Never lose your focus. It’s about building a great product not being startup famous.
Those lines came to me after an afternoon of being envious of where a friend’s startup was and reading the tweets of some other friends of mine who were at a VIP dinner for a Tech Crunch Disrupt.
It is very easy to lose focus…so very easy especially when you are surrounded by amazing people. It’s hard to remind yourself that you are not working on your project, whatever it is, to become famous but rather because you want to build something great period.
In Black Founders I want to build something great. Period. I want to do my part to change the world and make it better. I will be honest I feel like Silicon Valley is one of the last thresholds for the civil right’s movement. Let me explain what I mean. It’s not because I think techies are more racist than anyone—I don’t think any people group inherently is. But rather, the last stronghold for blacks is in the institutions that control money.
Right now people of color and also women have an opportunity to close the gap. Tech, at the beginning, does not take as much capital to start up as a traditional business. The barrier to entry for a technology company is much more achievable then for the standard brick and mortar store. Tie that along with the fact that the Silicon Valley economy is starting to pick up and if we get our acts together the picture of SV being young, white, male might just change.
But if I get caught up in the game of trying to see who is watching me, trying to find people who agree with me and tell me my idea is valuable I will lose focus and make decisions that are not in the best interest of BF but rather are in my own best interests.
I have to remind myself of this higher goal too often. I wish I never faltered, never wanted recognition, or proof that my idea has value, validity. Reality: I’m not a super hero, I’m just another women trying to make the world better. Reality: if I live my life well it will be proof that one person can make a difference.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Beginnings
I never intended to work for—much less be—a startup when I was growing up. Working for startups sort of just happened.
My goal when I came to visit my dear high school friend in the winter of 2007 was simple. I wanted to have a good time in a city I had vaguely heard of. Do you want to know how little I knew of San Francisco? I had no idea San Francisco was hilly. However, something about the city rang true in me. I loved the energy, the passion, the something buzzing in the air that I could not quite put a finger on. This city drew me and spoke to a part of me that Atlanta was not quite speaking to.
That pull to the city made me crazy enough to move out here after graduation, take the California bar and start looking for work.
To be honest working with tech startups fell into my lap. I had a friend who made a pitch for business in front of me...he then convinced me to let him become my first client. Working with him led to another person, then another person and all of a sudden I was calling myself a startup lawyer. Other people also started calling me a startup lawyer. Then I had a practice. Boom. Just like that everything fell into place. My clients are smart, passionate, and crazy enough to believe they can change the world. I thrive on people like that.
Black Founders happened in a similar way. I was having coffee with a friend of mine who happened to be black (logical) and he said. "Hey, I and a few people are thinking of starting this organization to help support black people in technology." I was supportive. I am black. I am involved in tech. I want to see people thrive. My words to Chris were
"Chris, sounds like a great idea. I just don't have the bandwidth to be one of the founders but I will help out as I can."
Why am I now one of the founders?
All I did was make a suggestion about the logo…
Why am I now looking for funding for Black Founders, planning events, getting into heated discussions (Chris hates when I use the word fights) with my co-founders? Why do I love it so much? Oh, I remember, I love smart, passionate people who believe they can save the world. Dang it. Fooled again.
And now, because I have so much free time, I am setting off on a startup venture of my own (while also planting seeds for a non-profit).
I have become a startup and my life has become filled with people that are building something new and exciting.
This blog is simply my personal journey. I am going to try to document the lessons I am learning through my clients and also through Black Founders as best as I can. My legal blog will have legal news concerning startups. But if you want to follow my journey, laugh a little, cringe a little and hopefully cheer for the heroine this is the blog for you.
Happy reading!
Nnena
My goal when I came to visit my dear high school friend in the winter of 2007 was simple. I wanted to have a good time in a city I had vaguely heard of. Do you want to know how little I knew of San Francisco? I had no idea San Francisco was hilly. However, something about the city rang true in me. I loved the energy, the passion, the something buzzing in the air that I could not quite put a finger on. This city drew me and spoke to a part of me that Atlanta was not quite speaking to.
That pull to the city made me crazy enough to move out here after graduation, take the California bar and start looking for work.
To be honest working with tech startups fell into my lap. I had a friend who made a pitch for business in front of me...he then convinced me to let him become my first client. Working with him led to another person, then another person and all of a sudden I was calling myself a startup lawyer. Other people also started calling me a startup lawyer. Then I had a practice. Boom. Just like that everything fell into place. My clients are smart, passionate, and crazy enough to believe they can change the world. I thrive on people like that.
Black Founders happened in a similar way. I was having coffee with a friend of mine who happened to be black (logical) and he said. "Hey, I and a few people are thinking of starting this organization to help support black people in technology." I was supportive. I am black. I am involved in tech. I want to see people thrive. My words to Chris were
"Chris, sounds like a great idea. I just don't have the bandwidth to be one of the founders but I will help out as I can."
Why am I now one of the founders?
All I did was make a suggestion about the logo…
Why am I now looking for funding for Black Founders, planning events, getting into heated discussions (Chris hates when I use the word fights) with my co-founders? Why do I love it so much? Oh, I remember, I love smart, passionate people who believe they can save the world. Dang it. Fooled again.
And now, because I have so much free time, I am setting off on a startup venture of my own (while also planting seeds for a non-profit).
I have become a startup and my life has become filled with people that are building something new and exciting.
This blog is simply my personal journey. I am going to try to document the lessons I am learning through my clients and also through Black Founders as best as I can. My legal blog will have legal news concerning startups. But if you want to follow my journey, laugh a little, cringe a little and hopefully cheer for the heroine this is the blog for you.
Happy reading!
Nnena
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