2011 November | SocialWayne.com by Wayne Sutton

Archive for November, 2011

Posted on November 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Dear Mr. President Barack Obama, see what had happen was… Explanation of my Black In America 4 comment about not putting money in my pocket

Tomorrow is the big day. CNN Black In America 4 airs about the NewME Accelerator and our experiences in Silicon Valley. If you have seen any of the preview trailers/commercials you can tell there are some very controversial, intense moments. You have the whole Michael Arrington situation and personally there my comment/rant where I mention President Barack Obama. Let me explain the “CONTEXT” of the situation.

First here is what I said,

It’s very sad, it’s 2011 and we have a black President … AND, he’s not putting no money in my pocket right now directly, so what do we got to do? Play the game to be successful

Here is what happen and what I remember, (I think) it was a long summer and that sound byte was around June 2011. Heck, I forgot I even said it until I saw the commercial. Regardless is was a warm summer night in Mountain View, CA at the NewME Accelerator startup house. One of our guest speakers was Professor Vivek Wadhwa was sharing his experiences as an entrepreneur and they were vary deep. Some of his stories were sad and shocking. Everything from his comments about getting a, quote “white boy” to be the face of our startups to his stories about his partners trying to cut him out of his company while in the hospital. It was a very, very emotional night. The CNN camera crews where on hand and I was feeling part mad, part sad and part shocked.

With that being said I believe the question and/or comment I was asked was about how do I feel right now, and/or what do I say to people why the NewME Accelerator is needed etc. I can’t remember if I was asked directly about President Barack Obama but I do know some of the blog comments and conversations I read or was told was about how some people were saying race doesn’t matter in Silicon Valley, and in 2011 we have a black President and we should fine, etc. You get the picture.

So, Mr. President Barack Obama, my comments were not anything negative directed towards you but more towards people who were/are saying we don’t need the NewME Accelerator when we know that not only do we need a program like the NewME Accelerator but we need multiple NewME Accelerators setup across the country to help not just minority entrepreneurs but entrepreneurs of all kind.

If you haven’t seen the CNN Black In America 4 commercial, watch the video below. My rant where I mention the President is at the one minute mark.

As for the playing the game to be successful part. Once you learn what the process is not matter if it’s pattern matching or referrals or living up to the Silicon Valley standards, then as an entrepreneur do what’s best for your startup that you feel is what’s right and you can live with.

Reminder
Watch CNN Black In America 4 this Sunday 8pm EST on CNN and then go to your computer to watch the official after Black In America 4 online live video panel and discussion with Mario Armstrong called “Innovation Nation:Startup Success”. Join us in the live chat, google hangout and more as we’ll talk about Black In America 4, Silicon Valley and more. We’ll also take questions from the online audience. When tweeting about the online live broadcast use the hashtag #bialive. The Black In America 4 hashtag is #blackinamerica. For more information about the live broadcast visit: http://www.marioarmstrong.com/on-air/innovation-nation-the-official-live-webcast/

One learning lesson out of all this to remember is to always and I mean always be careful what you say when media/cameras are around and when you’re upset, just be quiet… #lessonlearned

Posted on November 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

CNN’s Black in America 4 offers GetGlue limited-edition Check-in stickers

It seems CNN is going all out promoting Black In America 4. Expect to see @Soledad_OBrien live tweeting, plenty of Facebook status updates and more. Yesterday CNN announced that viewers watching Black In America 4 can pre check-in and check-in with GetGlue for limited-edition stickers.

GetGlue is offering limited-edition stickers for the next installment of CNN’s Black in America.

Before the premiere of The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley on Sunday, Nov. 13, GetGlue users can ‘check in’ to unlock exclusive stickers.

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien reports that the ownership of the digital bloom is mostly young, white, and male. For her fourthBlack in America documentary, O’Brien asks why, according to industry analyst CB Insights, less than one percent of all venture capital money went to digital startups with African-American founders in 2010 – and she profiles a unique, technology-focused “accelerator” developed to help African-American digital entrepreneurs secure funding to establish their businesses.

How to Check-in

To check-in and claim your Black In America 4 sticker go here: http://getglue.com/tv_shows/black_in_america?checkin=true#checkin Like the page and fireup GetGlue mobile apps and check-in.

Posted on November 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Anthony Frasier and Tiffani Ashley Bell are the new face of Black Startups

Great post from Curtiss Pope, CEO/Founder of Aislefinder a NewME Accelerator startup participate about Anthony Frasier founder of Playd where he calls Anthony the new face of Black Startups. If you’re wondering why, wait until you see Anthony in Black In America 4 on Sunday. Here’s an excerpt from the post.

I remember going over to the NewMe startup house ,and almost each time I was leaving; talking with him about a range of things: girls, music, tech, gaming, the new things he was learning about Silicon Valley.

Over the course of the summer, I started noticing things about him:

Anthony was the only one in the house that didn’t have a MacBook Pro.

Although he did have an iPad, he never bent into the social geek pressure of having that big Apple logo emblazoned on his rig.

He is just COOL.

Ask anyone that got to know him, and this is the word that they describe him with.

Gaming is his forte.

