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Samyr Laine and his wife , Ayanna Alexander - Laine , startedFreedom Trail Capitalin 2023 and are work their way toward a $ 50 million monetary fund .
Both are former Olympians who compete for Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago , severally , in the three-fold startle . Now they put their gritrock and determination to work for father wanting to launch and surmount consumer brands .
“ I have it away people and connecting with the great unwashed , ” Alexander - Laine told TechCrunch . “ We know how to merge talent and stage business , and institute that athletes are honest in these distance . We also have the staying power to conquer other things and other entities outside of variation . ”
They , along with a third oecumenical partner , Ivan Lopez , have invested in seven inauguration so far with a small first fund close . These let in a fuzz care party by Issa Rae called Sienna Naturals ; a pet Cartesian product company start by Kaley Cuoco called Oh Norman ! ; Ciara ’s Ten to One rummy ; and Kudos , a diaper company plunk for by Mark Cuban and Gwyneth Paltrow .
There are another seven investment funds in the word of mouth as Freedom Trail Capital continue to raise Das Kapital , Laine told TechCrunch .
To the Olympics and beyond
Laine knows what it ’s like to start and weighing machine companies . He was previously working as fourth-year frailty Chief Executive of operation and strategy at Westbrook , the speculation business firm founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith . He also spent meter as director of operations at Roc Nation , work out with Jay - Z. Meanwhile , Alexander - Laine is get her doctorate in business judicature and will centre on healthcare finance and healthcare unfairness .
Laine also knows what it ’s like to betray . He tried out for the cartroad squad in the 7th grade and cease up being trend the next class . It was n’t until he was a third-year in high school that he make up one’s mind to try again with trail , this time getting serious with the triple jump .
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All was good , though . Laine ended up hold out to Harvard and gear up some track records with the squad . He also was roommates with Mark Zuckerberg . They had a four - individual residence hall room freshman year , and they even share bunk beds . Laine ended up being maybe the eleventh person to get on Facebook and prove it out , he said . He also was a trivia question on the show “ Cash Cab ” about which Olympian was roomie with Zuckerberg , Laine said .
“ Mark was always a builder , and we knew he was go to do something tremendous , of course , ” Laine sound out .
When Laine transferred to The University of Texas , he was exposed to a fresh cosmos of racetrack and airfield . Teammates there competed on a dissimilar level , as many had been world junior virtuoso . Laine competed in his first Pan - American Games in 2007 . He also tried out for the Olympics in 2008 and missed contend in the triple jump by a few centimeters .
He was balancing training and going to law schoolhouse at Georgetown University when he tried out for the Olympics again in 2012 and qualified . A flock of people distinguish him it was too much , but now when anyone enquire him for advice , he tells them to “ go do the thing you wo n’t be able-bodied to do . ”
“ I recall if I could go to law schooling and equilibrise it , I could get there , ” Laine said . “ At that point , I was No . 7 in the world in the ternary jump , and run to the London games , my goal was to win Haiti ’s first medallion since 1928 . I qualified for the final exam but did n’t end up getting a ribbon . ”
Working for Will Smith and Jay-Z
After that , he had some additional vocation in sports before he got into amusement and brand - edifice at Roc Nation . Laine worked with Jay - Z to build and scale his brands that let in spirits , clothes , marihuana and a book publishing division . He even managed some platinum transcription artists . From there , he go to Westbrook to do similar things for Smith and Pinkett Smith . He was there for four years before start up Freedom Trail Capital .
“ I was n’t of necessity allocate capital and investing , but I did have a front - run-in view into some of the investment conclusion that Roc Nation ’s fund made , ” Laine said . “ I am an operator at mettle , so it give me a unique perspective on how we do diligence on investment opportunities and can stick out our portfolio companies . ”
Freedom Trail Capital ’s dissertation is to invest in endowment - led businesses , and he really knows what he ’s looking for . Laine has facilitate Smith and Jay - Z be successful with some of their brands , but has also seen some cases where gift - lead brands did n’t go the way they were say to .
Now that he is on the other side as an investor , Laine state it is his job to protect and vouch for the entrepreneurs while also protect his modified cooperator from what looks like a high-risk investment .
“ Having been at a piazza where I acknowledge what it takes for these brands to win , we ’re seem at our portfolio very otherwise than most the great unwashed , ” Laine said .
Not every ware has what it takes , he say . Freedom Trail Capital is attend for merchandise that have product - marketplace burst , of course . If there is a renown behind it , there has to be a near link between the person and Cartesian product , and the person has to want to roll up their sleeves and get to body of work .
Laine say there were times when he grapple with a famous person who was n’t willing to do a photograph shoot or go to Target to upgrade the product .
“ We ’re not just talk about imprimatur anymore , ” Laine say . “ We ’re talking about you owning a substantial part of this company . I ’ve attend thing fall by the wayside , and really promising brands and companies fail as a upshot . ”
