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Y Combinator hires black partner Michael Seibel

Y Combinator has hired its first black partner to aid in the drive to recruit more minority entrepreneurs.  Prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Seibel is joining as a  full-time partner to coach high-tech hopefuls, according to a report in USA Today. A key part of his mission will be reaching out to black and Hispanics who are underrepresented in Y Combinator and more broadly in Silicion Valley. Y Combinator is Silicon Valley’s most famous – and most influential – incubator, graduating companies such as Airbnb and Dropbox that have grown into household names. Entrepreneurs who go through the start-up boot camp gain access to money and advice from some of the industry’s most powerful players and get coverage from technology blogs, a major advantage in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

 

 

 

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Jay Z addresses critics of Tidal music service

Jay Z fired back at critics of his Tidal music service on Sunday, claiming the site is “doing just fine” and that its subscriber base is growing. The rapper, who relaunched Tidal after purchasing its parent company Aspiro Group earlier this year for $56 million, urged critics to hold off on dismissing the service too soon. “The iTunes Store wasn’t built in a day,” he said. “It took Spotify nine years to be successful.” Jay Z added that 770,000 subscribers have already signed up for Tidal, which he relaunche to compete with platforms such as Pandora and Spotify.

 

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Report says 12 percent of Africans use phones for non-bank transactions

 

Twelve percent of all adults in sub-Saharan Africa use their phones for non-bank financial transactions, by far the highest rate of any region in the world, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Bank. These figures come from the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion database, known as the Findex.  The mobile revolution there is part of a broader trend of democratization of finance around the globe that’s giving far more people a first step into the financial world. The number of adults worldwide with a bank account grew by 700 million between 2011 and 2014, according to the World Bank, an 11 percentage point rise to 62 percent of all adults.

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FCC considering regulating the internet

 

Tom-Wheeler-FCC
Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is near making a proposal to regulate the Internet like it were a public utility. According to The New York Times, industry analysts, lobbyists, and former members of the FCC are saying the commission will reclassify broadband service as a Title II telecommunications service.  This action would give the FCC broader powers to make sure Internet service providers don’t sell faster Internet service to larger and richer customers for higher prices at the expense of smaller Internet companies.

 

 

 

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Business Boom

Moshood designs clothing for men and women, T-shirts and accessories.

With a message to “wear yourself,” Moshood has draped the masses in his loose-fitting, funky fashions for more than 15 years. Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, the designer planted a seed on Fulton Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn that has grown into a cult following of devotees to his “spirit of Afrikan pride.”

Moshood’s eponymous company is one of many businesses started by foreign-born blacks in the United States, whose population has mushroomed over the past 25 years. Here’s a look at diverse business owners in Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and other cities across the country.