Harold Hughes
PROFILE
Harold is the truest definition of a modern day multihyphenate. He is the Founder and CEO of NFNTE Capital, an entrepreneur services company designed to help entrepreneurs—aspiring and current—unlock the value of social capital, starting with their personal networks. As a serial entrepreneur, he has started businesses and secured partnerships over his nearly two decades of experience in business development, partnerships, and operations.
When he’s not building businesses, he’s creating community. Harold co-founded the first token-gated community for Black founders, funders, creators, and community leaders. He later co-founded Catalyst Labs, building the flagship curriculum from his experience as an entrepreneur.
Before launching NFNTE Capital, Harold raised more than $5M for his venture-backed startup, supporting brands like Pepsi and LIFEWTR, as well as athletes in the NFL, MLS, and NCAA.
He is also an educator, having authored A Kids Book About Blockchain to ensure that this revolutionary technology isn’t lost on the next generation. As a self-proclaimed “round character,” he proudly shares his experiences as a dad, a foodie, and his mental and physical health journey to inspire and engage others.
Harold believes that NFNTE Capital is the culmination of all the “dots” he’s been connecting since 2004, and he is excited to bring his newest vision to life.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Work-Life Balance is a Myth!
The concept of Work-Life Balance has become increasingly discussed lately while becoming seemingly impossible to achieve. If you have ever felt this, you are in for a treat as we unpack the myth of Work-Life Balance and shift our focus to Work-Life Prioritization. We will talk about healthy habits, responsible routines, and productive processes that we can all apply to feel better at home and work.
Blockchain Beyond the Coin
Like many great innovations, the first use case isn’t always the best one. Harold and his team have navigated the adoption of blockchain technology in an enterprise environment to show that crypto doesn’t only mean cryptocurrencies. Harold will share his thoughts on permissioned-blockchains, Zero-Knowledge Proof, and other enterprise level solutions in the blockchain space.
GRAVITY: The Social Capital Program
OVERVIEW
GRAVITY is designed to help founders, professionals, and aspiring entrepreneurs cultivate meaningful, long-term relationships that go beyond transactions. Social capital is often the missing ingredient in business success, yet few people know how to nurture authentic, value-driven connections.
This program teaches participants how to build trust, foster reciprocity, and create communities that sustain growth. Through a mix of strategy, storytelling, and active engagement, participants will learn how to transform their network into a powerful asset that accelerates their business and professional goals.
OUR STRATEGY
GRAVITY uses an experiential, community-driven approach to help participants build meaningful, long-term relationships. Through real-time application, storytelling, and network mapping, participants learn how to engage their social capital beyond transactions.
By deconstructing successful relationships and practicing sustainable connection strategies, they develop the tools to foster trust, reciprocity, and long-term collaboration. This hands-on methodology ensures they leave with actionable steps to cultivate and activate their network effectively.
OUTCOMES
- Understand the Foundations of Social Capital
- Learn How to Build Authentic Connections
- Craft & Share Their Relationship Narrative Map & Activate Their Social Capital Network
- Develop a Relationship-Building Strategy
VELOCITY: The Startup Sprint Program
VELOCITY: The Startup Sprint Program is designed to give entrepreneurially curious students and young entrepreneurs the fundamental components of going from idea to launch.
While we acknowledge that there are many unwritten rules to startup success, our goal is to give participants a foundational understanding of going from zero to one while also planting seeds of knowledge that, as they add their unique perspective and creativity, will lead to the first steps of building a startup.
OUR STRATEGY
This boot camp-style session is delivered in small group sessions (less than 12 participants per session). Our focus is on high school and college students and first-time entrepreneurs.
In the session, we will focus on three key takeaways: talking to customers and listening to them, creating cost-effective, non-scalable MVPs (minimum viable products) through the use of Artificial Intelligence, and leveraging social capital to gain early trust and traction before you have investors, revenue, or product.
OUTCOMES
- Effectively communicate their company, product, and purpose in 60-seconds
- Articulate the value proposition of their product
- Identify their ideal customer and develop an ideal customer profile
- Leverage learnings to unlock their social capital networks
DECODE: The Deconstructing Companies for Entrepreneurial Development Program
The Deconstructing Companies for Entrepreneurial Development (DECODE™) Program is designed for high school and college students interested in entrepreneurship.
Over the years, we have worked with dozens of companies and reviewed hundreds for potential investment opportunities. During that time, we found critical points where the business lacked the proper structure, market validation, and customer research to be sustainable.
Our program is built to give an introductory lens of entrepreneurship by evaluating and “deconstructing” businesses – failed and successful – to identify the indicators for success.
At the end of this program, students will be able to:
- Understand the basics of Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and other business models
- Articulate the value proposition for their favorite brands
- Identify the key indicators of the success or failure of businesses
- Implement learnings to test their startup ideas
Our goal is to introduce the core concepts of entrepreneurship in a way that is broadly accessible to students of every background while leaving room for curiosity and creativity for those most interested in the startup journey.
One of the most important takeaways from our program is that there are many roles in the startup ecosystem and the value of each role. Each workshop is designed for high school and college students and first-time entrepreneurs who need the basic building blocks.
