# Created innovative employment service and has raised $45 million in Venture Capital, Shannon Denton.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 15 Jun 2024, 28 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/b98ec419-80a1-4cb1-9a4c-b1790106632b/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Shannon Denton. Co-founder of Wripple. Wripple is a marketing on-demand platform offering a private marketplace of vetted talent and software to manage freelancer relationships in one place. The platform's marketplace connects brands and ad agencies with highly skilled, on-demand talent for incredible speed, efficiency, and flexibility. Wripple, is poised to change the way brands secure talent for Marketing and Customer Experience project . Wripple'ss Agency Services Platform allows marketing teams to browse and hire highly vetted talent, all on-demand. This includes finding individual freelancers and a ready-made project team. It's a more modern and cost-effective solution to manage capacity and get outside digital expertise. The platform provides access to teams for over 50 projects and individuals spanning 25 roles across strategy, design, media, marketing, and technology. With more than 70 years of collective agency experience, our knowledge is embedded in our technology to drive fit-for-purpose talent matching your needs. So, my experiences have been divers. I have raised > more than $40M in Venture Capital, run and sold a start-up, led a $700M global company, built new business units, acquired several companies, built software products from scratch, and advised over 50 Fortune 500 companies on Business Strategy, Digital Transformation, Marketing, Media, and Technology Innovation. Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: If you're about to make a change in your life
[0:03] Speaker 1: and you feel uncomfortable, that's the best feeling you can have.
[0:07] Speaker 1: Because for the first time in your life, you're making
[0:10] Speaker 1: a decision that's going to be best for you and
[0:13] Speaker 1: not what somebody told you to do. And that's when
[0:16] Speaker 1: all bets are off. Welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
[0:19] Speaker 1: I'm your host, Rashawn McDonald. Our theme is there's no
[0:23] Speaker 1: perfect time to start following your dreams. I recognize that
[0:26] Speaker 1: we all have different definitions of success. For you, it
[0:29] Speaker 1: may be the size of your paycheck. It's time to
[0:31] Speaker 1: stop reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
[0:34] Speaker 1: Keep winning. That's the day. We're here. This is Rashawn McDonald.
[0:40] Speaker 1: You know this voice.
[0:42] Speaker 2: Okay.
[0:42] Speaker 1: Sometimes I don't even know my voice. So I think
[0:45] Speaker 1: about all my, I remember when I first started doing
[0:48] Speaker 1: stand-up comedy, way back in the day, the guy who
[0:53] Speaker 1: owned the comedy club said, your accent is so bad, Rashawn,
[0:57] Speaker 1: that you would never make people laugh. He said that
[1:00] Speaker 1: to me. He said, your accent is so bad. He said,
[1:04] Speaker 1: because even though the room was laughing, I remember the
[1:06] Speaker 1: first time I walked on stage and I got a
[1:09] Speaker 1: standing ovation, he said to him, he didn't understand why
[1:12] Speaker 1: people were laughing at me. So I've always dedicated myself
[1:15] Speaker 1: to being able to prove people wrong. People say things
[1:18] Speaker 1: to you, whether they believe it or not. That doesn't
[1:21] Speaker 1: mean you should take it to truth. What you should
[1:23] Speaker 1: do is understand that your weakness can be people allowing
[1:28] Speaker 1: people to see your flaws and build on those. My
[1:31] Speaker 1: strength is that my flaws, I expose them. I challenge
[1:35] Speaker 1: you to defeat me with them. And as I go
[1:38] Speaker 1: through life, I prepare to win. I wake up every
[1:40] Speaker 1: day with the attitude that I am stupid. I need
[1:44] Speaker 1: to gain knowledge. And by having that attitude, it allows
[1:47] Speaker 1: me to be able to be receptive to information that
[1:51] Speaker 1: is given to me. That is money-making conversation. I am
[1:54] Speaker 1: your host, Rashawn McDonald. I host this weekly Money Making
[1:57] Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass show, the interviews and information that this show
[2:00] Speaker 1: provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading other
[2:03] Speaker 1: people's success stories and start living your own. Let's get
[2:07] Speaker 1: this show started. My guest is the co-founder of Ripple.
[2:11] Speaker 1: He's built successful businesses, launched and sold startups, and raised
[2:15] Speaker 1: over $ 45 million in venture capital. Please welcome to Money
[2:19] Speaker 1: Making Conversation Masterclass, Shannon Denton. How are you doing, sir?
[2:23] Speaker 2: I'm doing great, Rashawn. Thanks for having me.
[2:26] Speaker 1: You know, I got to start with the name of
[2:28] Speaker 1: the business. Where were you sitting when you thought that
[2:32] Speaker 1: was the name that should build your fortune on?
