Great leaders — from war generals to presidents — became great because of their willingness to face adversity, the youngest black chief executive of a publicly held company told students yesterday.
“In order to be a great leader, you will have to make a difference. Not in good times, but in bad,” said Ephren Taylor, the CEO of City Capital Corp., which uses investment strategies to create socially conscious development.
The speech, part of Mr. Taylor’s 25-city “Urban Wealth Tour,” was given at the Leavey Center at Georgetown University to members of the Presidential Classroom, a leadership development program for high-achieving high school sophomores, juniors and seniors.
Characteristics from the “inside” — namely passion and conviction — helped lead to his success as a leader and a CEO, said Mr. Taylor, who was born in Carlisle, Miss.
“We didn’t have all the big venture capital money like all the other companies, we didn’t have an experienced management team, but one thing we did have was passion and conviction,” Mr. Taylor said of one of his early business ventures.
“Throughout my life, I’ve overcome, seen a lot, done a lot,” Mr. Taylor said. “Some of the things I’ve done in my past some people consider phenomenal, some people consider profound or unique. But I don’t think that’s the case.”
Being a leader was not something Mr. Taylor, 24, had planned on when he was young.
But he did start young. At age 12, he got his first taste of overcoming the challenges leaders and entrepreneurs face.
He liked video games, but his mother wouldn’t buy him any because they were expensive — $40 or $50 for one game. Instead, she told him, “Ephren, you know what, why don’t you go out and get your own video game.”
He did.
After training himself in computer science, Mr. Taylor created his own video games.
At age 16, he started GoFerretGo.com, a job search Web site for high school and college students.
By age 17, Mr. Taylor turned it into a multi-million dollar company.
“When I was very young, my parents would always say, ’You know, Ephren, you can accomplish anything,’ ” he said. “I was dumb enough to believe it.”
Being a leader also means being uncomfortable sometimes.
He said he walked away from the Web site at age 19 after investors came in and put in a new management team that took steps he didn’t agree with.
“I walked away, left my stock, left the money, left everything,” Mr. Taylor said. “So now I’m at home broke again.
“People will not follow if you’re not passionate or convicted,” he said.
Leaders also realize that there are many ways to reach a goal, Mr. Taylor said. Three months later, he was involved in a company about three times as large.
Mr. Taylor’s City Capital Corp. traded at 55 cents per share in over-the-counter trading yesterday. The company lost nearly $1.5 million in the first quarter on revenue of about $72,000. The company oversees $150 million in assets.
Mr. Taylor’s young age made the speech interesting, said Hannah Petty, 16, from Amory, Miss.
“[I’ve learned that] even though you’re young, you can get to where you want to go, Hannah said.
Subomi Oludare, 17, from Macon, Ga., said he found it inspiring. “I grew up in his shoes,” he said.
In the past, Mr. Taylor said he placed too much emphasis on making money, a sentiment he is “embarrassed” about.
Now, Mr. Taylor says he focuses on giving back to the community, which he said is a characteristic of a good leader. He also began to realize that a leader doesn’t need to talk about his great deeds.
“Everyone else will do it for you.”
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