#130 Everybody CAN Win - Richard Bronson, 70 Million Jobs

felony inc podcast

Los Angeles based 70 Million Jobs was founded by Richard Bronson, formerly of New York. You know, the home field of Wall Street? Where the Wall Street Wolf story took place? Well, Richard was a partner in that company and lived the crazy life for some time. He then left, moved to Florida and started his own company, another financial services company that grew to $100 Million with over 500 employees. But the same Wall Street greed was there and a lot of things Richard did were illegal. The saving grace was that he and his partners paid back all the investors before being prosecuted, which probably made his sentence as light as it could have been. Even going to prison was a relief to Richard, as the constant pressure of untangling the web they has spun was having a huge drag on his life, the guilt and sense of embarrassment being part of it including the loss of all his friends and wealth. So he came out of prison completely the opposite of the life he had been living: broke and homeless as opposed to having private jets, mingling with celebrities and gambling the night away in casinos. The time he spent in prison humbled him, but did not prepare him for release. He wasted a couple of years figuring out what to do with the rest of his life, and he found a non-profit organization to work. He enjoyed the food for the soul he got out of it, but decided the organization was not really having an impact. And that impact, he decided, was lowering the recidivism rate. So that gave him a goal and his calling in life. He launched a for-profit company that took an approach which employed technology and being aggressive business people - showing employers the "profitable" practice of hiring ex-felons and those with misdemeanors. That was a win-win-win; the employers got a benefit, the ex-incarcerated got a job, and 70 Million Jobs made money for the investors. Felony Inc Podcast with your hosts Dick Hennessy and Meg Thibodeaux We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Felony Inc Podcast supports City Central Concern at centralcityconcern.org 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Felony Inc Podcast every Friday at 10:00am pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com