Growth comes from taking risks.
I remember telling a good friend of mine last year that “Every risk I’ve taken in my career thus far, has resulted in a win one way or another.” When I said that I immediately realized that, every loss is a lesson and every win is a blessing. So by taking a risk you will always be in a win-win situation – You’ll either learn something (win), or earn something (win).
One thing I noticed about myself is that I stray away from convenience and stability and lean into areas that push my curiosity, challenge my perspectives, and grant me the space to create something from nothing.
With this risky (or what I like to call, faith-driven) mentality I have been able to launch an award-winning startup, build a marketing agency from scratch, design new programs for first-time entrepreneurs which has now led me to venture into one the most riskiest industries there is… venture capital.
The South Got Somethin’ to Say
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining Outlander Labs, a new venture capital firm based in Atlanta, GA investing in founders in the Southeast with “outlandish” ideas, as a Partner.
Led by notable investor Paige Craig, I’m happy to be joining a diverse and talented group of individuals looking to shed more light on the amazing startups here in the South.
I’m looking forward to continuing my mission of opening doors of opportunity for the overlooked and underrepresented as our first fund of $10M will be centered around writing checks between $50K – $250K to startups led by black founders, women, and people of color.
Do It For The Culture
Over the past four years, I’ve dedicated my career to bringing more diversity, inclusion, and equity to the tech space by developing and participating in educational programs for underrepresented startup founders including Square One Startup School, It Takes A Village, and TechStars – Social Impact.
But now as an investor, I’m happy to be bringing one key element that the Atlanta startup ecosystem has been missing as whole for a long time which is access to more venture capital.
At Outlander we are creating a new model where startups don’t have to leave the southeast to get the proper funding needed to scale up big.
What’s Next?
While I’ll be full-time at Outlander looking for the next unicorn, my company Surthrive will transition from an agency into a consultancy taken on a limited number of clients per quarter and I’ll be hiring a Program Manager to lead operations to continue the Square One Startup School Program.
If you are a startup founder who has raised less than $2M, working on a BIG idea, and are based in the southeast please shoot me your pitch deck (preferably with a pitch video 😉 ) to justin@outlanderlabs.com or feel free to apply HERE.
