Who Influenced My Mentality
The people in this article impacted my life on a high level. The Kobe/Zero Dark Thirty Mentality was ingrained in my conscience through music and sports.
3rd Eye Invest: Founder Intro Story Pt 3
First, I want to mention that I haven’t even come close to achieving my goals as a founder. My goal is to make a great product that positively impacts the world and is used by millions of people. Developing a unicorn startup worth 1 billion+ is tough work. I will live the rest of my life knowing I tried and will be at peace with success or “failure.” Plus I know I’m one of the best investors in the world. Not the best, but one of the best for sure.
Growing up in the Yo (short for Youngstown, OH), you have to develop a strong mindset. The Kobe/Zero Dark Thirty Mentality is another saying for strong mindset and extreme focus.
Knowing how and when to tap into that type of focus is important for everyday regular people. I use it when investing, working, playing pick-up basketball, competitive sports, or moving from a city of 70k people in 2016 to San Francisco with no family, no friends, and my first time on a plane. Moving to San Francisco was one of the best decisions I’ve made.
I have to acknowledge that my mom and dad were my first influencers, followed by my family members and the Yo itself. People often ask me if I feel any pressure. I tell them no—because I was raised under pressure.
Plus, my favorite artist once said, “Cole under pressure. What does that make? Diamonds.” 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
My mom might not be as much of a music fan as I am, but she influenced me with her street and book smarts. She has this fiery side of her that I can pop off at any moment if needed, lol! She taught me so much, both directly and indirectly, just by living day-to-day life, being a woman and mom two of the most difficult shoes to fill in the world.
My dad, on the other hand, is the one who really got me into music. When he picked me up, there was always something playing. Whether I was in the front or back seat (mandatory seat belt), I was flipping through the full CD case he kept in the car. Juvenile was one of my favorite artists because my dad played his songs a lot.
I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but I asked my dad for an MP3 player and was persistent in asking him when his friend would be done adding songs. My mom even had to tell me to be quiet from rapping and singing along on the steps at home, haha!
I was fortunate to live on the same street with 90% or more of my aunts and cousins. Imagine being on one street with 12 cousins, all within four to eight years of each other. Those years were some of the best years of my life.
My cousins were the ones who made me a fan of Kobe Bryant. We were all Kobe fans. You don’t understand how many times I shot a piece of paper in school and yelled, “Kobeeeeeeeeeee.” Watching Kobe play from early childhood until he retired on April 13th, 2016, heavily influenced my mentality—whether it was in my personal life, work, or sports.
Michael Jordan’s six rings and many other accomplishments were also significant, and I watched so many videos of him growing up, especially in high school. You know, as a Kobe fan, I didn’t think Michael Jordan was the GOAT, and even though I lived 30 minutes from where LeBron grew up, my cousins and I didn’t like him. I used to argue with fellow students about this until I matured and started to appreciate and support LeBron’s greatness in his last few years in Cleveland before going to Miami to the present day. Yes, I think he is the GOAT.
I look up to LeBron because he’s a complete role model—never in the spotlight for anything negative and just dominating the game. Seeing how much LeBron, Kobe, MJ, Steph, and so many other players put into their craft motivated me. Recently, the four additional professionals who have inspired me on the court are Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson (middy game crazy), along with Angel Reese and Dawn Staley. I fw Dawn’s fashion and coaching style. She be taking me fr and having me hyped and motivated.
My former basketball coach at East High School gave us all a sheet to work on our shooting during the offseason. I completed that sheet 3-5 days a week throughout the summer and fall. Around that time, Steph Curry was blowing up at Davidson and then with the Warriors. I have a knack for studying the greats—how they succeeded and failed—to learn. One article I read talked about how Steph had one of the worst summers ever when his dad tried to fix his jumper. Then I read about how he makes 500 shots a day. I’m not sure if y’all know how insane that is, but making 500 shots a day is ridiculous. It reminded me of when I read that Warren Buffett reads 500 pages a day. I’ve tried to come close to both of those goals, to gain skills in basketball and a lot of knowledge in investing.
Part Two: Music
Below is a screenshot of my 2024 Spotify Wrapped
I first heard about J. Cole from two people, though I can’t remember who mentioned him first. My dad’s girlfriend gave him a CD with J. Cole’s Shook Ones Freestyle, and my friend Jalen at Ursuline asked me to listen to “Back to the Topic” while we were lifting weights before basketball season. I really fw how Cole moved from Fayetteville, NC to NYC to chase his dream of rapping, but used school as his way in. I’m not sure if I would have moved to San Francisco without J. Cole’s influence. I listened to these three mixtapes every day—The Come Up, The Warm Up, and Friday Night Lights. His music and mentality to succeed became ingrained in my consciousness.
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is a classic album. My dad was playing it in his car, and I remember thinking, “Damn, who is this dude?” I was using Spotify at the time, but I wanted to support Dr. Dre, so I signed up for Beats Music, and then Apple Music when Apple bought Beats for $1.8 billion. That acquisition motivated me even more.
I was inspired by Kendrick’s lyrics, his story, and everything he stood for. A classmate in Army ROTC recommended Kendrick’s song “Average Joe,” and after that, I listened to all his mixtapes before Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. When Kendrick dropped his verse on “Control,” I could tell his confidence was on ten, and I wanted mine to be the same. I fw every K dot album and could probably rap every word and adlib. Not only his but many other artists.
My dad’s favorite artist was Tupac, who influenced me a lot. Tied for first of my dad’s favorite is Jay-Z, who always talked about business in his songs and even referred to himself as the “Black Warren Buffett.” Hearing that alone was motivating. Hov also did an interview with Warren Buffett that inspired me.
I’m not sure which Jay-Z album is my favorite, but Reasonable Doubt is top two. When Jay-Z launched Tidal, I wanted to support him and was curious about how well his investment would do. He bought it for $56 million and sold it for $350 million—a pretty good investment.
I started listening to Drake because my dad bought his first album, Thank Me Later. He played the whole album on our way to Columbus to visit our grandpa and go to the Ohio State Fair. The song that stood out to me the most was “Find Your Love.” He was really going on that whole album fr. Drake’s music was just too good to ignore and influenced my confidence. As you can see, I’m a fan of all the greats.
As I mentioned before, I believe you need to have the “Kobe/Zero Dark Thirty Mentality” to succeed in many aspects of life. Those eight men pictured above, along with many other professionals, have influenced and helped me build a strong mentality and know when to apply extreme focus to maximize my chances of success.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you share 3rd Eye Invest article.