keep younger investors engaged and interested in the stock market. Malcolm and Seth also share anecdotes from their own respective investing journeys, as well as some advice for parents wondering how and when to introduce investing to their children.

Seth discusses: 

  • Why prioritizing financial education helps make wealth building tools more accessible to everyone
  • When to start talking to your children about investing
  • Why the lows in trading after the pandemic highs shouldn’t deter you from long-term investing
  • What types of investments young investors want to avoid and why they’re interested in Environmental Social Governance
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect With Seth Wunder:

Connect With Malcolm Ethridge:

About Our Guest:

Seth Wunder is the Chief Investment Officer of Acorns, the app designed specifically for novice investors. Before joining Acorns, Seth founded and served as a Portfolio Manager for multiple different asset managers in Los Angeles and New York. He is also a chartered financial analyst and spent the beginning of his career focused on the technology sector at Morgan Stanley as an Equity Analyst.



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Feature 2021

42. How To Negotiate For Better Compensation with Kwame Christian

Personal Finance, , , , , , , , , ,

In the past couple of years, much has been made of the so-called Great Resignation, and workers of all ages, demographics, and geography leaving their company for greener pastures, in the form of a substantial raise, signing bonus, and maybe even a better equity package. 

But with all of the noise that has been made about the end result – the new job with the better pay and perks – not a lot has been said about exactly how to go about making your demands. And for those who have no intentions to find a new team but feel that they are certainly being underpaid compared to peers at the same company, it could still be a good time to be talking to a manager about getting to parity.

In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Kwame Christian, the CEO and Founder of the American Negotiation Institute, to discuss best practices for negotiating your compensation with your employer. Malcolm and Kwame both share some of their own tips, as well as their favorite books and other resources on negotiation in general.

Kwame discusses: 

  • The golden rule for negotiating with an employer
  • Some of the most common fears people have about asking for what they want in a negotiation
  • Why fear over-complicates negotiations
  • How the American Negotiation Institute simplifies the negotiation process
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect With Kwame:

Connect With Malcolm Ethridge:

About Our Guest:

Kwame Christian is the Founder, CEO and Managing Director of The American Negotiation Institute, and is the host of the Negotiate Anything podcast. He is a lawyer, professor and best-selling author of Finding Confidence in Conflict, inspired by his TED Talk with the same name that has over 250,000 views. His best-selling book has helped numerous individuals overcome their fear, anxiety and emotions associated with difficult conversations using the Compassionate Curiosity™ Framework. Kwame has trained individuals worldwide and is a highly sought after keynote speaker.

Earlier in 2020, Kwame was the recipient of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs Young Alumni Achievement Award and in 2021, the Moritz College of Law Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award. Graduating from the Ohio State University, he is the only person to win alumni awards in consecutive years from the law school and the masters of public affairs program. Kwame is a business lawyer at Carlile, Patchen & Murphy LLP, and serves as a professor for the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law in its top-ranked dispute resolution program and Otterbein University’s MBA program. He is a contributor for Forbes and his LinkedIn learning course, How to Be Both Likable and Assertive, was the most popular course on the platform in July 2021.



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Feature 2021

41. African-Americans’ Contribution to the Modern Internet (Part 2) with Albert White

Personal Finance, , , , , ,

***We’re bringing you part two of Malcolm’s conversation with Mr. Albert E. White about African-Americans’ lesser known contributions to the modern internet. ***

Through the years, a small handful of individuals have all taken credit for bringing us what we know as the modern internet. However, it is possible for more than one of those stories to be accurate, as the modern internet is the combination of several simultaneous discoveries made by a few pioneers, alliterating on the same idea of a more connected world. 

In fact, it is impossible to crown one singular person or entity with the discovery, as the internet was the work of dozens of pioneering scientists, programmers, and engineers who each developed new features and technologies that eventually merged to become the internet we know today. But with all of the credit and acclaim that has been paid to names like Licklider, Vinton Cerf, Bob Kahn, and Al Gore, little is known about the small group of African American businessmen who made a sizable contribution to bringing the internet to the masses. 

In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined by Albert E. White, author of the new book, “Race For The Net,” which chronicles the events and experiences of his former organization, Network Solutions Inc., and the two years in the 90s where they controlled access to the internet. Malcolm and Albert dive into the history of technology and talk about some of the lesser-known African American pioneers who made contributions to the modern internet.

Albert discusses:

  • The contributions of African Americans  to the modern internet
  • Highlights from his book, “Race For The Net”
  • How his former organization convinced individuals and small businesses that the internet was something to be taken seriously
  • The reasons his former organization made the pivotal decision to sell Network Solutions Inc
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect With Albert White:

Connect With Malcolm Ethridge:

About Our Guest:

Albert E. White has been an advisor to some of the most successful CEOs in the country with over 30 years of business and finance experience. He has a broad area of expertise in technology, healthcare, energy, disaster services, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. He is a known visionary in identifying market niches. Mr. White has been the CEO of two energy companies and has been successful in growing businesses in both domestic and international markets.

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