The problem in Silicon Valley is pattern matching. I was lucky: I went to a private high school and then followed that up with MIT. Add to that the fact that I dropped out of MIT and there are ways investors can see a pattern in me that they recognize.
However, Blacks in this country don’t often fit in to the necessary pattern. The necessary pattern for potential success is being a white male, college dropout from an Ivy-league or Ivy-level university. VCs and other investors recognize that pattern.
They have acknowledged they do pattern matching. What I would like for them to do is not just acknowledge they do this, but also acknowledge that pattern matching is just another term for bias. It may not be specifically racial bias, but it’s bias nonetheless.
We all have bias, though. It feels like the ‘we’re a meritocracy’ claim is just another way to feel better about the ‘pattern matching’ we do out here.
Notes
-
gloria2fg liked this
-
fitzpatrickyou834 liked this
-
heatheryi982 liked this
-
kathleentag901 liked this
-
dfdeshom reblogged this from rafer
-
steph reblogged this from rafer
-
rafer reblogged this from gbattle
-
rafer liked this
-
nathanielmc reblogged this from gbattle
-
section9 liked this
-
gbattle posted this
