Building an Entrepreneur

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There are some pretty discouraging numbers in the article above about Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. A place that I can see myself at down the line, so these numbers hit home.

A new analysis by the Mercury Newsshows that from 2000 to 2008, the proportion of women tech workers in Silicon Valley dropped from 25.3% to 23.8%, and that the national numbers dropped from 30% to 27.4%. In 2008, blacks and Hispanics constituted only 1.5% and 4.7% respectively of the Valley’s tech population — well below national tech-population averages of 7.1% and 5.3%.

Every time I watch a video of what Google is doing or what they are a part of I am simply amazed! Pay special attention to Google Goggles, voice and translate. A few tools that are simply futuristic. The video is rather long so so watch when you have an hour to spare.

When I was in the process of publishing The Only Black Student I found that a lot of the resources were scattered around the internet. It was challenging to find just one place that simply gave me the places I needed to go to for publishing my book. Hopefully this helps friends.

For the first time in history a player has won 3 NBA slam dunk contests. Nate Robinson also happens to be from my high school in south seattle Rainier Beach! You make us proud brother.

Obesity isn’t a problem he says? I thought at this stage in society we recognized the negatives that come with obesity from not just a health standpoint but an overall quality of life. Listen to what this lawyer/author has to say in regards to to Obesity.

……and it feels so good to be finished

Finally complete. Now time for Marketing.

Lucky me!

I had the chance to listen to Geoffrey Canada from the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York. If you have been living under a rock for the past few years you might not be aware of what this man has done. Simply put he has not just lessened the achievement gap but he has completely eliminated it! One thing that keeps resonating is a statistic that he mentioned at the end of the of his lecture:

Only 1/3 of US teenagers are eligible to join the US military. Three factors 1) Obesity 2) Felonies and 3) not graduating from high school.

As I mentioned this study was produced by the US military, mainly because this has now become a National Security issue. With only a small pool of applicants available to join the Military I am curious to see if money magically becomes available for education? Yes, no doubt in my mind that resources will be allocated toward education if the military recognizes the need for more suitable applicants.

Check out a video of Geoffrey on 60 minutes

I had my first think tank discussion with the fellas this past Saturday. Exciting is an understatement! These are a group of guys who I went to undergraduate with and have grown with over the past few years. We have always provided each other with advice, fellowship and acted as an ongoing support system. A few years removed from undergraduate and we all seem to be doing rather well in our careers and overall quality of life. It now only makes sense that we are investigating the next step in our careers. Entrepreneurship is something that has been ingrained in me for some time now and I am glad to see that the rest the guys are thinking about building skill sets, working on projects as well as simply taking risks and POSSIBLY making money.

The only real challenge I can see with these guys is the simply taking the action and direction of somebody we consider a peer. We are all for the most part leaders and highly confident in our own abilities. Our first brain storming session went really well as we each identified areas that we would like to develop and work on. I naturally want to investigate more of the educational side of things. The conversation and topics ranged from Real Estate to iPhone applications. I think the most important part to stress when working on projects such as that the idea is often times the least important part, the level of pro-activeness and follow through seem to always be the highest priority for me.

Lets keep the progress coming!