Not long ago I was in Portland for the first ever DazzleCon. Turns out this is not a conference about rhinestone jackets but rather a gathering of the budding “zebra” community. 

The inaugural Black Young Professionals Recruitment Fair will be held at The Grange City Hotel, London on 10th September. It will be the perfect opportunity for black students, graduates and experienced hires to meet and learn more about the UK’s top employers such as Homeaway, Spotify, Sky, Santander and Unlocked Graduates!

“They bootstrapped and turned down offers of VC funding. Before the sale, Park and Marino owned the vast majority of the biz, with the only other stockholders being employees to whom they had given equity grants.”
This was a $170M revenue biz!

Good awareness campaign by UK Black Tech on black women in Tech.

We’ve all heard the tale of the mystical pivot that saves a company. What we don’t hear enough is the pure willpower and series of tough choices founders make to survive through a tremendous pivot. Notice how they started with getting just one school working well. Do things that don’t scale!

The New York-based early-stage firm has raised $40 million for its second fund, up from its first fund of $8 million in 2014. #Gains

Check out this story about two investors, neither of whom knew each other, but whose paths crossed in an interesting way.

More details about the new a16z fund we shared last week.

YC messed up and sent acceptance emails to many Startup School applicants who we didn’t previously have a place for. Awesome decision is that they decided to use this error as an opportunity to try something new: YC are going to let in every company that applied to Startup School.

This $20 million initiative will provide more financial support while building a stronger production and economic infrastructure for artists of color.

The chef’s microwavable interpretation of Jamaican cuisine has been called out as cultural appropriation. Such a funny read!

More than 1 in 5 government loans have gone to black, Asian and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Hmmmm

Tech’s diversity problem goes beyond underrepresentation. Black and brown tech workers do not get equal pay for equal work, regardless of their gender.

Will Bozoma Saint John be able to turn Papa John’s image around? This article examines whether Papa John’s can improve its image and makes recommendations for moving forward.

From Demo Day 1&2