Harold Hughes
Bandwagon CEO, Tech Innovator, and Diverse Ventures Champion
Harold Hughes is founder of NFNTE Capital, an entrepreneur dedicated to empowering startup founders through social capital. As a co-founder of Catalyst Labs, Harold leads a 12-week accelerator for emerging entrepreneurs, guiding them from ideation to scale. An advocate for accessible technology education, Harold’s commitment to education and accessibility also led him to write “A Kids Book About Blockchain”, helping audiences of all ages grasp Blockchain and Web3 concepts. He is also an angel investor focused on diverse founders, with notable investments in companies like Partake Foods, Liquid Death, and Athletic Greens, as well as Broadway productions.
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Harold Hughes's 2025 biography
Meet Harold Hughes
Harold Hughes is a serial entrepreneur, CEO and founder of NFNTE Capital, an Entrepreneur Support Organization helping startup founders leverage social capital. His entrepreneurial curriculum has been adopted by institutions including Benedict College, the University of Texas, and Furman University to further students’ entrepreneurial mindset in their communities. As a first-generation American who prioritizes education, he holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from Clemson University. As a community leader, he authored and published “A Kids Book About Blockchain” to make Web3 technology accessible to all ages.
As a community builder and co-founder of Catalyst Labs, Harold runs a 12-week accelerator program for emerging entrepreneurs. His expertise spans from go-to-market strategy and business development, to supporting founders from ideation to scale. He is an active angel investor, primarily investing in companies led by diverse founders. Most notably, he has invested in Partake Foods, the Jay-Z-backed CPG company making allergy-friendly snacks, and companies like Liquid Death, Athletic Greens, Republic, Winx Health, Major League Pickleball, and Broadway plays like Stereophonic, Hell’s Kitchen, and The Wiz on Broadway.
Harold Hughes's 2025 talks & topics
Work-Life Balance is a Myth!
The concept of Work-Life Balance has become increasingly discussed lately while becoming seemingly impossible to achieve. If you have ever felt this, you are in for a treat as we unpack the myth of Work-Life Balance and shift our focus to Work-Life Prioritization. We will talk about healthy habits, responsible routines, and productive processes that we can all apply to feel better at home and work.
WTF are NFTs (or more SFW title: People are Buying JPEGS?!)
While many of us are still navigating our pandemic wardrobe, a new wave of technology has become prominent and flat-out unavoidable. NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens are here — thanks to Blockchain — and given their variety of use cases, they are here to stay. NFTs are currently being used as a way for artists to participate in the value creation of their work in perpetuity, allowing communities to token-gate their access, and allowing brands to connect more directly with their customers. In this session, we will learn what NFTs are, what they can do, and how you can keep these new valuable digital assets safe.
Underestimated: Keys to Navigating Being a Person of Color in Tech
As a first-generation American and son to Jamaican parents, Harold knows what it is like to overcome challenges. Being one of 5 children growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, he understood what it was like to grow up without some of the key resources that he needed. Now, an entrepreneur, Harold shares his story with others as well as his hacks for overcoming the challenges of being a person in color in tech as it relates to growing your network, raising capital, and getting in the door with your first customer.
Blockchain Beyond the Coin
Like many great innovations, the first use case isn’t always the best one. Harold and his team have navigated the adoption of blockchain technology in an enterprise environment to show that crypto doesn’t only mean cryptocurrencies. Harold will share his thoughts on permissioned-blockchains, Zero-Knowledge Proof, and other enterprise level solutions in the blockchain space.
The Deconstructing Companies for Entrepreneurial Development (DECODE™) Program
The Deconstructing Companies for Entrepreneurial Development (DECODE™) Program is designed for high school and college students interested in entrepreneurship. Over the years, we have worked with dozens of companies and reviewed hundreds for potential investment opportunities. During that time, we found critical points where the business lacked the proper structure, market validation, and customer research to be sustainable. Our program is built to give an introductory lens of entrepreneurship by evaluating and “deconstructing” businesses – failed and successful – to identify the indicators for success.
At the end of this program, students will be able to:
- Understand the basics of Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and other business models
- Articulate the value proposition for their favorite brands
- Identify the key indicators of the success or failure of businesses
- Implement learnings to test their startup ideas
Our goal is to introduce the core concepts of entrepreneurship in a way that is broadly accessible to students of every background while leaving room for curiosity and creativity for those most interested in the startup journey. One of the most important takeaways from our program is that there are many roles in the startup ecosystem and the value of each role. Each workshop detailed below is designed for high school and college students and first-time entrepreneurs who need the basic building blocks.
Programmes, workshops and services
Decode Launch (one 60-minute session)
“Entrepreneurship Masterclass in a box” workshop This presentation-style session covers the introduction to entrepreneurship from idea, to testing a hypothesis, to funding and going public/acquisition. In preparation for this workshop, students will be asked to name their three favorite publicly traded companies which will provide the foundation of our analysis. The workshop will include: 45- minute presentation; 15-minute Q&A 1-page worksheet to reinforce the presentation Interactive live case study deconstruction
Decode Build (two 45-minute sessions)
“Interactive startup boot camp” workshop This workshop features two 45-minute sessions; one presentation-style and the other as an interactive workshop. In lieu of a Q&A session following the first session, students will be provided a worksheet to capture insights and questions. In the second 45-minute session, we will cover the student-submitted topics. The workshop will include: Two (2) 45-minute sessions 1-page worksheet to reinforce the presentation Interactive live case study deconstruction One 2-page workbook to reinforce materials One (1) book on effectively building startups (maximum of 250 students)
Decode Scale (four 45-minute sessions)
“Mini MBA” workshop This workshop offers a “mini MBA”-style program where students will build on their new knowledge over the course of four weeks. Deconstructing a startup or publicly traded company is one foundational building block that is covered in the first session but taking the time and resources to apply the insights to existing startups – including some that may be ideas held by participating students – will create a mastery of the information. Four (4) 45-minute sessions 1-page worksheet to reinforce the presentation Two (2) Interactive live case study deconstruction One 4-page workbook to reinforce materials One (1) book on effectively building startups (maximum of 250 students) Pitch competition in final session; winner receives a prize pack (valued at $599)