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A podcast to disrupt common narratives and constructs to empower diverse communities. We provide inspirational content from entrepreneurs and leaders who are disrupting the status quo.
Racism, sexism, and a myriad
of other biases exist.
They exist. They are real.
The people that think
that they don't exist anymore are wrong.
But at the same time, the people that make
that their identity are also wrong.
If you believe
we can change the narrative.
If you believe,
we can change our communities.
If you believe we can change the outcomes
and we can change the world.
I'm Rob Richardson.
Welcome to disruption. Now.
Welcome to disruption now.
I'm your host and moderator,
Rob Richardson.
With me is my brother,
my friend Cyrus Harbin.
You've probably known him.
He's all over the place.
Tech is the new black.
He's really disrupting what it means to be
in tech because tech is the new black.
So I really, I really,
I really like the fact that he is showing
that anything is possible.
All we got to do is change
and disrupt our own mindset.
Cyrus, good to have you on, brother.
Yeah, man, great to be on.
I've been looking forward to this.
Yeah, me too man. And,
that a big fan of yours?
I told I told you offline.
And I want to give you our
give you your praises in public.
Like, I've learned a lot from you,
just about how you do content
creation, and how to go about being more
organized about it.
So, I want to say thank you
because you are one of the best.
And I'm sure, I'm sure
we're going to be doing more together.
Man, I love it.
Yeah. So let's get right.
So let's actually get right to it.
Tech is a new black.
I know you've come from, from a journey
that you weren't in tech.
I think you were in the.
You were in the military,
and you were actually, I think a Lyft
or an Uber driver at one point.
And then you made a transition into tech,
and now you have a whole platform
that is empowering people to be in tech.
if you had to say, like in one sentence
or very short,
what is the purpose of tech
as a new black?
Yeah.
So the purpose of tech is a new black
is to highlight, no matter what industry
you're in, no matter what your background
is, no matter what your goals are,
tech needs to be involved
in some capacity, whether career,
whether business it needs to be involved
or you will be obsolete.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that's something that, you
know, that people really underestimate.
And I think there's there's this
there's just just this stereotype
that it's okay to like,
oh, technical stuff is for somebody else.
That's not for me.
When people tell you that stuff
I've seen you heard a lot.
I could tell you hear it a lot.
Like people say, well,
I leave that to somebody else.
Like, I don't I don't need to understand
that, that, that, that tech stuff.
When people say stuff to you
like that, what's your combat?
I'm, I it's heartbreaking to hear that
because, I mean, what we've seen it
time and time again throughout history.
We've seen people who, oh, the
the car is just a fad, you know, nothing's
going to replace the horse and carriages,
you know, even even the internet itself.
Like what we're on right now.
People thought this was a fad,
and now this internet
thing is just a fad in the 90s.
And of course, when the.com,
bubble happened,
it further
gave that those people ammunition.
And look at where we're at now.
And same thing with social media
and the list goes on and on.
So when I hear people say that now,
immediately I'm able to see that
that as a species, we haven't
fully evolved from that thinking.
That is just
there is some people that have evolved,
that thinking, other people
that will hold onto it, but then others
that will at least be open minded enough
to allow themselves to evolve.
Yeah.
I also think that's it's
a, it's a defense mechanism
to feeling like they're
because they don't understand it.
People just shut down. Right.
So there are
I think there's some of that there.
and I think it's overly like complicated.
It is.
So if,
if someone if you're talking to someone
and they're saying like, look, tech
is too difficult, it's for those really,
really, really smart people that I believe
some of this is tied to self esteem, like,
and things like that.
That's what.
Yeah.
What is their first step
if you had to advise them.
Like what is the first step
to to getting into tech,
what would that look like for
someone who is non-technical?
Well, first we have to look at okay, what
what is the goal?
Most people's, goal is to increase their,
their income, their net worth.
And so if that's your goal, I'm
very blunt, very straightforward.
It's like, okay, look across the different
jobs that you can do in tech.
Because going back to what you're saying
earlier,
sometimes someone would think,
oh, you have to be highly technical.
Well, that's speaking of only
half the roles in the industry.
There are a myriad of roles
in the industry
that don't require
any technical aptitude at all.
