What advice would you give tech entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities?
All tech companies were small businesses at some point and a lot of them were funded by the U.S. government. When you think about the most innovative companies like Apple, Tesla and Qualcomm, they received financing from the U.S. government. So we must first bridge the gap between government investments and technology. However, it is definitely a challenge. There are probably less than 10 Black founders that have been able to raise over one million dollars in venture capital. It’s about having a network, understanding the pools of capital, having folks bet on you and you betting on yourself. First of all, you bet on yourself and encourage folks to bet on you. That’s what a founder does. I encourage folks to be relentless, expect that failure is the outcome because it’s the highest possibility. Therefore, if you’re not afraid to fail, then you don’t have anything to lose. It’s the founder mentality. There are people who are experts at raising capital and I think that they are so confident that everyone follows along with them.
What steps do you recommend for someone who is interested in tech but doesn’t have an engineering background?
Curiosity, ask, burn the midnight oil, invest all you have. I am doing that every day.
