Damilola Olokesusi is the Co-founder and CEO of Shuttlers, a tech transport startup. In 2015, Olokesusi and her friends — Damilola Quadry and Busola Majekodunmi — were frustrated by the stress of commuting in Lagos, Nigeria. And following some nasty experiences, they decided to start Shuttlers. “One of my sisters got into a one-chance bus (a commercial bus used for robbing passengers), and it was a traumatic experience for me. She was taken to another destination where they were abducted and robbed. Having had our different bus experiences, we realised it was a collective pain point for us.
The news rippled across the Internet of Google’s sudden firing of prominent AI ethics researcher Dr. Timnit Gebru. Renowned for her groundbreaking work in making AI more equitable and exposing its potential for racial and gender bias – Gebru was recently highlighted in our article: the Black women fixing AI. In a series of tweets, Timnit announced the tech giant had fired her [via email] after she expressed frustration internally about Google’s lackluster diversity initiatives. Timnit explains via Twitter that she was previously asked to retract a research paper she co-authored that highlighted potential pitfalls
We spoke to software engineers Ademusoyo Awosika-Olumo and Taylor Poindexter about their career journey, and specifically, the transition from junior to senior developer. Ademusoyo is a Senior Software Engineer at Mailchimp. She has a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. She currently works on the Websites Teams at Mailchimp, collaborating on building new features for the Websites platform. Taylor is a proud alumna of the University of Virginia and the co-founder of Black Code Collective. The organization strives to provide a safe space for Black Engineers to collaborate and grow their
With Black founders receiving less than 1% of venture capital funding, many are forced to make-do without outside investment. However, for an ever-growing few, the intentional path without venture capital is looking increasingly attractive. Letting go of Silicon Valley-style advice and finding your own path Courtland is the founder and driving force behind Indie hackers a community of bootstrapped entrepreneurs and makers. Courtland learned hard lessons from entrepreneurship Silicon Valley-style. The primary being: ‘go big and raise a lot of money’. During a stint at Y Combinator, he went to work on
With some of the fastest-growing global economies, the African startup scene continues to flourish. By using technology to solve problems, disrupt the status quo, and create jobs, African entrepreneurs are leading the tech revolution. Meet seven game-changing female entrepreneurs from fintech, health, education, and home care, and see how they are redefining the business landscape and improving lives. Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder and COO of Piggybank.ng PiggyVest wants to be the company “allowing young people to take full advantage of the financial ecosystem without having to break the bank for it.” Odunayo
Techish · Should Twitter Buy Substack? Virtual Influencers, Social Media Brainwashing, Trump the Dictator? Techish is back with another episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss the world of virtual influencers vs real influencers (17:32) They also break down: UK second lockdown (01:28) Election talk (5:24) Social media brainwashing Micheal’s homie (07:27) Twitter buying Substack (10:50) Jodie Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn (24:20) This Episode Is Sponsored By Notion Get your Notion account here. Notion is hiring! Check out their open positions Extras: Techish on Patreon:Advertise with Techish:Please rate and review the Techish podcast Subscribe To The Techish Podcast On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms.
As a Black man in venture capital, the last few months have been eye-opening. The national conversations about social justice led to an increased awareness of the challenges faced by underrepresented founders and funders in our industry. People and organizations have since stepped up to create pathways to invest in more founders from underrepresented backgrounds. And I couldn’t be happier to see this happen. But I’ve noticed something else taking place on the sidelines. Many onlookers view investing with a representation lens as a constraint, rather than a thoughtful investment
Black journalism has shaped the way we look at the technology industry. Get to know the writers and storytellers amplifying Black stories and speaking up across matters as varied as race, artificial intelligence, venture capital, diversity, and other issues affecting communities of color. Sidney Fussell, Senior Staff Writer for WIRED Sidney is a Senior Staff writer based in San Francisco covering technology for WIRED, writing compelling features about surveillance, health, spending data, and Silicon Valley’s social and political impact. Sidney was previously a technology writer with The Atlantic but has also
Last week, Stripe announced it had purchased the Nigerian startup, Paystack for an estimated 200 million dollars. Founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Paystack is a platform designed to deliver a safe, convenient, and modern payment experience for customers and merchants in Africa. Background The idea for Paystack was born when Akinlade built a simple way of integrating a card transaction into a website. It was the simplicity of how it worked that propelled him and Olubi to think about developing it into a platform for others.
In honor of October being Black History Month in the UK, we highlight ten influential Black British women who code and break down barriers. For more Black British Tech stories, see our BHM feature on UK founders from 2017. Charlene Hunter – Lead Software Engineer at Made Tech, Founder Coding Black Females Charlene is the founder of Coding Black Females one of the largest platforms for Black female coders in the UK. Charlene wrote her first line of code at the age of 10 and went on to earn a
