Business
Angela Benton’s Silicon Valley Boot Camp Aims To Boost Diversity
Angela Benton. PHOTO/File
If there is a founding ethos in the world of high-tech startups, it’s this: The idea is everything. Facebook’s initial public offering might have seemed like the perfect illustration. A simple concept, conceived by a college student, became a US$100 billion empire in just 8 years.
But if you look around California’s Silicon Valley, ideas all seem to be coming from the same kinds of people. By a recent estimate, 1 percent of technology entrepreneurs are African American. Only 8 percent of tech companies are founded by women. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg isn’t just a model of success in the Valley; he’s a blueprint.
A new three-week boot camp for entrepreneurs is aimed at adding more diversity to Silicon Valley’s startup scene.
On the first day of the camp, seven African Americans are sitting in the living room of a San Francisco townhouse most of them in their early 20s.
NewME founder and director Angela Benton presents them with bags of swag — sponsor-donated items like shirts, headphones and mobile tablets.
(More: Angela Benton’s NewMe continues to accelerate minority entrepreneurship)
Everyone here came with business ideas.
The idea behind the boot camp is that when it attracts African Americans to the area, it also helps nudge Silicon Valley toward diversity.