The Hennessy Lesson

They say Black people are mostly consumers. We spend a lot of money on goods and services, and it has been normalised in our community. We know how to have a good time, and there is nothing wrong with that.

What has always shocked me is how openly some brands brand themselves around us. Hennessy is the one that comes to mind immediately. Look at the ads. Look at the clubs. Look at the bottle culture. The brands have figured out that we like Hennessy, and they have built billion-dollar businesses on that loyalty. Fine. But how many of us are actually investors in these companies? If we are the largest consumers, we need to figure out how to also be the owners, so that when these businesses do well, some of the upside flows back to us.

You have probably seen the conversations online. Should you buy Apple shares or an iPhone? The shares appreciate. The iPhone depreciates in three to five years. The same logic applies to the brands we keep alive with our spending.

Things need to change. It is okay to keep consuming. What I want to propose is quite simple. For the brands we love, can we also be investors in them? If we are funding the brand with our money on one side, let us also capture the upside on the other.

Over the past year, you have heard me talk about creative culture. One thing is certain. Black people and African people are the curators of culture. Look at the music. Look at the art. Look at the food we are giving the world. How many of us are actually capturing the upside of all that success? Very few. That has to change.

As a consumer myself, I have become very intentional about the brands I support. Where I can invest in them, I do. And what I’ve learned is that this behaviour turns me into a loyal customer for life. Even when things get rocky, I stay. My capital and my conviction are tied together.

The clearest example is LEMFI. At HoaQ, we invested in LEMFI back in 2021. Since then, I have only used LEMFI to send money. When I travel, I use LEMFI. When I am anywhere in the world, I use LEMFI. Why? Because I am financially and emotionally invested in the company. Their success is my success.

I am not saying LEMFI is the best remittance company out there. In my opinion, it is, but people can disagree. What I will tell you is that I am so loyal to them that even when something was not working in the early days, I would text Ridwan, the CEO, and ask him to help address it. I don’t do that anymore because the company is much bigger now, and texting the CEO every time something breaks is not sustainable. The good news is I have not had to. LEMFI has been working really well for me. This is your cue to download the app.

The reason I share this is that I am this invested in the company because of a tiny check. You would actually laugh if you knew how small it was. But because of that small coin, I am tied in. I preach the gospel of LEMFI everywhere I go because their success is mine. I send money home to my family. I pay for things on the continent with them. They are my default.

I want this to apply to everything I touch.

I was an investor in Oja, the African online grocery company in London. When I moved to London and wanted to order African groceries, I used Oja. My loyalty was forced by my investment, and I was happy to order my groceries from them.

This is the pattern. As we keep consuming brands, we have to be strategic about which ones we back with capital so that when they prosper, we prosper with them.

Recently, I have been spending more time with consumer brands, and one I genuinely fell in love with is a plantain-infused rum called Dodo, founded by Tola. The first time we met, he showed up with beautiful bottles, and we tasted them. My reaction was immediate. We NEED to invest in this. As of this writing, we are actively considering investing in Dodo. And you already know what that means. You will not catch me drinking another rum. I am the kind of guy who gives a lot of gifts, so I will be ordering cases of Dodo for my house and gifting it at every occasion. It is a no-brainer for me.

The emotional connection that comes with being an investor really matters. Many of us are consuming the culture. Few of us are owning a piece of it. If the culture is going to be huge, and it already is, we have to make sure we benefit when it wins.

Part of my work is to find these companies and bring them to you so you don’t have to go searching. If you don’t have a lot of money to invest, that is fine. Join a collective. There are several on Borderless where your $1k, $2k, and $5k can be pooled with other investors and get you access to deals you would never access on your own. I also run a private group for deals I personally believe in and share with the people closest to this work. If we’ve co-invested before, send me a note, and I will add you. Otherwise, use this link.

Hey, Thanks for reading this. If you found it useful, let’s connect on LinkedIn, where I write regularly. If we haven’t met, I’m Joe Kinvi, and I’m building the investment infrastructure for the African Diaspora. Open an account to learn more at app.onborderless.com.