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Jul 23, 2020 · 25m · how-i-built-this

How I Built Resilience: Songe LaRon of Squire

Songe LaRon · 16m spoken Guy Raz · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of How I Built Resilience, host Guy Raz interviews Squire co-founder Songe LaRon about modernizing barbershop operations, navigating severe pandemic disruptions, and scaling a venture-backed startup through customer-centric leadership.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 30.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Guy as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.3 Guy pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:0020:004:09–9:27 · Guy as informed peer 5/10 Squire's Platform, Business Models, and Founding Story Guy demonstrates familiarity with traditional barbershop operational models like cash-only policies and independent chair rentals. Songe elaborates on the distinction between booth-rental and commission-based models in the industry.9:27–12:37 · Guy as informed peer 5/10 Navigating Shutdowns, Demand Surges, and Business Resilience Guy presses Songe on a previous public claim that barbershops were a fail-proof service, noting the pandemic proved otherwise. Songe acknowledges the black swan nature of COVID-19 while arguing that customer demand surges proved their core resilience.12:43–16:32 · Guy as informed peer 4/10 Raising Venture Capital, Leadership Principles, and Remote Culture Guy prompts Songe about managing cash runway following a large Series B round during market uncertainty. Songe shares leadership philosophies on hiring and delegating authority to smarter team members.16:32–22:48 · Guy as informed peer 5/10 Black Entrepreneurship, Early Fundraising, and Racial Injustice Guy cites macroeconomic trends regarding the historical decline in Black-owned businesses and asks about founding challenges. Songe corrects Guy regarding a contest prize being an equity investment rather than a grant, then opens up about balancing founder duties with racial justice movements.4:09–9:27 · Guest teaching 2/10 Squire's Platform, Business Models, and Founding Story Guy demonstrates familiarity with traditional barbershop operational models like cash-only policies and independent chair rentals. Songe elaborates on the distinction between booth-rental and commission-based models in the industry.9:27–12:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 Navigating Shutdowns, Demand Surges, and Business Resilience Guy presses Songe on a previous public claim that barbershops were a fail-proof service, noting the pandemic proved otherwise. Songe acknowledges the black swan nature of COVID-19 while arguing that customer demand surges proved their core resilience.12:43–16:32 · Guest teaching 2/10 Raising Venture Capital, Leadership Principles, and Remote Culture Guy prompts Songe about managing cash runway following a large Series B round during market uncertainty. Songe shares leadership philosophies on hiring and delegating authority to smarter team members.16:32–22:48 · Guest teaching 3/10 Black Entrepreneurship, Early Fundraising, and Racial Injustice Guy cites macroeconomic trends regarding the historical decline in Black-owned businesses and asks about founding challenges. Songe corrects Guy regarding a contest prize being an equity investment rather than a grant, then opens up about balancing founder duties with racial justice movements.4:09–9:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Squire's Platform, Business Models, and Founding Story Guy demonstrates familiarity with traditional barbershop operational models like cash-only policies and independent chair rentals. Songe elaborates on the distinction between booth-rental and commission-based models in the industry.9:27–12:37 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Navigating Shutdowns, Demand Surges, and Business Resilience Guy presses Songe on a previous public claim that barbershops were a fail-proof service, noting the pandemic proved otherwise. Songe acknowledges the black swan nature of COVID-19 while arguing that customer demand surges proved their core resilience.12:43–16:32 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Raising Venture Capital, Leadership Principles, and Remote Culture Guy prompts Songe about managing cash runway following a large Series B round during market uncertainty. Songe shares leadership philosophies on hiring and delegating authority to smarter team members.16:32–22:48 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Black Entrepreneurship, Early Fundraising, and Racial Injustice Guy cites macroeconomic trends regarding the historical decline in Black-owned businesses and asks about founding challenges. Songe corrects Guy regarding a contest prize being an equity investment rather than a grant, then opens up about balancing founder duties with racial justice movements.4:09–9:27 · Guy pushing back 2/10 Squire's Platform, Business Models, and Founding Story Guy demonstrates familiarity with traditional barbershop operational models like cash-only policies and independent chair rentals. Songe elaborates on the distinction between booth-rental and commission-based models in the industry.9:27–12:37 · Guy pushing back 4/10 Navigating Shutdowns, Demand Surges, and Business Resilience Guy presses Songe on a previous public claim that barbershops were a fail-proof service, noting the pandemic proved otherwise. Songe acknowledges the black swan nature of COVID-19 while arguing that customer demand surges proved their core resilience.12:43–16:32 · Guy pushing back 1/10 Raising Venture Capital, Leadership Principles, and Remote Culture Guy prompts Songe about managing cash runway following a large Series B round during market uncertainty. Songe shares leadership philosophies on hiring and delegating authority to smarter team members.16:32–22:48 · Guy pushing back 2/10 Black Entrepreneurship, Early Fundraising, and Racial Injustice Guy cites macroeconomic trends regarding the historical decline in Black-owned businesses and asks about founding challenges. Songe corrects Guy regarding a contest prize being an equity investment rather than a grant, then opens up about balancing founder duties with racial justice movements.

speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Guy 48.7% · guest 51.3%0:00 · Guy 48.7% · guest 51.3%3:00 · Guy 27.9% · guest 72.1%3:00 · Guy 27.9% · guest 72.1%6:00 · Guy 33.8% · guest 66.2%6:00 · Guy 33.8% · guest 66.2%9:00 · Guy 18.7% · guest 81.3%9:00 · Guy 18.7% · guest 81.3%12:00 · Guy 39.9% · guest 60.1%12:00 · Guy 39.9% · guest 60.1%15:00 · Guy 26.8% · guest 73.2%15:00 · Guy 26.8% · guest 73.2%18:00 · Guy 28.6% · guest 71.4%18:00 · Guy 28.6% · guest 71.4%21:00 · Guy 7.9% · guest 92.1%21:00 · Guy 7.9% · guest 92.1%24:00 · Guy 66.2% · guest 33.8%24:00 · Guy 66.2% · guest 33.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:16 Songe counters the assumption that the business model is vulnerable

Songe directly addresses Guy's skepticism, arguing that while the pandemic was an unpredictable black swan event, underlying demand and feature adaptation proved the business model is even more resilient than previously thought.

 Hardest push from Guy ▶ 10:47 Guy confronts Songe about calling barbershops 'fail-proof'

Guy quotes Songe's prior statements calling barbershops a fail-proof industry and directly challenges him on how total shutdowns dismantled that premise.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 18:44 Songe clarifies investment structure over grant

When Guy refers to Squire's early Buffalo funding as a contest grant, Songe quickly steps in to correct the record that it was an equity investment structured as a warrant.

 Guy holds their own ▶ 16:32 Guy cites long-term data on Black entrepreneurship

Guy showcases his research background by citing thirty-year decline statistics in Black-owned banking and insurance firms to frame a question on entrepreneurial timing.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicGuy as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementGuy pushing backWhy
Squire's Platform, Business Models, and Founding Story 5212 Guy demonstrates familiarity with traditional barbershop operational models like cash-only policies and independent chair rentals. Songe elaborates on the distinction between booth-rental and commission-based models in the industry.
Navigating Shutdowns, Demand Surges, and Business Resilience 5324 Guy presses Songe on a previous public claim that barbershops were a fail-proof service, noting the pandemic proved otherwise. Songe acknowledges the black swan nature of COVID-19 while arguing that customer demand surges proved their core resilience.
Raising Venture Capital, Leadership Principles, and Remote Culture 4211 Guy prompts Songe about managing cash runway following a large Series B round during market uncertainty. Songe shares leadership philosophies on hiring and delegating authority to smarter team members.
Black Entrepreneurship, Early Fundraising, and Racial Injustice 5312 Guy cites macroeconomic trends regarding the historical decline in Black-owned businesses and asks about founding challenges. Songe corrects Guy regarding a contest prize being an equity investment rather than a grant, then opens up about balancing founder duties with racial justice movements.

Statements from this episode (8)

Opinion
Barbers are uniquely equipped for pandemic sanitation protocols
“I would say that barbers are probably one of the few Types of professionals that are very well equipped in this new environment because they actually go to school for this. In order to get a barber license, you have to study, you know, disinfecting and taking …”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 1:40
Disclosure
Squire charges shops $100-$250 monthly plus a $1 consumer booking fee
“The main way is from handling the payment processing. So that, that's really core to our business. There's a subscription component. So the shops that use our platform will pay a hundred dollars to two 50 a month. And then there's a customer booking fee. So if…”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 4:50
Opinion
Some cash-only barbershops refuse cards to avoid paying taxes
“So the shops that are cash only, there will be some segment that just doesn't want to pay taxes, quite frankly.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 8:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Squire's revenue essentially dropped to zero in March and April 2020
“March, April, you know, our revenue essentially went to zero.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 9:39
Disclosure
Squire waived subscription charges for all customers through October 2020
“And we also decided to waive all of our subscription charges to current and new customers until October, because we knew that their revenue was also going to go to zero.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 9:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Squire's May and June 2020 revenue actually exceeded pre-COVID levels
“In fact, May and June exceeded pre-COVID numbers just because of all the new business that we're bringing on.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 13:31
Disclosure
Squire was financially prepared for over 12 months of zero revenue
“It's always safe to kind of assume the worst case and be prepared for the worst case, which we were prepared to go to zero revenue for over 12 months.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 13:47
Opinion
It is a better time than ever to be a Black entrepreneur
“I do think that the tides are changing, especially recently with increased attention to the plight of black founders and black people in general. So I think that now is probably a better time than ever to be an entrepreneur, a black entrepreneur.”
Songe LaRon Jul 23, 2020 ▶ 17:06
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