From top left, clockwise: Female Founders Alliance CEO Leslie Feinzaig; Rainway CEO Andrew Sampson; DreamBox Learning CEO Jessie Woolley-Wilson; Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer; Moz CEO Sarah Bird; Leg Up CEO Jessica Eggert.

“Undoing years of institutionalized oppression will take years. But it’s work worth doing.”

“The creation of a more just world requires us to be loudly, unceasingly anti-racist.” 

“I am committed to learning. To listening. To speaking up. To pushing. To loving. To taking action.”

That’s a sampling of Seattle startup leaders who are sounding off in response to the outrage over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the underlying inequities and discrimination exemplified by the incident.

Earlier this week we noted the reaction from large Seattle-area tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft. But the statements from startup leaders offer a more detailed and pointed response with suggestions for employees.

The backdrop is a tech industry that has been criticized for racial and gender inequality, as well as software such as artificial intelligence that can amplify human biases.

Changes are already underway this week — SoftBank today announced a $100 million fund to invest in companies led by entrepreneurs of color. The fund came together in 24 hours, CNBC reported.

More than 75% of all rounds raised go to all white founding teams, according to research from the Kauffman Foundation, while 1% of VC-backed founders between 2013 and 2018 were black, Axios reported. Black-decision makers at the country’s most prominent VC firms made up just 1.6% of the total, according to a 2018 report from The Information.

Andrew Sampson, CEO of gaming startup Rainway, participated in the Seattle protests this past weekend and said he was “hit dead on with tear gas.” He encouraged investors to “normalize the idea of investing in talented black founders by actually doing it.”

Many startup leaders posted publicly this week about the role tech companies and the broader industry can play in solving racial injustices.

Sarah Bird, CEO at Seattle marketing startup Moz, penned a blog post Tuesday titled “Black Lives Matter.” She said Moz employees will “practice the courage to speak out and show up for love and justice,” and pointed to various resources.

“It’s not enough to simply ‘do no harm’ or ‘not be racist,'” Bird wrote. “That well-trodden path has produced the same brutal results again and again. At Moz, we’re moving to a higher standard. The creation of a more just world requires us to be loudly, unceasingly anti-racist.”

Manny Medina, CEO at sales automation startup Outreach, wrote that “we need a big measure of self-awareness, self-criticism, and self-examination to challenge the status quo and start driving true meaningful change.” He said he’s supporting causes such as the ACLU, NAACP, Reclaim the Block, and Black Lives Matter of Seattle.

“What we are up against is institutionalized, structural, and systemic racism,” Medina wrote on LinkedIn. “This inequity took a long time to build and it is not going to be cured overnight. Racism is a deeply rooted problem that is baked into our institutions – social, economic, and justice.”

Outreach CEO Manny Medina (right) and Convoy CEO Dan Lewis speak at the 2019 GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire Photo)

In a video message to employees, Convoy CEO Dan Lewis said as a white man in Seattle, he can’t directly understand or experience what it’s like to be a person of color in this country.

“It doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try and it doesn’t mean that I stay silent,” he said. “When I think about the opportunity that I have — that I can go anywhere and walk anywhere and feel comfortable and safe — not everyone gets to do that. And that’s bullshit. That is not OK.”

Female Founders Alliance, a Seattle-based organization and accelerator for early-stage women-led startups, asked its community to “practice active allyship” by giving black job candidates a fair shot, donating to groups that fight racial and economic inequalities, learning from experts, teaching their kids about anti-racism, and supporting local businesses owned by people of color. FFA also organized office hour spots for black founders.

“The true work of allyship goes beyond making a statement; it’s about doing the work that makes a difference,” FFA founder Leslie Feinzaig wrote in a newsletter. “The true work of allyship lies in the moments and the places where it’s most uncomfortable, not the ones where it’s easy. It’s better to act, however imperfectly, than to do nothing at all.”

In a message to employees, Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of education startup DreamBox Learning, offered several recommendations: have authentic conversations with peers of different racial backgrounds; read Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail; and listen to Duke University’s Scene on Radio Podcast and The 1619 Project Podcast

“Do something, anything that aligns to your authentic leadership voice and desires to make this world better for all and future generations, including your own progeny,” she added. “Do something that results in moving the needle on racial justice and something that combats bigotry, misogyny and intolerance of any kind. Do something to make kids proud and more hopeful about the world we are leaving them.”

Jessica Eggert, CEO of childcare marketplace startup Leg Up, called out those that weren’t speaking up.

“Question the people who aren’t using their platforms to talk about what’s happening … do you really want them on your team?” she tweeted. “I don’t.”

Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer shared a Google Doc with “anti-racism resources for white people.”

“While no words can heal an unjust world or solve that pain, we all must speak out,” Oppenheimer tweeted. “Racism has no place in our world. The time for change is now.”

Seattle-based investment firms also voiced their opinion this week. Maveron committed to donate a percentage of its profits to organizations addressing racial injustice.

“This is a start, not a solution,” the firm tweeted. “We’re focused on leveraging our platform for good: capital, time, network, mentorship, among others. We want to commit to change that is deeply intentional, long in its horizon, and effective in addressing the hard work of correcting inequality.”

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