Welcome back to all the smoke.
We're here at the Beautiful Win Hotel, at the Excess Nightclub. Man, we got a really good guest. I've been chasing this guy down for a long time, but it's rare in this business, in this game to meet real, genuine good people. And this dude that we have here today is at the head of the class when it comes to that. Welcome to the show, Rich Climbens.
My man.
I appreciate you, Bro, appreciate you. Thank you for coming.
Co founder of Boardroom, thirty five ventures, serial entrepreneur, just a really head smart business monster. We gotta do something together, Bro, sure, something something. How's life right now? Obviously out here for some of league, you guys are doing boardroom stuff. You guys have a party tonight. Yeah, what's going on?
Life is good, man.
I'm enjoying what I do, which I think is like the biggest blessing for all of us. I got an event out here tonight celebrating.
The WNBA Boardroom.
Coinbase hosting it with Jewel Lloyd, Sabrina and Escu and Sue Byrd And you know, for me, it's just about extending the brand. Kevin and I started together and helping formulate what his business was going to be and starting to set the foundation for the rest of his life. And that meant building him a family office, and that's what thirty five Ventures was.
But as we were building.
It, there was this void for a storytelling vehicle to tell the world what we were doing, but also something that embodied the two of us in our partnership and the uniqueness of it.
And that's kind of what Boardroom was from the beginning.
Absolutely, we're going to get to Boardroom in a little bit. Thoughts on the New Look Suns. You were able to acquire Bradley Beal, him Katie book building a supporting cast still, but you know, what are the.
What's the vib over there? What's look alike?
Yeah?
I mean, well I didn't acquire Bradley Beal, but.
KD did, so you're a part of KD.
But I'm happy for him, man.
I mean, I think that's been our journey the last ten years is you know, I haven't repped other players, so our business, in our life and everything was very much a mess with one another.
And the one thing that I.
Always clearly defer to was his vision with basketball and the same thing happened in the Hamptons when we were sitting there choosing the team to leave Thunder to go play for the Warriors, and as he looked at New York and looked at other options. It's always been about, like me, understanding his point of view and supporting it and then going and helping him execute it. And he's happy. And if he's happy, you know, it's infectious. When he's happy,
everyone in our organization's happy. And I just, you know, you guys, I'm sure feel the same way. I just want Kevin to win. I want him to be successful, and I think he's in a really good place right now.
Love it.
When did the wheels start to turn when you started thirty five inchant? And what was the goals for Katie early on? Two questions.
I guess, well, the wheels for me probably started turning from the time I was like a kid in New York. I've been obsessed with sports culture, hip hop culture. I grew up in New York in the eighties and nineties, so I watched it explode and I was a fan.
I observed it, and you know, I took many steps to get there, but by the time I was able to meet Kevin, and I was at a point in my career at Rock Nation where I had such great information from watching Jay, from watching the way they built their business, and even from before I got to Jay being an entrepreneur at nineteen twenty twenty two.
Just hustling all of those experiences put me in.
A position where, in my opinion, I became the perfect partner for Kevin. And what that meant was he was at a place in his career where he was like, I want to do less and.
I want to accomplish more.
I have commercials on where I'm twelve feet tall, and that's not who I am, you know what I'm saying. And I think a lot of young athletes find themselves sometimes in the beginning of their career doing things that just part of the system.
But Kevin all of a sudden looked at me and was like, what more can we do?
And I came from hip hop, where like you're always making something out of nothing. You know, if you're an artist building your brand, you're doing it from day one with no fans. You have to put out a mixtape, you have to get your neighborhood behind you. So I understood how to like turn down money to make money later on, or to build community and fan base and build brand and it'll ultimately come with money down the road. And Kevin was down with that because he wanted to build.
And he marveled at the jay Z's of the world and the Doctor Dres as well, that imprint that you know, hip hop informed.
Then obviously Lebron.
Had started to put like the most like meticulous set up in front of him and all that was really inspiring for us.
How did you and Kevin meet?
Because obviously being professional athletes, there are always a bunch of people in the business world, but it's hard to kind of find the right fit. And once you guys locked in, you guys have been hand in hand ever since.
So how did that relationship start?
I met him?
Crazy story was I met I was managing LA I used to be a music manager, wile Meek Mills, Solange, no Id.
I had a handful of artist at the.
Time and wile A's from DC, Maryland, Virginia area, same as KD and jay Z had a show at the Garden. He was like, Katie's in town and wants to go to the j show. You should meet up with him. I'm a hoop fan, so even though Katie's ten years younger than me, like this is the Rookie of the Year. He was in town to get the Rookie of the Year trophy. So I met him, took him to the show.
And I've said this before, but one of the things I marveled at, and I'm sure you guys can relate this knowing KD the way you do is I think Jay or his manager, had said, Yo, bring Ka back to the dressing room after the show, and he was like, I'm yo, I'm not even ready to meet Jay yet, Like I have more to do, and like what eighteen year old will even have that thought process, right, He was just like it's not time.
And we stayed in touch, like.
We talked ball and again, like looking back on it, obviously that's what Kevin loves to do, so me having that outlet to just build a relationship with him talking basketball.
By the time it came to us at Rock Nation looking to get in the sports world and Kevin at a point in his career where he was looking at something different, it was timing and I think every great partnership and I've really explored this, like I've talked to Jimmy and Dre about this and really tried to dissect, like what makes a partnership works, Like why are the two of you so perfect together?
Right?
It's like something that you have that you don't have as well. Jack makes up for you know what I'm saying, And there's something that balances KD and I out that allows us to succeed on this level. And then rooted is just just like inherent trust that we have one another.
That's the most important.
