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Private equity law expert Joe Tillman has a passion for creating opportunities for others. It is what has carried the California native’s career more than a decade and even led to him walking away from a stable career as a lawyer. Tillman’s initial exposure into law was not engraved in his upbringing. He admits to growing up in humble beginnings in Perris, CA, and not having access to people who worked in law or other professional spaces. It was not until his final year at California State University San Bernardino, where he would obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance, that his professor introduced to him the idea of pursuing law. “At this time, I did not have the $1,500 that it took to take an LSAT prep course. And he basically got the College of Finance to write me an impromptu scholarship so they could pay to get my LSAT prep course paid for,” Tillman told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “So, he was one of the few people that was willing to put his money where his mouth is. I took the...
Megan Thee Stallion proves she can’t be placed in a box. From her lyrical prowess to earning an undergraduate degree while actively touring across the country, the Houston Hottie is always leveling up. With her next move, she’s keeping that same energy. The “Plan B” rapper has reportedly filed a trademark related to upcoming music, future performances, and clothing.
In this case, imitation is not flattery! According to REVOLT, one of the members of the iconic Hip-Hop group, Wu-Tang Clan, is not pleased with recent attempts to sell counterfeit merchandise promoting the group. RZA, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, claims that an e-commerce business that could potentially be operating from China, is behind the sales of products embedded with the Wu-Tang Clan logo. Additionally, he alleges that other companies are using the group’s trademarks to reel in fans looking for authentic memorabilia.
Master P is the first to do it in a lot of ways. AfroTech previously told you that he’s the first Black owner of a super-car company. At one point, he was working to close a $2.4 billion deal with Reebok alongside Baron Davis. And, he’s even planning on owning a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the near future. Plus, Master P is also someone who shares wealth with his children. Romeo Miller is frequently involved in his father’s business deals. And previously, AfroTech reported that Hercy Miller also secured his $2 million bag with the help of his father. While Master P’s children were most likely raised without having to want for anything, it’s apparent that they’re chasing their own bag. He makes it clear that he’s all about teaching his children to have a business mindset, just like he learned to do, whether that was with music or even beyond it. ”You spread out because you never know when it’s going to end,” Master P said in a 1998 interview with The New York...
If it’s one thing Kanye West is going to do, it’s turn a profit from his brand. After hosting his second listening event for his forthcoming album, the “Donda” rapper reportedly did numbers at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta after pulling in $7 million in revenue from his in-person merchandise, according to Billboard. This is also the same amount that West’s YEEZY x GAP puffer coat reportedly made in one night. More than that, the second global livestream on Apple Music generated more than 5.4 million views, topping his recent record-breaking number of 3.3 million total viewers from the previous album event. West’s streaming numbers are so impressive, they’ve managed to rival that of Twitch — amounting to more than double of the streaming platform’s current livestream record — as well as the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards, which had an audience of over 6.1 million people across the U.S. tune in last year. Photo Courtesy of BFA / Yeezy / Philey Sanneh The rapper’s mysterious album...
After closing a $170 million Series C funding round, Nigerian FinTech startup Flutterwave has announced a new collaboration with payments giant PayPal to allow customers worldwide the option of sending and receiving payments from African merchants, TechCrunch reports. According to the outlet, it has been nearly impossible for businesses in some African countries to receive money from PayPal — which is rumored to be due to insufficient regulation and poor banking security — but that’s changing now thanks to a new feature on the platform called “Pay with PayPal.” Through this partnership, Flutterwave is allowing African businesses to connect with the 377 million existing accounts on PayPal’s global platform to help resolve the complex and broken banking infrastructure on the continent and eliminate the barrier of cross-border commerce. “In a nutshell, we’re bringing more than 300 million PayPal users to African businesses so they can accept payments across the continent,” CEO...
Adrienne Freeman, a merchant at Walmart, went on the hunt to find a craft beer to stock the shelves of the retail super-giant. Like many merchants in her position, she went on Instagram to find potential new products, and came across Marcus Baskerville, co-founder and head brewer at Weathered Souls Brewing Co., a Black-owned craft brewery based out of San Antonio, Texas. “In a market where there are over 8,000 breweries in the US, yet fewer than 70 of them are Black-owned breweries, this was something that immediately caught my eye,” Freeman told AfroTech. “Their portfolio showcased a brewer who was clear on their brand personality, keen on the types of high growth styles the market is demanding, and had figured out their specialty and gained a strong reputation for it. On top of making good liquid, they mastered the marketing component by creating product names that made you want to stop and check out their lineup. I knew they had all of the elements that Walmart customers would be...
7-Eleven owner, Alyson Rae Lawson, is making history all while taking Black girl magic to the next level. Lawson’s Texas-based store recently set record-high sales as the franchise continuously sells out of its Black Girl Magic wine inventory a part of the McBride Sisters Collection founded by Robin and Andrea McBride. According to Fox News, Robin confirmed the store is the country’s highest volume-selling retailer of the Black-owned brand. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Black Girl Magic Wines (@blackgirlmagicwines) “It kind of blew out of the water,” Lawson told Fox News . It all started when Lawson decided to make more Black-owned products available to her 1,000 daily customers. The store owner then ordered a bulk shipment from what is currently the largest Black-owned vintner in the country, according to Fox News. “I don’t know that we’ve seen an account quite like this before,” Robin said. “They brought in 10 cases of Black Girl Magic and they sold out the first...
Merch and ticket bundles have been a major point of contention for artists and fans alike. Now, Billboard is changing the rules . On Monday (July 13), the revered music authority announced that it will no longer count “albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether.” The rule has no set date on when it will apply—for tours, it will begin in October 2020—but under the new mandate, all albums bundled with merch or tickets “must be promoted as an add-on to those purchases in order to be counted on the charts.” Billboard Announces New Chart Rules: No More Merch & Ticket Bundles https://t.co/xhb0mqaEWD — billboard pro (@billboardpro) July 13, 2020 If an artist chooses to bundle their release with add-ons, Billboard requires that both the album and extras must be available for purchase individually at a lower cost, alongside the music, on an artist’s direct website. Ever since the bundle wars began, the argument has been that sales don’t...
Patreon helps content creators sell monthly content subscriptions to its fans. Currently, 2 million patrons are backing more than 100,000 of their favorite creators on the platform. Kit is a startup that launched with the idea to help people discover products worth getting while influencers are able to share their favorite products and earn revenue from the sales. With Patreon’s recent acquisition of Kit , monthly subscription packages will now be able to offer so much more in the way of merchandise, which will further encourage subscriptions at higher monthly tiers than before. With the acquisition, Kit, which has raised $2.5 million since it was founded, is able to continue its commitment to “connecting creators and fans and followers and to making it easier to reward creativity and expertise.” Patreon, which has a valuation of nearly $450 million, plans to build an open merchandise provider platform. Creators who are already using Kit will not lose their revenue streams during...