[2:38] Speaker 2: First of all, just so the audience, it's Ripple with
[2:41] Speaker 2: a W. So it's W-R-I-P-P-L-E. And hey, we love the name.
[2:46] Speaker 2: You know, we were sitting down, me and my two
[2:48] Speaker 2: other co-founders. And we thought of the, you know, just
[2:52] Speaker 2: thinking of words. You know how it is today, Rashawn.
[2:54] Speaker 2: It's kind of hard to find a unique name, although
[2:56] Speaker 2: the names are taken. But yeah, with Ripple, it was like,
[3:00] Speaker 2: we saw, you know, the visual of in the water
[3:03] Speaker 2: of water movement and kind of the ripple effect of
[3:06] Speaker 2: making a positive shift in the way things were done
[3:09] Speaker 2: and happening. And we happened to be looking around the
[3:12] Speaker 2: internet and the URL was available, which is always super
[3:16] Speaker 2: important today. You want to make sure people can find
[3:18] Speaker 2: you online. And so it just kind of stuck. And
[3:21] Speaker 2: we thought it was very flexible. You could do a
[3:23] Speaker 2: lot of cool things from a brand perspective, you know,
[3:26] Speaker 2: waves and motion and stuff like that. So we really
[3:28] Speaker 2: love the name.
[3:29] Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's important that people who are listening
[3:31] Speaker 1: to the show understand that a name is a part
[3:34] Speaker 1: of your brand and the brand has a story. And
[3:37] Speaker 1: like my company name is 3815 Media, 3815 Media. And
[3:41] Speaker 1: the four digits are from the home that I grew
[3:43] Speaker 1: up in as a kid. I grew up with six
[3:45] Speaker 1: sisters and two brothers. And my parents and we lived
[3:50] Speaker 1: in a two bedroom shotgun house. And the numbers on
[3:53] Speaker 1: that house was 3815. And so that's my back story
[3:57] Speaker 1: on it allows me to understand where I came from
[4:00] Speaker 1: and how I've been able to overcome the odds to
[4:03] Speaker 1: be the person I am today. So I appreciate you
[4:05] Speaker 1: taking the time and also conveying the rationale as to
[4:09] Speaker 1: why you named your company Ripple. And then you said, Rashawn,
[4:12] Speaker 1: that's with a W, W-I-P-P-L-E.
[4:17] Speaker 2: Absolutely. Make sure everybody gets the spelling correct. That's important,
[4:21] Speaker 2: you know.
[4:21] Speaker 1: Absolutely. The thing about it, when I got an opportunity,
[4:25] Speaker 1: you know, I get a lot of guest information sent
[4:28] Speaker 1: to me on a daily, sometimes weekly basis. What really
[4:33] Speaker 1: dove me in the direction of saying I want to
[4:35] Speaker 1: interview you, Shannon, was the whole talk of venture capitalists.
[4:39] Speaker 1: Because I really don't know what that is. It's been
[4:42] Speaker 1: a very popular term in the last 15 years, especially
[4:45] Speaker 1: the last 10 years. What exactly is a venture capitalist?
[4:50] Speaker 2: Yeah, so venture capital companies invest in early stage startups,
[4:58] Speaker 2: a lot in technology companies like Ripple. So we have
[5:00] Speaker 2: a software that we created. And, you know, they're looking
[5:03] Speaker 2: to invest early and into high-growth companies, and they're looking
[5:09] Speaker 2: to hopefully make really good returns on some of those companies.
[5:12] Speaker 2: So it's a high-risk game. So a venture capital firm
[5:16] Speaker 2: that may invest in, you know, 50, 100 companies, and
[5:20] Speaker 2: as long as maybe even, you know, 15% of those, 20%
[5:25] Speaker 2: of those companies do well, then they end up making
[5:27] Speaker 2: a return. And so it's probably the riskiest type of
[5:31] Speaker 2: investment vehicle. But yeah, so as a startup, when Ripple,
[5:35] Speaker 2: we started it about five years ago, and we went
[5:38] Speaker 2: out and pitched a lot of venture capital firms and said, hey,
[5:41] Speaker 2: this is a business plan we have. This is what
[5:43] Speaker 2: we're trying to build. This is the experience we have
[5:46] Speaker 2: as a team when we started it. And we'd love
[5:49] Speaker 2: to take some investment from you so that we can
[5:51] Speaker 2: actually do this and go fast. And so that's kind
[5:54] Speaker 2: of what venture capital is. And it can be a fun,
[5:58] Speaker 2: fast-paced world in venture capital. It can also be you know,
[6:02] Speaker 2: stressful and challenging sometimes, too. But, yeah, so that's kind
[6:07] Speaker 2: of what the venture capital or the VC world is
[6:10] Speaker 2: all about.
