Op-Ed: You Too Should Experience the Startup Rush

I talk a lot about Internet startups. It’s not just because they’re cool and exciting due to the movie “The Social Network,” but more because of the power of the process. It’s the opportunity to be able to create something and sometimes quickly be able to have an effect on people, in some cases thousands of them. It’s an experience unlike any other. You’re able to learn more about yourself and what you’re capable of more than you could in almost any other situation.

I speak about it because I know how the experience changed me, changed how I think about solving problems and how I know there is always a way to solve them. Whenever I read stories about startups today, it makes me reflect on those things all over again. I came across a post on the Business Insider about students who took a class at Stanford and are all creating Facebook apps that had great success. When I visited the page, it showed the founders of the Facebook app Dodgeball. The key thing for me in the picture was that one of the founders was African American.

This made me reflect again on the many talks I’ve given about how minorities are missing out on this revolution and how the problem is systemic at a cultural level. There is an opportunity for change for minorities and their surrounding communities if this is introduced in the right way. To change lives, change communities and empower new segments of people is a immense thing if you think about it. My hope with this post is that a person of color reads it and says ” maybe it could me” and possibly sees the bigger picture and realizes that we can be involved in this revolution and decides to jump in. My push from broader Internet and wireless access stems from the desire to see a new generation of people take hold the inspiration and have the tools to make things happen.

The story was sourced from a NY times article that included an audio slide that lets you hear first hand how the evolution from idea to product to company changed and inspired this group of students. It’s my hope that you will share it with someone and it will inspire them.

This story was originally posted on Navarrowwright.com

About the Author
Navarrow Wright is the CTO of Interactive One, Interactive One is a digital and print media company focusing on the African-American and urban market. As CTO Wright is responsible for the technical strategy of all the Interactive One online properties which include Hellobeautiful, The UrbanDaily, NewsOne, Elev8 and BlackPlanet. He is also responsible for the technical management of the Radio One Network’s radio sites Navarrow was formerly the President of Maximum Leverage Solutions ( http://maxlevsolutions.com), An internet technology consulting firm. Wright is the Co-founder of Globalgrind.com with Russell Simmons and The former CTO of BET.com. Navarrow blogs about issues in technology that affect entrepreneurs, minorities and urban youth on his site at http://www.navarrowwright.com
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