Describe the journey for you guys, Like you said, you've been there since the beginning. There's been a lot of ups, there's been downs, there's been media situations, there's been championships. How do you, guys, or how do you kind of keep it even keeled? And how much does he lean on you when things are going whether good or bad.
Yeah, I mean I think we lean on each other.
But at the same time, we also have such great perspective. No matter how crazy certain things have appeared or the narrative has appeared throughout the last decade, the joke was always we were at home kind of laughing at it, even when it was like, shit, I wish this didn't happen right, or I didn't know what was going to happen like this. It was still with a little bit of an understanding of how blessed he was to be in the situation.
And Kevin really does have that mindset.
And there were times where like it was insane, especially as social media was growing and it was new, it was almost new to.
See some of these reactions.
And I think we've talked about this, like even after he left Oklahoma to the Bay, I mean, I think we all knew that there would be.
Pushback.
We all knew that the fans would be emotional. But I think that was like an inflection point in sports media as well where it went like really dark, it went really visceral, where like after that happened, people were like coming for his head and he could have reacted like with his fist up, or he could have reacted like I just gonna go hoop, right, and he just
was like, let me just go hoop. And I know, if I continue to put the work in, these things will be distracted, won't be a distraction, and we'll keep it moving. And that's kind of how we've approached all of it.
That's the great escape for him that two and a half hours to get out and be one of the greatest to ever do it is always a great escape. The Hampton Five we had a chance to talk to Draymond, Steph and Clay how that went down.
What is your version of it?
Well, first of all, looking back on it, it was like such a spectacle, like it was so over the top to have like a house in East Hampton and having like pat Riley and Greg Popovich and Steph and Tom Brady flying in.
But then the flip side is it's like makes for.
An incredible moment and an incredible story in our careers. The backstory though, is I was going through some shit in my own family life and to show you how selfless Kevin is, this was his moment and I was like, bro, I have to be in New York, Like, I have to be close to New York. Some shit's going on with my family. And he was like, well, then we're
doing it near your family, And that was it. I knew I went out to find the best scenario for getting him some kind of peace of mind, but also so he understood that if I wasn't close enough and had that balance to take care of what I needed to that I wouldn't have been locked in. And it really was like ten hours a day at the house in the Hampton's going through these just like insane meetings for like a young hoop fan growing up to be
sitting across from pat Riley was wild. But then going home and dealing with something And that's who Katie is, you know what I'm saying. That's the side of him he won't talk about, or the side of him that he doesn't have to talk about. But you know that moment right then, when he had every right to make it all about himself, he was just like, yo, bro, where you need to do this?
Yeah?
Right, give us some shit.
Was there anyone else he really considered when he was leaving Okce? Was it Golden State the whole time? You mean you mentioned pat Ryley, that's obviously the heat. Any teams that he really gave a Hey, this can possibly work as well.
Well, I'll give you a funny story that I actually just talked about with Tom Brady at Ruben's party, just like a super flex, right, But I remember when the Celtics came, like so the Warriors came with Steph Draymond Andre, Bob,
Joe Laka. I mean, they brought everybody, and then the Celtics came and had a younger team at the time, so it was the Celtics ownership and Danny Ainge and then like Jay Crowder and I think Kelly Olennok was there, so I mean, you know what I'm saying, Like already it was like, Okay, the Celtics is a different cell, right, but here came Tom Brady, so it was like, all shit, they're really trying to level the playing field.
So they went to take a walk together.
I think Brady and yeah, and then later on Katie was like, yeah, yo. So he told me I should bottom line, look for the best team, best organization, best chance to win, no matter what. And I was like, paused for a second. He's like, I think Brady told me to go to the Warriors. So like that whole
trip was about understanding what was out there. It was an incredible experience to listen to these guys speak and honestly like they were there for Kevin, but for me, I was like, damn, this guy's given me the seat.
You know what I'm saying. This was like a wind at my sale.
I was like, Wow, Like I'm gonna talk to pat Riley the way I envisioned talking to pat Riley when I was a kid. This is incredible, And I felt like we all stepped up, and I think Kevin ultimately like truly listened to everybody. He was open minded. It was so painful for him to leave Oklahoma City, so painful. We documented the whole thing, not that I'd let it out, but like there's moments where you could see this was not some easy thing for KD, Like, Yo, where's the
seventy three win team? Like this shit was about him really going inside his mind and he relies on the game, and he made the decision based on basketball and it all happened there and there was never really anyone else because once he went through all of that, it was clear.
Clear talk about your upbringing growing up in a big Apple.
Grew up in New York back in the eighties and nineties. There was like a middle class in New York. So I really had an understanding of like all walks of life, and I really prided myself on that. And the one thing that I took advantage of was a network. Always didn't do well in school, wasn't focused ever. Family life complete chaos, and the way I was able to fill that void was having as many people around me as possible.
And it didn't matter. It wasn't about the most popular dude in the park or the prettiest group of girls. It was just I want to have as many people in support around me, because I knew that if I didn't have a real currency in education, I didn't have anyone that was going to direct me somewhere, that at the very least this group of people around me we would all support each other. And I always felt that way, and as I got older in New York, at different points in my life, I.
Was always able to pull from that.
So even if it was like going up to Riverside Church, where I had no business playing as a kid, but I was like, but kareem reads up there, the young hoopers are up there.
I have to be up there. I have to just be around and watch.
And even if no one even knew I was in the gym, I was just watching and observing it all, and I got to know so many people that you know, by the time I started my journey. It was unconventional, but I had like an army of people that I felt would be there in my corner. And it wasn't like famous people. It was just people that would ride for me, just a s of support.