[6:10] Speaker 1: You know, when you talk about the venture capital, you know,
[6:13] Speaker 1: because you always talk about, Rashawn, you go to a bank,
[6:17] Speaker 1: you borrow money, it's tied to an interest rate, but
[6:20] Speaker 1: you basically keep 100% of your brand, I like to believe,
[6:25] Speaker 1: or your assets, you know, unless you don't pay back
[6:28] Speaker 1: the loan. Then they come in looking for it. When
[6:30] Speaker 1: you do that from a venture capital standpoint, how does
[6:33] Speaker 1: that work? Is it a loan with interest? Do they
[6:37] Speaker 1: take a percentage of your company? How does that work?
[6:39] Speaker 2: Yeah, there you go. Yeah, so you're basically giving up
[6:41] Speaker 2: a percentage of your company. And so once you decide
[6:46] Speaker 2: to get a venture capital firm or individual to invest
[6:50] Speaker 2: venture in your company, you're basically saying, hey, here's a
[6:53] Speaker 2: chunk of my company. And you agree upon a valuation.
[6:57] Speaker 2: So if anybody, any of your audiences watched Shark Tank,
[7:01] Speaker 2: it works kind of similar to that. And you're basically saying,
[7:04] Speaker 2: you know, I'll give up 20% of the company for
[7:06] Speaker 2: a few hundred thousand dollars, what have you. And that all,
[7:10] Speaker 2: the math all works out towards, you know, stock. And
[7:14] Speaker 2: so you figure out how much stock the founders keep,
[7:16] Speaker 2: how much stock the venture capital investors keep. And at
[7:20] Speaker 2: the end of the day, though, it's absolutely, they take
[7:22] Speaker 2: a percentage ownership of your company. And Of course, they
[7:24] Speaker 2: want you to do well because they own a percent.
[7:26] Speaker 2: So the more you grow, the more your company's worth.
[7:29] Speaker 2: They reap the benefits as well as you as an
[7:32] Speaker 2: entrepreneur does as well. Right.
[7:34] Speaker 1: And, you know, this is a two-part interview, and I
[7:36] Speaker 1: always like to really get a clear understanding, Shannon, of
[7:39] Speaker 1: what you're doing because so many people, you know, my
[7:45] Speaker 1: audience is 60% African-American, 20% white, and the rest is other.
[7:50] Speaker 1: You know, it breaks down. And so it's a large audience.
[7:53] Speaker 1: Part of my audience struggle with bank loans, struggle with
[7:56] Speaker 1: trying to find financing and things of that nature. And
[8:00] Speaker 1: so how does one, like you said, Rashad, I put
[8:02] Speaker 1: together a presentation and I went and sat down with
[8:05] Speaker 1: venture capital individuals or companies and I pitched, how are
[8:09] Speaker 1: you able to make these meetings happen and how are
[8:13] Speaker 1: we able to find these people who could potentially invest
[8:15] Speaker 1: in your company?
[8:17] Speaker 2: Yeah. So, um, Fortunately for myself, so I'm an old entrepreneur. Right.
[8:28] Speaker 2: I had run prior businesses. Now, they weren't businesses I started,
[8:33] Speaker 2: but I kind of had been in management and stuff
[8:35] Speaker 2: like that. And, you know, there's incubators and accelerators and
[8:39] Speaker 2: programs for entrepreneurs that want to get involved in startups.
[8:43] Speaker 3: Right.
[8:44] Speaker 2: So my company is actually based out of Atlanta. Right.
[8:48] Speaker 2: There's an organization, an accelerator there called the ATDC, Advanced
[8:53] Speaker 2: Technology Development Center, which is actually associated with Georgia Tech.
[8:57] Speaker 2: And so me and my two co-founders joined that program.
[9:00] Speaker 2: And based upon that program, we got introduced to potential
[9:04] Speaker 2: venture capital investors. And so they had somebody that formed
[9:07] Speaker 2: the network for us. And, you know, we send around
[9:10] Speaker 2: an email and a deck. What we're trying to do,
[9:15] Speaker 2: and we were able to get meetings. And so obviously,
[9:17] Speaker 2: because we were experienced, it really helped. But I would
[9:20] Speaker 2: encourage the listeners who are interested in starting a company
[9:23] Speaker 2: or entrepreneurialism. There's definitely in the major cities, there's accelerators,
[9:29] Speaker 2: there's incubators, and there's educational programs that can help you
[9:32] Speaker 2: build a community and network. that is essential to raise money,
[9:36] Speaker 2: to raise venture capital money. And so that was very
[9:39] Speaker 2: important to us that we became part of that ATDC,
[9:42] Speaker 2: that accelerator that I mentioned. And it gave us a
[9:44] Speaker 2: lot of new avenues to meet different types of people
[9:48] Speaker 2: and eventually raise the venture capital money. Wow.
