I can speak to you as a black guy in tech ... and just let you know that what you're feeling is not weird. Being black in tech can be very isolating, and being

I can speak to you as a black guy in tech ... and just let you know that what you're feeling is not weird. Being black in tech can be very isolating, and being an entrepreneur can be much much worse, I know because I've been there. I've know the feeling of going to conferences and having to be super friendly and way more jovial than you feel is normal just to get conversations going, all the while feeling like a phony inside. I know how it is to have coworkers stop inviting you to lunch after a while not realizing, that from the outside you've been excluded from a 'clique'. I know the feeling of people either thinking you're not friendly and avoiding you, or that you don't know shit and avoiding you, or worse being patronizing to you. I remember trying to be friendly with everyone and having people kinda just ... ignore me. It hurts and can make you retract into a shell. At work, that makes things worse, because then you get tagged as "not a team player" It can really really suck, but what you have to do is not let that beat you and make a strong effort to go and find people that you can get along with and cleave closely to them. The gift of the situation is that you can actually get some really close friends, because people that vibe with you probably don't vibe that well with others in your field. They'll probably share the same frustrations and fears as you and they'll look out for you. So pick your head up and go back out there and do it all over again, don't stop doing what you're doing, but instead of spreading yourself thin trying to befriend everyone, think of yourself as an acquired tast. Be more selective with the people you approach, try to build the deep friendships that will first help you not feel isolated. then from there you can go on to just be yourself, and everything should just work out. cheers