Some do require some technical aptitude
and others, of course,
that are very technical.
So if someone's goal, most people's goal
is, hey, okay, this is a job, a career,
a business, whatever it might be.
So at the end of the day,
your ROI is your bottom line.
So if that's the case,
look at the various roles that I would say
pay, whether starting out or even scaling
wise, the most amount of money
you can get, the most bang for your buck
or the most bang for your time.
And once you find those roles, simply put,
just look at a brief description
of each of them.
And I'm of the belief that you don't
necessarily need to love your job,
but as long as you're doing something that
you don't hate, that should be the goal
that yeah, even today,
the thing that we should love is
what is what we can do with that money,
whether it's taking care of our family,
whether it's setting ourselves up
for freedom in the future
so that being said, finding roles
that you can see yourself doing
and then in terms of actually
getting the education
and of course, we're in a different day
and age now.
We don't need to go to college
to get in in the, the tech industry or,
or high level roles
that are adjacent to the tech industry.
I don't have a college degree.
You can get education
either via a bootcamp
or some type of shorter,
much more affordable ed tech program.
so that's the best route to to get in.
I would die on that hill. Yeah.
So what's the most important skill
to have once you enter tech?
What do you think that is.
The most important skill
to have in the industry?
So I was actually say two I'll,
I'll be a little, a little greedy
and that's okay. You could be greedy down
here. Good. Yeah, yeah.
the most important skill first
and foremost is work ethic.
because no matter what you're doing
in the industry, you know,
business owners are not paying you,
a high salary just to be nice.
They're doing it
because they are expecting you
to be a person that is diligent
and that you are a grown adult
and they're not there to hold your hand.
They're expecting you
to do what you need to do.
So first and foremost,
making sure that you are a hard worker.
Whenever I see people that I know
that they're not a hard worker,
I don't encourage them
to get into the industry.
I encourage them to,
as you mentioned earlier,
make sure you have a mindset shift, okay?
You need to shift your mindset,
shift your habits,
really ultimately shift who you are.
So first and foremost, having work ethic.
The second piece to that is having
a student mentality, meaning that you're
a constant learner and this industry
is very similar in a sense to the,
you know, being an attorney
or being a medical doctor.
And what I mean by
that is the image of a good medical doctor
never stopped study because practices,
new procedures, new laws
that change, new medicines that they
constantly, even sometimes have to work,
might have to do about 30 minutes
to an hour of study to kind of stay,
stay on top of these things, right.
You're a lawyer, you get a new case.
The laws are changing.
You have to keep up with the law.
I'm a lawyer for a reforming lawyer.
I said, you know,
it's like doing homework for a living.
Because it's true. Yeah. Okay,
so this is perfect.
So you know, everybody, all y'all need,
y'all can literally see that.
You know what I'm saying
is, you know, truthful
based on his background and experience.
So that being said
this industry is very similar
where you need to have
that study mentality.
So yeah, be a hard worker.
But also understand that in order
to stay on top of this, of this industry
and the trends is that you do need
to make sure you have a student mentality,
both in terms
of being willing to learn from others,
but also making sure that you are a self
learner yourself.
Yeah.
Rodney Williams, who's been on this show,
has been on this podcast
a couple of times.
And as a multi, entrepreneur in tech,
very well known, he's
also coming to Midwest side as well as
Cyrus is coming to Midwest Con as well.
he started a solo funds and before
that he started listener
like using sound to detect data.
but he said this on my podcast,
and I never forgot it.
He said the most important skill
is to learn how to learn.
Right. And and like to really.
And I was like, that's,
that's really that to me was key.
And I was talking to my cousin
who was like my
who was basically like my son,
I'm taking care of him.
And I was I was going through with him
this morning, I was listening,
I was going through an audiobook with him
about financial freedom.
And I was telling him,
do you know what that means?
When I talked about financial literacy?
And he said, I can look it up.
I said, well,
you can't look up how to think.
So you need to understand
and really understand how to think,
because that's going to be the difference.
You already said it right.
As technology evolves, like it's not
going to be enough for you to sit at a job
and just do something
that can be automated, including finance,
including law.
