>> I'm Dr.

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr and this is "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> How do you block equity when, you know, it's not just about culture, it's not just about races, it's not just about our differences.

Equity has to do with socioeconomic impact.

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we continue to look for ways to empower our customers.

We seek broad impact in our communities, and we're proud of the role we play for our customers and the U.S.

economy.

As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers and communities through housing access, small-business growth, financial health, and other community needs.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry.

Learn more, api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American -- dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

>> Charles Cantu, welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you, Dr.

Chavis.

It's an honor to be here.

>> Tell us about your upbringing.

I think you were born on a naval base?

>> That's right, that's right.

Alameda.

>> So how do you wind up being this digital expert, >> Yeah, I think by happenstance, really.

So, for me, I was born in Alameda.

I grew up in a town called Union City.

And I really didn't know what I wanted to be.

I thought I was gonna be a pro football player.

I thought I was gonna be a professional rapper -- like, you know, one of those guys.

And, then, when I realized that wasn't happening or going to happen, I realized I wanted to be in business.

so I went back to school.

And fortunately, I have always migrated towards tech and computers.

>> Where did you go to school?

>> So, in middle school, Barnard-White, I took my first computer-programming classes in sixth grade.

>> Really?

>> In the '80s, yes.

>> Sixth grade?

>> Sixth grade.

>> Man, I wish I would have had computer programming when I was in the sixth grade.

But go ahead.

>> Yeah.

So, I was really into it.

And, then, through my life, I kind of gravitated toward tech.

So essentially what happened is I went to what's now defunct Heald Business School in the Bay Area and got a computer associates degree and started my first company.

And that company's first contracts were -- So, I was a dropout, college dropout.

Essentially, my first contracts were the city of Salinas and a couple of others.

And then that company was bought and acquired by the permitting manager, Don Wimberley, and I went to work for AIMM and Bay Area Shared Information Consortium, which was BASIC.

So we were building Google Maps before there was such a thing, satellite imagery, Autodesk and ESRI software for the GIS.

>> What was your age when all this was going on?

>> I was in my 20s.

>> Wow, man.

You know, Bill Gates and a lot of people in high-tech are college dropouts.

>> Yeah.

[ Laughs ] >> You seem to be in that line.

>> Yeah.

I just -- I was tired of school, and I didn't feel like I was getting enough from it, and I wanted to make money, and so I just kind of went that route.

And it worked for me, 'cause then I ended up at ABC Radio in San Francisco and then moved to New York for what's now called Ampersand, and I was working for Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox, Spectrum -- those folks.

So it was the right decision for me at the right time.

>> Well, you've had a varied and a storied career.

But what led you to leave these mainstream businesses and start your own?

Because right now you have a mainstream digital venture.

>> When I left the cable operators, they thought I was crazy.

programmatic advertising was going to be the future.

Turns out that I was right in that assessment to a certain extent.

And I worked for a company -- I left the cable operators to work for a startup called MediaMath, who a guy named Joe Zawadzki was one of the early inventors and adopters of programmatic advertising.

And we built that into a billion-dollar value company.

And while I was doing that and I was very happy with it, I was being recruited by a company called TubeMogul, who was eventually acquired by Adobe.

And I was gonna take that job, and I thought I was taking that job.

My wife and I had sat down, and we talked about it.

And the counter offer from MediaMath was to angel-invest in a company called Huddled Masses.

And so I started Huddled Masses, and I built Colossus and Huddled Masses, 2012.

So the counteroffer was to start my business.

And that was MediaMath and my wife pushing me to work for myself to be independent.

And so I sold those companies in 2018, and I started Reset Digital in 2018.

>> Can you explain from your own success story how digital has enabled not only your business, but other minority-owned or African-American-owned that you've been in, that you collaborate with?

>> So, what we found is because of the bifurcation of channels on how people consume news, information, media, those audiences are vast.

And growing businesses tends to do with two things very simply -- reach and frequency.

And whether that's finding your niche and being able to speak to that audience on a smaller scale, but grow your business that way, or broad reach, frequency of three plus, and driving your business that way.

