Startup America needs to look more like America • Hacker News Board

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#21

Post by trustfundbaby » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 6:55 AM UTC

stretchwithme wrote: post #18

trustfundbaby wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet ... many many minority kids grow up with that mindset, and just telling them they're wrong is not going to get them to change their mindset ... in fact it will only make them more defensive and angry at you. You know what could be productive? Acknowledging that there are more things stacked against them than the average white kid, for example, but that life is kind of like that. So since nobody rises to low expec…

Well, I'm not in the business of telling minority kids they are wrong. I'm just advocating that we don't reinforce the idea that achievement requires that you must be approved of by the mainstream. It does not. Dozens of other things are more important. Let us focus on those.

Don't think of it as reinforcement ... think of it as validation ;)

Seriously ... it goes a long way to hear somebody say to you

"you're not crazy, it is a bit tougher out there for you being a minority and based on that you've come a long way"

Thats when you follow it up with

"... but you can go even further"

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#22

Post by xiaoma » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 7:12 AM UTC

trustfundbaby wrote: post #14

stretchwithme wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity. Hegemony is simply not there. There is competition in venture capital and against venture capital. It only takes a minority of investors to make an investment. And most of them are quite used to dissenting and thinking for themselves.

> Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity You might be surprised at how untrue that turns out to be. Investors are focused on winning ... and to do that they'll usually go with what fits the prototype of a winner ... much the same way NFL teams pick quarterbacks (right height, right throwing motion, etc)…

> MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not.

Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#23

Post by stretchwithme » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 8:40 AM UTC

trustfundbaby wrote: post #21

stretchwithme wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I'm not in the business of telling minority kids they are wrong. I'm just advocating that we don't reinforce the idea that achievement requires that you must be approved of by the mainstream. It does not. Dozens of other things are more important. Let us focus on those.

Don't think of it as reinforcement ... think of it as validation ;) Seriously ... it goes a long way to hear somebody say to you "you're not crazy, it is a bit tougher out there for you being a minority and based on that you've come a long way" Thats when you follow it up with "... but you can go even further"

No, thanks. I'll just continue to treat all people as capable of performing amazing things and accepting them as they develop to whatever extent.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#24

Post by trustfundbaby » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 8:53 AM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #22

trustfundbaby wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity You might be surprised at how untrue that turns out to be. Investors are focused on winning ... and to do that they'll usually go with what fits the prototype of a winner ... much the same way NFL teams pick quarterbacks (right height, right throwing motion, etc)…

> MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not. Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.

Yes I have.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#25

Post by trustfundbaby » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 8:54 AM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #22

trustfundbaby wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity You might be surprised at how untrue that turns out to be. Investors are focused on winning ... and to do that they'll usually go with what fits the prototype of a winner ... much the same way NFL teams pick quarterbacks (right height, right throwing motion, etc)…

> MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not. Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.

> San Francisco Yes I have ... didn't see that many black folks when I was there.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#26

Post by xiaoma » Fri, Feb 11, 2011, 11:01 PM UTC

trustfundbaby wrote: post #25

xiaoma wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not. Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.

> San Francisco Yes I have ... didn't see that many black folks when I was there.

Diversity doesn't narrowly equate to the number of black people you encounter during visits.

According to Wikipedia, San Fransisco is 7.3% black, 31.3% asian, 14.0% hispanic and a total of 35.6% of the residents are from outside the US. It also has the highest ratio of gay/lesbian individuals of anywhere in the US at 15.4%.

That is a LOT of minorities and a lot of diversity no matter how you slice it and downmodding me won't change the fact.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#27

Post by stretchwithme » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 2:04 AM UTC

Its simply not true that children won't believe they can do something if they don't see someone who looks like them doing it.

If it were the case, there'd be all sorts of adopted kids completely incapable of doing things.

It is true that if people do not see a certain behavior or do not see that it is successful, they are less likely to adopt the behavior themselves. But even then, children create and experiment with behaviors all the time. Unless, of course, they are actively discouraged from doing so.

We don't simply repeat what we see. We are capable of assessing the way people act around us and judging whether or not behavior works.

But if children are surrounded by people not practicing successful behaviors and also are actively discouraged from experimenting, its a lot less likely they will be successful at whatever they choose to do.

Re: Startup America needs to look more like America

#28

Post by careersters » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 8:31 AM UTC

There are a disproportionate number of women and minorities in leading or supporting roles within venture investment sized start-ups. Historically, companies owned by women and minorities have received less than 5% of total venture capital investments over the past 40 years and minorities have only accounted for 3.7% of entrepreneurs in venture scale start-ups.