>> Only a small fraction of venture capital funding goes to companies founded by women and people of color Which is why three aspiring tech entrepreneurs underrepresented in their field set out on a cross country journey to talk to the trail blazers who came before them.

They hit the road in search of wisdom and guidance to see what it actually takes to turn your idea into a business that impacts the world.

This is Roadtrip Nation: Venture Forward [MUSIC] >> Hello!

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> Hey.

>> Hey, what's up?

>> You know, the usu.

[LAUGH] >> My name is Alicia.

>> My name is Carissa.

>> I'm Jordane Thomas.

It's the first day of the road trip we've just met each other.

>> In a 40 foot, bright green RV.

>> Wow.

I've got my own bed.

We have a stove in there.

We get to cook for ourselves.

All right, looks like a good time.

[LAUGH] >> I like this.

This is better than my dorm.

We're driving from New York to San Francisco.

>> To interview tech entrepreneurs in some of the big tech cities.

>> Navigating tech entrepreneurship is very confusing.

You need people there, definitely, to guide you.

>> Jeez.

>> What's up?

>> I think I forgot my towel.

>> I mean, I got an extra one.

>>Oh, Okay lit!

>> [LAUGH] >> Advancing tech for the good of something that all three of us that myself, Jordane and Alicia, we definitely want to be a part of change.

Under represented people in tech shouldn't be a problem in the first place.

Meetig all of these tech leaders and entrepreneurs, they have a lot of knowledge.

And I would just love to learn from them.

[MUSIC] >> Did I tell you guys that I was trying to collect water from all the cities?

I've actually got olive jars.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] So I'm Alicia, I'm a computer science major, and an Asian American Studies minor.

[MUSIC] My parents came from Vietnam.

Growing up I always had an idea of how much the bills were and how much the rent was and things like that because it was always a hard time paying them.

[MUSIC] This is at the family house, we couldn't afford to live in the house that we were in.

There's like five families every family had their own room, my mom, she's just worked hard her whole life, like six days a week.

She would come home and everyone's tired and she would have to cook for us still, there was always fights about money in the house.

[MUSIC] In the midst of my parents always fighting and stuff, my grades made them really happy and, sorry I'm getting teary eyed, [LAUGH] but it was kind of like my way to show them that I love them.

Yeah, so I just really care about them.

[MUSIC] I don't think I knew what college was when I was younger really but, I knew what school was and I knew that I was supposed to do good in it, I needed it to have a better future.

[MUSIC] Being Vietnamese I come from the community of refugees I come from a community that is low income with a lot of trauma and here at school, where a lot of the kids have something to fall back on usually.

I told my mom I really wanna be able to help people, she was like okay, I just want you in a place where you're gonna be financially stable and I was like, yeah, it's understandable, but what makes me happy.

What is it that I am meant to do in this world?

I had a day dream of being in tech law or something like that, talking about tech ethics, to try to figure out how do we use these technologies for all types of people.

I can't think of a big way though.

I don't really see a lot of examples of people that have combined computer science and social justice.

I don't know exactly where I belong, so I'm just keeping it open.

See where I fit in all of this.

[MUSIC] >> Look at this.

I've got a selfie stick guys.

>> [LAUGH] >> Probably like put this on instagram or something.

You know imaging is incredibly important.

I need to have some more conversations with Carrisa.

She's like my personal branding person now.

>> I'm excited to travel across country and I wouldn't have signed up for it if I wasn't excited cuz this extremely out of my comfort zone.

The RV Park, it's literally 15 minutes away from Bayonne, New Jersey, my home.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] I'm the oldest of five kids, literally born and raised in this house.

We were all home schooled.

We were like classmates, best friends, like housemates, roommates, everything.

Whenever any of us leave, it's weird.

It's gonna be weird cuz I'm always here.

[LAUGH] >> That's you.

>> I studied marketing in college.

I was freelancing during the four years of college.

I had no idea that there's this much money right now with mobile apps.

Just on your phone.

It's insane.

It's like billions of dollars.

Last month I graduated college and I started my own marketing agency right after that.

So that's been my endeavour.

[MUSIC] My company name is Apptuitive.

A mobile app branding and marketing agency.

I work with myself.

It's definitely a learn as I grow thing.

[MUSIC] Something I know is probably gonna be an issue later on, this imposter syndrome.

[MUSIC] I don't like to call myself an entrepreneur.

