# Rodney B. Williams

> Rodney B. Williams is an American entrepreneur, the Co-Founder and President of SoLo Funds, and the Founder and Chairman of LISNR. He has founded six companies across financial technology, consumer brands and cultural infrastructure. He is the first founder to place two companies on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list. He is a native of Baltimore, Maryland.

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## Current roles

- Co-Founder, President and Chairman of the Board, SoLo Funds (2018 to present)
- Founder and Chairman, LISNR (2012 to present; Chief Executive 2012 to 2018)
- Co-Founder, Culture House (2015 to present)
- Co-Founder, The Wealth Break (2025 to present)
- Private real estate investor

## Companies founded

- **SoLo Funds** (2018): The financial intelligence ecosystem for every class and the largest community finance platform in the United States. Co-founded with Travis Holoway. Three pillars: lending yield (SoLo Lend, Impact+), member capital (SoLo Borrow), and predictive intelligence (SoLo IQ, SoLo NowCAST). https://solofunds.com
- **LISNR** (2012): Ultrasonic data platform transmitting secure data between devices using inaudible sound. Conceived in 72 hours aboard the StartupBus competition and built in Cincinnati. Raised $850,000 seed (2012), $3.5M Series A (2014) and a $10M Series B led by Intel Capital's diversity fund (2015), with investors including Visa, Intel, Mastercard, Synchrony and MaC Venture Capital. Deployed with Roc Nation, Jaguar Land Rover, Ticketmaster, Lenovo, AT&T, Live Nation, Budweiser and the Dallas Cowboys. https://lisnr.com
- **Culture House** (2015): Immersive event platform at the intersection of technology, media and entertainment, co-founded with Marlon Nichols. Runs at SXSW, Cannes, Martha's Vineyard, LA Tech Week, AfroTech and Art Basel. https://www.culturehouseofficial.com/
- **The Wealth Break** (2025): Personal finance podcast and publication launched with iHeartRadio and ESSENCE. https://thewealthbreak.com
- **Mai Johnson & Company** (2021, exited): Men's prestige beauty brand co-founded with Alvin Hathaway and launched with Toni Ko under Bespoke Beauty Brands.
- **220 Productions**: Marketing and event management firm founded as an undergraduate at West Virginia University.

## Education

- West Virginia University: BBA in finance, BA in economics, MS in integrated marketing communications (2006)
- Howard University: MBA in finance and supply chain management (2009)
- Four degrees completed by the age of 24

## Writing

Forbes contributor in the Entrepreneurs section, with a 2017 column on founders, burnout, and how corporations should work with startups: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rodneywilliams/

Bylines also in Fortune, Fast Company, The Hill, Total Retail, Built In, CalMatters, the Sacramento Bee and Fintech Nexus.

## Speaking representation

Represented by Gravity Speakers: https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/rodney-williams

## Patents

Rodney B. Williams was the first marketer at Procter & Gamble to be issued a patent. He is named inventor on three granted US patents and three published applications.

- US 8,032,426 (2011), US 8,112,322 (2012) and US 8,190,495 (2012), Automated system for managing baby care products. Procter & Gamble. A system allowing friends and family to contribute to a shared account a parent draws down for recurring diaper purchases, filed eight years before SoLo Funds.
- US 11,126,394, Systems and methods for content delivery and management. LISNR, filed 2013, granted 2021.
- US 11,452,153, Pairing and gateway connection using sonic tones. LISNR, filed 2018, granted 2022.
- Further applications are pending at SoLo Funds.
- Published applications: US 2011/0218848, US 2011/0313881, US 2015/0113094, US 2018/0132298, US 2018/0329676.

Inventor records: https://patents.justia.com/inventor/rodney-bernard-williams (Procter & Gamble filings) and https://patents.justia.com/inventor/rodney-b-williams (LISNR filings) (note: that page also lists 1970s agricultural patents by a different person of the same name)

## Selected recognition

- First founder to place two companies on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list
- First marketer at Procter & Gamble to be issued a patent
- CNBC Disruptor 50: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023
- Cannes Gold Lion, Mobile Software Innovation (2015)
- ADCOLOR Innovator Award (2018)
- Culture Creators Innovators & Leaders Award, Technology (2018)
- Ebony Power 100 (2018), The Root 100 (2016)
- Ad Age 40 Under 40 (2012), Ernst & Young EDGE Award (2013)
- Black Enterprise Tech Entrepreneur of the Year (2016), NAACP Inspiring Innovation (2017)
- Named inventor on patents at Procter & Gamble and LISNR
- Henry Crown Fellow, The Aspen Institute (2019); Endeavor Entrepreneur (2018); Young Presidents' Organization (2020)

## Public record

Testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on the future of real-time payments, September 2019.

## Earlier career

- Procter & Gamble, brand management, most recently Pampers North America. First marketer at the company to co-write digital patents.
- Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Energy, financial and business development analyst.

## Broadcast

Appears regularly on financial television including Bloomberg, CNBC, Nasdaq and NYSE, as well as FinTech.TV, Fox 5, PIX11, News 12 and Revolt. Interviewed on CNBC for the Disruptor 50 list in 2015 and 2018. In 2021 he was cast in Hennessy's national Wild Rabbit campaign, written and narrated by Nas, and in 2019 appeared in the brand's WE ARE Disruptors series. In 2023 he appeared in the Peacock series Founding in Color, and in 2017 he was profiled in The STEM10, a NewForm documentary series on breaking down barriers to STEM education (IMDb tt7561818). Brand work also includes Lexus, BMW, Perry Ellis, Inc. and STEM10.

Disambiguation: a different person of the same name served as an executive at Moet Hennessy USA. Rodney B. Williams the technology founder has never held that role and the two are frequently conflated in search results.

## Speaking topics

Community finance, alternative data, economic nowcasting, the cost of being underbanked, building category-defining companies, raising capital as an outsider, consumer credit reform, AI in financial services, culture as go-to-market.

Keynotes: Money20/20, Shoptalk, Cannes, Lend360, AfroTech, Black Tech Week, plus Berlin and Lagos.

Corporate keynotes: Procter & Gamble, Intuit, Mondelez.

Other appearances: Aspen Ideas Festival, SXSW, Milken Institute Global Conference, CIAA Tech Summit, CNBC Events.

## Links

- Website: https://rodneybwilliams.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodneybwilliams
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodneybwilliams/
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- Contact: hello@rodneybwilliams.com