What is needed more, black CEOs with technical skills or business skills? I think…
CEOs with technical skills are needed in the black community in general. I like to quote Fred Wilson and say ‘you should learn to prototype.’ If you’re more of a business person, you should still learn how to hack something small. You don’t have to be a master at it, but you could be.
The startup and tech space has changed in Newark in that…
This time last year we had no hint of a tech scene. Now we are planting the seeds, and the conversation is getting louder. We are doing events with Audible.com, Lean Startup Machine, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and more.
I’ve folded Playd, but I’m working on…
Writing a book titled The Phat Startup which will highlight my experiences, as well as those of other thought leaders in the tech industry, building a startup. The idea is to marry the concepts involved with building a startup with hip-hop culture, in an effort to get more young people involved. I’m also coding a new app which would make collecting customer data easier for businesses. It’s currently in closed beta.
The best advice I received from a NewMe mentor was…
Embrace failure. People think failure means the sky is falling. We need to encourage people to learn from experiences, not burn from them. I feel Wayne Sutton is a great teacher in how to do that, and someone I look up to.
The Black in America documentary was successful at…
Starting the conversation. Even to this day, people are still writing articles about that documentary wanting to drop their 2 cents.
What CNN could have done differently…
CNN was there [in Silicon Valley] the entire time. There were many mentor and speaker sessions, and advice given that the world had a chance to see, but didn’t. I feel like the community missed out on that content.