Harold Hughes
PROFILE
Harold Hughes is a serial entrepreneur, CEO and founder of NFNTE Capital, an Entrepreneur Support Organization helping startup founders leverage social capital. His entrepreneurial curriculum has been adopted by institutions including Benedict College, the University of Texas, and Furman University to further students’ entrepreneurial mindset in their communities. As a first-generation American who prioritizes education, he holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from Clemson University. As a community leader, he authored and published “A Kids Book About Blockchain” to make Web3 technology accessible to all ages.
As a community builder and co-founder of Catalyst Labs, Harold runs a 12-week accelerator program for emerging entrepreneurs. His expertise spans from go-to-market strategy and business development, to supporting founders from ideation to scale. He is an active angel investor, primarily investing in companies led by diverse founders. Most notably, he has invested in Partake Foods, the Jay-Z-backed CPG company making allergy-friendly snacks, and companies like Liquid Death, Athletic Greens, Republic, Winx Health, Major League Pickleball, and Broadway plays like Stereophonic, Hell’s Kitchen, and The Wiz on Broadway.
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.
WTF are NFTs (or more SFW title: People are Buying JPEGS?!)
While many of us are still navigating our pandemic wardrobe, a new wave of technology has become prominent and flat-out unavoidable. NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens are here — thanks to Blockchain — and given their variety of use cases, they are here to stay. NFTs are currently being used as a way for artists to participate in the value creation of their work in perpetuity, allowing communities to token-gate their access, and allowing brands to connect more directly with their customers. In this session, we will learn what NFTs are, what they can do, and how you can keep these new valuable digital assets safe.
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.
Underestimated: Keys to Navigating Being a Person of Colour in Tech
As a first-generation American and son to Jamaican parents, Harold knows what it is like to overcome challenges. Being one of 5 children growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, he understood what it was like to grow up without some of the key resources that he needed. Now, an entrepreneur, Harold shares his story with others as well as his hacks for overcoming the challenges of being a person in colour in tech as it relates to growing your network, raising capital, and getting in the door with your first customer.
