Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder? • Hacker News Board

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#51

Post by pdelgallego » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:22 PM UTC

_delirium wrote: post #26

Udo wrote: post #23

> I'm often the ONLY black guy in the room It's probably my European naiveté talking here, but I seriously wonder if and why that matters to you. Most of us belong to some kind of "minority" in some fashion, sometimes it's visible from the outside, sometimes not. Are things in the USA really so bad that it matters what color your skin is? Isn't tech a business of ideas anyway?

It definitely matters in Europe, possibly moreso than in the USA, at least in the circles I've been in (I'm white myself, so this is mostly from observation and friends). In Denmark at least, there is a lot of awkwardness around race, and it certainly isn't the case that non-white people generally feel comfortable in groups where they're the only non-white person (even worse if everyone else is not only white, but sp…

As a Hispanic developer living in Copenhagen, I feel neglected in some IT meetings and job interviews.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#52

Post by _pius » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:23 PM UTC

raganwald wrote: post #20

naithemilkman wrote: post #11

I really don't think YC cares about ethnicity. I also don't quite get the point of this post.

I don't see the question or the discussion so far as meeting the standard for "An interesting new phenomena." It looks like something that would be better served over on Quora than on HN. It's a reasonable question, but just as many subjects--explicitly including politics--are of interest to HN's readerships but still not HN-worthy, it doesn't appear to meet the standards in the FAQ for the front page. Discussions of…

Clearly (1) not all Hacker News questions are in reference to "an interesting new phenomena" and (2) this question isn't a generic discussion of "minority participation" but a YCombinator specific question, which is why it's germane to this forum.

I respect you a great deal and that's why I'm disappointed in this comment. It's not only because it's uncharacteristically obtuse, but because it smacks of a disturbing syndrome I've seen in some fellow black people who've "made it."

In situations where race comes up, people with this issue go out of their way to let their non-black peers know that they are not interested in discussing race ... unlike all those other blacks they may have heard about. It's no different from a woman trying to fit in with male colleagues by going out of her way to slam any female colleague who files a sexual harassment complaint. It's sad, unnecessary, and adds nothing substantive to the discussion. Let's not look down our noses at other people to make ourselves looks bigger.

The question of whether a black person has ever been picked for YCombinator is interesting and at the very least certainly shouldn't be verboten.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#53

Post by qas1981 » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:24 PM UTC

I'm in Atlanta, black, a programmer and and I casually take notice and see that most of the faces that surround me aren't those that look like me. I tend to wonder the same questions at times. It's a question of is the game we play skewed towards a certain outcome. If it is how do we play?

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#54

Post by vaksel » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:25 PM UTC

tersiag wrote: post #46

vaksel wrote: post #10

black male founder probably...black female founder probably not

and why not?

because there are very few women in tech, and that number goes down even further if you just consider those that are black.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#55

Post by Udo » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:26 PM UTC

true_religion wrote: post #36

Udo wrote: post #23

> I'm often the ONLY black guy in the room It's probably my European naiveté talking here, but I seriously wonder if and why that matters to you. Most of us belong to some kind of "minority" in some fashion, sometimes it's visible from the outside, sometimes not. Are things in the USA really so bad that it matters what color your skin is? Isn't tech a business of ideas anyway?

> Are things in the USA really so bad that it matters what color your skin is? Isn't tech a business of ideas anyway? Yes, things are so bad. And it must be more than "European" naiveté if you don't believe that people naturally discriminate for people who look like them, or believe the same things as they do. Its the nature of the human beast to not be rational. > Isn't tech a business of ideas anyway? Ah, but now t…

> people naturally discriminate for people who look like them

Do they really, naturally? I don't think that many people are walking around, constantly repeating an inner mantra like "I'm a middle-aged white male", always comparing everyone against what they themselves look like in the mirror? Who does that?

> Its the nature of the human beast to not be rational.

It's my experience that most humans only think like "beasts" if they have been conditioned to do so. It's not like we have to force ourselves to be rational all the time, is it? Being somewhat rational, friendly and compassionate should be the default position.

> Ah, but now that you mention it... most of us are hiding our faces (and ethnicities) behind our websites copy.

That's true, and I'm happy about this option. I certainly wouldn't have such a great time on the net if people could actually hear or see me. But being black is not the same as being ugly.

> just how many of Michael Seibel's[1] customers and clients do you think know that he is black

How many care?

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#56

Post by sitmack » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:28 PM UTC

revorad wrote: post #14

It would help to know how many black founders apply in the first place.

He didn't ask for conversion rates. He asked a total and I didn't get the impression that his question was accusing anyone of anything.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#57

Post by AlexC04 » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:29 PM UTC

prime0196 wrote: post #30

Udo wrote: post #23

> I'm often the ONLY black guy in the room It's probably my European naiveté talking here, but I seriously wonder if and why that matters to you. Most of us belong to some kind of "minority" in some fashion, sometimes it's visible from the outside, sometimes not. Are things in the USA really so bad that it matters what color your skin is? Isn't tech a business of ideas anyway?

