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Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

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Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#11

Post by 1123581321 »

Yes, there aren't that many in Silicon Valley. Blacks are better represented in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest of the United States, where there are fewer high-profile startups.

Also, culturally, black women entrepreneurs tend to pursue things other than computer science. The following are the business projects of black women entrepreneurs I personally know in the Midwest:

1. A music performance/album sales career ( this is entrepreneurship )

2. Coaching and motivational seminars

3. A staffing agency

4. An event planning company

5. A photography business

6. A law firm

And to move to black men, even the two entrepreneurs I know who have CS backgrounds are focused on music production and a culture magazine. I do not think my experience is atypical.

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#13

Post by brewgardn »

1123581321 wrote: post #11

Yes, there aren't that many in Silicon Valley. Blacks are better represented in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest of the United States, where there are fewer high-profile startups. Also, culturally, black women entrepreneurs tend to pursue things other than computer science. The following are the business projects of black women entrepreneurs I personally know in the Midwest: 1. A music performance/album sales car…

So my observation is shared. But you think that it fairly representative of the actual population, rather than what holds our attention in this entrepreneurship culture.

Well, your experience with male founders is not typical with where I live (Richmond). But I do agree that they are much more represented in the media.

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#15

Post by blackfemcoders »

I'm a black female developer who founded BlackFemaleCoders (http://blackfemalecoders.tumblr.com/) as a way of building a community of us out there. I've found it difficult both throughout my CS studies and while working in the field to find other women like me who can share and relate to my experience and I noticed that there wasn't really a strong presence out there for those of us already in the field to connect with each other. I'm hoping my blog can help fix that.

In terms of my experience, I can count on my hands the number of other black women developers I've encountered thusfar. Whether it's at conferences, in my classes or at work, I'm often one of a couple or the only black woman around (and oftentimes black person in general). I'm not happy about it and have become an advocate for getting more women of color (and women in general!) in STEM fields, specifically in computer science.

I've shared more on my experience as being a black female coder here in this post: http://blackfemalecoders.tumblr.com/about

I encourage you all to check it out and please get in touch with me if you are interested in sharing your experience! (twitter @lifeissweetgood)

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#16

Post by AmaM »

Hi, I am a black woman and the founder of Airfordable (fly.airfordable.co)based in DC. There has been an increasing number of black woman founders in the startup space. They are very much vocal about it. I guess because I seek out to find them and associate myself with the programs they organize. For example, www.DigitalUndivided.com/ @DigUnDiv brings together 100 black women founders in tech startups every fall in NYC for workshops, pitch competitions etc. They also host events during the year in cities like Mountain View, Detriot, NYC, chicago ATL etc. They are very active on twitter as well. There's also www.Blerdology.co/ @blerdology (a movement of Black Nerds) that hosts hackathons to target black techies among other programs. I actually won first place and best startup idea at their very first hackathon in ATL that landed an investor meeting. Both groups had events at SXSWi last week. So, Im Not sure why there are claims that there are not much coverage. Either way, folks like DigUndiv and Blerdology are changing this! Check them out.

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#17

Post by AmaM »

AmaM wrote: post #16

Hi, I am a black woman and the founder of Airfordable (fly.airfordable.co)based in DC. There has been an increasing number of black woman founders in the startup space. They are very much vocal about it. I guess because I seek out to find them and associate myself with the programs they organize. For example, www.DigitalUndivided.com/ @DigUnDiv brings together 100 black women founders in tech startups every fall in N…

I also got interviewed by Techcocktail and tech hustlers at sxswi to share my story!

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#18

Post by blackfemcoders »

Also, thank you for making this post, as this is a topic that I strongly feel needs to be addressed. I think there is coverage on the issue from the standpoint of other black founders advocating for more (BlackFemaleCoders, Blerdology, DigitalUndivided, BlackGirlNerds, etc) but outside of that community, I find the issue doesn't get addressed nearly as much, if much at all. This isn't just a "black" issue or a "women" issue, it's an issue in the tech community at large that applies to and affects the whole community. It requires everyone to at the very least be more aware and communicate openly about it so that we can all work together towards positive change.

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#19

Post by shanselman »

runjake wrote: post #12

A good person to ping about this would be Scott Hanselman: http://www.hanselman.com and @shanselman He knows of quite a few and can help you.

Sure, we should bring in @tiffani, @xianamoy, @lynneluvah, @contessagibson, @KathrynFinney to the discussion. That's just off the top of my head but I'm AFK at the moment.

Re: Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?

#20

Post by lynneluvah »

shanselman wrote: post #19
runjake wrote: post #12

A good person to ping about this would be Scott Hanselman: http://www.hanselman.com and @shanselman He knows of quite a few and can help you.

Sure, we should bring in @tiffani, @xianamoy, @lynneluvah, @contessagibson, @KathrynFinney to the discussion. That's just off the top of my head but I'm AFK at the moment.

Similar discussion was had on Quora back in 2010 - 2011 there's a list of names there http://www.quora.com/Who-are-some-influential-black-women-te...

This 2011 article on 10 Black Women In Tech will also expose you to the women who know the women, if they aren't the women themselves http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/11/10-black-women-in-tak...

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