All posts by

Andy Ayim

Over the last 12 months, I have been creating content for dozens of platforms. Perhaps one of the highest profiles ones has been Blavity. ‘The digital voice of black millennials’ boasts a readership of over 30m readers a month across all platforms (incl social). It is an excellent example of fast growth and strategic execution. From inception in 2014, Blavity always positioned itself as a ‘Tech’ company and not only a media player as they had an ambitious vision. They fast grew from a newsletter to attain 1m MAU’s within

I have been speaking to Coworking spaces, Incubators and Accelerators across London and it has become apparent that there is a common problem arising from non-technical startup founders. This transcends the culture; this impacts more than just female or minority-led startups. I have worked as a Product Manager at software companies for a few years as well as experienced starting a tech startup myself. One of the harshest lessons I learned was that to succeed at building a tech company; you need technical talent in-house. Put simply; we had to

“I was the only black person in a room full of middle aged white investors and fellow white entrepreneurs pitching for investment. Of course it felt awkward, of course I was nervous, of course I didn’t feel as if I belonged.” The account below was a story shared with me by one of the readers of my content who has grown to become a friend. He is an entrepreneur building AI for the Recruitment industry and shares a true to life experience below that many people of colour can relate

It is easier to mold clay when it is wet, rather than chip away at it when it sets. The same can be said about company culture. It is much easier to shape company culture during your first 10 hires, than try to fix a company with established processes. To get it right you must understand that people make the culture, it is not the culture that makes the people. If you want a great culture that stays great as you grow, your first ten hires need to be evaluated

Ten years ago you could probably count on one hand the number of angel investors, let alone funds run by people of color [although it is rare even today to see the profiles of female or minority investors in the likes of TechCrunch or Entrepreneur]. Nevertheless, we are starting to see articles showcasing the increased activity in this space such as: 20 Angels Worth Knowing for Minority Startups 15 Black Tech Investors You Need to Know The List of Black Women in VC 28 Black Founders and Investors Making an Impact

I grew up happy yet humble in Tottenham, London [United Kingdom], one of the most multicultural wards in the whole of Europe where over 90 nationalities co-exist and nearly 300 languages are spoken. I didn’t choose what school I went to as a kid or what kids went to school alongside me, we all just went to the school our parents enrolled us into. I was friends with Stephen who was Christian and from Ghana; Ghasam who was Muslim and from Pakistan; and Lauren who was Irish, white and atheist.

My mother always told me growing up that “If you want something done well, do it yourself.” I write stories about founders & investors from diverse backgrounds to address the lack of tech inclusion across the globe. The 15 entrepreneurs featured in this article embody Gandhi’s quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Rather than complaining while sitting on the sidelines, they have taken accountability and started on the journey to build something bigger than themselves, a startup. Funding from investors by no means is a

Growing up, I remember relating to characters I identified with like, Ace in Paid in Full, The Notorious B.I.G in his “Juicy” music video or even Omar in the hit series, The Wire. However, the game has changed in regards to role models. Now entrepreneurs are the rockstars with the Facebook movie (The Social Network) for example, illustrating entrepreneurship has now become popular culture. Let’s get reflective real quick and ask ourselves an honest question: Do you identify with any of the characters you read about in Entrepreneur, Inc. or Forbes? According

More and more people have been reaching out to me to have the conversation surrounding Diversity and Inclusion [companies ranging from startups to multinationals]. To each one of them, I shared what I will share with you now. The discussion should start with a standard definition of what ‘Diversity’ and ‘Inclusion’ actually means. For me it is as simple as this: Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Diversity is about bringing people together from a wide variety of backgrounds Inclusion is about having their voices heard and acted upon Let’s start with

According to The Knights Foundation report: Diversifying Investments, just 1.1 percent of the $71.4 trillion assets under management across the world is in the hands of women and minority-owned firms. We all know entrepreneurship is hard, but starting a business across Africa is particularly hard given the restraints presented by developing nations. It is a gift and a curse in that new problems call for different solutions [from the Western World], but it can be challenging facing the barriers that impact scale and success. These barriers include: Limited access to

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