Anthony had this ability to get people excited about gaming. Even a guy like me who doesn’t even play.

Anthony doesn’t look back.

I would say the same thing about Tiffani Ashley Bell, founder of Pencil You In except she has a MackBook Pro; in terms of coolness and getting people excited about their startup and entrepreneurship. I’m excited for the both of them. Two young black tech entrepreneurs that you’ll see a lot of in the years ahead.

While Curtis is a humble entrepreneur himself, I believe that he’s on to something big with Aislefinder and don’t forget about Chris with Central.ly too. Heck, just check out all of the NewMe Accelerator 2011 startups here: http://www.newmeaccelerator.com/startups/summer-2011-class/.

Much success to everyone!

Posted on November 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: Black In America 4: Soledad O’Brien interview: Silicon Valley vs my real hometown Teachey, NC

While doing interviews about CNN’s upcoming Black In America 4 – Silicon Valley – The New Promised Land with Soledad O’Brien a few of the questions I’m often asked is what was it like living in the NewME Accelerator startup house, why go to Silicon Valley for the summer and what was it like living in Silicon Valley. It was also one of the questions that Soledad O’Brien ask me during one of our interviews.

One thing I don’t think many people know is that even though I currently live in Raleigh, NC that I’m originally from a small rural community called Teachey, NC. Yes, Teachey. According to Wikipedia in 2000, the census there were 245 people, 92 households, and 66 families residing in the town. Yes that’s the place I call home. It’s very country, I grew up cropping tobacco, working in the fields and the digital divide is very much a problem in that community even today much less growing up.

Although Raleigh, NC is a lot different from Teachey, NC there is nothing like the Silicon Valley community. Take a look at the video below of my interview with Soledad O’Brien as I talk about Silicon Valley vs Teachey, NC.

Posted on November 7, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

How entrepreneurs stay motivated

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Social Network. My favorite movie of all time is Gladiator. They are complete opposite in terms of history and action but in both various characters must over come life circumstances to achieve goals beyond what they originally had planned for their life or what other people may think their life was going in. In The Social Network you have everyone from Mark Zuckerberg doing things for attention and launching “The Facebook” , to Eduardo Saverin never imaging that his friend Mark would partner with Sean Parker to run Facebook and try to cut him out of Facebook. Even the Winklevoss twins, they thought they were on to something big and despite winning court cases in real life they are still trying to sue Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg for more money (if you want to merge movie and the real world). Also look at Sean Parker, in the movie his passion for wanting to give the VC firms the middle finger because they kicked him out of a company. Everyone from Mark, Sean, Eduardo and yes the Winklevoss had to overcome startup troubles, friendships, promises, life obstacles to still achieve success or at least try to gain success and happiness.

As for Gladiator, sometimes it’s not success but revenge that may drive you. Maximus, played by Russell Crowe after being betrayed by Commodus the son of the Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Learned after betrayal that his family killed and he was left for dead. Only to survive to slay his arch enemy to set things right in Rome. But Maximus had to become a Gladiator, fighting less skilled fighters and over coming the odds to do so.

In both movies the characters had to overcome mental and physical odds to survive. As for Mark Zuckerberg or even Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network it was more mental and having the right people around them than physical and for Maximus it was a mix of mental, physical and having a good team around him. Regardless there are days as an entrepreneur where things may not go your way. The Winklevoss thought Mark was building their platform, Eduardo probably never thought he would have to sue his friend Mark to keep his name as a cofounder on Facebook and as for Zuck.. only Zuck knows what he was doing. Maximus was ready to retire as general in the war and the next thing you know he was the enemy to Rome.

There are days where you don’t want to wake up in the morning, days where you look in the mirror and ask your self why are you doing what you’re doing. You know you’re more than a 9 to 5 and that project you always wanted to do will never get done unless you stop everything and focus on that one thing. You launch projects, companies, spend endless hours and days writing, designing, sending emails only a few months later to shut things down and start something new. You fail, fail fast and fail again. You work countless hours, you network, you pick friends and partners only to ask why those friends and partners. You want change, you want success, you want the world to be using your product, website or app. Being an entrepreneur is hard. Yet you continue. Something drives you to keep moving forward. Something says never give up or give in. Something says, wait your turn and the ideas keep coming, new people come in your life and you never look back but only forward and the rest of the world may think you’re crazy but you know something special is on the way. You know when the time is right and if you keep working things will work out. It’s there, so close, you just can’t stop. Something or someone keeps you motivated …

As for me… staying motivated comes in various ways. Here are five ways I try to stay motivated.

1. Always have a fun / simple project to complete. Once you complete it, it gives you joy encouraging you to tackle something bigger.

2. Workout and stay healthy. I’ve been focusing more on this in the last few months. It works.

3. Have real close friends who will always be honest and upfront with you and give you good advice without hidden agendas.

4. Learn something new. It could be cooking a new dish to learning a new program language. Keep learning, it will keep you motivated.

5. Take trips and walks aways from problem areas. Get up from the computer and go on a long walk and/or take a trip and get away from things to free your mind.

Good luck and in the words of Steve Jobs. “Stay hungry and stay foolish”

Also keep this in mind, as the saying goes: “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”