What It Takes to be a black tech entrepreneur: Philly Tech Week lunchtime panel

Entrepreneurship is hard, regardless of color, Defined Clarity cofounder and CMO Bruce Marable reminded those gathered at WHYY for the fourth Philly Tech Week Lunchtime Series event, “WHAT IT TAKES To Be a Black Tech Entrepreneur.”

Despite the challenges the four panelists mentioned, many of the approximately 100 people in attendance raised their hands when asked if they wanted to become an entrepreneur.

Temple University professor and Director of STEM education, outreach, and research Jamie Bracey deftly moderated the panel of Philadelphia entrepreneurs, which included Interactive One CTO Navarrow Wright, Angel Venture Forum Managing Partner and Mataron Development Managing Director Marc Mathis, Marable, and award-winning technologist Dean Harris, as they debated the challenges that face black entrepreneurs in the technology field.

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Grow black entrepreneurship: better education, more opportunity and higher profile role models to make technology scene look more like Philly

Bruce Marable is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of Defined Clarity. Photo by Brian Dzenis

When TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien ‘I don’t know a single black entrepreneur,’ the snippet of the fourth installment O’Brien’s “Black in America” documentary set off a firestorm of debate about race in the cradle of America’s tech community, Silicon Valley.

In Philadelphia, among some black entrepreneurs in and around technology, Arrington’s comments were not a surprise.

“Something could be so normal or commonplace that you don’t even know something is wrong,” said Tayyib Smith, the founder of two.one.five magazine and Little Giant Media. “I don’t begrudge him for saying that because that’s how he feels, it just proves the lay of the land in Silicon Valley, so it was a good thing and it got people talking.”

The documentary, which originally aired on Nov. 13 and was screened locally soon after, followed eight black entrepreneurs: their struggles and perspectives in developing investment and user interest in the competitive world of high technology.

“Personally, I think it’s an accurate depiction of what the technology scene looks like, especially here in Philadelphia,” said Bruce Marable, the co-founder and chief marketing officer for Northern Liberties web development shop Defined Clarity. “When I go to any local organization meetings, happy hours or anything going on within the technology community, it’s primarily young Caucasians, some Asians and maybe an Indian person. There’s hardly any African Americans.”

“There’s a lot of times when I’m the only African American around,” he added.

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City Hall hosts screening of tech-focused Black In America documentary

Left, facing camera: Navarrow Wright; Right, Mayor Michael Nutter. Photo Credit: Ryan Dennis via Skai Blue Media

Monday evening in the Mayor’s Reception Room on the second floor of City Hall, Mayor Michael Nutter and more than 30 influential African-American technologists watched a screening of the fourth installment of Soledad O’Brien’s Black In America documentary series.

The latest episode turned the spotlight on a lack of black entrepreneurs in the technology industry, focusing on eight minority entrepreneurs entered in the NewME Accelerator that are hoping to get recognized, and get funded, in Silicon Valley.

According to the documentary, less than one percent of funded tech startups are African-American owned.

After the screening, the Mayor and the attendees discussed ways to improve that statistic.

The conversation was moderated by Chief Technology Officer Navarrow Wright, who leads technology initiatives at Interactive One, the web branch of Radio One, an African-American-focused media outlet which owns 69 radio stations across the country. Navarrow was a mentor for the NewMe Accelerator entrepreneurs featured in the documentary.

Starting the conversation, Mayor Nutter asked how black entrepreneurs could improve their chances in Philadelphia’s technology community. “I’m not moving to Silicon Valley,” he said.

The group identified a number of core priorities, noted after the jump.

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