Yeah. Back to I tell people all the time, the Church is the best AAU team of all time. You have run Test, you have Eric Barkley, you have Lamar Oldham, you have Reggie Jesse, you have Elton Brand, you have Speedy Clax and Kevin Marris. This is the Church. This is all on one team in want Something.
And Kevin Marris he was not No, this is.
All on one team in one summer though. Bro, they were scared.
FORTI yes, you're in our age.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's why I did point gods though, because those were my idols, Like I idolized all those guys growing.
Yeah, oh my guys, so we all know you was boring hustler, I mean selling all kind of stuff from wrestling figures? Was that just natural?
I heard, like I heard people fight about money all the time, like people fought about money. So it made me realize that like shit, if you don't have it, or if someone doesn't have it, or if like they're always fighting about money, if this is all my parents is talking about. Then it just like clicked in me that I had to figure that.
Out in some way.
And then on top of it, there was like three people I idolized, basketball players, anyone from the world of hip hop, and anyone that had a business anyone. So the guy with the hot dogs saying, the bodega guy, I just thought it was incredible that they got up every day take out that not like the hot dogs saying not used to get out. My mind was blown. I'd be like, he worked here all day and it was just singles. But that feeling of like fulfillment. I saw that and I didn't get it in school. I
didn't really feel it anywhere else. So I saw these people and I'm like, damn, these people get up every day.
And the energy in New York, right, you grow up in New York City.
If you go by like the business district or where people are going to work, you you see like hundreds of people piling off.
The train, and that just felt like the action to me.
So as soon as I thought of a way to make money, if I was like, oh, someone just got me these new wrestling figures, those joints that everyone had with the dumb I'm like, everyone in my school wants them. So my thought instantly was like how much can I sell these? For it everyone in my school. And that's just the way my brain worked, for better or worse.
And you know, it's why I got into gambling and like booking at such a young age, because without an education and without any direction, it was I wasn't built to hustle.
I wasn't going to sell drugs. It wasn't my environment.
But what I saw when I started to get out there was like, I can be entrepreneurial. I just gravitated towards like the wronger, wrong things earlier, but I quickly shifted.
That so programs outside the Garden New York's big time New York sports fan. Who is some of the guys that you love watching growing up.
Anyone who knows me knows that I was upset when Mark Jackson as a kid man, that was my favorite player, and he's become one of my favorite people because nineteen eighty seven he was drafted as a rookie, won Rookie of the Year, it took the city over, nineteen eighty eight,
made the All Star Game. They drafted strict, so it started getting like a bit controversial, and then all of a sudden he had a few tough years in New York and it was right during like a really tough time in my life, and I don't know, everyone finds something to connect to, and somehow that became my reprieve.
I would just like, let me go watch Mark. I would sneak out of my house and watch him playing Clipper games and sports bars at thirteen and take that money from selling toys and say to the guy, let me go watch the Clipper game and they would get it on pay per view there was or whatever satellite back then. And then obviously Starks in Oakley and Ewing that whole team. That whole period of my life. It
was always about that mob. Even now and Nick fans from that era are like, we're so emotionally confused because we swear that that was like one of the greatest runs in basketball history. But then you step out of New York and people are like, yo, y'all talk about the nineties Knicks like you want three chips, Like we
get it, We've all been to the conference finals. But you guys know, you were around then, like it was just that whole feeling around those pacer Nick series, the Heat Knick series, Bulls Knick series, all of it was incredible.
In your early twenties, you was in college dropout. I tell people all the time, collegefit don't necessarily make you be successful. They gotta help you, but it don't hurt you too if you don't go. But you had the illegal sports gambler ring. I would have loved to have been a part of that. For man, Yeah, I want to hear about that. When I saw that in the rundown, I'm like, what hind of clients? Can you talk about that?
Yes? I love talking about Well.
I probably shouldn't have went to college, by the way, I wasn't even ready to go, so like, I just ran off to the only school that let me in straight up.
And when I got there, I tried for a quick minute.
I was like, maybe this is like my life, Like I'm going to figure this out. And then I went to watch Yankee Yankees Mariners nineteen ninety five. And I'm sitting in this bar in Boston with a bunch of guys and everybody's taking the Yankees, but they're all looking for a bookie to put the bet in with, cause like you know if you all from New York, you always bet on your team. The Mariners had like a Rod and Junior and Tino Martinez.
So everyone's like, Yo, we need a bookie. We need a bookie.
Someone's got to put a bed in, Like we got to get this, We got to get these bets in. So I was like, well, hold up, I think I have a bookie. I called my brother and I was like, Yo, that bookie you have in Atlanta. You got to put all these bets I'm taking in from this guy. He was like, man, that bookie, come me off right. So I'm like, we don't have a bookie. The game was starting in a few minutes. My brother hit me with the like you could always take the bet. I'm like,
what was that mean. I didn't even really know, like the verbage. It was like Mariners are like minus one ten or whatever. It is like you'll win this if the Mariners win. And I'm like all right. So I went in there. I said, guys, I put all your bets in. I write it. I wrote it down on like a notebook from the from the bar. Mariners won. They all paid me on Friday. Was this was like a Thursday and Sunday morning phones ringing.
I was open.
They thought I was a bookie, and from that point forward, I was just like shit. I went and got one of those like composition notebooks because there was no technology. I had my pencil out number two pencil at like eight in the morning. I had this girl I was dating that would help me when the phones ring security
at Boston would help me sometimes pick up money. And then like a few other friends at other schools started sending clients in and at one point I had, you know, like one hundred different people betting all day and people will come to me and be like, man, I got the more money, here's my television.