Is my work even worth this much?

And to this day, I haven't picked up a project where I worked with a woman who was the founder of that app.

It's crazy, I've been doing this for four years, and it's just all been guys.

[MUSIC] You don't really realize it's an issue until you're in it for yourself.

It's a male dominated industry, when it comes down to it.

Women founders Get 1 to 2% of VC funding and the rest is all male.

And it's just, how do you overcome those barriers?

This is the perfect opportunity, it's a whole completely new experience, I don't know what to expect from it but I know it's gonna be exciting [MUSIC] >> [LAUGH] >> So I'm a New York City kid, it seems like everywhere that's not New York people need cars.

That's insane, this is an injustice.

[LAUGH] I'm Jordan Thomas, I'm 19 years old.

This nice home is a combination of over a decade of work on my mom's part trying to build the American dream for herself and her family.

>> This is you Jordane at pre-school.

>> So I came here when I was four years old.

Oh god, my teeth are all weird.

We actually immigrated here from Jamaica.

>> Look at your face though.

>> This is adorable.

>> [LAUGH] >> I grew up in Crown Heights.

What one would consider the hood in Central Brooklyn.

[MUSIC] I watched people in my family and members of my community get abused.

I remember growing up and I would just wonder to myself as I'm walking the streets, where are the men in this community?

And I mean later on, I'd learn that half of them are in jail and the other half went to college.

They got great jobs, they got married, and they moved to safer communities.

[MUSIC] Many people in my community, they just don't believe that they can do something.

[MUSIC] I started getting into computer science in the 11th grade.

At first, I was really intimidated.

But then I started getting into it and I was like, wow, this is nice, I like this.

And, I was like, you know what?

What am I gonna do for spring break?

I'm gonna learn a whole new programming language in a week.

I do app development, it's like Pokemon.

I wanna be the very best, just trying to catch them all.

>> [LAUGH] >> That was bad, that was so bad, that was so bad.

[MUSIC] Tech impacts the underprivileged.

The decreasing size in cost allows it to be more accessible to more people in more situations to document what happens to them.

Speaking truth to power, it's been pretty important to my life.

To see people of color facing similar oppressive forces that I was facing, and also still I guess dreaming about what could be.

I don't know if social justice will even make money but I wanna be able to give back to my community.

Meeting with tech entrepreneurs and leaders, I wanna learn more about how they build a better world.

This road trip to moment of personal growth.

I'm just looking to combine all of these experiences in such a way that I'm more like the man I wanna become.

[MUSIC] >> So we have two interviews in New York.

First interview, Stacy Spikes, who was one of the creators of MoviePass, where you pay $10 a month and you get to see an unlimited amount of movies at the theaters.

>> I'm personally very excited.

I'm really looking forward to this interview.

>> Are we recording?

>> So you guys all asking me questions?

[SOUND] Okay.

>> We'd just love to know what your early years were like, like what you go through to today.

>> When I got out of high school, I was supposed to go to college.

And I joined a band.

>> Like a rock band?

>> I was the lead singer in a band.

>> Wow [LAUGH].

>> And I told my parents, I'm gonna take the summer off, and I'll be back.

And I never came back [MUSIC] I went to Los Angeles.

To kind of pay my bills, I got a job at a record label.

I ended up in the marketing department >> And all of a sudden, they gave me a band.

It ended up being Boyz II Men.

>> Wow.

>> And so Boyz II Men took off.

That's one of those I was standing at the right place at the right time.

And I think a lot of people believed I had something to do with it, which, it doesn't.

>> [LAUGH] >> And then I was representing, I did Spike Lee's soundtrack representing Queen Latifah, Boyz II Men, Eddie Murphy, by the time I was 21.

Then I went to Miramax and I became a vice president in marketing there.

I then spun off my own company cuz it was like, why am I making all of these people money?

I should make my own money.

>> At what point in your life did you start the film festival for minorities?

What pushed you, what struck that chord for you?

>> I had gone to Sundance and it was very odd to me that there were so few people of color in the films that we were seeing.

So when I met with the person who at the time, was head of the festival, I went to him and I said, there seems to be a lot of work that you guys aren't showing.

And he said to me, well if it were good, we would show it.

And I said but good according to who?

I had this resentment because it was like here's a gatekeeper who was preventing certain groups' stories from being told.

It pissed me off.