But the science is there.

We've been doing this for decades in traditional media, and it's just transgressed and transformed into digital.

>> Okay.

Reach and frequency.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> As I listen to you, it seems to me that there are multiple layers of media today.

Tell me where Reset Digital fits in the national landscape of digital advertising.

>> At this juncture, we have trillions of daily impressions, right?

So we reach trillions.

So we are global.

Reset is global.

>> That's a big number.

>> It's massive.

It's massive.

And it's global.

In the U.S., 300 million plus people that we reach, or can reach on a daily basis.

So we give marketers the opportunity to reach anyone and everyone they want, based on the targeting parameters they want.

So when you talk about local or smaller shops, you're talking about being able to not just target to the zip code, but to target to the block level, if you really want to, or target that all the way up to the national level.

We do it all.

>> You know, the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission just passed a new rule allowing geo-targeting primarily in radio.

But, you know, these terms affect other media categories.

>> That's right.

>> So being able to target advertising to a particular not just zip code, but a group within that zip code.

>> That's right.

>> Socioeconomics.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Can digital help level the playing field for people who have not characteristically been involved at the higher levels -- I'm gonna put it this way -- at the profit levels of media?

>> Absolutely.

I think what we've managed to do at Reset is get the Fortune 1000 to understand that it's not true that you can't reach people at scale -- Black, white, red, brown, polka dot, and get the performance that you need.

So in regard to the census and reaching people early on, what we built was a system that essentially allows you to, you know, back to my roots in GIS software, create different polygons and radiuses of who you wanted to reach in certain areas.

So that was something that we did day one.

And it was important to us, because we knew that being able to reach people and be inclusive is for me not just about race.

It's actually about understanding the person.

And so the culture in Newark, California, is extremely different than the culture in Newark, new Jersey, right?

The culture in California in general is different than New York in general.

So being able to understand the subsegments on a very specific level down to, you know, the block or the household we can do and we made sure that we could do day one.

>> As the C.E.O.

of Reset Digital, are you in communication with other C.E.O.s in the marketplace that are also in your digital.

>> Yeah, C.E.O.s and/or their teams, right?

So, we've made a point to be collaborative, while others I think have been exploitative, and even some of those we have worked with or tried to work with.

So, you know, for us, it's way more important to grow this ecosystem, essentially growing the pie.

For me, it's not about trying to get a bigger share of what already exists.

It's about expansion, because that's how everybody really wins.

>> What would you recommend to people who would consider digital somewhat as a career path?

What would you recommend >> I think the first step is doing some -- I mean, right now all the information is at your fingertips.

So doing some research, understanding who the players are, who the companies are, networking.

I think we've lost in the U.S.

this idea of apprenticeship.

So, the first company that I started where I won the city of Salinas, that was by way of apprenticeship.

So I did some apprenticeship through Heald College itself.

And there was a guy named Ray Espinosa, who was the I.T.

manager.

And I harassed him every single day for three quarters before he hired me.

And I was, "I'll work for free.

I'll work for free."

Ultimately, he got me a job and sat me in front of how to build a computer, right?

So he had a computer in parts.

In five minutes, he put one together.

And then he said, "You're on your own."

And I had to sit there and do it.

But I think that learning from the bottom-up how to do these things matters.

And the same thing of, you know, why have my businesses been successful, and why have I been able to build them and sell them, because of the people that I worked under that I could, you know, learn from their experiences, right?

So that's had a big impact on my life.

>> I wonder why we don't have apprenticeships in technology, apprenticeships in science, apprenticeships in STEM, technology, engineering, mathematics.

Why do you think that's lacking in our school system?

>> I wish I knew.

I wish I knew.

I think it's so important.

So, I've mentored a handful of folks in my life, and three of them have become millionaires themselves.

And I think it's so important to put people on the path and then keep them on the path, right?

So, one of the individuals wanted to leave, and he was gonna go work a corporate job for UPS.

And I was like, "You're not gonna be happy over there.