It was. It was insane. R I was just like that guy at college that.
Time eighteen nineteen twenty. And then I went back to New York. When I was I had to leave boss. I went to I tried to flip it and go to BC Night School for a semester and was like found myself trying to get the marketing professor to bet with me. I'm like even I knew, like the one thing I always had was a level of self awareness, even when I was fucked up. I was like, I'm fucked up, Like I'm not supposed to be a bookie. So when I went back to New York, I was like,
let me try this for a minute. And it's harder in New York. That's I got my bookie operation got shut down in three weeks, you know what I'm saying. Three weeks someone caught wind of the kind of action I was taking. My brother went to collect. It was a little bit of a gotcha moment, Yeah, and I just ended it that day. I didn't think twice.
At the peak how much at one time? What was the most money you'd got during that run?
When I was nineteen, I left Boston about two eighty in cash.
That's tough, Yeah.
For real? Quarter million?
Yeah, it's safe like this, like thinking I had a safe when really.
Like the safe could just be picked up anyone. I'm an idiot.
I had that shit in my closet. Everyone in school knew. But it was reckless.
Anyone along the way mentor you or put their arm around you. Or was it just trial and era hard nuts.
No, A lot of people have I always say that, like I never had a business mentor so to speak, like somebody that.
Was like, hey, young man, I see something in you.
But what I did always get was special, special talent that gave me a shot. So Mark Ronson in nineteen ninety nine in New York City would be jumping from DJing Biggie Small's birthday party to a Tommy Hill figure fashion show and him and Q Tip and this whole like celebrity DJ scene grew up. I blew up in New York at the time, and you know, I started managing these guys. And when I was managing Mark, all of a sudden, I was like, oh, you know, I got a little bit of confidence. Like that infused a
little bit of confidence in me. Then when all of a sudden, I was signed to other artists and we had Amy Winehouse working in our studio, and I was around just like such a greatness, like this woman was recording one of the most incredible albums of all time.
And I found.
Myself fitting in the more and more I was around talent. I understood how to fit in. And I think a little bit of the chaos that I grew up around allowed me to have this feeling of I could solve anything.
I could fix anything. Anyone needed me, I'll do I'll do it right. Away for you. And that's how I was conditioned.
I just felt like, as a kid, if something was broken in my house, literally or figuratively, no matter what age I was at, I'll step up and do it. So that carried that over and it worked with talent. And then when I was able to meet Jay and you know, and got the vote of confidence from him to work on Fade to Black and be a part of that, that was like a new level of mentorship. But it wasn't like Jay was like heyo, Rich, I want you to produce my film, bro, and I see
something in you. It was just getting a little bit of a crap and then that was all they really needed to do, was give me that little bit of confidence.
Yeah.
I mean had a similar upbringing as far as chaos and I you know, I got to a point where I was comfortable within the chaos. You know, you can still function, you can still move because chaos fucked some people up. But being able to be comfortable and still at peace within the chaos or something special you just mentioned. Jay, How did the Rock Nation partnership come about?
Well after we did Fade to Black, I had like, you know.
Hold on, let me run, not to cut you off talk to us about how the Fade to Black came and what you actually did on that project.
Yeah.
I met Jay's manager at the time, and I was consulting with this company, Radical Media, because I was doing music supervision for TV shows on ESPN and VH one, and there was just show The Life on ESPN.
You guys remember that you were you on it? No, we did it on edobannit.
Yeah, and I put this theme song together between Fraul Maunch and Styles Pete called The Life that j Cole actually ended up like redoing a bit on his last album.
Sorry Cole, but you did.
And after that, like I I started building this library of unsigned artists and unsigned producers to put on all these different TV shows, and I was kind of like in this little purgatory.
Now I was managing some people.
I was doing some music supervision, and that was that moment where sometimes I feel like in my career I pedal as.
Fast as I can.
Then I got a chill and like let it glide and be able to just see, like see what I'm doing because I'm really aware of who I am and who I'm not. I never try to pretend i'm the biggest, baddest, most successful. I just know I'm uniquely meet and I try to like follow that, so sometimes I just pause on it. And at that point it was like, oh shit, Jay Z's manager wants to come in and meet, and I was like, but if he comes in and meets with me, I don't know what to say yet.
And I knew that. I was like, I'm not going to be able to sell him.
But this guy Radical Media will this guy that I have here that's running this company. And that was part of the lessons that I always realized while I was growing. It is like just being in the room at certain times is the win. You don't always have to run the room.
Man.
You got to know where your time is.
And for me, I was like, now I have a part of bringing this film together. And I raised my hand. I said I want to be a producer on it. And at that point that meant like music clearances. If someone was wearing a Von Dutch hat in the film, because Jay was wearing I had to call Von Dutch
and clear it. We had to get clearances from everyone that was backstage because when they shot it, they didn't know they were going to do the film, and then like working with the editor, his first time ever editing a film, and he puts together like Fade to Black, and then watching Jay come in no joke and do the vo for the film and like one take insane, just like see the film and just start spitting and the vo is the story.
It's like epic. And just playing that part in it.
Being able to be a producer on it once again, no one was like heyo, Rich, you are producing my film. I just saw the crack and I found my way in and I though did the work, you know what I'm saying. And then from there I always saw it
as like these like building blocks. And then when I had the opportunity to go over to Rock Nation, it was the right time, Like I had the foresight to know that even as an entrepreneur, I was going to need some institutional knowledge, like really be around people that were doing it. And that was my journey and I learned like endless, limitless what I learned from being there for nine years.
So you started on the Rock Nation side, but then you help Rock Nation sports as well.
Can you talk about it a little bit.
