The Breakfast Club: Interview with Isaac Hayes III – The Rise of Fanbase, Microdramas, Owning Our Content & More

Date: December 17, 2025
Podcast: The Breakfast Club (iHeartPodcasts)
Hosts: DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God
Guest: Isaac Hayes III (Founder of Fanbase)

Episode Overview

This episode features a conversation with Isaac Hayes III, entrepreneur and founder of the social media platform Fanbase. The discussion centers on the importance of Black ownership in tech and media, the unique challenges faced by Black founders, the mechanics and potential of equity crowdfunding, and Fanbase’s emerging role in the burgeoning microdrama industry. Hayes delivers insights on wealth-building, content monetization, and why community-driven funding is vital for breaking down systemic barriers in tech.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Purpose and Power of Equity Crowdfunding

• Fanbase’s current round of equity crowdfunding closes today, giving people a chance to invest and own part of the company. The minimum investment is $399, which buys 60 shares.

• Hayes emphasizes the power of “everyday people” owning tech infrastructure, rather than venture capitalists and entrenched institutional investors.

• Equity crowdfunding opens opportunities to groups traditionally locked out of early-stage tech investing due to discriminatory practices.

  “Black founders get less than half of 1% of all capital raised. They don't want DEI, they're not trying to give us money. … For me, this is a mission.” – Isaac Hayes III (07:11)

2. Where the Money Goes: Transparency for Investors

• The capital raised is used primarily for infrastructure, staff (including experts from Meta, TikTok, Snapchat), and building new product features—especially a new algorithm.

• Fanbase’s ability to “stretch” resources is a testament to their efficient management, contrasting the excess and waste at larger tech companies who often burn through hundreds of millions.

• With 40 employees, Fanbase aims to compete with giants like Meta and TikTok, who have thousands of engineers and far more funding.

  “We've had to really make this capital stretch with this company. … But it’s a testament to our ability to spend wisely, hire effectively, and continue to build the best product.” – Isaac Hayes III (06:16)

3. What is Fanbase? Everything in One, From Ownership Perspective

• Fanbase is a Black-owned social media platform containing everything: Posts, Stories, Live, Short Form, Long Form, Audio Chat, DMs, Subscriptions, Tipping, and an integrated algorithm.

• The platform enables users to monetize their content immediately, own their data, and participate in emerging markets like microdramas.

• Direct comparison with other social media, noting that Fanbase users can monetize their data—something not yet possible on Instagram or TikTok.

  “Fanbase is basically social media through the lens of black ownership. … All those parts are put together in one platform and integrated so that people can have the ability to monetize their content from the moment that they sign up.” – Isaac Hayes III (10:18)

4. Return on Investment: What Realistic Investors Should Expect

• Early-stage investors enter at the “ground floor” and only see returns if there’s an acquisition or an IPO (liquidity event).

• Realistically, investors should expect a six to eight-year wait for ROI—mirroring larger tech stories (Uber took nine years to IPO).

• The potential return is “thousand-fold” if Fanbase reaches even a fraction of Meta’s value ($160M current vs. $1.9T for Meta).

  “The fastest way to grow wealth right now–currently—is in the tech space. And you can’t save your way to wealth. You have to invest.” – Isaac Hayes III (15:19)

5. Education and Teaching: Breaking Down the Investment Model

• The hosts and Hayes discuss that for many in the Black community, generational wealth discussions are new territory.

• Hayes is actively educating both users and other entrepreneurs on equity crowdfunding as a tool for overcoming predatory venture capital.

• Details about stock classes and control—Hayes ensures no outside investor can force him out (a common pitfall for Black founders).

  “A lot of my friends that are founders got forced out of their companies. … It’s a dirty game. It’s not as dirty as the music business, but for me, it’s something that I was very, very familiar with.” – Isaac Hayes III (18:31)

6. Transparency, Communication, & Investor Relations

• Fanbase is meticulous in keeping its 29,000+ investors informed: newsletters, app updates, Start Engine platform messages.

• Many investors are also users, directly monetizing their participation and even recovering their investment via platform earnings.

  “A lot of them have used fan base for what it’s intended to do, which is to passively make money by using social media…” – Isaac Hayes III (26:12)

7. On Liquidity Events & De-Risking Investment

• No platform can guarantee a liquidity event (IPO or acquisition), and those investing should understand this is standard risk, even for large, successful companies like ByteDance (TikTok), which remain private.

