6 ms·

There was an article I came across where a black startup founder was frequently mistaken as a regular employee while his white co-worker was mistaken as the CEO

There was an article I came across where a black startup founder was frequently mistaken as a regular employee while his white co-worker was mistaken as the CEO. On multiple occasions the unaware person shook the hand of the white co-worker, ignored the true startup founder, and so on. "Adding to the insult, [Will] Hayes finds himself at a distinct disadvantage in meetings that open with a case of mistaken identity. Venture capital is based on relationships, and investors aren’t typically primed to write a check when they feel unsettled. “You see it in the body language, you see it in the lack of questions and engagement,” says Hayes, 39. “They can’t wait for this meeting to get over.” For nearly four years, Hayes would attend investor meetings alongside [longtime colleague] Messick, the former chief marketing officer at Lucidworks. VCs are trained to look for patterns in startup founders, Messick says, and there aren’t many Black Mark Zuckerbergs. 'Years and years of a Black guy and a White guy walking in the room, and the White guy is the CEO,' Messick says. 'Whether malicious, whether negligent, it was always awful.'" Here's the post: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/16/for-black-ceos-in-silicon-valley-humiliation-is-a-part-of-doing-business/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/16/for-black-ceos-in-sil...

dang 6y ago
It had a large discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540162 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540162
dexterdog 6y ago
"there aren’t many Black Mark Zuckerbergs" How many non-black Zuckerbergs are there?
- aspenmayer 6y ago
  I get the gist of your meaning, but many, if not most of the startups valued highest are started by a fairly homogeneous set. I think it has as much to do with social and business connections as it does with racism, which is to say it has an effect which is difficult to measure individually, but which is possible to quantify and aggregate. So to answer your question in the manner in which it was posed: Most or nearly all of the Zuckerbergs are non-Black?
  - concordDance 6y ago
    > most of the startups valued highest are started by a fairly homogeneous set. Isn't it well studied that homogenous environments are more trusting? It may be that homogenity (and thus stronger interpersonal bonds) helps in that initial startup phase where everyone knows eachother.
    - stormbeard 6y ago
      You’re making a wild guess with no citation to any studies, but I’ll just go with it. I’d hazard a guess that the homogeneity you’re trying to reference is not limited to _racial_ or _gender_ homogeneity.
      - concordDance 6y ago
        Did a quick googling for a link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-political-science-review/article/similarity-vs-homogeneity-contextual-effects-in-explaining-trust/77E9CBDCE1852C666C4D41A709037687 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-political-s...
- stormbeard 6y ago
  I think you’ve ignored the context of the article. He says that to mean he doesn’t look like he’s going to start the next Facebook or Twitter to VCs, because he is black. They will not entertain the idea that he COULD BE the next Mark Zuckerberg because he simply can’t “look the part”.
  - notmyfriend 6y ago
    Look like a robot ?
- bigiain 6y ago
  One too many.
  - aspenmayer 6y ago
    In a parallel dimension, Facebook’s CEO is Black. How would that have affected its trajectory? Would it be even better? Would be all be on Google+ still? Or would we all be on Twitter? What startups that exist now are those otherworldly challengers, or collaborators? Would Facebook’s API perhaps be more open if their CEO were of a different race? Depends on the person of course, but it is an interesting inside baseball hypothetical. If Zuckerberg ever runs for public office, he’s going to get sued if he doesn’t put the CEO hat down while in office doing official duties. I personally think he should run just so he’s forced to answer unscripted questions live on tv. Much like the upcoming Congressional inquiries. Very interesting times.
    - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
      What argument are you trying to make here? In an ideal world it would make no difference whatsoever. You say that about zuck running for office but you've got Trump in that exact seat right now. He's forced to answer unscripted questions on TV and it makes no difference whatsoever. None.
      - aspenmayer 6y ago
        OP said there was one too many non-Black Zuckerbergs, which I took to mean the one we have was one too many, that is, they may prefer he were Black instead? I don’t know what they meant, I just steelmanned it. I agree that bias exists, and it would be better if it didn’t at all in any way, but markets price in bias as well as risk and other factors, likely racism too, unfortunately. Predicting investments of others via their sentiment toward individuals and other groups is an idea I just had, and I don’t even trade or own stocks. This seems elementary to me. It will matter to Zuckerberg personally because he doesn’t seem to rate well with some people, which isn’t necessary, but helps you get elected, generally. He seems to really care what people think about him in a value-neutral “we’re all just talking” kind of way, which actually isn’t a bad approach, but I want to see how he does live on stage with professional debaters. That’s essentially what Congress is these days: modern sedate mortal combat for American lives in our Colosseum, battles put on for the rich and famous while everyone else watches and cheers, watches and jeers, or scalps entry coins out front. https://depts.washington.edu/chidint/journal/2015/03/glory-horror-roman-colosseum/ https://depts.washington.edu/chidint/journal/2015/03/glory-h...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  October 2019: Jeff Bezos: $114 billion Bill Gates: $106 billion Warren Buffett: $80.8 billion Mark Zuckerberg: $69.6 billion Larry Ellison: $65 billion Larry Page: $55.5 billion Sergey Brin: $53.5 billion Michael Bloomberg: $53.4 billion Steve Ballmer: $51.7 billion Jim Walton: $51.6 billion
trhrowrandom 6y ago
This happened to me in real too. I'm brown, but I was dressed rather poorly that day haha :/

