Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Obi.
Anthony, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story starts out in elementary school. Every year when I would go trick or treating, I would pick out my favorite candies and save the rest until about thanksgiving. I then would bring my candy to school, and sell it for .25 cents, because I knew most kids would eat all of their candy and want more. Plus, my mother was very strict in monitoring my candy intake anyway, so I figured I might as well make a profit. Entrepreneurship has always been in me.
Anything I did not use, I would always bring it to school to sell. Water guns, toys, cards, video games, I was all about the cash. I also never spent my money, so I would save all of it and over time. I accumulated, ALOT. I come from a medical family, my mother is a Nurse, my father is a physician and, two of my sisters are physicians as well as two nurses, another is a Social Work professional. Then there is me. I was guided towards medicine but I always loved the business and never knew how I can combine the two until.
My older sister who is an anesthesiologist, approached me about her company she was working on and asked me to join the team. She was working on software that can help increase efficiency in the OR space. It was there and then I figured out an entirely different world of life science entrepreneurship and decided to dive in. It was my first chance to combine my passion for innovation and entrepreneurship and see what I can do. I wore multiple hats from business development to product management, capital raise, etc. I did a little bit of everything. It was through this time with the company that I discovered an entirely different asset class in venture financing. I would meet with angel investors and partners at VC firms whose portfolios were solely focused on investing capital into digital health companies. As I went through that process, I was able to identify that I wanted a career in the venture and that was going to be the next step of my career. I came to that realization for a multitude of reasons.
When we would meet with these VCs, I noticed that there was not anyone across the table that looked like me. I did more research and noticed that there was not much diversity in Venture Capital on the operating side as well as the investing side. Minority founders received these than 2% of invested capital, which was $107.8 Billion. That bothered me and I wanted to be a pillar that changes that. I just thought of the tens of hundreds of thousands of minority founders working on breakthrough technologies but lack access to capital and I want to help bridge that gap, which is a reason why I am heavily involved in the startup community and provide consulting/advising services for companies. This also led to my involvement in Venture Capital, completing fellowships and currently with Digital Dx Ventures. This is where I see an opportunity not only to build but to create a big impact and try to be a contributing member to society.
That passion and wanting to create opportunities for others, led me to becoming the co-founder and CFO of Blacklisted. One of my old classmates from Texas Southern reached out to me about an idea he was working on with his homie from Canada. I was sold and we created a platform for black entrepreneurs and business owners to connect with people who needed their products and services. We are trying to not only revolutionize the way small business owners conduct business, we are trying to create communal and generational impact.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being part of starting two companies, you’re able to identify different pain points across each journey. Entrepreneurship is flashy but it’s not glamorous. It is a lot of work and each phase faces its own beasts and difficulties. The key is being able to identify these issues and resolving them in a timely manner.
Blacklisted – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Blacklisted is a cloud-based application that acts as a directory, marketplace, advertising tool, and educational resource for black entrepreneurs, consumers and professionals alike. Blacklisted was founded in January of 2019. It stemmed from the idea of empowering our community and providing young aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools to re-write their stories and create generational wealth. The concept of Blacklisted was born through the influence of late-rapper Nipsey Hussle and his various campaigns and slogans, i.e., “All Money In”, “Proud 2 Pay,” and “The Marathon.” Nipsey Hussle is a testament to community empowerment and doing for self. The late-rapper instilled a drive and desire to unify the black community and redirect the black spend within the community to create infrastructures that promote financial independence.
We provide consumers and entrepreneurs with black alternatives to satisfy their everyday needs. Our built-in machine learning algorithms allow businesses to utilize different analytical tools that teach consumer behavior. Lastly, we are providing our users with various tools and resources to promote financial literacy, generational wealth and community initiatives. We’ve prioritized education and the betterment of both entrepreneurs and consumers. Rather than focusing solely on revenue generation, we believe in providing our users with tangible tools that allow them to succeed within their field.
We are a blend of dynamic, forward-thinking first-generation Nigerian-Americans, with ambitions of making a positive impact. Our team is composed of Richard Adewale, CEO, Edward Johnson, COO, Anthony Obi, CFO, and Queen Anaeki, CMO. RJ brings an array of experience in marketing and entrepreneurship. His primary focus is to find creative ways to teach black millennials financial literacy and help develop strategies to assist new and existing entrepreneurs in creating generational wealth.
Ed brings several years of commercial development experience with the oil & gas and biotechnology industries. His strategic focus is to implement plans for the operational excellence of systems and processes designed to accommodate the rapid growth objectives of our company. Anthony has many years of entrepreneurship and Venture Capital experience. His primary focus is to apply key business development strategies and leads all financial, risk management, and investment initiatives for the company. Queen began her career studying International Marketing and Advertising at the University of Toulouse in the South of France. She spent many years as a Marketing leader, building her career working with large brands, companies, and executives. Her ongoing quest is to inspire and promote significant change in African and African American communities through creativity, empowered by compassion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blacklistedapp.com/
- Email: anthony@blacklistedapp.
com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonyobijr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blklistedapp
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlklistedApp
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