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

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

#91

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:36 PM UTC

elliottcarlson wrote: post #86

Udo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. I'm from Germany myself, and I'm convinced it's the most unfriendly "western" country ever. There is certainly a lot of racism here, but it generally happens in socially and economically compromised regions with low unemployment, and then it's usually directed toward the Turks (because "they took our jooooooobs"). Not that there are many black people in Germany to begin with, but I worked with a l…

Interestingly, the same viewpoint exists in Belgium but towards Moroccans and not so much the Turks. The problem is that in the 60's Belgium had a guest worker program which brought the majority of the Turks and Moroccans to Belgium. This helped build up a lot of portions of Belgium however when the worker program was ended in the mid 70's people failed to realize that at this point people had established themselves…

[deleted]

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

#92

Post by tersiag » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:38 PM UTC

vaksel wrote: post #54

tersiag wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

As a black woman .... I have to agree

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

#93

Post by joshbaptiste » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:41 PM UTC

It really doesn't bother me at all because it makes sense why the low numbers exists in the first place. Basically the black community doesn't lend itself to hacking in general. When I hang with my friends I switch from geeky to a more hip hop style, they are simply not interested in what i am into and talk more about sport/entertainment topics. The few black friends I have that are in tech only do it for work. To have a Hacker/YC mind you usually have to fully immerse yourself into hacking, eg.. hacking at home,IRC etc.. So I believe the disproportion just reflects the type of people who simply interested. Believe me if you have the next million dollar idea in your hands then your set. The only color that really matters in this tech entrepreneurial space is green.

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

#94

Post by BoppreH » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:42 PM UTC

revorad wrote: post #14

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

I think the question is not about racism during the funding process, but how much of a minority black people are in this situations.

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

#95

Post by revorad » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:45 PM UTC

BoppreH wrote: post #94

revorad wrote: post #14

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

I think the question is not about racism during the funding process, but how much of a minority black people are in this situations.

Yes, and that's what the answer to my question will illustrate.

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

#96

Post by nickbp » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:50 PM UTC

malux85 wrote: post #50

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?

I agree .. it doesn't matter what color your skin is, or whatever minority group you are from, what matters are your choices, specifically how you spend your precious, precious time. I'm gay, and am bootstrapping my own startup. I have never wondered how many other startup founders are gay .. because that's not what it's about! Focus man

Nitpick: You can hide that fact when its inconvenient.

I've found it rarely even comes up, unless you're talking about family with coworkers or something, and by that point you're probably already hired/funded/'in' and will have already overcome any potential stereotypes that someone might otherwise have had about you.

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

#97

Post by rick888 » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:53 PM UTC

eengstrom wrote: post #25

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?

I am almost 40. I have been in the IT world actively since 1984 here in Berkeley/San Francisco/Silicon Valley. I have worked in big corporate, nationally and internationally. I have worked with fewer than 10 black men and women in a technical role in my entire career; spanning hundreds of teams and nearly a hundred customers and employers. It matters because opportunity and outcomes aren't equal. The problem isn't pu…

I don't think it's anything we need to "fix". Racism is still around to a small degree, but It's not what's keeping black men and women out of IT. It's culture. The culture needs to change for the problem to go away (if it should be considered a problem) and no amount of money and government intervention is going to change it.

Why aren't there more male nurses? Why aren't there more female mechanics?

I also don't know where you are working, but I've only worked on 10 teams (I'm in software development) and there were at least a few black guys on each of my teams. But, I tend not to look at color. I look at the person.

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

#98

Post by Deorte » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:55 PM UTC

wheels wrote: post #75

Udo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What would you or your friends parents think if you announced your engagement to a Turkish girl / guy? I have been in a relationship with a Turkish girl for eight years, dude. Everyone was OK with it. Not once did anyone say anything about it. You know what? It was just fine. > That's a fairly typical German viewpoint Did you just assert that I'm a "fairly typical" German racist? If you knew me at all you wouldn't…

Sorry, no, my intent was not at all to paint you as being racist. What I meant as "typically German" is that most Germans, even those who are not particularly racist themselves, have something of a blind-spot for noticing the depth of racism within German society. And sure, there are families where race is a non-issue. I could list examples as well of where I've seen things go the other way, but that's side-stepping…

May I kindly ask to not pick on Germans in this context?

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

#99

Post by AndrewWarner » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:55 PM UTC

AlexC04 wrote: post #74

prime0196 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just looking for some inspiration. It's that simple. I don't think 'THE MAN' is trying to hold me down. If I had that mentality I would have never made it this far.

If it's inspiration you seek: http://mixergy.com/lawrence-watkins-great-black-speakers-int... http://mixergy.com/ephren-taylor-interview/ Both are black founders - but there's so much more on Mixergy that you should check out. Andrew Warner is pretty awesome at that stuff. I particularly liked Ephren's interview, I've been listening to Mixergy for a number of months now and he is still a stand-out for me. EDIT I just…

I need to do a better job of finding even more black founders for Mixergy. If anyone wants to help me connect with successful, please email me: http://mixergy.com/contact

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

#100

Post by boboblong » Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 3:57 PM UTC

Confession: When I read something online that I know was written by a black person, I am significantly more critical of grammar and usage. I sometimes read sentences twice simply because I expect errors.

I consider myself to be a good person and I don't actively discriminate against people based on things like race, but I simply can't help this reflex. Sad, huh?