LA Venture: How Baron Davis Uses Social Media in His Investing Strategy
Two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis joins this mini-episode of the LA Venture podcast about how he approaches investing, how he uses his social media presence to get involved and why he sees investing as crucial for underrepresented communities.
Davis sees social media platforms as the place to have conversations and do research. Investing, he said, has become a way for him to dive deeper into the industries he’s interested in, including video games.
"Earlier last year I was like, 'Hey I love gaming. I play video games. I want to start investing in thevideo game space.' Then people start reaching out" and giving him advice, said Davis.
"I usually let people pitch their company to me on Twitter and they DM me and I look at the deck, and get back. But sometimes I DM companies and say, ‘hey, I want to get involved’."
Davis said he's interested in working with entrepreneurs of color, women and the LBGTQ community, to make sure more people like him – "underdogs" – are represented in the industries they support with their purchases.
Davis founded Business Inside the Game (BIG), a management company and global community that brings sports tech and media people together through the summits and panels they host. The venture came out of his experience watching young entrepreneurs struggle to find partners and connections.
"For me, it's really about putting your money where your mouth is," he said.
Davis said he wants to show people of color can shape big deals for the big brands their communities have embraced–he and business partner Master P bid for ownership of iconic footwear brand Reebok.
"If these big corporations are not putting money in the community, but the community is buying all their products, then, that's unfair," said Davis. "I think for us to start having that seat at the table, it allows us to now have the pressure and responsibility to take care of our own."
dot.LA Engagement Intern Joshua Letona contributed to this post.
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