After speaking with countless founders throughout the U.S. from underrepresented groups, we kept hearing a common lament, “I never see founders like me in tech media.” By failing to give founders that don’t fit the standard Silicon Valley mold, media organizations are furthering the narrative that women, people of color, immigrants and other overlooked groups cannot build successful startups.
This leads capable innovators to further question their potential and makes the often lonely startup journey even tougher for entrepreneurs. Moreover, a lack of representation in the media also undermines investors’ and ecosystem leaders’ conviction to support more diverse founders despite their involvement being critical in ensuring that such entrepreneurs succeed.
We grew frustrated at the status quo and set out on a project to highlight, via video, some amazing founders from diverse backgrounds. Each founder brings a unique perspective and story, and this variety is important because it shows that there is no playbook in tech entrepreneurship. Hopefully, seeing and hearing the founders’ stories will inspire and educate the next generation of tech tycoons.
At the same time, the old adage that it takes a village could not ring truer in startups. That is why we are also featuring investors and other supporters of diversity and inclusion in tech. We hope that this will both shine the spotlight on these dedicated individuals and organizations as well as demonstrate to entrepreneurs that they do have resources to help them on their journey.