Breaking Tradition: Why We Need Equitable Technology.

7QBUES Breaking Technology Inequality Gap.

As an immigrant and a woman of color, I have always felt different. Whether I am not reserved enough or not feminine enough, I am always somehow ‘not enough.’ I was lucky enough to have parents who have always left me be and encouraged me to be myself, the weird kid who spoke her mind. Maybe due to my upbringing, I have always been a crusader for fairness and equality. As an entrepreneur in the tech world, I am more aware of the importance of women of color speaking up for themselves and for those whose voices are traditionally unheard. My goal has always been to change the ecosystem as a woman in tech.

Since the 60s, there have been more women in business and entrepreneurs of color, but we are still only rewarded with 2–3% of the capital that is supposedly available to us. Why is there such a disparity? How can we break away from these traditions and change the entrepreneurial ecosystem? We have heard of the trickle-down effect, but have benefits trickled down to this growing segment of business owners? Let’s take a closer look!

The resource gap between large corporations and small businesses is growing. Large corporations have the capability to innovate and expand, whereas small businesses have limited resources to invest in R&D. To summarize, large corporations have the ability to take on debts to expand and innovate, whereas small businesses have limited credit to acquire debts to expand their R&D. With less capacity to invest in technology and human capital, small businesses will always be lagging behind. This is why we must push for equitable technology, where technology is provided for businesses in order for them to grow.

The Gap Between Large and Small Companies Is Growing. Why? Vijay Govindarajan, Baruch Lev, Anup Srivastava, and Luminita Enache

Is there an unconscious bias in our society facing women? “Since striking it rich is closely associated with science and technology companies,” said Martine Rothblatt in a New York Times article, we should support and embrace women-led businesses with resources in science and technology. This is how we can narrow the equality gap and promote good business sense.

I believe that by providing underrepresented businesses with a Swiss Army knife of toolkits, which gives them technologies that take out the guesswork of business and provides access to tools that were once reserved for well-funded and resource-rich businesses, we can reduce the technological and wealth disparity between large and small businesses. My hope is to disrupt the market with affordable technologies that are built specifically with small businesses’ growth and management in mind. As people often say, it takes a village! I believe we all must take part in supporting and creating a systematic, economical system that embraces innovation by creating equitable technology for all.

“The higher up you move in the income distribution, the lower the proportion of women,” said Gabriel Zucman, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an author of the paper, which analyzes gender in the 1 percent. “It shows that there is a fundamental form of inequality at the top related to gender.”

We build technology to help our members without scaring them off with overly technical tools! Small business owners don’t need to worry about the technology; they can just embrace it. I know it sounds very Borg-like — resistance is futile! — but the truth is that too many non-tech owners are intimidated or unwilling to adopt new technologies because it is hard to understand how they operate or too costly to integrate. Our mission is to bring technology to the masses, giving them the tools to expand and grow. The world might be stacked against you 97% of the time, but with technology and a network of like-minded people who all support each other in a community, we can change this unconscious bias and equality gap one member at a time.