Wait, Tristan Walker Is NOT The Only Black Tech Entrepreneur in The US?

No way. Get the hell out of here.

Of course, that is a facetious headline. How else could I even make the point I wanted to make without ragging on my man Tristan for a bit?

First things first, let me be clear. Tristan is the man. His story and accomplishments are fascinating, encouraging and uplifting. The man has built a business that many are rooting for, and eager to support. Dude is even attacking the one thing I know that has smooth brothers like Michael Jordan and Idris Elba befuddled on a daily basis — those darned razor bumps. The guy is smart, on point, and makes me proud.

Tristan gets mad props.

However.

There could be a plausible counter here, but I am quite convinced Silicon Valley and the tech media believe Tristan is the probably the only black entrepreneur on mainland US. Verification on Hawaii and Alaska is pending. This suspicion had been nagging at me for a while, but I went into full teeth gnashing-curled up in a ball-air jab crossing-Jesus take the wheel mode after taking a gander at the list of heavy hitters that had been interviewed on a highly recommended podcast I was looking to subscribe to:

There’s Tristan!!!

I kept scrolling. And scrolling. 136 folks and Tristan was the only one.

I tell you, people…this ain’t the only time. I am a huge fan of Mark Suster and the people at Upfront Ventures (have every intention of partnering with them at some point, either in this timeline or in a parallel one…it will happen). When Mark’s Both Sides of The Table dropped in my email on February 9th re “The Only Video Every Silicon Valley Investor Should Watch”, I was ready for the regular dose of wisdom. And it was a kickass piece about a panel at the Upfront Summit on diversity in tech. Who was on the panel? Magic Johnson, Troy Carter, Mitu’s Beatriz Acevedo (she’s a badass), and guess who?

Tristan.

WHY I OUGHTA!

Fast Company. USA Today. LA Times. Ask Men. Fortune. TechCrunch. The list goes on…and this is just in the last week or so. It almost seems to me that folks ask “who’s a black tech entrepreneur we could feature for the diversity or minority techies piece”, dig deep into their rolodexes and networks, and the answer is always…Tristan Walker. Who else?

If you think this is hate, then intellectually you’re the walking dead. And I am a crossbow bearing Daryl Dixon. No, this actually is two-sided concern. First, can we cut Tristan some freaking slack? I am sure the PR doesn’t hurt his company and efforts, but for real? I’m sure he would like to get down and put that $24M he just raised for Walker & Company to work. The other side is, the more play he gets, the easier it is for folks to feel they are off the hook by just talking to, featuring or referencing Tristan and “we got it covered…we found a black entrepreneur”. All is good with the world.

My point is that there are many others out there who should be highlighted, featured, allowed to speak on diversity, raising money, building business on the main stage. I have no doubt Tristan is making the same case. I mean, how is it that Dorm Room Tycoon only has one brother (no sister) out of a hundred and thirty six thinkers interviewed so far? I know it’s not nefarious, but…come on, man.

And no, I am not counting myself as one of the many others. Don’t even troll me on that—that’s a roundhouse to the knees, padwan.

By the way, you do realize Walker & Company is a health and beauty company, yes? Thought so.