dang 6y ago

It had a large discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540162 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540162

dexterdog 6y ago

"there aren’t many Black Mark Zuckerbergs" How many non-black Zuckerbergs are there?

aspenmayer 6y ago
I get the gist of your meaning, but many, if not most of the startups valued highest are started by a fairly homogeneous set. I think it has as much to do with social and business connections as it does with racism, which is to say it has an effect which is difficult to measure individually, but which is possible to quantify and aggregate. So to answer your question in the manner in which it was posed: Most or nearly all of the Zuckerbergs are non-Black?
- concordDance 6y ago
  > most of the startups valued highest are started by a fairly homogeneous set. Isn't it well studied that homogenous environments are more trusting? It may be that homogenity (and thus stronger interpersonal bonds) helps in that initial startup phase where everyone knows eachother.
  - stormbeard 6y ago
    You’re making a wild guess with no citation to any studies, but I’ll just go with it. I’d hazard a guess that the homogeneity you’re trying to reference is not limited to _racial_ or _gender_ homogeneity.
    - concordDance 6y ago
      Did a quick googling for a link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-political-science-review/article/similarity-vs-homogeneity-contextual-effects-in-explaining-trust/77E9CBDCE1852C666C4D41A709037687 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-political-s...
stormbeard 6y ago
I think you’ve ignored the context of the article. He says that to mean he doesn’t look like he’s going to start the next Facebook or Twitter to VCs, because he is black. They will not entertain the idea that he COULD BE the next Mark Zuckerberg because he simply can’t “look the part”.
- notmyfriend 6y ago
  Look like a robot ?
bigiain 6y ago
One too many.
- aspenmayer 6y ago
  In a parallel dimension, Facebook’s CEO is Black. How would that have affected its trajectory? Would it be even better? Would be all be on Google+ still? Or would we all be on Twitter? What startups that exist now are those otherworldly challengers, or collaborators? Would Facebook’s API perhaps be more open if their CEO were of a different race? Depends on the person of course, but it is an interesting inside baseball hypothetical. If Zuckerberg ever runs for public office, he’s going to get sued if he doesn’t put the CEO hat down while in office doing official duties. I personally think he should run just so he’s forced to answer unscripted questions live on tv. Much like the upcoming Congressional inquiries. Very interesting times.
  - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
    What argument are you trying to make here? In an ideal world it would make no difference whatsoever. You say that about zuck running for office but you've got Trump in that exact seat right now. He's forced to answer unscripted questions on TV and it makes no difference whatsoever. None.
    - aspenmayer 6y ago
      OP said there was one too many non-Black Zuckerbergs, which I took to mean the one we have was one too many, that is, they may prefer he were Black instead? I don’t know what they meant, I just steelmanned it. I agree that bias exists, and it would be better if it didn’t at all in any way, but markets price in bias as well as risk and other factors, likely racism too, unfortunately. Predicting investments of others via their sentiment toward individuals and other groups is an idea I just had, and I don’t even trade or own stocks. This seems elementary to me. It will matter to Zuckerberg personally because he doesn’t seem to rate well with some people, which isn’t necessary, but helps you get elected, generally. He seems to really care what people think about him in a value-neutral “we’re all just talking” kind of way, which actually isn’t a bad approach, but I want to see how he does live on stage with professional debaters. That’s essentially what Congress is these days: modern sedate mortal combat for American lives in our Colosseum, battles put on for the rich and famous while everyone else watches and cheers, watches and jeers, or scalps entry coins out front. https://depts.washington.edu/chidint/journal/2015/03/glory-horror-roman-colosseum/ https://depts.washington.edu/chidint/journal/2015/03/glory-h...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
October 2019: Jeff Bezos: $114 billion Bill Gates: $106 billion Warren Buffett: $80.8 billion Mark Zuckerberg: $69.6 billion Larry Ellison: $65 billion Larry Page: $55.5 billion Sergey Brin: $53.5 billion Michael Bloomberg: $53.4 billion Steve Ballmer: $51.7 billion Jim Walton: $51.6 billion

trhrowrandom 6y ago

This happened to me in real too. I'm brown, but I was dressed rather poorly that day haha :/