Yeah, I started on the music side and I was managing you know, like I said before Meek while at mark Ronson, I was a and R.
I hate whenever I say this.
I know that I had nothing to do with making this album, but I was listed as an an R and j Cole's first album.
I'm just can't continue to talk about Jake Cole here.
But I was doing dope shit like I was around all of this, but it wasn't given me that feeling that I had when I was like have my studio downtown on Mercer and or I was a bookie, or I was managing DJs.
I just didn't have that feeling anymore.
And these guys knew that I was a sports fanatic and loved sports. They always gave me an opportunity. They always gave me more space. So as soon as I said, like, yo, I want to be in sports, he was like, all right, Yo, we start in a sports agency. And you know, I guess sometimes that's the version of like mentorship. It was just a chance, Like I didn't need any guidance, I just need a chance. So as soon as that happened, I had to reluctantly just stop everything in music. I
knew right then that these were two different worlds. And even though ten years later they're more a mess than ever and Boardroom is really, in my opinion, like.
A reflection of that.
But I knew in order to go into the sports world, I couldn't now try to be who I wanted to be without locking all the way in and being on the ground and doing the work. Like literally, you saw me with Kevin everywhere he was for the first six seven years, charity event, a deal, we're closing.
Anything he had to do, I had to do. That's how I looked at it.
So when I went into sports, it was like just studying it as a kid, hearing the language and honestly being obsessed with the deals around on sports even as a young person I could speak that language. And then coupled with the back I had at Rock and their institutional knowledge, and then just seeing that the sports world was actually craving more and more of what was coming from music, not the old guard of how sports was being built around athletes.
It was the right time and it worked.
So back to thirty five ventures you invested in Postmates, see Greek their about it. Just name a few if entrepreneurs right here and ask you for some advice. What would you tell.
Them on investing, I guess, first of all, like figure out why you're doing it, and I continue to.
Remind myself that too.
My strategy early on was to learn to meet incredible founders and to take some chances on some really innovative companies, and we were making smaller bets and that was my kind of education into the world, and my instincts and Kevin's instincts I think, you know, benefited us, but it was really to get into the world, and that's why we spread out our investments and we made some reads early and we were fortunate. As we started to get further further into it, it started to be about like what
do we want to own? You know, because that gets lost sometimes. There was a time six seven years ago where everyone was just like, I want equity, bro, I'm only about equity, and it was like, well, what are you talking about, Like you have to want equity and
something you want to own, truly want to own. And I started reframing that, and that's why we started investing more and more into sports and into emerging sports leagues and into pickleball and women's soccer and women's volleyball, because it was like that's what we want to own.
Now.
Obviously, if an investment comes that's incredible, too good of an opportunity and everything checks out, still look at it like a sound investment.
But I think I would tell an entrepreneur.
First to figure out what their reasoning for investing was, like, are you just doing it to make money, You're doing it to be safe with your money, You're doing it to try to make a big hit, or you're doing it because you want to build assets, And this is like what's your core build.
Your business is going to be.
I think it's important now, especially in this market, more than ever, to know that five years ago you probably could have cheated it. It's like you had money, you got deal flow, you'll invest, you probably make some money back.
But now everything's been equalized, you know, and you have to really look at real companies, real revenue, real brands, and it's no longer about these like insane valuations or companies that are never profitable, but tell you that they're going to be twenty billion dollars and you've got to reframe your mind. And I think for people like us, it's going to benefit us because it's back to like, have you done the work. Is the business working, is
it true? Is it making money? And that's how you got to look at companies.
Now, you said something interesting when you first started talking. You said placing bets because at the end of the day, that's what it really is, right, I mean, you have to be comfortable losing the money that you're putting forward, Yeah, to be safe with that. But explain why you said bets because that's what it is.
Because at our level, right, like I'm not andresen Horwitz, like you know. That's the other thing is like the scale of investing. It'd be like me saying I hoop to the two of you. You know what I'm saying. So it's like I do invest, but I'm not making fifty hundred million dollar investments.
And I'm betting on founders.
I'm betting on companies that sometimes I say, you know what, I think this company is going to make it, but I also see this company being really valuable and complimentary to what I do. And I also see that founder as a founder is going to be successful in what they do no matter what, and it's going to be incredible to have them in my network. Again, you know, like I said in the beginning because having that network,
man is it's priceless. And I realized it during the pandemic because one of the reasons why my my business grew during the pandemic is because I can actually get people on the phone, because there's a difference between showing up to every party and being able to take pictures of everyone and be able to tap everyone up. But when you have to set a time to get on a zoom, the relationship has to be real now. And that was from the work I put in. And that's
not from like just the superficial shit. That's from really developing relationships. And I think for me it's now like paying attention to every single thing that I do. And I'm like, all right, do I want to make a bet on this anymore? Or am I at the point of my career now where I have to start thinking about more like institutional things to set up for ourselves
for the rest of our life. And for Kevin, you know, I really separated boardroom in thirty five Ventures, so I could say to Kevin, this is your family office, man, it's what you worked for.
This is what you work for.
You have a foundation, you have a standalone building called the Durant Center.
We're building a Durant Athletics center.
You have a Team Durant facility, your mother runs the Durant Family Foundation.
You have a Nike lifetime deal.
Like Kevin is built an incredible portfolio and business for himself, and I take pride in it because his great grandkids are going to benefit from this. But now Boardroom is where I bet right. Boardroom is where I'm still like, Yo, I want to pivot a bit, or I want to do a party in Vegas, or I want to do an event with CNBC in LA like I'm doing in two weeks. And for me, Boardroom is now the brand that we're going to take chances with. And you know, pickleball,
it's a chance. But I didn't separate it. I said, anything we do is going to fall into this bucket. And I think that's where I'm having more fun. And then on the more institutional side, it's really looking at investments that you know can withstand the test of time.
