About Me

Today...

I founded my own private investment firm, Blue Mahoe Holdings, Inc., that has interests in a number of businesses and I serve as an advisor to quite a few. I am the author of Things Entrepreneurs Say with version 2.0 and Social Media for Entrepreneurs (Yes, I know that I need to update that one too).

I graduated from the University of Miami at the age of 19, took a year off to play football in Jamaica and completed my MBA at University of Miami School of Business with concentrations in Marketing and International Business at the age of 22, one of the youngest ever graduates (my brother completed his at 21!).

I try not to take myself too seriously and am usually the equivalent of the class clown.

Previously...

I previously spent a year as the Investor Relations Specialist for a great hedge fund, Left Brain Capital Management, a Chicago-based hedge fund that was ranked among the top 10 performing hedge funds by Opalesque Magazine in September 2017. Before that, I worked for Jamaica National Building Society in Jamaica three different times, starting as consultant in 2001 at JN Microcredit Ltd., now JN Small Business Loans Ltd., gaining exposure to the microfinance industry in Jamaica; Assistant Marketing Manager with responsibility for youth marketing and being part of the product development team designing mortgages, investment and savings products from 2006 to 2007 and then as Manager, eChannels and Discount Business, launching their online banking platform JN Live and overseeing group digital marketing for the parent company and all subsidiaries in 2009-2010 before being recruited to work in lower middle market private equity in the USA at The RMP Group.

My entrepreneurial journey began in 2001, when my brother Robert and I founded Random Media LLC, an integrated media and entertainment firm focused on Caribbean entertainment and culture that had the largest collection of Caribbean music videos on the web with Realvibez.tv (starting out as Realvibes.net).

As CEO of Random Media, I successfully negotiated a deal for RealVibez to become YouTube’s first Caribbean media partner in 2008. I told the story of how we pulled that off here.

I am very involved in politics and previously served as the Caribbean Outreach Coordinator for Miami-Dade on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

In 2012, my wife Kathryn and I got President Obama to sign a Happy 50th Independence card for Jamaica.

Back in 2008, I was asked to endorse a book on entrepreneurship The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur alongside Donny Deutsch, Host of CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and contributed a chapter to a McGraw-Hill Publishing book, How To Make Money With YouTube. I am mentioned in the book Upstarts!: How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success written by former Inc. Magazine contributor Donna Fenn, was a judge for Business.com’s What Works For Business contest in 2009 and had a startup advice letter published in Inc. Magazine.

For 3 years I wrote a weekly opinion column in the Jamaica Observer on Sundays and I was the first Future Leaders Representative for the USA on the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board, a board that advises the Government of Jamaica on diaspora affairs through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. I have also worked in banking and private equity.

It all started when...

I graduated from high school in Jamaica at 15 years old and decided that I wanted to be a positive role model. I discussed the plan with my father and figured that there were four paths to achieving that goal so I needed advice.

• Path A - Become a politician and influence public policy for the better

• Path B - Become a university lecturer like my father and influence students

• Path C - Become a professional footballer

• Path D - Own my own media company to produce music and films

My dad thought that politics would require some ethical compromises based on how I was raised and pointed out that while he was flattered that I wanted to follow in his footsteps and teach at the university level, the people most in need of help were the ones who drop out of high school.

That left football and entertainment, which I pursued, eventually making the decision to accept a scholarship to the University of Miami School of Business in 2001 instead of continuing to pursue football.

My brother and I launched our first company in October 2001. Our vision from day one was always clear and the journey has been an interesting one. My good friend Mike Michalowicz calls it tacking because that's what you do in a sailboat to get to your destination - use the wind to get to your destination, not go in a straight line.

Some interesting things have happened in my life since then...