Uncomfortable truths about building from brutally honest millionaires

The best talk of Cannes Lions 2025

I spent the past week at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, Cote d’Azur, France. For those who don’t know, it’s the biggest advertising and marketing festival for creatives. It runs for five days and there are awards, talks, panels, and loads of networking. People leave with crazy contracts and networks.

One of the best talks I went to was on a yacht hosted by HarborView, a private equity firm founded by a Black woman, Sherrese Clarke. Barbara Lee, who was the CEO and Chair of BET for over a decade, and Richelieu Dennis also spoke and shared some interesting insights. I don’t necessarily agree with everything Rich said, but I’d love to share my notes from his talk.

A bit of background on Richelieu Dennis. He founded Shea Moisture in 1991 alongside his mother: by the mid-2010s, SheaMoisture was being sold in national chains like Walmart, Target, Ulta, and Sally Beauty, and in dozens of countries globally. The brand positioned itself as a global beauty leader for textured hair and melanin-rich skin. In 2017, Unilever acquired Sundial Brands for about $1.6 billion to boost its presence in the multicultural beauty market. After the sale, Dennis channelled his capital into media and venture investing, backing a number of Black women and entrepreneurs. In 2018, he founded Essence Ventures and bought back Essence magazine, returning it to full Black ownership.

Here are some of the main points he shared in the talk:

• “The greatest thing that happened in America was mindset destiny.” When he migrated from Liberia as a refugee, it was this go-get-it, go-do-it spirit of Americans that helped him build. The mindset around success is everything. If you believe your destiny is fixed, you won’t act with the urgency or agency needed to change your life.

• “When you stop growing, you’re shrinking.” The idea of staying in a steady state or not wanting more leads to regression.

• He’s building ventures in West Africa and is focused on keeping more of the supply chain on the continent. For example, he opened a shea nut refinery so more of the value stays in Africa. He spoke about how Africa is rich in resources but loses value by exporting raw materials and buying back finished products. We sell cocoa but buy back expensive chocolate. Congo exports cobalt, but the iPhones made with that cobalt sell for thousands.

• “I don’t believe in legacy.” This was controversial. He believes generational wealth is about who you raise your kids to be, not what you leave them. He suggested we start studying wealthy families, including the Walton family (I’ve decided to a case study on them, perhaps I’ll share in the next newsletter).

• When a part of Sundial was sold to Bain, the backlash was huge. People called them sell-outs and threatened to boycott the brand. Ironically, this led to a 30% increase in revenue because of the publicity.

• “$3 billion is nothing.” He believes the Black community hasn’t sold enough businesses to reach the level of wealth we need.

• When asked about “the culture,” he said, “If monetisation isn’t there then I’m not interested in the culture because it’s just another way to lose.”

It was a great session and there’s a lot more that I didn’t even get to note down. I’ll upload some snippets of the talk in the paid section of the newsletter. It’s worth a listen.

Update for Property Investors

I’m heading to Abidjan this week to help investors in Ivory Coast invest in the Dubai property market, diversify their investments, open bank accounts abroad, secure residency, and more. If you’re out there and would like to come in for a presentation or a 1-on-1 meeting, just reply to this email and I’ll schedule you in.

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