I know you're not making enough yet, but if you just stick with it, you'll get there."

And the kid's a millionaire -- Well, he's not a kid anymore either.

[ Laughs ] >> From your perspective, being a C.E.O.

of a major digital company, do you see some opening of opportunity, or is the opportunity to do a closing?

>> Well, I think it's opening in the sense that first off, with Reset, our whole mission and mantra when everybody was talking more and more about diversity, what I saw was fragmentation happening.

And, you know, because I'm Black, my mom is white, my dad who raised me is Mexican, I've got Filipino cousins, Samoan cousins, we were always about inclusion.

>> So you're a multicultural -- >> Yeah.

We were about inclusion.

We were about everybody eats.

We were about that, you know, the whole time.

And so Reset has always been about inclusion, not necessarily about diversity.

And to top that off, we focused heavily on delivering results and performance.

Publicis ran a campaign with us that we shared at the ANA, where there was 200% lift in foot traffic for Starbucks, 600% lift in sales.

So these are not minor results.

These are at scale, and we did it at scale for them.

What that really equates to is when you talk about the census, when you reach people at scale and you don't exclude them.

So, and you look at these numbers, we reached an 85% representation of the population, which means we reached Black people at scale, Hispanic people at scale, white people at scale.

When you drive that kind of business result, this isn't necessarily about "Let's work together because you need it or we need it," outside of if you want to grow your business and you want to impact your business, then you will reach everybody at scale, period, full stop.

>> So the opportunity door is opening.

>> That's right.

>> Provided you have some of the experiences that you've had.

>> Right.

>> And not only learning the technology, but the experiential.

I think what I'm gaining from this interview is the importance of life experience, the importance of lived experience.

>> That's right.

to the opportunities that may be open today.

>> Right.

And in bypassing, you know, systemic -- I don't know if I would call it systemic racism, but the systemic issues that are built into the systems and the companies and the industries, right?

So what we've been able to do is, is really bifurcate all of that and allow people to do the things that they want to do, which is get better business results and do that through the representation of what America looks like today, not what it used to be.

>> Right.

Well, Charles, I'm sure you and I know business leaders or just people in the community who allow these systems of discrimination, who allow the systems of racism or anti-Semitism, all these isms, to crush their hopes and desires.

>> Right.

>> But I think one of the things I admire about Reset Digital, you've pushed through a lot of complexity.

You've pushed through a lot of what people thought were insurmountable hurdles.

Tell us about the transcendence in the marketplace that you have benefited from out of your own experience.

But obviously you not only had good mentors, something internal in you that made you not give up.

>> Yeah.

I think that is -- You can call it tenacity, or fear of losing, or whatever you want.

But ultimately, when people talk about purpose, my purpose -- we talked about my wife and kids -- like, they are my purpose.

And therefore, there has never been an option to fail.

There has never been an option to lose.

There's never been an option to give up, so long as we continue to do what we're doing.

And right now this is about building legacy, right?

So having built and sold three companies in my lifetime, this is now not about just building and selling another company.

So, you know, what I want to be working with, the NNPA, NABOB, other associations, and outside of that is we will and are going to be announcing, so let's announce it now, what we call 100 Millionaires program.

We want to build... We've already built the infrastructure for people to be able to -- >> 100 Millionaires.

>> 100 Millionaires.

So we've already built the infrastructure for young people and old people to be able to become a millionaire in the media and marketing industry.

And so we will be rolling that out next year.

We've got some big brands behind that.

And what that essentially means is if we can build a million -- or if we can build a hundred, we can build a thousand.

That equates to a billion dollars in annual gross revenue in this country with underrepresented communities -- women, Black, white, Hispanic, et cetera.

And when I say white, I mean those that are socioeconomically underrepresented, as well, right -- the kids that I grew up with.

>> Well, that's a bold goal.

>> It is.

We're not just here to build another business at this point.

>> So when you talk about your reach and your frequency, you believe Reset Digital can help reach and empower 100 millionaires in America?

>> That's right, within the next five years.