[9:52] Speaker 1: I appreciate that because you know, we all walk around
[9:55] Speaker 1: life loss, it seems, and we complain. And sometimes we
[10:00] Speaker 1: just need the right amount of information. And again, Shannon
[10:04] Speaker 1: will tell you this did not happen overnight. Like he said,
[10:06] Speaker 1: I'm a, I'm an old entrepreneur. I've been in the
[10:09] Speaker 1: game for a minute, which means that if you think
[10:12] Speaker 1: you just run in here with a fresh idea and
[10:14] Speaker 1: somebody's going to buy it up top with no background
[10:17] Speaker 1: or no work history, Well, you might be frustrated because,
[10:21] Speaker 1: like he said, people are investing in you because they
[10:24] Speaker 1: want to return. They just want to donate their money
[10:27] Speaker 1: to your cause. They want to get their money back
[10:29] Speaker 1: and more, and it's called an investment. Now, Ripple, you
[10:33] Speaker 1: talked about the name and how the name came about
[10:36] Speaker 1: with your other co-founders. Tell us what exactly Ripple is.
[10:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, so we call ourselves a talent marketplace, and so
[10:46] Speaker 2: what we do is we connect independent freelancers to jobs
[10:51] Speaker 2: or gigs. And so a lot of people have heard, obviously,
[10:54] Speaker 2: people are familiar with DoorDash, people are familiar with Uber,
[10:58] Speaker 2: all the different gig economy type platforms. We actually connect
[11:03] Speaker 2: a lot of writers, designers, developers with big companies that
[11:08] Speaker 2: are looking to hire freelancers on demand. So if you're
[11:12] Speaker 2: a developer, you're a writer, you're and you kind of
[11:14] Speaker 2: want either extra income on the side, maybe you have
[11:17] Speaker 2: a job, or you want to pursue a really flexible
[11:20] Speaker 2: lifestyle of, you know, or being independent, almost like being
[11:24] Speaker 2: a free agent, then you sign up on Ripple, and
[11:27] Speaker 2: we introduce you and connect you to jobs. And you
[11:30] Speaker 2: can take on that work. And we handle all the payment,
[11:34] Speaker 2: we pay you weekly, as if you were an employee
[11:36] Speaker 2: of Ripple. And we will help you find work. So
[11:39] Speaker 2: those are the two hardest things when you're kind of
[11:42] Speaker 2: an entrepreneur and you want to kind of be on
[11:43] Speaker 2: your own, the hardest things are how do I find
[11:46] Speaker 2: the jobs and keep an income coming in? And second
[11:49] Speaker 2: is I want to make sure I get paid on
[11:52] Speaker 2: time and get a check. And so we do both
[11:54] Speaker 2: of those things. And we have a software platform that
[11:57] Speaker 2: you sign up on and that you register for. And
[12:00] Speaker 2: then we kind of take care of the rest. Wow.
[12:02] Speaker 1: Now I'm talking to one of the co-founders of Ripple,
[12:05] Speaker 1: Shannon Denton. He built a successful business, many, and launched
[12:08] Speaker 1: many and sold many. The company he has right now
[12:11] Speaker 1: is a marketing on demand platform that offers private marketplace
[12:15] Speaker 1: of vetted talent. Now, again, got to have a resume,
[12:19] Speaker 1: got to come in with experience, got to have background,
[12:21] Speaker 1: just can't show up and go, hey, I'm talented, and
[12:24] Speaker 1: get frustrated when they tell you no. That's the word
[12:26] Speaker 1: vetted means. And software to manage freelancers and their relationships
[12:32] Speaker 1: all in one place. Now, the first time I ever
[12:35] Speaker 1: heard the word gig was during the pandemic. I, you know,
[12:39] Speaker 1: I was like, what's the, because there was a issue
[12:42] Speaker 1: with trying to pay them during a COVID moment. Can
[12:46] Speaker 1: you explain to everybody what exactly that name, that term means?
[12:50] Speaker 1: Because I get, I had never heard of it. And
[12:51] Speaker 1: I realized, you know, so Rashad, you are that person.
[12:54] Speaker 2: Okay.
[12:54] Speaker 1: You are a freelancer. And, but I never associated it
[12:57] Speaker 1: because I call myself a producer. I call myself a writer.
[13:00] Speaker 1: I call myself a manager, but I never associated it
[13:03] Speaker 1: with that term. Please go in a little bit more
[13:06] Speaker 1: detail exactly what that title means.
[13:08] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the term gig actually came a little
[13:11] Speaker 2: bit pre-pandemic, but it absolutely took off, you're right, during COVID.
