Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
There are many more Americans today (June 29, 2020) that are vocally supporting the fight against racial discrimination than there were on May 24. While this development is welcomed by most long-time activists, it’s only human that some of them might think silently to themselves, “It’s about damn time.” It’s natural and intuitive to resent … Continue reading Why You Should Welcome Bandwagon Jumpers And Fair-weather Friends
Ron Green has lived many lives–Army officer, Secret Service agent, and now corporate executive. I encountered Ron’s words through a friend, a classmate of Ron’s at West Point, and I wanted to share them with you because Ron’s experiences as a black man who has faced and continues to face discrimination (including by the police) … Continue reading Guest Opinion: Ron Green, Chief Information Security Officer, MasterCard
The country (including me) is thinking and talking a lot about race recently. Reading this article in The Atlantic, about the work of Professor Ashley Jardina of Duke, gave me new nuance to my perspective. In her book, White Identity Politics, Jardina draws a distinction between those who self-identify as white but hold no animus … Continue reading White Identity Isn’t The Same As White Nationalism
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ cover essay for The Atlantic, “The First White President,” explores the role of race and racism in Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. Coates’ essay, has been widely read, and drawn praise and criticism (a sign of success; the goal of nearly every writer is to elicit a reaction from … Continue reading Donald Trump, Race, and the GOP
Fast Company put out a fantastic package of stories covering the role of race in Silicon Valley. The centerpiece is a deservedly glowing profile of Tristan Walker, but my favorite was an interview with a group of African American startup folks titled “An Honest Discussion of Race in Silicon Valley.” One thing that I failed … Continue reading Risk and Race: A Modest Proposal To Encourage Investing In Minority Entrepreneurs
As usual, if there’s a controversial topic that no one in their right mind wants to touch, I’m going to write about it. The news came out this morning that a Florida jury found George Zimmerman “Not Guilty” of the charges of 2nd-Degree Murder and Manslaughter in his shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin. This case … Continue reading Why George Zimmerman was found “Not Guilty” (and why this verdict is unsatisfying)
My fellow denizens of Silicon Valley are fond of referring to our happy little ecosystem as the ultimate meritocracy. It’s definitely true that in comparison to the rigid and/or corrupt regimes that prevail in other industries and geographies, Silicon Valley is a meritocracy, but it is far from perfect. I often joke with the female/minority/over-30 … Continue reading Silicon Valley: The “Ultimate Meritocracy”
Jeremy Lin is the talk of the NBA. Sportswriters everywhere are busy cranking out column inches on what people have called the ultimate Cinderella story: The emergence of an Asian-American Harvard graduate, seemingly from nowhere, as one of the NBA’s biggest stars. On February 3, Jeremy Lin was the Knicks’ third-string point guard. Less than … Continue reading Jeremy Lin, Women in VC, and the Bigotry of Pattern Matching
…if Twitter weren’t down. Chris Yeh-ism of the day: “Revolution plays well to early adopters, but the mainstream is looking for solutions, not revolutions.” (from a comment on Oliver Young’s blog)Great insights from Gil Yehuda: Same people plus same process yields same results. To get different results, you need different people, or a different approach … Continue reading Things I Would Have Tweeted…