SEASON 1: EPISODE 21 | Airdate: 4/9/2022
One-on-one with former NFL player and founder of Rares Gerome Sapp.
After a five-year NFL career, playing defensive back for the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts, Gerome Sapp decided to utilize his finance degree from Norte Dame and the MBA he earned from Harvard Business School.
Sapp told Nevada Week In Person that he had always known his playing career was limited, which is why he wanted to get his education. Sapp spent two offseasons working on his MBA so that when his playing time was done he could focus on creating his own businesses.
Sapp moved to Las Vegas from his hometown of Houston after the late Tony Hsieh invested in his tech startup. Part of the investment deal required Sapp to move to Southern Nevada.
Now, Sapp’s focus is on an investment company called Rares. It’s an app that allows people to buy a portion of rare, collectible sneakers, much like buying stock in a company. The sneaker appreciates in value and the stock in the shoe goes up.
Sapp sees the new company as a way to empower and boost the financial stability of communities of color because many people in the Black community know and understand the value of these types of collectible sneakers so buying a portion – or stock – in the shoe will make more sense than other types of investments. xt