[13:15] Speaker 2: And so it really, a gig meant like get a job,
[13:19] Speaker 2: sort of a temporary job that you kind of crank
[13:22] Speaker 2: out and get done. And so the term gig. And
[13:24] Speaker 2: so basically it was like, hey, I do gig work.
[13:27] Speaker 2: I may drive an Uber. I may do DoorDash. I
[13:31] Speaker 2: may do shopping for Shopify. for any Instacart, for any
[13:36] Speaker 2: of those types of companies. And so those are called gigs.
[13:39] Speaker 2: And then it became known as a gig worker. And so,
[13:42] Speaker 2: you know, in the freelancing world, now we talk more
[13:45] Speaker 2: today about the freelance economy. And so freelance economy is
[13:49] Speaker 2: really more about you're actually doing those types of jobs
[13:54] Speaker 2: or assignments for big corporations. And so these are like
[13:57] Speaker 2: professional type assignments that, you know, you may be doing
[14:02] Speaker 2: some copywriting for a big company or Maybe you're doing
[14:05] Speaker 2: some graphic design. Maybe you're developing software. And so as
[14:09] Speaker 2: a freelancer, but in general, Rashawn, I mean, they kind
[14:13] Speaker 2: of mean all the same thing. I'm a gig worker.
[14:15] Speaker 2: I'm a freelancer. The other term you'll see out there
[14:17] Speaker 2: is I'm an independent talent, meaning I don't have a
[14:20] Speaker 2: full-time job. I'm kind of pursuing, you know, you're kind
[14:22] Speaker 2: of a free agent. You kind of look for jobs,
[14:26] Speaker 2: and you kind of assemble. You do those jobs based
[14:29] Speaker 2: upon what comes your way. And so there's a lot
[14:31] Speaker 2: of people very successful now. that are earning a really
[14:35] Speaker 2: good income by doing independent work, gigs, freelance work, and
[14:40] Speaker 2: they're able to get enough of those jobs to where
[14:42] Speaker 2: they actually make more money than if they had a
[14:44] Speaker 2: full-time job.
[14:45] Speaker 4: Please, don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[14:48] Speaker 4: Money-Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[15:02] Speaker 4: hosted by Rashawn McDonald.
[15:06] Speaker 2: And so that's what this is all about.
[15:07] Speaker 1: And they control their schedule. You know, it's really interesting.
[15:09] Speaker 2: Absolutely. Which is awesome.
[15:12] Speaker 1: Which is really, really awesome because of the world that,
[15:14] Speaker 1: you know, I've lived a life of high-end drama. When
[15:17] Speaker 1: I say that means there's stress and it's tied to,
[15:21] Speaker 1: you know, you can say it's consistent, but the one
[15:25] Speaker 1: thing you can, it may not be true. But if
[15:28] Speaker 1: you work a 40-hour week job, there's a degree of
[15:30] Speaker 1: consistency there, maybe. But when you're doing independent thoughts, but
[15:34] Speaker 1: that freedom can bring drama, too. But it's good drama
[15:39] Speaker 1: because you're controlling your point of view. Now, when I
[15:43] Speaker 1: was talking to you about the pandemic, it was really interesting.
[15:46] Speaker 1: The gig worker who I knew nothing about, or the
[15:50] Speaker 1: freelancer who I really knew about, Shannon, but I didn't
[15:53] Speaker 1: understand the value they had with a company like mine.
[15:57] Speaker 1: It changed my whole philosophy, realizing that, you know, Rashawn,
[16:01] Speaker 1: you don't have ebb and flows in your business model.
[16:05] Speaker 1: Sometimes you do a large gig, and sometimes you get
[16:08] Speaker 1: a contract. maybe a three-month contract or a month contract.
[16:13] Speaker 1: And I was doing that old philosophy of hiring full-time people.
[16:16] Speaker 1: At times, they were just sitting around the office. And
[16:19] Speaker 1: so that's where the independent worker has value, correct?
[16:23] Speaker 2: No doubt. So well said. So basically, think from a
[16:26] Speaker 2: company perspective. So if you're really hiring freelancers, you only
[16:33] Speaker 2: hire for the work you need to get done when
[16:35] Speaker 2: you need it. So you may need some work done
[16:38] Speaker 2: for the next three weeks. The freelancer can kind of
[16:40] Speaker 2: crank it out, and you may not need that type
[16:42] Speaker 2: of work done for another couple months. And so there's
[16:45] Speaker 2: no wasted money is the way to think about it.
[16:47] Speaker 2: So companies really are embracing it, and they love it
[16:50] Speaker 2: because you can kind of lay out, here's all the
[16:52] Speaker 2: different stuff I need to get done. I can use
[16:55] Speaker 2: a platform like Ripple to go find the freelancers to
[16:58] Speaker 2: do that. And I don't have to pay as much
[17:02] Speaker 2: full-time salary cost to a big, huge group of employees. Right.