• The plan if profitability takes longer: Continue raising capital, as is typical (e.g. Netflix’s massive borrowing to grow).

• AI is also now accelerating their development cycle and capacity.

  “No platform, no startup will ever guarantee you a liquidity event… The ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is still a privately held company. They’ve never gone public and they’re worth $400 billion now.” – Isaac Hayes III (27:45)

8. Microdramas: The Next Big Move for Fanbase

• Microdramas: Short, two-minute video stories with a dramatic cliffhanger, already a massive, billion-dollar industry in Asia.

• The innovation: Fanbase will launch Black-owned microdrama production and distribution in Q1 2026, with established partners.

• Fanbase leverages its existing tech (vertical video, in-app currency, subscriptions) to build in microdrama, unlike most niche apps suffering from user retention.

  “The microdrama industry has eclipsed the film and television industry… These are going to be multi, multi-billion dollar industry. But the question is, who’s going to own it?” – Isaac Hayes III (32:03)

9. Ownership of Infrastructure

• Hayes is adamant that the narrative must be about not just creating content, but owning the channels and infrastructure.

• He challenges listeners to look at who owns the platforms they support, drawing parallels to the history of Black exploitation in Hollywood.

  “We are all our own channels in these communities… Make it, make it, you know, be very, very clear that social media is the new television.” – Isaac Hayes III (26:12, 34:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This is a mission. This has been my mission, will continue to be my purpose and my calling, to continue to build this company, allow us to finally have the infrastructure of something that can be worth hundreds of billions of dollars and pull us all up and give us opportunity."
  – Isaac Hayes III (07:11)

• "The fastest way to grow wealth right now currently is in the tech space. And you can't save your way to wealth. You have to invest."
  – Isaac Hayes III (15:19)

• "There is no, no platform, no, no, no startup will ever guarantee, guarantee you a liquidity event... ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is still a privately held company."
  – Isaac Hayes III (27:45)

• "Microdramas are an art form. They're written, they're produced, written, and directed a very, very specific way that keeps the audience engaged. It is not just taking a movie up and chopping it up."
  – Isaac Hayes III (35:17)

• "If we don't come in and distribute microdramas and make it so that multicultural people can distribute microdrama... somebody's going to corner that market that doesn't look like us, make billions of dollars."
  – Isaac Hayes III (32:03)

• “Who owns the platforms that you use? … When we're creating content and entertaining the masses, who sits on the cap table and who owns it is also very, very important.”
  – Isaac Hayes III (39:16)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Highlight | |-----------|------------------| | 04:27 | Isaac Hayes III welcomed to The Breakfast Club | | 05:54 | Details on Fanbase's current crowdfunding round | | 07:11 | Discussion of difficulties for Black tech founders | | 10:06 | DJ Envy asks: What is Fanbase, and what does it do? | | 13:01 | “If someone invests $399, what can they expect?” | | 16:25 | Timeline & mechanics of ROI for early investors | | 18:31 | Teaching generational wealth & equity crowdfunding | | 25:25 | Pitfalls Black founders face with VCs; MoviePass anecdote | | 26:12 | How Fanbase communicates with and benefits investors/users | | 29:55 | What if there’s no liquidity event or it takes longer? | | 31:58 | Microdramas: What they are, why Fanbase is betting big | | 36:49 | Challenges & value of keeping users within the Fanbase ecosystem | | 39:16 | On the importance of owning the platforms, not just using them | | 41:25 | Where and how to invest in Fanbase before the round closes |

Conclusion

Isaac Hayes III’s visit to The Breakfast Club is both a masterclass and a call to action. He demystifies equity crowdfunding, shares hard-won wisdom on navigating the tech industry as a Black founder, and announces Fanbase’s push into the microdrama market—a move aimed at ensuring Black creators and consumers not only shape the culture but own the means of its distribution. The episode is an impassioned rally for economic empowerment, delivered with clarity and urgency by someone actively building paths for others to follow.

Learn More & Invest:

• StartEngine.com/fanbase – Equity crowdfunding closes today. Minimum investment: $399 (41:25)

The Breakfast Club | December 17, 2025 | iHeartPodcasts