Like you have to be able
to learn how to learn.
Yeah,
that's what it is.
So I would ask
you like to me it's, it's you say
like change that mindset of who you are
and it's changing habits,
which are very hard to do
because we have a lot of bad habits.
And right now I'm talking about black
community in general, like in terms of.
But everybody has some bad habits.
But right now focusing on us.
Yeah.
Like who when it comes to establishing
a good, a good habit over a bad habit,
what do you think
is the most important place
to start in terms
of creating a good habit?
What's the habit that you found
is most successful for you?
Let's go to that direction.
Because I like because like there are
certain habits and routines that help
stabilize or make it one, or help
someone's success.
What has been most impactful for you?
What is that 1 or 2 habits
that's made all the difference?
Yeah, I would say, first and foremost,
the people that you surround yourself
with, I mean, you know,
there are multiple quotes,
whether, you know, proverbs from the Bible
or other, Or Nipsey Hussle.
Nipsey Hussle got one, two.
You know that, right?
Let's see, is.
Here's is this like, if you
and I've got to paraphrase a little bit,
he said, if you hang around,
if you hang around ten broken girls,
you're gonna be the 11th.
Yeah, exactly.
Like that. Yes.
the first thing definitely is
the people that you are around.
And so I even even myself,
when I was a kid living,
living in a ghetto, living in government,
government, assisted, housing.
One of the things that
helped me even early on,
they started dropping the the bread crumbs
that the seeds
that eventually are now sprouting
was that even though I was living
in a certain environment,
I didn't really hang
with the people in that environment.
I actually would oftentimes leave.
I would get, picked up by these
there's church groups that would take me
to a nicer part of town,
and early on, just being around it,
there was a stark contrast
between the way that they spoke, the way
that they treated each other,
the the things that they like
to talk about versus when I would be back,
when I would go back home,
and the things that people
in my neighborhood or even in
my household were talking about,
the way that they thought.
So I would say the first thing
is definitely looking at, okay,
who you are hanging around
and their mindset,
even if they're not financially savvy
at the time.
Again, it's more of it's
more of them having goals
and having aspirations and also the things
that they are spending their time doing.
so first off, I would say people.
The second thing is
what are your actual habits now?
Again, having certain people in your life
will encourage you to work on your habits
because you will see the things
they're working on and naturally,
by default
is going to inspire you to do the same.
So so the next thing is those habits.
What are your actual habits and
looking at okay, what am I actually doing.
You know, so for example, I remember where
I would spend
just ample amount of time on YouTube
and I would just be
watching videos breaking down things
happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
or in the DC or comic books,
things like that.
And I would spend hours doing that.
One of my friends told me,
because I ended up becoming a huge nerd
in about a span of six months, and he was
like, when Sirius, you're such a sponge.
Because, I mean, I realized if you shifted
your time from from learning
all of this comic book stuff,
if you shifted that habit into something
else, you could master any other topic.
And I'm not unique in that aspect.
Most of us that's that's.
That that's the human brain,
like literally.
So there's a book that on this
I think is about the power of habit.
You can't actually get rid of habits.
You can only replace a bad habit
with a good one.
So that, that that backs up
what you're saying.
Yeah, precisely.
And so that point,
one of the books that I started,
I started reading that I was a person
that wasn't reading many books.
So one great habit is to read books
people talk about,
no matter how advanced
we are getting in society and technology
books, education is a key factor
in the most successful.
People aren't successful
just because they read books.
They're successful
because they continue to still read books.
It's the habit of what you do. Yep.
And so so the education piece.
So again, changing those habits, shifting
what it is you're doing,
you know, there's so many people
and talking about us, many,
many people that look like
us, we'll spend so much time
on the Shade Room or so much time
looking at gossip blogs or, or watching
reality TV where it's full of drama
and nothing's wrong with education
and a consistent education.
Entertainment tip.
And balance? Yes. And balance.
But in reality, it's made,
you know, if you shift that now,
now what happens
is that when when people are shifted,
they're thinking, man,
this is boring reading these books.
Yeah, this is boring doing this thing.
But what's actually unique
about about human beings, the way
that we've been designed is that if we do,
if we continue to stay at something
and continue to go the path, eventually
our brains start to get tricked.
