Meet Our Spring ’22 Fellow: Kendall Camp

We developed the Commerce Ventures Access Fellowship in the Fall of 2020 to lower barriers in venture capital field for high-achieving students from underrepresented backgrounds. The Fellowship enables students to deep dive into thematic investment research, gain a broader network in the startup and venture ecosystems, and learn the foundations of venture capital. Join us in celebrating our Spring ’22 fellow, Kendall Camp, by getting to know a little bit more about him below!

About Kendall

Meet our fellow Kendall Camp! He is a senior majoring in communication studies at Morehouse College with interests spanning both the investor and operator side of technology (he previously held internships at Microsoft and Robinhood.) A leader at his college, Kendall was involved with the HBCUvc program as well as running a campus-wide radio show.

On top of his impressive academic and professional experience, Kendall is also the host of his own podcast “Privileged Black Kids.” Building this series from the ground-up as both a producer and host enabled Kendall to lean into his natural curiosity and explore topics ranging from personal branding to post grad depression.

Kendall recognizes that his passion comes from building genuine connections and playing a part in the journey of others, whether it’s asking thoughtful questions to a founder or helping tell a podcast guest’s story.

What’s Hot and What’s Not

Kendall believes the adoption of crypto will be the future for Americans trying to build wealth. With skepticism about financial institutions from underbanked and low-income Americans, Kendall is optimistic that cryptocurrency provides them with a new opportunity to control their funds.

But he doesn’t quite buy into the hype about metaverse adoption. Without seamless components performing beyond their issues today (he noted VR headsets causing dizziness and other impairments) he doesn’t think the metaverse will be as mainstream as many believe. Kendall is optimistic that consumer desires are skewing more to the IRL world than the digital one after isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. A real metaverse future is a big “if” to our fellow.

Gen Z 101

Kendall stressed the importance of value alignment and ownership for companies targeting Gen Z consumers like him. Beyond just the functionality of a product, Kendall believes that Gen Z’s upbringing has encouraged a significant shift to value social impact and sustainability. But Kendall reminds us of another trend too: the Gen Z craving for ownership. As existing social media platforms shift to accommodate changing needs, Kendall believes that more young users will create content and seek out monetization from it.

Looking Forward

Diverse investors and firms stand out as role models in Kendall’s professional life. Seeing more Black investors encourages Kendall to envision a more equitable tech ecosystem demographically and also with investment in products tailored towards different consumer groups.

“An investor I look up to is Lo Toney; Founding Managing Partner at Plexo Capital. Lo aligns with my values as his fund invests in emerging seed-stage companies led by diverse teams. Another is Jason Calacanis. I enjoy how candid and outspoken he is on the state of venture and how he gives tactical tips for young people to break into venture capital. He also has a background similar to mine in journalism and podcasting. Being a podcaster over the past three and a half years has really led me to enjoy storytelling and how content can provide education and entertainment in people’s lives.”

Following the fellowship, Kendall will continue building his career as an associate product marketing manager at Microsoft. In the future Kendall aspires to raise his own venture fund to invest in diverse founders in consumer, media, and FinTech. Kendall doesn’t lose sight of his love of learning though and hopes to continue podcasting and culminate his career as a professor at Morehouse College.

As he continues his journey as a Commerce Ventures fellow, we’re excited to share more of his thematic progress. Welcome to the team Kendall!

Kendall can be reached @_kendallcamp on Twitter or kendall@commerce.vc