[17:07] Speaker 2: The flexibility, the cost savings, and the speed at which
[17:11] Speaker 2: you can move hiring freelancers is the rationale that companies
[17:16] Speaker 2: are really embracing this new world in the freelance economy.
[17:19] Speaker 4: Wow.
[17:20] Speaker 1: Thank you for that update. When we come back, we
[17:22] Speaker 1: will continue this conversation with Shannon Denton, one of the
[17:25] Speaker 1: founders of Ripple, as you can see. It's not AI,
[17:29] Speaker 1: but it's a way of being able to fill your
[17:31] Speaker 1: job responsibilities or job needs, sometimes long-term, sometimes temporarily. I'm
[17:37] Speaker 1: speaking to one of the co-founders of Ripple, a company
[17:40] Speaker 1: that's changing the game as far as independent freelancers. It
[17:44] Speaker 1: fills companies' long-term and temporary needs. Co-founder's name is Shannon Denton.
[17:50] Speaker 1: How can they reach you, or what is the website
[17:52] Speaker 1: that they should go to, Shannon?
[17:55] Speaker 2: Yeah, so www.ripple.com, again with the W-W-R-I-P-P-L-E. And just go
[18:02] Speaker 2: out there, and if you're interested in freelance opportunities, there's
[18:05] Speaker 2: a place that you can apply. And if you're a
[18:07] Speaker 2: client looking to hire freelancers, you can easily sign up
[18:11] Speaker 2: for a demo, and we'll jump on a video call
[18:14] Speaker 2: with you and show you our platform.
[18:17] Speaker 1: When you were thinking about this, you know, there's always,
[18:19] Speaker 1: where did that idea pop up from? You know, was
[18:22] Speaker 1: this a long-term idea that kind of like manifested itself,
[18:26] Speaker 1: or it was like, you know, the old slogan, a
[18:30] Speaker 1: light bulb above your head. How did this idea come about?
[18:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, great question. So it actually came, so my two
[18:39] Speaker 2: co-founders and myself, we were working together at a company
[18:42] Speaker 2: called Razorfish, which was a pretty well-known, what's called a
[18:46] Speaker 2: digital agency. So we were doing a lot of work
[18:48] Speaker 2: for big companies, and we kept hearing from our clients.
[18:52] Speaker 2: This is always a great way to start a company,
[18:54] Speaker 2: is if you keep hearing the same thing from somebody
[18:57] Speaker 2: over and over, and you're like, that must really be
[18:59] Speaker 2: a problem to focus on. So what they were, what
[19:01] Speaker 2: our clients were telling us is, hey, we would love
[19:04] Speaker 2: a way to be able to tap into on-demand talent
[19:09] Speaker 2: or people a lot easier and faster than what we've
[19:14] Speaker 2: ever been able to do before. And so they kind
[19:16] Speaker 2: of were using parallels of what has happened in e-commerce, Amazon.com.
[19:22] Speaker 2: They knew about Uber. And they're like, how come it's
[19:24] Speaker 2: not that easy to go find some talent to do
[19:28] Speaker 2: a project for us? Why couldn't we have a platform
[19:32] Speaker 2: that did that for us? And so we just kept
[19:34] Speaker 2: hearing it from our clients that there had to be
[19:36] Speaker 2: a better, easier, faster way, cheaper way. And so we
[19:40] Speaker 2: put our heads together and said, hey, let's create something
[19:42] Speaker 2: really amazing here. And that's how the idea came about. Wow.
[19:46] Speaker 1: A courageous idea because, you know, you know, dreaming. always
[19:51] Speaker 1: good to have. But planning it and executing it is
[19:55] Speaker 1: the reality that we all fall off the cliff on,
[19:58] Speaker 1: you know. So when you started this idea, Shannon, this
[20:02] Speaker 1: idea of creating Ripple with your other two co-founders, did
[20:05] Speaker 1: you start with a certain– a job type, or you
[20:12] Speaker 1: said that we're going to go with these four categories
[20:16] Speaker 1: of jobs.
[20:16] Speaker 3: How did you start?
[20:17] Speaker 1: It had to be a model. What was that model?
[20:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, so the model, I mean, we were fortunate in
[20:23] Speaker 2: that we had some good contacts. Right. And so we
[20:26] Speaker 2: were able to build it around a couple of early customers.
[20:30] Speaker 2: And so we started out doing mainly, you know, website design. Okay.
[20:34] Speaker 2: And building websites for companies.
[20:36] Speaker 3: Okay.