Right?
And what's the reason why I can seem to do
this thing that I don't like?
Must be because deep down,
I actually like it.
That's right.
So like, it's it's it's like
it's like working out our our fitness.
That's right.
Most people do not like running.
But if you stay dedicated
to being a runner,
eventually
over time you will get a runner's high.
And that's true.
And the reverse is true too, right?
So if you stay in a mindset
where you don't grow,
you struggle at things,
you don't try anything new.
You assume that I'm not smart, I can't be
technical, I can't do these things.
And so you hack your brain in another way
that most of us don't understand.
Like you said, subconsciously,
because we got the wrong habits
and so really fundamental point.
And I think what you're saying,
I agree is the first, the first step is
who the hell are you around
everyone, right.
Because there's scientific evidence
to back up everything you're saying
when you talk about
who you're around influences who you are.
Like, we got the biblical,
we got the sayings.
But then there's also
then there's also the fact that we have
scientific evidence that shows that
the people you surround yourself with,
even if you try to think differently
from them, your brain
literally rewires itself
to think like the group.
Man. That's true.
That's scientifically true.
It's been proven.
Yeah, yeah.
So you yeah.
So I love that. And I love
the component where we talk about
getting in this industry,
scaling in this industry that I've seen
people get in this industry.
especially we're talking about people
that look like us where they,
they started their habits
to get in the industry,
but then they quickly divert it
back to their old habits.
Their old group of people started
hanging around certain people.
One of the things that I noticed
when I got in the industry and online,
when people started being able
to look at visible things and be like,
hey, it looks like
this guy is making a bunch of money.
I started getting invited
and it's still do to this day.
Get invited to all of the
the mansion parties
and with all of the influencers,
lifestyle influencers
and what I started to notice,
I had to pull back
because a lot of them are great people.
But I realized, okay, you know what?
They make their money different.
They have different life.
Yeah.
And and I'm not going to say whether or
not what they're doing will continue to,
to go up or not.
Nevertheless, I realized, okay,
they don't have certain habits
that allow me to get to where
I'm at, and I'm noticing
that it's starting to rub off on me.
So I had some pull back because I had to
realize, oh, I won't maintain this.
Just because I got this doesn't
mean I'm going to.
Know what got you there
won't get you there. Yep.
Yeah, exactly. Precisely.
And so I think one of the biggest things
within our, our culture,
in our community when it comes to
getting in this industry is understanding
that we are more than intelligent enough,
we are more than capable,
but a lot of it comes back to what
we've associated ourselves
to, that we consider our culture.
And unfortunately we have
we've accepted bad habits,
and we say that that's our culture.
Instead of realizing
that these bad habits are not our culture,
we cannot say that our culture is
necessarily these negative things.
We have to separate these things
from our culture.
I mean, we've seen many of our Latino
brothers and sisters
that have been doing
a really good job of that,
where many of the things that happen
that are seen to happen in the black
community happen in their communities
as well.
Nevertheless,
you see more and more of their community
leaving that behind and saying,
no, no, no, that's not our culture.
Those are things that happen
in some of our communities,
but that is not our culture.
We want to allow ourselves to associate
our culture with those things.
They've been doing a phenomenal job
in terms of making those advancements,
and I am excited to see us
do the exact same thing.
Well,
and I believe
not just being in this industry,
but again,
going back to the things we talk about
when it comes to mindset,
when it comes to hanging around
different people,
those are the stepping stones
for us to get there.
Absolutely, absolutely.
So, I'm curious to,
what you think about some future trends
coming up in future disruptions
or really current disruptions.
And of course, I'm talking about I like,
what do you see,
let's say in 2040, what do you see
as the best case scenario when it comes to
AI in the black community?
And what is the worst case scenario?
So best case scenario,
I don't believe there's ever been
a better time
for for our community to be able to.
I don't even want to use the term
generational well,
because I think that's that's
such an overused cliche, cliche term.
I don't believe there's ever been
a time, a better time for us
to truly be able to advance.
And like, I look over at the
the Indian community and,
you know, Japanese Americans,
Indian Americans, Nigerian Americans
and how they have advanced
to, you know, they've advanced to where
now they're out
earning the average white American. Yep.
a huge part of that reason.