Now, what's the most riskiest investment?
Thirty five is made, They paid that paid off.
That paid off. That's a good one.
Well, I would say early on the first few investments in hindsight were all risky because I didn't know shit right, like straight up didn't know anything. But there's something refreshing about that. I actually like missed that feeling a bit. I remember sitting one of my first meals, Kevin and I went to Tosca in San Francisco, remember the spot, And we were sitting with a famed angel investor, Ron Conway.
Seed investor became a billionaire and like people have attributed their success to him over and over again, Facebook, Airbnb, He's behind everything. And we started asking me questions about deals, and like he said something very like trivial to start, like a series A round.
And I remember thinking to.
Myself, like, I got to ask this guy with series A means like I honestly don't know, or is he just gonna laugh me off this table? And I was like, I got to keep it real. I've never done this before. I have no idea told me about series A and round series B. And this is the same thing my basketball coach told me once when I was younger, which was like a major backhanded compliment, but he was.
Like, every time you fuck up, you never do it again.
I was like, what the fuck does that mean man, but it meant that, like you tell me something one time and I'm just not gonna forget it, and I'm not going to do the same thing again. So I just sat and consumed all this information, and I think it was like risky, but it was pure how we approached in the beginning, because Kevin and I would have these founders come meet with us. I don't even know what we were asking, but we were asking these like
personal questions and really getting to know them. And you realize sometimes, especially early on, and if you're a good reader people, and I think to your point before, if you grow up around some chaos at times too, you're hyper aware, so you read people.
And I'm always.
Reading people, and I really feel like I can read people's body language better than some. And I would look at these founders and be like, can I see this woman or this man building what they say they're going to build.
And do I get it? Like straight up? Can I repeat it?
Can I come see Matt and Stack and tell them what I just invested in. If I can't repeat it, I should not be investing in it. And some of those early principles that weren't complicated actually really probably were really beneficial to the process without all the noise.
Biggest return on investment you had today, if we're not being.
Nosy, No, it's cool. I mean, you know, Postmates was great in the beginning. Coinbas was great in the beginning. We have one now even amidst this market that we invested in company hugging face that I.
Saw what they do.
They're AI technolog So it ended up really benefiting us, as you know, as they've grown into it, because at the time it was like loosely rooted in AI. But there's been other good ones. There's some good ones on paper. There's some ones that if you asked me a year ago, were through the moon, and you know now they're back down.
But I still believe in the business.
But you know, I think, to be honest, the greatest investment we've made has been in building boardroom ourselves.
Whatever happens with it.
It's been really amazing to and I'm sure you guys, I mean, look what you guys at built right from scratch, from the two of you being like, let's do this show to people knowing it. That's the hardest thing in the world to do in business, to build a brand. So every like people all over Vegas know what all the smoke is independently of the two of you. That's incredible And for me, it's like, whatever happens now, I wanted to do this. I remember the day I thought
about creating this. I still have miles and miles to go. But the fact that like resonating.
And it's working, absolutely that feels different than anything else I've ever done.
Absolutely dope.
Another pillar of thirty five ventures is the documentary side Oscar Award winning did Two Distant Strangers. We had Van Lathan and treyvon Free speak to it. How did that partnership come about and how was it winning your first Oscar?
Well, it was incredible winning our first Oscar. Unfortunately for short form doc EPs don't get a trophy, but it's all good.
It was cool to be associated with it. You know.
It's funny because every film we've worked on, I've done ten of these now and I would never refer to myself as a filmmaker. From Fade to Black to Katie's the Off Season on HBO, and we did a show q Ball that was on San Quentin Prison when you were in obey But it was always just like a story we wanted to tell. So PG County obviously was a story we wanted to tell. This was sent to me my friend Samir during the pandemic and he was like, just read the script and tell me what you think.
And that was the first time we read a script.
And all we really needed from or they needed from us, was financing it first and like you know, attaching our names and giving them their support and they did the rest and we in that sense, we read it right right because the script was incredible. Sometimes, like with Swagger, similar that was an idea Kevin and I had because you know, all Kevin talked about when I first met him was this rec center he grew up in, and it was amazing to me how Formula Live that rec
center had been in his life. So the idea came about about like the rec center in some ways, or PG County being the backdrop to this like Friday Nights like story about youth basketball and what went on. And Reggie who's the director of Swagger, just knocked it out the box. But you know, that was a partnership with Imagine and Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and it went to Apple and again like I had the self awareness to go I can't make a big budget ten episode
series yet on Apple, but it's our idea. We're gonna bring it to the right people. And then there's sometimes like with Point Guards, where I was like, shit, like this is my baby, like I speak this language, and we rolled up our sleeves and got involved in that one. And I think it's fun to tell these stories. It's a great extension of our brand. I think it's still like incredible when you see something up.
On the screen or on television like that.
Right, it's nothing like it, but it's got to be something that connects with us. Like right now, I'm working on a dock on an artist from New York and it's like, you know, I would do this.
I'd pay to do this. You know. It's like that type of stuff is just rewarding for me.
So you did two particular projects, In the Water and Point Gouds that land in here at showtime. What made those two so special? You've been kind of touching on Point Guards throughout the documentary or excuse me about throughout the interview talk to us about that.
And then in the Water, well, in.
