Many kids wouldn’t have the patience to allow their parents to interrupt their TV viewing, but Momensity10 app developer Jermon Green knew there was a purpose.

Green said once his parents knew of his desire to become a genetic engineer, besides enrolling him in programs geared towards math and science, they also played a game while watching TV.

“We would watch movies, and my mom would pause the movie and ask me ‘What do you think is going to happen next? Why do you think the director is showing you everything you need to see? What is the logical progression of what’s going to happen next?’”

“It would probably annoy most other people,” the 37-year-old Richmond, Va. native said laughing, “but I’m pretty good now with my deductive reasoning.” Everything his parents did for him was to “nourish” his brain.

A love for genetic engineering morphed into a love for digital engineering. He developed tech skills working with multiple universities and government organizations.

About 20 years ago, Green started a talent agency in response to seeing friends and family pray to be discovered.

“They just had all these great talents, but they didn’t have a path,” Green said. “They didn’t have direction. I always heard these horror stories about somebody knowing someone’s cousin’s brother’s uncle’s sister that’s related to Dr. Dre.”

Instead of waiting for the record deals to show up, Green used the passion and energy of the talent as well as an ardent fan base. To eliminate the gatekeepers, he developed Momensity TV, a platform to showcase and rank some of the best-known musicians, dancers and other artists throughout the social media world. The site generated 8,000 followers in just 30 days and featured the likes of Grammy-nominated rapper Lil Yachty.

 

But given his engineering background, Green didn’t keep a product out there too long. Momensity TV was a test to collect data that would eventually lead to the Momensity10 app. This is the app’s tenth iteration after several years of development, marketing and product testing.

Momensity10 launched June 8. It’s a live venue app that merged Momensity TV with another project he created called Be There on Demand, which allowed artists to perform live and sell virtual tickets. The app is interactive and provides exclusive experiences and swag for fans while artists keep 65 percent of the revenue.

Green said he sacrificed a lot to get this project off the ground. He dropped over $500,000 by working two jobs. Romantic relationships didn’t work out. He had to overcome racial barriers and other obstacles like a lack of brand recognition due to being a “hermit” to create his product.

He recalled going to events and feeling crushed picking up his business cards off the floor, because attendees rejected his idea. Others would ask for a drink, assuming he was the help or told him they couldn’t support an all-black company.

“That’s when I decided, you know what? I’m just going to go build this myself. I have no time to prove that I’m good enough,” Green said.

“I’ve used my Mom and Dad’s deductive reasoning,” he said. “I figured this out. I know how this movie ends. All we have to do is stay the course. I am like that artist that I have been trying to save that whole time. I have done everything I can do. Now it’s up to somebody else to say, ‘I think you’ve done good enough. Let me try out your app.’”