It’s just another day for The Phat Startup founders Anthony Frasier and James Lopez. Today is a little different, though, because it’s the day before their panel at South by Southwest (SXSW), and the duo is handling business from the Austin Convention Center.

They’re not alone. Their business has expanded to include Jesal Trivedi, who handles marketing alongside Lopez, and Jahde Eve, second in command when it comes to Business development. Despite their roles, The Phat Startup has an all-hands-on-deck mentality when it comes to executing their overall strategy of providing urban entrepreneurs with dope programming and must-attend events.

Upon glancing at the “Interviews” section of the site, you’ll see that The Phat Startup has chopped it up with some of today’s most innovative individuals, folks like best-selling author and co-founder and CEO of VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk, media personality Jabari Johnson and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, to name a few. They’ve received support from many of their interviewees, and in the world of hip-hop, a co-sign goes a long way.

How’d they get the co-sign, a virtual dap from these heavyweights?

It’s a simple answer: “Social media,” says Frasier.

“We utilize social media and we utilize our story,” adds Lopez.

The pair says that while social has helped them spread their mission and brand messaging, it’s not as simple as the 140-character limit on Twitter or a scheduled Facebook message—they had to have a good platform, a good blog, a good bio, so people understood they were serious about their business and what they had to offer. “Brand is very important. The way you appear online is so important,” stresses Frasier.

Well, they’ve definitely solidified their business across the social landscape, garnering nearly 1,000 Facebook fans and over 7,000 Twitter followers to date.

With its mission to make entrepreneurship an option for people of all communities, they’ve created customer validation workshops that infuse hip-hop culture examples and references. Since they stepped onto the scene in 2012, The Phat Startup has gone from just providing a service to customers to showcasing a lifestyle and it’s one people are looking to subscribe to. “We didn’t start a company to sell merchandise,” laughs Lopez. “Many people are asking us for it because we built like this lifestyle brand, that it just makes sense.” Pairing Eric Reis’ Lean Startup methodology and hip-hop, the duo has created a movement of hip-hop enthusiasts.

When you attend any of their events, they ask the guest of honor to name who they’d want to sit with in business and in hip-hop, so we flipped the question and asked Frasier and Lopez the same question. For his timeless business advice and insight, Frasier picks Joh Rohn. On the hip-hop side, he chooses one of the pioneers: hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

Growing up on Jay Z’s music, Lopez picks the Brooklyn bred rapper-turned businessman, as well as legendary investor Warren Buffett.

Speaking of investors, The Phat Startup just announced details for their next event in which they’ll be bringing hip-hop fan, investor and all-around businessman Ben Horowitz to NYC. Despite the big news, it’s business as usual and the duo is focused on their customers.

"The main people that we have to satisfy is the customer and they’ve shown us a lot of love and we return that.”

“We’ve been able to interview people like Gary V., Devo Springsteen and Alexis Ohanian, which is dope as hell and has helped us elevate our brand to another level,” says Lopez. “But the main people that we have to satisfy is the customer and they’ve shown us a lot of love and we return that.”

Follow B20 on Twitter: @BlackWeb20

Got a new business idea? Check out the NewME VR and turn your idea into reality.

Read more on The Phat Startup

For the Love of Hip-Hop Hip-hop speaks a universal language, unifying even polar opposites. Ask anyone who considers themselves a hip-hop head,listening to the rhythmic beats, chanted speech or seamless delivery, it will bring together the most unsuspecting pair, and fuse together those that have always loved the music genre and lifestyle.