I couldn't sit in the seat I was in, had risen that high in film and cinema distribution and not give back.

I get my check but I can't help.

It just eats away at you, it doesn't let you sleep.

The film makers, your family members, every friend that you know that has a story, you suddenly realize, if I don't fight for that, their stories don't get told.

>> Yeah.

>> And then, I left and I created my own company.

My whole thing was, I'm gonna make a Black-Latino-Asian Sundance or Cannes film festival.

That was kind of my mantra in my mind.

>> Why did you decide to make MoviePass?

>> This is actually true what I did.

I sat in front of a white board, and I drew one circle that said theaters.

I drew another circle that said customers, and I had a third circle that said credit cards.

I said well, we need to devise a way that I go to the theater, and you guys go to the theater.

But we should all be able to load our cards independently, and at the time, there was no such thing.

People said no for five years, I couln't raise money for five years.

>> Five years?

>> Five years.

>> How do you keep yourself going?

>> I was doing the film festival.

>> I see.

>> I had two jobs.

I went to work all day.

I worked at nights and weekends.

And right after we would get done with the festival I kind of take my little deck and I'd go back out on the road, and people were like, get out of here with that.

I just kept going and going and going and going, and going, and no was not an option.

And eventually, we were able to get the funding.

>> His story was so crazy, he pushed all these artists, he developed his skills and he recognized his obligation to his community.

And I think maybe that goes to show that it's not always about the money, there should be more.

>> Every person has problems, right?

They have a mountain that they have to overcome.

But your weaknesses become your strengths.

So I didn't go to college, but that gave me a four year jump on the marketplace.

I don't know how to code.

But that lets me look at problems without thinking about what I can't do.

I am a person of color so I don't have at times the same access to capital but it makes me more Intelligent about how I attack market places because I can't afford large budgets.

So whatever you choose, there aren't restrictions.

Those are things designed to help you be better.

You have the opportunity to be the one who walks through doors.

That is first, right?

If you get through that door and keep it open, other people can run through it behind you.

You're all sitting here because of those efforts.

But there's something about when you're running with purpose.

You have the energy, you find it, that drives you.

We can go make something together, let's go make history, let's go climb Everest.

[MUSIC, Hip Hop] >> I've never been to New York before.

A day in New York feels like three days in Los Angeles.

So busy.

There's just so many people around you.

It smells.

There's so many cars.

It's just like, [LAUGH] >> New York City parks are full of weirdos, man.

>> That man trying to relax?

>> Nah bro, this is not the kind of place you relax on your own.

>> [LAUGH] >> Take it, take it, I'm just squinting.

>> So we're about to go interview Cindy Eckert.

>> Cindy pushed female viagra through the FDA, which was a hard feat.

>> Cindy Eckert, she was one of the top ones I had on my list.

I was up so late last night just taking notes and writing out questions.

I'm very excited.

I think a big problem is like the faces of tech.

It's such a male dominated industry.

Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk.

Part of the reason why women don't wanna join, there's not representation.

[MUSIC] >> If somebody were to say I'd like to introduce you to a pharmaceutical CEO.

Who sold their last business for a billion dollars.

And just imagine who that looks like, doesn't look like me.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] What made you wanna go into pharmaceutical specifically?

>> Yeah.

>> I think when I started I didn't know that I wanna be in pharma.

I love the industry for what it can do but the truth is along the path.

I was in an industry that was mostly male dominated.

If I looked up in the organization, nobody looked liked me.

There wasn't a lot of female leadership, there still isn't today.

Which is why I started my own, and I called the company Slate.

And it was a really clean slate.

>> So how do I say this?

Your story, kind of, mirrors my thought process a lot >> Okay.

>> In the sense that like, I love technology, and I love disruptive technology.

But how do you feel about working within the system.

And then, working outside of it, and how do you balance the two?.

>> I like challenging the system, so my best way to effect change.

Is to be a leader within the industry.

So there's a version which you could say, well, I just don't like anything that they're doing.

So I'm gonna pack my bags and go elsewhere.

Or, there's a version in which you say.

I don't like it, and it can be done differently, so watch me.

>> So how did you go about doing that, in your early stages?

>> So in pharma most of my career, sold my business.

Have what seemed like an entrepreneur dream come true.

Huge company buys it, they're gonna march it across the globe.

They're gonna make it affordable for women.