The Water was just like every time I'd meet someone, Katie'd be like, yeah, he from PG County and I'd be like him too, he from PG County. And it was like, holy shit, like there is insane amounts of talent that has come out of PG County. And then some young filmmaker from PG sent me an email and it was a link and he had put this sizzle together of an idea to do this project on like
the greatness of PG County. And the one thing I don't ever do is make a firm decision on something for Kevin and I, you know, a lot of managers will be like, nah, he I already know he ain't feeling that, But like, Kevin is a different thinker, so like part of what our partnership is is sometimes he surprises the shit out of me.
So I'm like, let me never take.
Any of this for Granted, I didn't think the sizzle was insane, but the passion there and the meaning was and I sent it to him.
He's like, we got to do this film.
And from then on it was just like the more stories we heard, the more stories we heard, it was like it just proved our point that there was something in the water in PG County. That we had to do, and then New York It's like for me, Man Kareem read Kenny Anderson, God Sham Guy Rod Strickland, like, that's Michael Jordan to me.
You know what I'm saying.
Those guys were God and I always felt like point guards in New York City in the early nineties in a lot of ways, were like the first reflection of hip hop.
And sports like this molding together.
It came out in the form of Skip to My Lou and God Shambo. Yeah, Stefan Marberry like that to me because they were superheroes. But in New York City, you know what I'm saying, and it resonated. But when you looked at their careers, they weren't all Hall of famers, but the impact they had in New York the Mecca was off the charts to this day, to this day.
How much basketball do you watch nowadays?
A lot, a lot, always, yeah, always, I keep up with everything. First of all, it's overwhelming the amount of information there is in general. But it's like, I want to get more involved in the WNBA. I want to watch women's soccer because we invested in it. I want to watch MLS because we invested in it. I'm a Met fan. I'm a diehard Giant fan, Rick Patino's coaching, Saint John's.
I like to watch sports.
I also have a family, also socialize, also go out, also work, So it's unbearable how much there is to watch. Basketball is one that I'll never cheat. I have to keep up a because it's like my partner is a savant, so if I don't know what I'm talking about, he may be like, get out this room, man, So I always can keep up. I love the Nicks and Nets like I watch them. I'll always watch them. I always watch Katie games. And then like there's just so much
greatness in the league. You know, there's team like I didn't want to miss Memphis this year. I like watching Orlando. I always want to watch bron and watch the Lakers play. So it's like it's the only television that still has steaks, that still has some uncertainty, that still has like a narrative and something that's bigger than all of us.
You know, you can't pause at all. It's just happening in real time.
So like I was watching Wimbledon before I came here to watch the Alcoraz match, like it's still the best entertainment on TV.
Is sports outside of KD. Best three in the game right.
Now, best three players, Jokic of course, let me think about that. Giannis bron who you like watching the most besides KT book.
You get to watch that every night?
Now.
Yeah, I like watching Jokic, I like watching Denver.
I mean, I think that was like a refreshing thing to see because growing up, it always felt like teams had like major superstar center of galaxy and then like everything working on all cylinders for that person, and the whole system works and there's continuity and the team goes every year. That might not work for every organization, but it was fun to watch that, like to see people enjoying the hell out of being the ninth man on
that team and coming in the game. But I actually really love watching like Orlando's been fun to watch because, like I like to watch development and some of these guys too, So like I liked watching Palo's game early on and then you know, midway through the season, and then seeing how he would adjust towards the end of the season.
So you know, I'll watch whatever's.
On what's next for board two Questions what's next for board Room And how was it working with Sabrina on escul amazing.
I mean Sabrina, you know, she's her agent. Duffy has been incredible to me, so he really was like open. Not many people would have been open to what I was envisioning early, which was that I'm building this brand in this platform. I wanted to embody the business of sports and music and all these things that were compelled by And there's deal flow, and there's access and opportunity and storytelling.
And I really want Sabrina to be a part of it. But I'm not getting in the way of what you guys do. Just want her to be a part of it.
And it's worked out because you know, she's been She's given us ideas, she's heard ideas from us, she supported the brand, and just having her, you know, as somebody that's like part of the fam has been been powerful. And I think that's a big part of where we're going now. It's like Boardroom has the digital media platform. We have, you know, our newsletters and our pods and our shows, and we're doing more and more in the physical.
Our conference with CNBC should be a hit. We got Travis Scott kd speaking, Paolo, David Blitzer, a ton of people, Tamika, and I think also it's going to be time for us to start aligning ourselves with more talent and building out you know, an element of boardroom that's an advisory where we can work with more athletes and you know, and similar to what we were able to do with Sabrina, but a bit more formalized to have more in our
in our camp. And I also think we can be a benefit to agents, Like I don't see this as a competitive thing. I see that you know, this, this vehicle we built and the access we have and the brand we build can only compliment to other people's business.
Who is rich outside a business, cool as a motherfucker, cool as a motherfucker, could throw the football a little bit.
Yeah, I could throw the football. I love the shit out my family. Like everyone says that, but I you know, you know, I really really really try to form a perfect balance for me, you know what I'm saying. Like, I know that I started doing this at like sixteen, Like I was in the clubs in New York at sixteen. I know I'm not the richest dude in the room.
I know I'm not the most successful dude in the room, but I know that I have my spot, and I've been doing it for so long that I feel like I have a perspective and I feel like I'm moving in slower motion now and I'm aware of what is happening, and I know where I can impact the game down for you, the game is slowed down for me. So I go back home and get that balance from my
family because it keeps me slowed down. And now for me, it's really just about like continuing to build and continuing to find things that inspire me.
But like when.
I check out, I check out, I'm playing pickleball, I'm with friends, I'm socialist. Shit, I like to be in the mix. At forty six, I try to balance like being forty six, but being in the mix, because the last thing I tell everybody that's my age is like, do not get out of touch.
