Jon Gosier is a data scientist and investor. On his personal blog, he shared the (bad) advice you’ll get as a minority startup founder and his approach to navigating uncharted waters in tech.
“As a black-American I represent less than 2% of the types of tech founders who get backed by VCs [venture capitalists]. I represent even less of the norm of the founders who go on to exit. Also, I didn’t go to an Ivy League school. In fact, I didn’t even go a to a ‘real’ college. I went to an art school. I never finished. I never formally studied tech. I taught myself how to code on an IBM PS2 in rural Georgia, in a single-parent household. I never considered a career in tech until I took the leap and just did it. I also, never took venture capital. Instead, I bootstrapped myself through several business (Appfrica, MetaLayer, D8A) until I became an angel investor myself.â€
“Get used to failure and high-risk scenarios. Those are your two new best friends.â€