>> Five years from now, I'm gonna have to have you come back and ask you about that success model.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> How has Reset Digital been able to maintain its purpose without being acquired by one of the big companies?

>> So, we've been approached more than once in the last six years.

We continue to get approached.

We have a very specific goal that we're going to hit, including the 100 millionaires.

And so if people are not on board with what we're trying to achieve, then we just as soon work with them or without them.

If we're going to pass on $20 million in political, then it's not just about the money anymore.

This is about impact.

>> There's around 120 HBCUs -- historically Black colleges and universities.

Have you been on the HBCU circuit?

I mean, has there been an intersection between Reset Digital and HBCUs.

>> So, recently, over the past three months, we're in deep conversations, and there's some contract now conversations going back and forth.

So I wouldn't be surprised or please don't be surprised if within... six weeks there is an announcement to begin, you know, something very significant in that path, again, on the course to 100 millionaires, right?

So we're putting the puzzle pieces in place as we speak.

>> What has been your greatest hurdle thus far?

>> I think, you know, funding was a big issue.

>> Access to capital?

>> Access to capital.

What I've always been good at is raising seed-round angel money.

And once you get into venture, it becomes more and more difficult because of, you know, the good old boys clubs that exist in the VC markets, and, then, also, that in-between where someone either wants to buy you and control you versus invest on that growth ride.

So we've had people say, "Yeah, we'll give you, you know, enough money to take you over" more than once.

And that's not what we're interested in at this particular juncture.

>> There's been a lot of attention given to the San Francisco Bay Area.

When you go back there today, do you see more promise?

>> The Bay Area that I grew up in, that doesn't exist anymore.

And I don't know that I see more promise.

I think what it is, it certainly is, and I don't know that I'm gonna see that change.

I see a lot of immigration that has taken place.

I think the diversity is there.

But I think the socioeconomic systems that are in place are incredibly powerful and strong, and I don't know that that changes unless something radically shifts.

>> So, back to the East Coast, where you are now, in New York, are you able to have an involvement or impact on the major decisions about advertising, about digitalization, inclusiveness?

>> Well, the good news is, we've been able to share, be published in Ad Age, Adweek, media posts, so the major... >> Trade publications.

>> ...trade publications in regard to, you know, everything from, you know, what the issues are in brand safety and how they block Black media, and Hispanic media for that matter, as well as just what's new and what we built with our Neuro-Programmatic platform and how to market to people based on emotion as opposed to -- >> I know what you mean.

Just explain to our audience, what is brand safety?

>> So, forever -- this is not a new term.

Since the beginning of marketing, I would imagine, marketers have been concerned with the placement of their ads and the content.

So, for example, if I'm Boeing, I do not want a Boeing ad to ever show up while there is a plane crash, right, or a faulty engine, or something of that extent.

So the association, the ad between the context and the message, has to be fit and matched.

Today, you know, a lot of things -- I've seen the word "black" be blocked because of, you know, different so-called brand-safety companies, which we've had to undo and fight against.

And fortunately, in our DSP, we've managed to do that completely.

Ultimately, when you think about, you know, the shortcomings or the fear-inducing nature of what diversity was and/or is, we are not that.

We're not in that business.

What we're in is the business of making people a lot of money.

And that includes essentially everyone.

And how do you block equity when, you know, it's not just about culture?

It's not just about races.

It's not just about our differences.

Equity has to do with socioeconomic impact.

And, you know, from my neighbors to, you know, the people in the next zip code, we're all trying to, you know, sustain a lifestyle.

And to call it what it is in New York, you have to be able to make a lot of money in order to survive.

It's different across the country, but essentially we all deserve to be able to make a certain kind of living, and I think everyone agrees with that, if people are willing to put in the work.

And so we're providing the tools so that when they put in the work, essentially they make that.

>> Very good.

Charles Cantu, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having me.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we continue to look for ways to empower our customers.

We seek broad impact in our communities, and we're proud of the role we play for our customers and the U.S.

economy.

As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers and communities through housing access, small-business growth, financial health, and other community needs.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry.

Learn more, api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American -- dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

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