And then, because of what happened in their business they didn't.

They basically didn't shepherd my baby the way that I expected it, so I got it back.

And then, I applied all those things that I wanted to do to fix it.

So I cut a drug price in half, nobody's done that in 25 years.

It's part of the problem with the industry, so watch me, I just did it.

>> When you looked up, there were not many people who looked like you.

But you still pushed forward.

How do you then look at the status quo, and then say that I'm gonna impose.

The future that I'd like on this system and make your way?

>> It was driven by conviction that women deserved choice.

We have brain scan studies that show that for some women a lack of interest.

Can be biological, and we had study, after study, after study.

And yet what was still happening is that women who had this going on.

Would raise their hand in their doctors office, and they'd be pat on the shoulder.

And say, just relax, just have a glass of wine, just whatever.

And that dismissiveness is actually really pervasive, it's pervasive in women's health.

It's magnified hugely, I think when it comes to sex, and it just was not right.

I used to tease that if I couldn't get it approved for women.

I would go back and study a men and it would be a slam dunk.

>> [LAUGH] >> Cuz, there were 26 drugs already approved for men.

So men have it across a broad spectrum of dysfunctions.

And we were the first to break through for- >> For just one.

>> Women's most common.

Yeah, so I've got one on the board, we've got a lot more to go.

I'm hoping that I broke the door down.

>> But how do you get people to take you seriously?

>> Yeah, when I was on the path with Addyi, people called it the little pink pill.

And they would say, the little pink pill, and, isn't that cute.

And when I realized that there was so much dismissiveness underneath it.

So I started showing up in blazing hot pink, it's the gender stereotype.

Instead of coming back from it, I'm going straight for it, so we can talk about it.

And so, as I underestimated, showing up in rooms in which I didn't look the part.

I was the one woman in the room, I was younger, whatever it may have been.

I was in blazing hot pink and they were all in navy and grey.

It became that I sort of enjoyed the under estimation.

And the surprise when I showed up and killed them with the confidence.

And that meant that I knew my stuff cold.

>> So what's the story behind, >> [LAUGH] >> The pink gloves on the table?

>> [LAUGH] >> These sit on my desk everyday in my office And I think they are emblematic of maybe the boldest moment.

Which was the the decision to dispute the FDA.

We were this tiny little company.

I did all the work, I met all the outcomes.

Sat down with the FDA, they rejected me even though I had met all the outcomes.

And on that day, I can tell you that was the end of the business.

And I sat down in an airport.

And I think I probably didn't get up for a couple of hours.

I just was paralyzed.

I had no idea what we're gonna do.

And over that weekend, I went and met with one of the women who had the condition.

And in that moment, I thought, mmm, this is why I'm doing it.

And on Monday I walked in and I said, we're gonna dispute the FDA.

And it ultimately paid off, but it was rough, [LAUGH] That day.

It was really a hard journey to get there.

If you feel like you don't fit in the system or you don't imagine the part.

The way to make your way into it is to surprise people and continue to show up.

And never let that underestimation shake your confidence in what you're set out to do.

[MUSIC] >> She's a leader at heart.

She sticks to her values no matter what.

And that's so clear to see.

[MUSIC] The interviews are incredible.

Having the opportunity to talk to them face-to-face is crazy.

These people were once In our shoes so, they want to be there to help us and they're there for us, that's reassuring.

>> I haven't really had a lot of time to think about some of the questions that are really important to me.

And like, I think, being on the road, I'll have time to reflect.

>> I'm really hoping to just get guidance throughout my time on the road trip.

And I want to understand how other people have dealt with navigating the turbulent sea of waters.

>> I have to borrow a quote from Gandhi, and this is my favorite quote and I do think this is how life goes.

First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

And I think that's the cycle.

At the beginning, no one's going to to listen to you.

Then they're going to laugh at you for doing it, because people don't understand it.

And then they're going to fight you, because you're defying something and they didn't believe in it.

And then ultimately you win.

[MUSIC] I have never been to Washington DC.

>> We're interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk.

>> You have to figure out who you are and you have to tune out the other voices.

>> So we all come with different histories, those histories are culture add this weird idea that silicon valley had of culture fit is very disruptive.

>> She's been able to have such a varied career, and it's all because of her intuition.

[MUSIC] >> To learn more about how to get involved or to watch interviews from the road, visit roadtripnation.com.

[MUSIC]