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Things aren't that simple, we're not just dealing with people selling a proven, viable product, we're dealing with how venture capital is acquired and funding s

Things aren't that simple, we're not just dealing with people selling a proven, viable product, we're dealing with how venture capital is acquired and funding secured, especially for ideas which are risky or unproven, which "disruptive" technologies inherently are. There's the concept of social capital, and how social networks and cultural bias affect that for founders. It's true that a non-privileged founder who builds the ultimate money-saving, world-changing technology will have a harder time being ignored, but we should never be so willing to handwave such obvious homogeny amongst the elite.

stretchwithme 16y ago
Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity. Hegemony is simply not there. There is competition in venture capital and against venture capital. It only takes a minority of investors to make an investment. And most of them are quite used to dissenting and thinking for themselves.
- trustfundbaby 16y ago
  > Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity You might be surprised at how untrue that turns out to be. Investors are focused on winning ... and to do that they'll usually go with what fits the prototype of a winner ... much the same way NFL teams pick quarterbacks (right height, right throwing motion, etc) People aren't just going to throw thousands of dollars after minorities just because there might be a Google there somewhere ... they're going to go where the hits are coming ... MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not.
  - xiaoma 16y ago
    > MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not. Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.
    - trustfundbaby 16y ago
      Yes I have.
    - trustfundbaby 16y ago
      > San Francisco Yes I have ... didn't see that many black folks when I was there.
      - xiaoma 16y ago
        Diversity doesn't narrowly equate to the number of black people you encounter during visits. According to Wikipedia, San Fransisco is 7.3% black, 31.3% asian, 14.0% hispanic and a total of 35.6% of the residents are from outside the US. It also has the highest ratio of gay/lesbian individuals of anywhere in the US at 15.4%. That is a LOT of minorities and a lot of diversity no matter how you slice it and downmodding me won't change the fact.

stretchwithme 16y ago

Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity. Hegemony is simply not there. There is competition in venture capital and against venture capital. It only takes a minority of investors to make an investment. And most of them are quite used to dissenting and thinking for themselves.

trustfundbaby 16y ago
> Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity You might be surprised at how untrue that turns out to be. Investors are focused on winning ... and to do that they'll usually go with what fits the prototype of a winner ... much the same way NFL teams pick quarterbacks (right height, right throwing motion, etc) People aren't just going to throw thousands of dollars after minorities just because there might be a Google there somewhere ... they're going to go where the hits are coming ... MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not.
- xiaoma 16y ago
  > MIT, San Francisco, Harvard ... places that many minorities are not. Have you been to San Francisco? It's one of the most diverse places on the planet. And it's not only in terms of race but also language, culture, religion and sexual practices.
  - trustfundbaby 16y ago
    Yes I have.
  - trustfundbaby 16y ago
    > San Francisco Yes I have ... didn't see that many black folks when I was there.
    - xiaoma 16y ago
      Diversity doesn't narrowly equate to the number of black people you encounter during visits. According to Wikipedia, San Fransisco is 7.3% black, 31.3% asian, 14.0% hispanic and a total of 35.6% of the residents are from outside the US. It also has the highest ratio of gay/lesbian individuals of anywhere in the US at 15.4%. That is a LOT of minorities and a lot of diversity no matter how you slice it and downmodding me won't change the fact.