Samyr Laine and his spouse, Ayanna Alexander-Laine, began Freedom Path Capital in 2023 and are working their manner towards a $50 million fund.
Each are former Olympians who competed for Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively, within the triple soar. Now they put their grit and willpower to work for founders eager to launch and scale shopper manufacturers.
“I like individuals and connecting with individuals,” Alexander-Laine advised TechCrunch. “We all know learn how to merge expertise and enterprise, and located that athletes are good in these areas. We even have the stamina to overcome different issues and different entities exterior of sports activities.”
They, together with third basic accomplice, Ivan Lopez, have invested in seven startups to date with a small first fund shut. These embrace a hair care firm by Issa Rae referred to as Sienna Naturals; a pet product firm began by Kaley Cuoco referred to as Oh Norman!; Ciara’s Ten to One Rum; and Kudos, a diaper firm backed by Mark Cuban and Gwyneth Paltrow.
There are one other seven investments within the pipeline as Freedom Path Capital continues to lift capital, Laine advised TechCrunch.
To the Olympics and past
Laine is aware of what it’s like to start out and scale firms. He was beforehand working as senior vice chairman of operations and technique at Westbrook, the enterprise agency based by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. He additionally hung out as director of operations at Roc Nation, working with Jay-Z. In the meantime, Alexander-Laine is getting her doctorate in enterprise administration and can concentrate on healthcare finance and healthcare inequities.
Laine additionally is aware of what it’s wish to fail. He tried out for the observe staff within the seventh grade and ended up being reduce the following yr. It wasn’t till he was a junior in highschool that he determined to strive once more with observe, this time getting critical with the triple soar.
All was good, although. Laine ended up going to Harvard and setting some observe data with the staff. He additionally was roommates with Mark Zuckerberg. That they had a four-person dorm room freshman yr, and so they even shared bunk beds. Laine ended up being perhaps the eleventh particular person to get on Fb and try it out, he mentioned. He additionally was a trivia query on the present “Money Cab” about which Olympian was roommates with Zuckerberg, Laine mentioned.
“Mark was all the time a builder, and we knew he was going to do one thing large, in fact,” Laine mentioned.
When Laine transferred to The College of Texas, he was uncovered to a brand new world of observe and area. Teammates there competed on a special degree, as many had been world junior champions. Laine competed in his first Pan-American Video games in 2007. He additionally tried out for the Olympics in 2008 and missed competing within the triple soar by a couple of centimeters.
He was balancing coaching and going to legislation college at Georgetown College when he tried out for the Olympics once more in 2012 and certified. Lots of people advised him it was an excessive amount of, however now when anybody asks him for recommendation, he tells them to “go do the factor you gained’t have the ability to do.”
“I assumed if I might go to legislation college and steadiness it, I might get there,” Laine mentioned. “At that time, I used to be No. 7 on this planet within the triple soar, and going to the London video games, my objective was to win Haiti’s first medal since 1928. I certified for the finals however didn’t find yourself getting a medal.”
For 10 years, Laine and Alexander-Laine competed around the globe as professionals in observe and area. Laine realized from his UT teammates learn how to make cash doing that. He was additionally in a position to get sponsorships and financial help from the worldwide Olympic committee.
Working for Will Smith and Jay-Z
After that, he had some further careers in sports activities earlier than he obtained into leisure and brand-building at Roc Nation. Laine labored with Jay-Z to construct and scale his manufacturers that embrace spirits, attire, hashish and a e-book publishing division. He even managed some platinum recording artists. From there, he went to Westbrook to do comparable issues for Smith and Pinkett Smith. He was there for 4 years earlier than beginning Freedom Path Capital.
“I wasn’t essentially allocating capital and investing, however I did have a front-row view into a number of the funding selections that Roc Nation’s fund made,” Laine mentioned. “I’m an operator at coronary heart, so it offers me a novel perspective on how we do diligence on funding alternatives and might help our portfolio firms.”
Freedom Path Capital’s thesis is to spend money on talent-led companies, and he actually is aware of what he’s searching for. Laine has helped Smith and Jay-Z achieve success with a few of their manufacturers, however has additionally seen some circumstances the place talent-led manufacturers didn’t go the best way they have been imagined to.
Now that he’s on the opposite facet as an investor, Laine mentioned it’s his job to guard and vouch for the entrepreneurs whereas additionally defending his restricted companions from what appears to be like like a nasty funding.
“Having been at a spot the place I do know what it takes for these manufacturers to win, we’re our portfolio very in a different way than most individuals,” Laine mentioned.
Not each product has what it takes, he mentioned. Freedom Path Capital is searching for merchandise which have product market match, in fact. If there’s a superstar behind it, there needs to be an excellent connection between the particular person and product, and the particular person has to need to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Laine mentioned there have been instances when he handled a celeb who wasn’t prepared to do a photograph shoot or go to Goal to advertise the product.
“We’re not simply speaking about endorsements anymore,” Laine mentioned. “We’re speaking about you proudly owning a major a part of this firm. I’ve seen issues fall by the wayside, and actually promising manufacturers and corporations fail because of this.”
