For Black CEOs in Silicon Valley, humiliation is a part of doing business

Black entrepreneurs say they are encouraged by the current anti-racism movement but deeply sceptical that the industry will change. Interviews with 20 Black tech leaders depict a position of power that can sometimes feel powerless. Repeated assumptions that they’re not in charge of their own companies, a common experience among Black CEOs, can instill a lingering sense of self-doubt. They describe a career of subtle slights or outright discrimination in which they face regular inquisition about their credentials and peculiar suggestions to hire a white business partner to make investors more comfortable. — Pixabay

Will Hayes has grown accustomed to an awkward start to business meetings. On numerous occasions, venture capitalists would confuse Hayes, the head of software company Lucidworks Inc, with another man on his executive team. The investor would introduce himself, extend a handshake to the other guy and say, “Good to meet you, Will.” It’s strange because they don’t look alike. Also, Hayes is Black, and his deputy is white.

This happened so many times, in dozens of meetings over many years, that Hayes and his longtime colleague, Keith Messick, say it’s no coincidence. Such unintentional instances of racism, they say, have become a routine-and insidious-part of doing business at a Black-led company in Silicon Valley.