[20:36] Speaker 2: And we were able to win a few clients, and
[20:40] Speaker 2: that helped, honestly, fund the early stages of the company
[20:43] Speaker 2: because we had actual paying customers, which is amazing. That's
[20:49] Speaker 2: not always the case with startups. But we had a
[20:52] Speaker 2: paying customer, and we actually started building the product. And
[20:55] Speaker 2: then we got venture capital money about eight to ten
[20:58] Speaker 2: months after that. So we actually had some customers. We
[21:02] Speaker 2: had some revenue coming in, some dollars in the door.
[21:05] Speaker 2: And we had a little bit of a product that
[21:07] Speaker 2: was built through that customer, through a couple of customers
[21:10] Speaker 2: that hired us early stage. And so that's kind of
[21:13] Speaker 2: how we and we did focus on. It's a good question.
[21:15] Speaker 2: I mean, a lot of cases when you're building a startup,
[21:18] Speaker 2: you want to kind of narrow your focus to get
[21:20] Speaker 2: going and to and to create something that kind of
[21:24] Speaker 2: gets traction early. And so it may you may have
[21:27] Speaker 2: to kind of. Start smaller than your big, huge vision,
[21:31] Speaker 2: and then grow the vision over time incrementally. It's a
[21:34] Speaker 2: very common model that you want to follow in building
[21:37] Speaker 2: a startup.
[21:39] Speaker 1: Okay. The question I'm sure everybody is asking, what separates
[21:42] Speaker 1: you from other job-related firms like an Indeed? What's the difference?
[21:50] Speaker 2: Yeah. So I think for us, we're what's called category-focused. Okay.
[21:55] Speaker 2: So all we really do is marketing. type positions. And
[22:00] Speaker 2: we really make the CMO and the marketing organization love
[22:04] Speaker 2: us because if you go on our platform and you're
[22:07] Speaker 2: looking to hire on-demand talent, the language we speak, the
[22:12] Speaker 2: platform and the software kind of just, it speaks so
[22:17] Speaker 2: intimately to the marketing team and all the different job
[22:21] Speaker 2: titles and the types of projects. It matches the way
[22:23] Speaker 2: they think and how they speak. And so when you're
[22:26] Speaker 2: building a startup like that, being experts in a certain
[22:30] Speaker 2: area is super important. And that's how we've been able
[22:32] Speaker 2: to compete really well against some of the bigger players
[22:36] Speaker 2: that have been out there longer. So we've been taking
[22:38] Speaker 2: business from them ever since we started. And it's really
[22:41] Speaker 2: because we kind of have that expertise in the category,
[22:44] Speaker 2: and we know it cold. And, you know, it's been
[22:47] Speaker 2: instrumental to our momentum in the market.
[22:51] Speaker 1: Well, Shannon, I'll be honest with you. The philosophy that
[22:53] Speaker 1: you're preaching– preaching to the gospel, that's me. You know,
[22:59] Speaker 1: I one time had 11 full-time employees. All my offices
[23:04] Speaker 1: were filled with people. I couldn't even justify it. I
[23:07] Speaker 1: had to give them busy work, you know, to try
[23:08] Speaker 1: to justify why I was paying these individuals. And then
[23:12] Speaker 1: when I cut it down to like six, then all
[23:16] Speaker 1: of a sudden when I needed independence like you, like
[23:20] Speaker 1: your company provides, then it became smart business model, you know,
[23:25] Speaker 1: The revenue made sense. I wasn't trapped at every 5th
[23:29] Speaker 1: and 20th. I had a payroll I had to deliver. Now,
[23:32] Speaker 1: when you start talking about independence, what's working well in
[23:36] Speaker 1: the freelancer economy and what needs to be worked on?
[23:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think in general, I think it's working pretty well.
[23:45] Speaker 2: So the data says that both the clients that hire
[23:48] Speaker 2: freelancers and the freelancers are satisfied. It's just to fully
[23:53] Speaker 2: unlock the growth potential, there's a few things I think
[23:57] Speaker 2: just the onboarding is always important. So if you get
[24:00] Speaker 2: hired as a freelancer, you want to have a really
[24:03] Speaker 2: clear definition of what you need to be able to do,
[24:06] Speaker 2: your deliverables, what expectations you need to hit to keep
[24:11] Speaker 2: your client happy. And so I think just encouraging just
[24:15] Speaker 2: a little bit more clarity and getting that a little
[24:18] Speaker 2: bit more professional is something that we talk a lot
[24:21] Speaker 2: about with our clients and our freelancers. so that everybody's
[24:24] Speaker 2: on the same page. You know, that may not sound
[24:27] Speaker 2: amazingly cool, but communication and expectation setting, everybody being clear,
[24:32] Speaker 2: it's super important. And I think in the world of freelancing,
[24:36] Speaker 2: it hasn't been quite as clear as when you're hiring
[24:39] Speaker 2: somebody full-time for a job. And so we're trying to
[24:42] Speaker 2: make sure that the clarity is really there for both
[24:45] Speaker 2: sides when the project starts.
