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
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
This was originally posted here: http://ahvc.school/blog Yesterday, a friend of mine shared with me the great news that he was planning on starting a family and asked: “what is the one skill that you would love to teach your daughter as she grows up?” Almost immediately I answered, “the ability to make smart decisions on a consistent basis when I am not in the room.” One trait that I believe has shaped me profoundly in the decisions I make in my career, with my family and in life, is the
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Episode Content: In this episode of this Techish, Abadesi and Michael discuss: ⚡ Jeff Bezos donates $10 billion⚡ Are VC’s hyping up the Corona Virus? ⚡ HQ Trivia shuts down⚡ The Techish Parasite review⚡ Single mother founders? [24:16] Extras: Techish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
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.
Originally published by Wogrammer here. Ananya Cleetus has a day named after her in the city of Pittsburgh. She is the creator of an app called Anemone, a TEDx speaker, and a computer science student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She exudes a unique type of confidence while speaking intelligently and thoughtfully about the journey that led her here today. While Ananya has accomplished so much early in her career, her success hasn’t come without its share of personal adversity. Earlier in her collegiate career, while studying Computer Science
Originally published here on Medium Last month, my company Hustle Crew celebrated its third birthday. It’s a significant milestone for many reasons. Three years is the same amount of time I spent at university completing my bachelor’s degree. The longest period I’ve ever worked at a single company (Groupon, 2011–2014). Most importantly it’s far longer than many experts I met at the start — from other CEOs to investors — thought this business would last. I’ll spare you our origin story as I’ve shared it before, but in 2016 when I set
Kerry Schrader is woman, Black, and a Baby Boomer. She overcame the odds to make her tech company, Mixtroz, big news. Kerry Schrader was the 37th Black woman to raise $1 million for a startup. Her daughter and business partner in their company, Mixtroz, Ashlee Ammons, was number 38. Schrader is proud of her achievement but admits, “Each time I say it, I become more disenchanted with it.” Why? She has a hunch that if she and her daughter could have presented Mixtroz anonymously, it would be valued at a quarter
As we near the end of Black History Month in the UK, our hope is that black British history surpasses a months celebration to become an integral part of British history. There are dozens, if not hundreds of unsung black heroes across British history from Alice Kinloch, the South African activist who came to Britain and founded the African Association who created the first Pan-African conference in London in 1900. To others such as modern-day educator, rapper, entrepreneur and activist, Akala. The renowned author of The Sunday Times Best Seller