The majority of the reason
is because the two industries
they all pursue
is the medical field and the tech field.
And so within that, the same way
they've been able to advance and grow
and level up, with within this nation,
we have that same opportunity,
but even more now with AI,
because there are very few
AI experts in AI in and of itself,
in terms of the advancements
of what's happening with generative AI.
You know, we can list
a bunch of companies, a bunch of different
companies, but nevertheless, it's
something that is not just new in a sense,
but also it's still changing
and evolving so quickly that even
the experts are not experts in a sense,
let's say on top of the changes.
So now what does this mean for us?
This means we we have an opportunity to
become the experts with within two years.
Everyone watching
this can be an expert in the space.
And of course, being an expert
in this space isn't just a cute thing.
There is a monetary,
a monetary benefit attached to that.
Absolutely.
It is a, a success in a variety of ways
that are attached to that.
So whether we're talking someone
getting a career, whether leveraging
AI, prompting AI, using AI, even
within their role in becoming a thought
leader in their respective,
field of work, that's one one set.
But then we can go on the other end
and talk about equity,
where now we have different,
startups and, and tech companies
that where their foundation is AI.
They might even consider themselves in AI,
company or startup.
Where now you getting at a company
that has a promising future?
Of course,
there's no guarantee that a company
is going to be an Nvidia,
but nevertheless, it's unlikely.
But that's not the goal. That's fine.
That's a that's an aspiration.
But the goal is freedom and options.
And you don't need to
you don't need to be a billionaire
to have freedom in options.
Exactly, precisely.
And so so not only do we have the
the opportunity in terms of career wise,
but also in terms of equity within,
within, these, these promising companies,
where of course, when the company goes
public or whatever, just the overall
returns are that how much of a blessing
that can be sent to us and our families.
But then we have the other layer,
we have the layer of
we can become founders of our own
AI startups.
Now, I'm not going to recommend
someone who doesn't have any experience
in the tech industry
to try to do that next week.
Nevertheless, again,
we have a positioning to where
whether you're getting in this industry
or you are just getting the education
that's within this industry,
we have a
foreseeable future that if we
if we take advantage of this opportunity,
that's within front of us, the year 2040,
we can be in the top three earners
in the United States of America,
completely transforming our lives
and ultimately benefiting
the entire nation because, as you know,
a rising tide raises assets as we grow.
It benefits the entire nation.
So that's the best case scenario? Yes.
Then I'm excited about worst case scenario
is that we're in in a ten times
worse position than we're in now,
because when we look at many of the lower,
not just lower pain paying jobs,
but also jobs where
it's it's not favorable
jobs, we'll say like.
but but even the
if I can I know what you mean.
You're talking about working class
repetitive jobs.
That's true.
I would also say, though,
there's a lot of jobs that traditionally
were considered that we consider safe.
That will also be a challenge to.
So just because you're like it,
you're going to be an average accountant.
It's probably
gonna be rough for you because I can
I can use data and just say and do that.
Right.
If you're an average accountant now,
if you're a good accountant
or you're a good lawyer, you're good,
but no one's going to hire you as a lawyer
to figure out how to do a basic filing.
Like, why?
Like, yeah.
Like I can literally look at GPT, ask
some questions, Google,
do a little bit of work and save $10,000
like no one is paying you $10,000 to file
to file their paperwork to be a company.
At least I hope they don't.
I don't think that's going to happen
anymore.
Right.
So it's got to be you got I think
everybody got to level their game up.
This is definitely a different world.
That's what I think.
You know I agree 1%.
so the worst case scenario
though because that that accountant
that account that they will be replaced
at some point.
They have best case and worst case
scenario to where that slowly
and learn a lot of this technology,
these tools to where now
instead of them being replaced now
they are it's it's kind of Willy Wonka.
Think of what happened in where
not not the one controlling the chocolate
factory was the second one was, it was,
Johnny, Johnny Depp was playing
Willy Wonka.
There was something that happened
in the movie with, which Charlie's
grandfather, uncle, where he lost his job.
He lost his job to a robot.
