This morning I was flipping through the channels on TV when I found a documentary called “The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley.” It was about black entrepreneurs competing to gain capital for their internet ventures. Yet, Silicon Valley, home of Apple, Google and Facebook, is hardly diverse. Only 1% of entrepreneurs who attained venture capital last year were black. There are definitely under-represented minorities in the tech industry. Rey Ramsey, an African-American man who has a political lobbying firm for TechNet said, “We live in a society where race is still a factor. We’re waiting for the black Zuckerberg.”

It appears to be that the people that make it to the top are caucasian males. However, I believe in a time where education is accessible and tools are available, race should not hold us back in determining success. What I found most inspiring from the entrepreneurs in the documentary was regardless of the obstacles they faced, no matter what race they were, they all had one characteristic in common: passion. I believe the success of an entrepreneur lies with passion. If an entrepreneur is truly passionate about their product, they will go through the lengths to make it happen.

Check out the documentary on CNN.

Image from CNN Money

Word Count: 201