Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Gholston.
Mike, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was raised in a single mother household. We moved around different parts of Houston when I was a kid, eventually settling on the “West Side” of the city. Like many others, my childhood and the people in it played a huge role in the person I am today. For example, seeing the amount of sacrifice my mom made just to make sure I always “had” is my inspiration till this day.
Sports has always been a massive part of my life. Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer – I played them all. In a lot of ways, I think it’s important for kids to be in some sort of social group when they are younger because they teach you life’s lessons. While being a stand out athlete in sports, I never shared that same passion in school As I got a bit older, the thought of how the educational system was structured, and how they teach you what they think you should know, and leave out parts of history and financial education made it very unappealing to me. This led me to never be on of the strongest student’s as far as letter grades, but I always had the hunger and drive to learn as much as I could on my own through research and personal experiences.
I ended up going to college at Central Christian in Kansas on a basketball scholarship and I enjoyed every moment of it. I remain close to my old teammates and coaches to this day and being in a new environment, a much slower environment taught me a lot. Taught me how to serve, and taught me how to adjust to a much slower lifestyle.
When I returned home from school, I was a bit unsure of what my next step should be. I remember reading somewhere that, that is some of the most confusing and difficult times in someone’s life. There are so many decisions to be made. Where am I going to live? What jobs do I want to apply for? The world is there for the taking right there in front of you – but choose carefully because that next move is vital.
I bounced around the professional job market for a little bit. Working at multiple big-name companies across multiple industries. In my mind, I was doing things that I’d seen pay off for other people who had followed that same process. I wasn’t really making the footprint and the impact I had envisioned though.
Mid 2019, my college roommate and I started to have very serious conversations. What could we do, as two young, African – American men, that would leave a lasting impact and a legacy. What we came up with would eventually change the way we looked at business, and essentially everything. After months of conversations and drawing inspiration from a number of founders, we officially launched Ghosted Ventures. Our goal was to promote diversity in business and opportunity and lend an ear to people who looked like us, people who felt as though they had no voice.
Today, we are learning and growing every single day. We have managed to leverage multiple partnerships across the FinTech, real estate, and apparel industries.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Although we are still in the early stages, the journey has been far from easy. Venture Capital is an industry with so much to learn before you can even begin to dip your toe into it. We have been blessed to have been able to garner a number of professional relationships that have helped us along the way.
Ventures – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Ghosted Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by long time business partners Mike Gholston & Dan Nwosuh. based in Houston, TX, GV focuses a strong expertise in startups, technology, marketing, real estate, and entertainment. Being fairly new to VC, ghosted ventures brings a fresh perspective when placing capital as well as strong ties with early stage investment opportunities. our goal is to stand behind diverse founders + businesses. We strive to be the VC every startup would dream of.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck. When preparation and opportunity align themselves, we see results. Everything that happens good or bad is teaching us something that we need to know. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the lessons of failures, and the experience gained from some of my wins.
Contact Info:
- Website: ghostedventures.io
- Email: mike@ghostedventures.io
- Instagram: ghostedventures
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