It really doesn't matter to me. I just wish more blacks would realize the power of programming and the opportunities it could potentially provide.

Maybe there's an economic barrier to that realization? Adults who realize the power of programming were likely children with access to a computer growing up.

In Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" he tells the story of Bill Gates and Bill Joy - two prolific programmers. The key similarity between them was their unfettered access to a computer growing up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United... Indicates that US Blacks earn less on average. Perhaps a good number of black kids don't have a computer to spend the required time needed to realize the power.

Perhaps donating your old computer to inner-city and after school programs would help a kid realize that. Wishing won't do anything, but if you've got computers "lying around" that you were going to get rid of, there are programs that distribute them to people who could use them.

Google turned up: http://www.computerswithcauses.org/

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#58

Post by DanielBMarkham » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:32 PM UTC

was just wondering if anyone that looks like ME has EVER made it

Assuming that there might be something "unattractive" about being black -- a big assumption but one I'm willing to play along with for purposes of this thread -- how about fat people? Old people? People who don't live in cities? People who didn't go to an ivory league college? Conservatives? People who have physical defects?

On a few occasions, it's been stated that basically you need to look "cute", "serious", or various other quasi-bullshit phrases. It's a logical follow-up question to start asking about exactly which attributes people find attractive.

But I'm not sure what difference it makes. If your startup depends on YC, they probably don't want you. It's like the old thing about only asking for a loan when you don't need the money.

While you can count up various attributes and report on them, that's a long way from a causal relationship. Maybe no black people applied. Maybe there were only 2 black people that applied, but they were both joke applications. There's simply no useful information you can gather from a count. At least not that I can see. Perhaps you can develop a suspicion that the odds are stacked against you, but if you're looking for reasons to think the odds are stacked against you, hell, just go look at the stats for startups in general. No need to add anything else in there.

I guess I just don't understand your point. It doesn't seem very productive, no matter what the answer is.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#59

Post by raganwald » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:33 PM UTC

_pius wrote: post #52

raganwald wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the question or the discussion so far as meeting the standard for "An interesting new phenomena." It looks like something that would be better served over on Quora than on HN. It's a reasonable question, but just as many subjects--explicitly including politics--are of interest to HN's readerships but still not HN-worthy, it doesn't appear to meet the standards in the FAQ for the front page. Discussions of…

Clearly (1) not all Hacker News questions are in reference to "an interesting new phenomena" and (2) this question isn't a generic discussion of "minority participation" but a YCombinator specific question, which is why it's germane to this forum. I respect you a great deal and that's why I'm disappointed in this comment. It's not only because it's uncharacteristically obtuse, but because it smacks of a disturbing sy…

Here's an "Interesting new phenomena" for you to chew on: How dare you suggest that I'm Black? My father is Scottish-Canadian. I went to St. Andrews, a Scottish-themed boarding school. I grew up listening to Rush. I play hockey. I listen to Jazz music. I ride a mountain bike. I'm told I speak with a standard North American accent. What is this "Black" thing you speak of?

Now before you answer, let me tell you that I consider that a very interesting question. And the ramifications are extremely interesting to me. I love discussing the question of "Is raganwald actually black?" But is it Hacker News? No. So there you have an example of an issue around "blackness" or "race" that is of great interest to me, but that I do not consider Hacker News.

So I say to you that you are mistaken in conflating my suggestion that this question is not Hacker News with some allegations around being disinterested in discussing race. I am interested, I just don't want to discuss it here. I accept that you consider the original question interesting. However, I reject your personal suggestions about my motivations.

Re: Has YC ever funded a company with a Black founder?

#60

Post by EMRo » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 2:33 PM UTC

true_religion wrote: post #49

prime0196 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not many black programming role models. Sad to say but many black youth still see sports and entertainment and the only way to achieve a high level of success in America. My primary goal in life is to try to change that perception by becoming a successful programmer.

I'm not sure about this... do you really believe that programmers need role models for success? We have people that we idolize but its not because of common-place programming ability or merely their job but because of what they've achieved----Bill Gates with Microsoft, Linus Torvalds with Linux, etc. Programmers seem to usually be self-described 'geeks' and thus like programming for its own sake.

Don't need specifically black role models but it would help. Just proof positive that being a programmer can be interesting and lucrative. Coming from a social anthropology background and having experienced it in grade school myself, there is an issue of "talking and acting white." Programming falls directly under that umbrella unfortunately.

Is it complete BS, absolutely. But at the core of it, we're talking about people delineating groups based on sameness and otherness which is a practice as old as there have been social structures.

It helps kids to identify with a mentor whose shoes they can envision being in directly. More important than "looking like" though is feeling a sense of kinship that comes from similar background. I'm a firm believer that we should focus on the level of privilege not color. There are all types of people coming from a disadvantaged background that need help, how do we make programming/startups attainable and "sexy?" Silicon Valley's got that down but NYC is still a "banking city"