Oh. Like they had some automation that
replaced his job at the end of the movie.
You know, they had to wrap everything up
with a with a nice bow and make it cute
at the end of the movie, his his happy
ending, his uncle or grandfather's
happy ending was that, hey,
he actually got a better job.
His new job is he's fixing the robot
that replaced him whenever it breaks down.
So I'm I'm getting paid more.
That's where we are at right now.
We are either have the opportunity
to be the person where, okay,
we are implementing the technology,
we're investing in the technology,
or we're creating the technology
or we will be replaced by it.
And even when we talk
about our communities
that are that are in poverty,
that are living in the great
many of them, going back to the whole head
in the sand type of thing,
they are seeing these things on
social media and they're just like, again,
they're just thinking it's a fad.
They're thinking, okay,
we don't have to worry about it.
We have to think about it.
This is going to go away.
Worst case scenario,
many of us, I'm sure many people that are
that are in watching this are familiar
with the term universal basic income.
This is not a theoretical thing,
this sustainable wealth, government,
as well as some of the top tech
leaders, industry leaders, billionaires
are all discussing because they know
that this is a guaranteed future
where essentially on on average,
the way that I look at it
is that it reminds me of when I was a kid
and I was living in government assisted,
housing and neighborhoods
essentially went to basic level.
That's what
we would be looking looking at,
where now we're not talking about 10%
or 20%.
We're talking about 50, 60% of Americans
living that way, where we talk about,
you know, the, the,
the middle class being destroyed,
it really will destroy the middle class
where you are either
rich, super rich, or you are in poverty
or living on universal basic income.
So worst case scenario that I see for us
is that we lose any opportunity to invest
in this, technology in these companies.
We lose opportunity
to even work in this industry.
We lose any type of of network,
connections,
resources to even be able
to create our own AI startups.
Or it might be something else
that's going on a robotics startup,
whatever that might be.
So again, we are in the best,
best time right now because.
We are at the best time.
I would say,
because
because I ask politicians this question
too, in terms of what's your best case?
What's your worst case scenario?
Because, the problem I have is a lot of
our political leaders have no clue.
Zero clue, like they have zero knowledge,
like they're at like minus ten.
And it's a problem because, you know,
AI is not new, algorithms are not new.
And and part of what's happening
and what has happened is that, you know,
they're being used to divide
and manipulate.
and right now
it is the greatest opportunity I agree,
but it won't stay that way.
And I'm gonna give one quick example
as we go,
as we get ready to go towards wrapping up,
when Facebook first started.
So we've been to,
multiple levels of the internet.
So just give me one second because people
need to understand this, right?
First we went through the basic
where was just a basic interactive.
We couldn't do much except for C,
the website have something on there.
Then we went to this read and write back
and forth the centralized mostly the phase
we're in right now where it's
where it's like, you know,
you get a chance to do social media.
Facebook was created, Airbnb.
These folks created a lot of data,
which is all been used to train
artificial intelligence. Okay.
And now we have a new opportunity
to build new apps
within these artificial intelligence,
old models.
Right.
And OpenAI and others,
when Facebook first started out.
Cyrus, you may or may not know this, that
a lot of businesses became
like millionaires quickly by building
quick APIs into Facebook,
into these other platforms.
And they made a lot of money.
But Facebook shut that off
and then you don't
you can't do a lot of that stuff now.
and they took out all their data
and then they and they ended up
finding ways
to keep that data to monetize further.
Everyone went to just saying,
oh, let me put everything on Facebook
and that let me understand
and keep these personal connections.
So I want everybody listen to me.
Artificial intelligence is neither
artificial nor intelligent, right?
It can never be authentic.
And so we got to learn the technology and
use it to help leverage what we're doing.
That's all I got to say.
So you you dropped so much heat
right there,
so much heat and
and I think to that point,
that's one of the things
that our community really needs to know
that even when I'm so have
you said that because even those of us
that are like, okay, let me go ahead
and and start using this technology,
let me start learning about it.
It is so important that we understand
how to make sure that we are keeping data
and keeping in track, and things.
That we own our own data.
Yeah, we build on
private, private source and open sources
to not just the things that are nothing.
