Jamal Mashburn launches venture capital firm

Former NBA All-Star Jamal Mashburn is making yet another move in the business world according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mashburn, who owns 80 restaurants, a realty company, Toyota and Lexus dealerships, and a range of other businesses, is teaming up with NFL offensive tackle Winston Justice to launch a venture capital firm for investing in high-tech startups.

"I always wanted to be that guy with the briefcase," Mashburn said. "I saw pro sports from a different angle. I grew up in Harlem, and my dad was a boxer. He worked hard all his life, he sparred with Muhammad Ali. He accomplished a lot, but in the end he had nothing to show for it.

"So, I used to look at those guys with briefcases and think, 'What's inside there?' To me, it signified the brain, and I had a lifelong desire to carry that briefcase."

Justice Mashburn Capital Partners has already made its first investment. The firm participated in a funding round for LevelEleven Inc., a software company bringing game mechanics to the sales departments at large corporations.

As a former athlete, getting pitched on business ventures doesn't present Mashburn with anything new in his life. In fact, according to the 40-year-old, he's been making business moves since the age of 10.

"Athletes get pitched all the time. People have this view that you're not the smart money, you're the dumb money. We get pitched mom-and-pop businesses that are not scalable. We get pitched on the marketing side, heavily. We get pitched by people who say their company is the next Google. Well, if you're the next Google, why are you free to sit here and talk to me on a Tuesday afternoon?

"I made my first real business decision at age 10. I had wanted to be a baseball player, until this Dominican kid threw a really, really fast fastball at me. At that time, I decided not to be a baseball player."