Don't try to act all like you bigger than social media. It's bad for you.
You have to stay connected or you'll get old, right, and I'm not trying to get old at all.
I'll damn sure I ain't all right.
We want in this down right now.
Quick hitters first, thing to come to mind. Let us know, Stuck in an Island. Three shows or movies in rotation.
Succession, Casino and Juice, because I just watched.
It the other day and I'm hooked.
Speaking of Casino, I just played in the NBPA golf tournament on Monday and it was at the golf course the Las Vegas Country Club and they still have the little playing inside the little thing and I took my god no because I was it was weird because we were playing. I'm like, damn, this course is kind of seeing it didn't It didn't show a ton of the movie, but I just kind of felt like the houses and
then it looks like is that an airplane? I was like, oh yeah, this really shot to see them, like what the for the feds?
R remember? And they crashed and the thing it bounced bru It was hell of cool.
Yeah, if you ever decided to do a movie rich with some gangster ship, I gotta have a role.
Hell yeah, played Hoops?
Who you compare your game.
To h if? If I was playing Hoops? A shooter, definitely a shooter.
When I was younger, I definitely like tried to get a little bit of the like New York City point guards ship, so I'd make it like a pointless no look past. But I was shot the ball a little better than New York City point guards.
Like you understand this. I'm more of like a two three from back in the day.
Now I don't.
I wouldn't have worked in positionless basketball. I would have had to play.
Were you nice like Willy dirsh even? Yeah?
I mean really was smooth, bro. Yeah, I didn't have that. I didn't have that.
I didn't have that, and I hit big shots, big shots.
So maybe this call you J. J.
Reddick may love depression.
Top three business moguls you know outside of you and your team?
Did I know personally? Loreen Jobs.
Incredible businesswoman, incredible philanthropists, Jimmy Iveen monster love everything about that man, and we think, uh did he.
Did he?
Because I think that.
The one thing about being an entrepreneur that you have to be able to do more than anything is like wins and losses, just keep going. And I've never seen any human being as relentless and keep going as him. I would put an asterisk now and add Michael Rubin just because it, like I was saying earlier about everyone.
Being uniquely them.
I've never ever seen anyone like him. What he's built is beyond inspiring. And something I noticed at his party last week, and my wife and I noticed it is special quality, is that he took time to really say load everybody at the party.
And I watched it.
Because he knows me very well, knows my wife a little bit. But I saw you know, you always pay attention when you're with your girl out. You want to make sure she good, everyone good. And I saw him just like reach across the bar and make sure he made eye contact. And that's what works in business, right, So if you don't do that when you're at your own party, or do that amongst people, it will end
up being a detriment in business. And you could see why, even as relentless as he is, he clearly has a level of empathy.
And I think that's what's made him really special.
If you had to be watched one game in history courtside, what would it be? Would be?
Oh, man, that would definitely be well, one game courtside, because some of them I was courtside, but it's a nick games. It would probably be it would probably be a well, now I'm thinking about all the ones that didn't.
Go our way.
I was about to say the Charles Smith game, but.
Why would a bunch of games.
I wouldn't probably say Starks is dunk, Starks is dunk, Starks is dunk on the bulls. If I was sitting right there on the floor, I probably would have lost my mind. By the way, when KD hit the shot with the line, I went out of body, like it sucks that they that that for many reasons, but my reaction I had to kind of like push it aside because we didn't win the game.
But I went like mosh pit extra.
I went wild, yeah, because that was that was the finals, That was a championship. Was everything one.
Inch long, toast five dinner guests, dead or alive. You plus five at the dinner table.
Me plus five at the dinner table.
You and KD plus five. Because I don't want him to take out an extra seats.
I would definitely have to five.
No, but I'm saying you two together and then you're.
Five, Okay, us two together are five, You're five. I'm just gonna freestyle clearly because I would say, uh, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy and Dre and Serena.
Nice one, guess you would like to see on our show, But but you have to help us get your answer on the show, the award winning show.
So someone in that rolodex of yours that I.
Have to help get on this show, would like to.
See someone you're cool with, someone you could you know you said picking up the phone or getting on the zoom jay Z. Excuse me wash that down with our messcounts.
Someone else would have to make that call.
Yeah.
When I think about Rich, he's very self aware.
You know, you know what you do good.
Yeah, you may get him before me. Ship. Let me think about that. I mean, who have you not had on that you want? Why don't you give me a job? Give me someone, I'll go get it. I'm better that way.
I love that.
Okay, I'm gonna make I'm gonna give you a hit list of like three or five.
Okay, yeah, give me.
I like to work for free.
I like that guy at his dinner that we didn't have, Serena. We'll talk about what we had.
Serena. You're talking to William.
Inviting her to my dinner, not because I can get her.
Man, you don't get to know her a little bit, right, Well, Rich, man, we appreciate your time.
I've always been a big fan of you.
Again, one of the real genuine people in this space and that's hard to come by. Wish you continue success with the Venture boardroom. We got to find something to do together before we get out of there. You got a shout out one of the best companies in the world and my guy Scott with Legends. We got a little Legends All the Smoke gift bag.
And also let them know what we beveraging. Matt.
Yeah, man, you've been drinking on our mescal coming out soon.
Yeah.
Do we have a name for it yet? What does that means?
That means rings in Spanish? Okay, you learn something new every days in Spanish. Championship rings in Spanish.
We do that here.
We definitely want to shout out Excess Nightclubring the Win Hotel, thank you for hosting us again. Shout out to Legends, Rich We appreciate your time. You can catch this on Showtime Basketball, YouTube and the iHeart platform Black Effects.
We'll see y'all next week.