This article was written by Tage Kene-Okafor and was originally published on African based publication Techpoint.africa In 2012, Jesse Ghansah, Prince Boakye Boampong, and Dominic Mensah began trying their hands on a new project, OMG Ghana. Three years later, the project would become a media startup, OMG Digital. At the time, the Ghanaian startup was dubbed the “BuzzFeed of Africa” and as a founder, Ghansah co-led his team into Y Combinator (YC), participating in the accelerator with the likes of Envyl, Flutterwave, Instabug, and Paystack in 2016. Up until 2019, Ghansah remained at OMG Digital but he has now
In the times of COVID-19, I have discovered a certain level of appreciation for human contact. I’m having a lot of trouble accepting the fact that I will not see most of my friends and community in real life, for what is likely to be the rest of 2020. Maybe a sense of community isn’t as important to some people, but as someone who engages in spiritual-religious community, music-related community, and other forms of gathering aimed to celebrate and embrace life’s many ups and downs, this is a difficult time.
As I sit here today writing this piece, the country burns as thousands of Black Americans (and our allies) are expressing their pain and mourning the loss of countless citizens — most recently George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. While citizens of all backgrounds are marching in almost every major city, I can’t help but be reminded that 99 years ago today, the Tulsa race massacre (also known as the Black Wall Street massacre) began. By its end, nearly 300 Americans were killed as white residents attacked black residents and
Netflix’s self-made was released last month as a limited series inspired by the life and times of Madam C.J Walker. Watch here (While watching you have to remember that it is inspired-by so the full narrative shouldn’t be taken as fact) SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO CAN GO WITH YOU Attend any fireside chat with a founder, and you will hear questions about their personal lives, their relationships, and how these were all affected by their obsession with their business. Not everyone will understand, some will be around for a
Last summer I gathered over a dozen womxn of color startup founders and small business owners to connect in Seattle, Washington. We shared our backgrounds, experiences, expertise, challenges and successes as a collective given the historical and systematic exclusion in the business ecosystem. We bonded on our common experience of being ‘the only’, steadily pioneering our own industries. We would have never thought that six months later the world would be facing a global health crisis and we’d be scrambling to secure funding to survive. On average, womxn of color
If any of you are unfamiliar with the lyrical genius of Craig David, please click the link and make your self-isolation a better place. (and this blog post makes sense!) “Got the information on Mondaaaaaay” Purely through chance, I sent my monthly investor update on Monday 9th March, on the eve of the Week of Realisation about the Coronavirus crisis. I signed off my usual SUPPORT section with a simple question: Almost immediately, several investors responded with variations on the following; So I paused all planned work for the day
Women founders of color deserve recognition — and money. It’s time to replace the window-dressing with real representation. On International Women’s Day, we should focus on the numbers and the right numbers. International Women’s Day (#IWD2020) was designed to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of all women — while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equality. So instead of letting this day pass as yet another PR opportunity to highlight a company or firm’s gender diversity with one specific racial background, let’s take a
In honor of Black History Month, a group of Black founders, VCs, and tech professionals put together the most comprehensive list of US-based venture-backed Black founders ever. In honor of Black History Month ✊🏾, a group of Black founders, VCs, and tech professionals put together the most comprehensive list of US-based venture-backed Black founders ever. We hope this will be an inspiration to a generation and serve as a running historical record of Black founders, both past and present. The release of Jessica Livingston’s book “Founders At Work” has inspired
TL;DR We don’t have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) tech industry. We need one to serve the market better, take the money that’s being left on the table, and produce outsized returns for all. There’s a lack of dollars going to underestimated founders and companies addressing underserved communities, and a lack of diverse check writers. How can we make it a DEI tech industry? Approaches can include, but are not limited to: Increasing the number of underestimated tech talent (also promote, sponsor, and pay well) Increasing the dollars going
What a whirlwind of a weekend! On Saturday, Feb 1, 2020, the first day of Black History Month, ✊🏾 if you opened your Apple App Store, you would’ve been greeted with some unapologetic Black Girl Magic ✨. That’s me. I never thought of myself as a techie up until just a few years ago, but here I was this weekend on millions of screens as the “Meet the Developer” spotlight. This experience has taught me so much about the expectations I set for myself and the authenticity I choose to share with others.
