Black people in the technology industry face various barriers, from encountering micro-aggressions from their coworkers to facing blocked advancement in their professional careers. These challenges are particularly pronounced in entrepreneurship, where Black founders receive just one percent of all venture capital funding. But amidst these shared struggles, questions arise as to what ways, if any, these experiences vary. Using an intersectional lens to inductively study forty-six Black tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, I reveal how class shapes Black entrepreneurial processes differently at various phases of entrepreneurship. Lower- and middle-class Black entrepreneurs faced more financial and network-based obstacles as they struggled to raise money from family and friends and had fewer effective networks when starting their businesses. Conversely, Black upper-class entrepreneurs had familial wealth and personal networks that aided their entrepreneurial efforts but faced challenges as they were not a “racial fit” within the industry. Consequently, they perceived that they confronted more instances of individual-level discrimination. Black lower and middle-class entrepreneurs were less likely to discuss instances of perceived individual-level discrimination because many had not reached the step of meeting with an investor. This research offers unique and nuanced insights into how class shapes the entrepreneurial pursuits of Black founders. Contributions to the sociology of race and ethnicity, intersectionality, and the sociology of entrepreneurship are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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从逆境到进步：揭示种族和阶级如何塑造黑人科技创业经历


科技行业的黑人面临各种障碍，从遇到同事的微攻击到面临职业生涯的阻碍。这些挑战在创业中尤为明显，黑人创始人仅获得所有风险投资资金的 1%。但在这些共同的斗争中，出现了关于这些经历在哪些方面（如果有的话）不同的问题。使用交叉视角对硅谷的 46 名黑人科技企业家进行了归纳研究，揭示了阶级如何在创业的各个阶段以不同的方式塑造黑人创业过程。中低阶层黑人企业家面临着更多的财务和基于网络的障碍，因为他们努力从家人和朋友那里筹集资金，并且在创业时拥有较少的有效网络。相反，黑人上层阶级企业家拥有家族财富和个人网络，这有助于他们的创业努力，但由于他们在行业内不属于“种族契合”，因此面临挑战。因此，他们意识到他们面临着更多个人层面的歧视。黑人中下阶层企业家不太可能讨论感知到的个人层面歧视的例子，因为许多人还没有达到与投资者会面的阶段。这项研究为阶级如何塑造黑人创始人的创业追求提供了独特而细致的见解。还讨论了对种族和民族社会学、交叉性以及创业社会学的贡献。