A Weekend at Afro tech
The largest black tech conference in Silicon Valley.
I am a huge fan of Blavity and I am one of 200K+ who follow their journey on social channels. But when I learnt that founder Morgan Debaun and her amazing team had a conference called Afro Tech especially for people of colour, it seemed like the perfect excuse to take an overdue trip from London to the Bay!
Although it wasn’t the first conference I have attended for people of colour in tech, it definitely has to be the largest and most exciting one to date. The speakers, event programme and connections I made across the three days were invaluable. For me to have all my Tech heroes together in one place was an occasion I couldn’t afford to miss.
After an 11 hour flight from London Heathrow, I arrived tired but eager to make the most of every minute of the trip. Naturally, I had signed up to all of the pre-conference parties, lunches, brunches, happy hours and after parties. I had also planned meet-ups with interesting startups and investors prior to landing in San Francisco. I was well prepared, organised and on a mission make **hella connections** !
Every hour of my weekend was about meeting new people and learning something new and I had been chatting for weeks to other conference goers on the Afro Tech Slack group.
On arrival it was amazing to see a room full of thousands of black founders, engineers and investors all changing the game in their respective fields. The energy was incredible and everyone was so open to learn and connect in a way I had never experienced before.
The Speakers
The diverse range of speakers was excellent, from startups to scale-ups and everything in between. For an early stage technology founder it was quite honestly the best place for learning from other founders facing the same struggles and enjoying the same victories! It was the perfect place to find a Co-founder or a team or even just find a cool job within a tech company. What was great about Afro tech as it didn’t matter where you were at, if you were interested in tech there was something for you and it was a transformational weekend for everyone who attended! To be in a room where you are surrounded by beautiful people chasing the same visions and dreams as you. That experience is priceless.
The sense of community and the spirit of excellence was inspiring. I was constantly blown away with each founder I met. The conference was full of world changers, and with every conversation, I knew I was speaking to someone who would literally disrupt the tech industry or change the world. We were among the entrepreneurs who were relentlessly breaking boundaries and shaping history through tech innovation and it was epic.
Is Afro Tech for everyone?
If you are a founder or early stage investor looking for ambitious startups, a co -founder or likeminded people this is most definitely the conference for you. Being from the UK, I found the conference even more beneficial as I got the opportunity to extend my global network with amazingly talented people within the US tech eco system. It was perfect as everyone I wanted to meet was so accessible and in one venue making it possible for me to connect with the Tech stars I admire and want to do business with in the future.
On day one I spent close to an hour chatting to Grammy award winning recording artist Chamillionaire who is a seasoned investor in technology having made investments in companies such as Lyft, self driving cars and even had three exits under his belt. I was totally inspired and in awe of his knowledge and expertise but most of all his humility and willingness to speak to everyone who approached him. The culture at Afro tech was one of sharing knowledge and paying it forward. Unlike any conference I have attended there was such a strong sense of community. And we were all a big happy nerdy family.
If you’re breaking into VC, there were great people there to learn from. I absolutely loved hearing investment tips from Michael Seibel, he is super inspiring and smart. His phenomenal track record and the amazing work he is doing within YCombinator is really taking it to the next level and it is incredible. One of my favourite black investors for sure!
Investors
There was a nice range of early stage investors present too. Including partners from Hillman Accelerator, the amazing Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital Kobi Fuller of Upfront Ventures, and Monique Woodward of 500 startups to name a few. If you are a founder looking to build a network of investors of colour this conference is not to be missed.
Event Tracks
The programme and tracks ranged from engineering, to marketing and product and entrepreneurship. Topics of discussion ranged from “Life after being Acquired” and “Building Tech for Good” by Jessie Williams who not only is everyone’s favourite activist / actor. We can now add serial tech founder to his list of many talents. Check out his new gig Ebrojiapp available to download from the apple store now!
The Parties!
And there was no shortage of delicious food, drinks, head shots and goody bags on supply from the generous event sponsors including Google, Amazon, Facebook.
The Pitch Competition!
One of the highlights was the Afro Tech Pitch competition where ten amazing startups got to pitch with the chance to win investment and support. The startups ranged from Drop a company that leveraged VR and AR to enhance users internet search experience and Possip an app that collated parent feedback to inform schools of how to improve and engage better with their communities.
Recruiting office hours
And if you are looking for a job in a tech company this conference is for you. Almost every cool tech company was present to recruit the best tech talent from across America so I would definitely recommend the conference for people who are seeking to get into companies like Facebook, Uber, Tinder, Amazon, Twitter and more.
What makes this conference stand out from the rest and I attend them all (Startup Grind, Tech Crunch, Web Summit ) was the fact that there was such a real sense of community and willingness to connect and network.
And the best news is that the dates are already out for 2018! So if you are founder based outside of the US or in the US, I highly recommend this conference and it is well worth the long haul flight. You will make long lasting relationships and more.
Afro Tech 2018 will be held in San Francisco on 8th — 11th November 2018, For more information follow Blavity or visit the Afrotech site.
See you next year Afro techies! xxx
Paris
Founder of Rare Seed Capital and We Love Work
Follow me Paris Petgrave
