Snowfall FX — Why Every Entrepreneur Should Watch
🚨 SPOILER ALERT!!! 🚨
Snowfall, another John Singleton classic, is a drama inspired by the infancy of the 1980’s crack cocaine epidemic in LA and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. Centered around the show’s protagonist Franklin Saint’s entrepreneurial journey, each Thursday we watch his transformation from a small-time weed dealer to the neighborhood’s first crack kingpin.
Despite going to high school on the other side of town in the Valley and having the opportunity to further his education, Franklin’s ambition and commitment to his loved ones lead him back to his neighborhood in South Central LA. Here he starts off working at a corner store to learn the ins and outs of running a business and dabbles in the drug game as a weed dealer for his Uncle Jerome.
From the show’s inception, you can sense that there is something special about Franklin, so much so that the other day I tweeted “In my next life I want to come back as Franklin Saint so I can live the life Pusha T raps about. lol” But in all seriousness, Snowfall has easily become my new favorite show. Not because I love shows/movies based on kingpin drug dealers, which I do, but rather the subtle nuances that distinguish Saint from his counterparts. Some may argue that the plot is “slow,” and my response would be you aren’t paying close enough attention.
Moreover, the argument has been made before that the roots of those who rise to kingpin status is one of a purebred entrepreneur, and Franklin is no exception. Despite his business being illegal, I believe startup founders and/or raising entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Franklin’s climb to power.
Execution is Worshipped
Towards the end of season 1, we see the relationship dynamic between Franklin and his Uncle Jerome drastically change. In just a few episodes, Franklin went from selling weed for his uncle to his uncle working for him. This situation reflects the reality of some of the Tech unicorns like Facebook and Snapchat, who were led by individuals in their 20-somethings but had executive team members their parent’s age.
I’ve always wondered when the shift occurs. When does an OG convert from seeing people like Mark Zuckerberg as a naive 20-year old college dropout to someone they respect and view as their leader? What gave Mark enough credibility that a Microsoft or Yahoo executive would leave their position and come work for Facebook?
The answer is execution. Franklin gained credibility when he executed on his vision. Money talks! Despite Jerome’s initial skepticism, when he realized Franklin had tapped into a new market and created not just an “app” but a sustainable business model, he jumped on the opportunity.
For years we’ve been taught that credibility comes with experience, but Franklin reminds us that credibility is based on our ability to execute.
Entrepreneurs Solve Problems
“You elevate to the level of problems you can handle.” — Nate Perro
T“You elevate to the level of problems you can handle.” — Nate Perro
The higher up the ladder you climb in an organization, the tougher the problems you deal with. As an intern, your biggest problem may be messing up someone’s lunch order, while as an executive, it’s losing a million-dollar client. Gary Vaynerchuk said it best, “my role as the CEO of Vaynermedia is to put out fires,” in other words, solve problems.
Franklin’s problem-solving ability is sharp and surpasses all of his peers. Even in emotionally intense situations, his judgment is not clouded, always acting with reason and tact. The distinction is made clear in Episode 2.3 when Kevin’s cousin is killed and Kevin, Leon, and Jerome, immediately hop in the car seeking vengeance. When Franklin shows up on the sense, he scolds them for reacting based on hearsay and not thinking of calling Lucia to better understand what happened.
In this scene, you can sense his frustration. He realizes he’s playing chess and his partners are playing checkers. The core essence of a business or startup is solving a problem. The journey to solving whatever problem the entrepreneur dares to tackle isn’t easy. Only the strong survive, and time and time again, we see Franklin rise to the occasion. Overcoming both career-threatening and life-ending situations. So to my entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs out there, remember if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Scalability
Every entrepreneur dreams of being a unicorn — a billion-dollar company, but the cost of scalability is giving up control. In season 2, episode 4, CIA agent Reed Thompson gives Franklin some tips on leadership, “You can’t do everything alone. You have to empower the people you decided to work with. It’s not just about being in charge. It’s about deciding how you want to be in charge.”
Here Franklin’s desire for creating a large empire comes in conflict with his need for control.
At that moment, he realizes that what’s got him to where he is now won’t take them to where he wants to be. In the early stages, Franklin’s control was an asset, but now it’s become a liability.
In an attempt to maintain his competitive advantage, he wanted to control who knew his recipe. But with the business expanding, it became extremely demanding on his Aunty Louie, which ultimately led her to quit the organization. Just like a fire, if you don’t effectively harness your power, it can destroy you. Understanding when it’s time to empower your team is a lesson that Franklin, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way. Knowing when and how to scale is one of the biggest challenges a growing business faces. Take a page out of Franklin’s book and remember the cost of not scaling/ giving up your power is losing talent or stagnation.
EQ
In Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It author Chris Voss, a former international hostage negotiator for the FBI, offers a new, field-tested approach to negotiating. In the book, Chris emphasizes that when someone deals with a good negotiator, they leave the table thinking, I enjoyed that and would do it again, regardless of if they got what they initially wanted.
Franklin’s emotional intelligence and intuition make doing business with him enjoyable. He’s not a pushover. In fact, at times, it may appear that he is overly asserting himself. Franklin is what Chris refers to as an immovable nice guy.
Unfortunately, his partners are still students of the old negotiating school, which believes that being a good businessman/negotiator means being an a-hole/strong-arming people. For example, towards the end of Season 1, Jerome attempts to negotiate the cost per kilo with Avi, and it backfires. Avi senses this strong-arm tactic, so he increases the price per kilo from $11,000 to $13,000.
In season 2, episode 3, Franklin shows his skills when he and Reed are working out their deal details. Amid the discussion, Reed tells Franklin, “you can’t afford to walk away from this deal,” to which he responds, “But I will if I have to. Help me sleep at night, Reed.” That line transitioned Franklins and Reed’s business dealing from a mere transaction to a relationship. Following that scene, Reed gives Franklin more insight into his operation, and in the midst of that, they have a bonding moment when Matt takes Franklin on his first plane ride.
Humans are emotional beings that rationalize their emotions. In negotiations, people value being heard more than getting what they want. For this reason, EQ is key to running a successful business empire.
In conclusion, if you are interested in seeing how the “Bossin Up” process occurs, catch Snowfall on FX every Thursday at 10 pm. And follow the journey of Franklin Saint as he goes from thinking Jersey means New Jersey to learn that Jersey is a country where he can hide his assets.
Check Out Part 2!!