Listen to me, none of this stuff is free.
The reason why I ChatGPT is free
is because you're the product. Yes.
Just just just at least understand
that doesn't mean don't use it.
That means understand it and understand
how to make sure you're
keeping what you're building.
Yeah.
Because that's like, so,
so last couple of minutes
kind of ask them, so kind of
little wrap up questions here.
So what's important
what's an important truth.
You might have that
few people agree with you on.
Oh, that's a good question.
An important truth that I have.
A few people agree with me on.
man, this this I, this this is my truth.
I'm going to stick in it.
Racism, sexism,
and a myriad of other biases exist.
They exist. They are real.
The people that think
that they don't exist anymore are wrong.
But at the same time, the people that make
that their identity are also wrong.
Oh, the people who believe that
we're ever going to reach a point in life
where racism, sexism, any of these biases
are going to be eliminated.
Your delusion?
Oh, that's something. I truly stand it.
The best thing is not to focus
on the problem,
but to focus on, focus on your goals.
Focus on everything that you're pursuing.
Because the same way, the same area,
the same hoods and places that I grew up
in, that I lived at the same people
that I was around where they held
on to this thing of all the white men,
it's going to is holding us back.
It's going to keep us down.
Yes, there is racism in across
government, across corporate, all of that.
But if you believe that there is a
a group of people that are hellbent
and focused on keeping you back,
whether you believe it or you don't
believe it, at the end of the day,
the results of your life are completely
up to you and what you choose to do,
so you can continue to focus
on these negative things.
You go ahead.
Yeah. You continue
to focus on these negative things.
Or you can say, the hell with it.
Whatever's going
on, I'm still going to succeed.
And I promise you,
if you're the person who says, the hell
with that, I'm still going to succeed,
you will succeed.
Yeah. That's good. All right.
final thing, why are you excited
to be at Midwest Cotton?
This year?
I mean, I mean, there's not,
like, one reason.
There's a few reasons.
I'll lay out just a few reasons.
first and foremost is because there are
a lot of great conferences, events
and things that are happening.
But specifically when it comes to the,
the group of people that that you're
putting together, whether we're talking
not just people that are technology,
it's not just founders, but also people
that are, our politicians
are in the government side of things.
It honestly is the perfect,
the perfect marriage,
if I would say it that way,
in terms of networking, where oftentimes
if you're at a tech event
and it's just techies,
it's kind of like you're
in a bit of a bubble,
or if you're at a political event
like you mentioned earlier,
most politicians are not aware
of like technology in a, in a real sense,
in a real, tangible sense.
And so what I'm excited about
when it comes to Midwest
Con is that it's
putting all of the people in the room.
So that way now we're having conversations
across the table,
and now we're having real networking,
not networking.
That's that's just, you know,
that's just kind of like the up and down.
But in terms of also us being able
to grow across different
industries and different fields, different
connections, different relationships.
So that's the thing I'm excited about
because it me person, I'm
talking about me.
I've gotten very used to going
to just tech events, right where it's
just techies.
And at this point I'm like,
I'm kind of like, all right, what's
what's really the purpose of this versus
what it has me excited about?
Midwest con is to meet people
in different industries,
different spaces, different professions,
different connections.
Where now I know, okay, I'm going to have
real opportunity, real growth
being there.
So that's my
my thing that I'm most excited about.
Well, we're looking forward to see you.
It's Midwest.
Can't live if anybody on this broadcast
wants to check it out September
4th through the six.
I promise you we're going to have,
if you want to learn and be train
more, and I we have something for you.
If you want to learn about policy,
we have some for you.
If you want to see people
that are disrupting technology
for social impact,
we have something for you.
But we're always about disruptors
like Cyrus.
And I look forward to being on tech
as a new black as well.
it's good to have you on disruption.
Now, if you're listening to us on YouTube,
please subscribe.
we appreciate it.
If you're listening to us on a
on a podcast, please also subscribe.
Give us a review.
That's how people can learn more
about the disruption that we're creating.
And Cyrus is always mad.
I appreciate what you do and look forward
to working with you more, bro.
Good stuff.
Thank you so much, Rob.
Thank you. Appreciate you man. Our.
I. I, I,