[24:47] Speaker 1: As we wrap up the interview, I want to ask,
[24:49] Speaker 1: I think a key question would be, Okay, when someone
[24:51] Speaker 1: comes to Ripple, I'm talking about I'm an employer, I'm
[24:54] Speaker 1: a company, are you locked to like a two-month contract
[24:59] Speaker 1: or a 90-day contract or a six-month contract? How does
[25:01] Speaker 1: that work?
[25:03] Speaker 2: No, absolutely not. That's one of the things about freelancing.
[25:06] Speaker 2: It's super flexible. So first of all, we have jobs
[25:11] Speaker 2: that are a day, a week, several months, two years.
[25:17] Speaker 2: So the jobs can be basically any length you can imagine.
[25:21] Speaker 2: And so, and then if, you know, the way it
[25:24] Speaker 2: works also is that if it's not a right fit
[25:27] Speaker 2: for either side, maybe you get started, you work a
[25:29] Speaker 2: few days, then, you know, it doesn't happen very often,
[25:33] Speaker 2: but we can, you know, the freelancer or the company says, Hey,
[25:37] Speaker 2: I'd like to try somebody else out. Um, then, you know,
[25:40] Speaker 2: that's built into our model where you can kind of
[25:42] Speaker 2: swap out and that kind of stuff.
[25:45] Speaker 1: You know, that's important because like I said, when I
[25:47] Speaker 1: was coming up in the college, you know, temporary employment
[25:49] Speaker 1: opportunities or independent worker opportunities were important to me because
[25:53] Speaker 1: it allowed me to work with different companies and find
[25:55] Speaker 1: out different personalities and find out where I wanted to work,
[25:59] Speaker 1: you know. So it was really important what you're offering
[26:01] Speaker 1: now in the gig community, independent community, freelance community is available.
[26:06] Speaker 1: And Ripple, the way you, as you say, with the water,
[26:09] Speaker 1: the the movement, the calmness, the sudden change that can
[26:13] Speaker 1: change a person's life. That's what you're doing with Ripple.
[26:16] Speaker 1: As we close out, can you tell us the opportunities
[26:19] Speaker 1: of how we can reach out and touch you?
[26:22] Speaker 2: Yeah, and I first just want to emphasize, Rashawn, you
[26:25] Speaker 2: opened it up by talking about living the dream and
[26:29] Speaker 2: pursuing dreams. I mean, I think that's what we're all
[26:31] Speaker 2: about as well. And it's fun to be a freelancer.
[26:35] Speaker 2: It's fun to be a free agent. But I love
[26:37] Speaker 2: your message on You've got to want it, and you've
[26:40] Speaker 2: got to be good at something, and you've got to
[26:43] Speaker 2: execute as well. But I just want to reiterate the
[26:46] Speaker 2: message you kicked off this podcast with. I thought it
[26:49] Speaker 2: was great. And, again, I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me,
[26:54] Speaker 2: Shannon Denton, on LinkedIn. Send me a message or visit
[26:57] Speaker 2: our website, and I would love to have a conversation
[27:00] Speaker 2: with anyone about Ripple.
[27:03] Speaker 1: Well, let me tell you what. You're a seasonal guy
[27:05] Speaker 1: to me. You'll be talking to me again in the fall,
[27:07] Speaker 1: my friend. because I'm about trying to get people non-traditional
[27:11] Speaker 1: or traditional ways of finding employment. You are a star maker,
[27:15] Speaker 1: and I appreciate you taking the time, and an employer.
[27:19] Speaker 1: And this works for me, because a lot of people
[27:22] Speaker 1: out there trying to, they've been frustrated not finding employment opportunities.
[27:26] Speaker 1: This is a very, very comfortable way of pursuing it.
[27:29] Speaker 1: And again, thank you, Shannon, for coming on my show
[27:32] Speaker 1: and telling us about your job, assist, freelance, gig, independent
[27:37] Speaker 1: thinking way of controlling your life and building your dreams.
[27:40] Speaker 1: That's what Ripple.com does. Thank you for coming to my show.
[27:44] Speaker 2: I appreciate you, man. All right.
[27:45] Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us for this edition of Money
[27:47] Speaker 3: Making Conversations Masterclass. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaun McDonald
[27:54] Speaker 3: is produced by 3815 Media Inc. More information about 3815
[27:59] Speaker 3: Media Inc. is available at 3815media.
[28:02] Speaker 4: Com. And always remember to lead with your gifts.

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