On Part 1: This chat with Erin Teague who is Director of Product at Yahoo is refreshing. You'll hear her talk about everything from her top 5 favorite rappers, to the constant awareness of how gender and race affects the mindset of many minorities in tech. It's an honest reflection on the thought process of a technology executive even at the highest levels.

Part 2: Wayne Sutton was featured on CNN's Black in America in 2011 as co-founder of a high profile minority-focused accelerator in Silicon Valley and he's been on a rocket ever since. Founder at BUILDUP.vc, Wayne is insightful on the landscape of San Francisco for startup founders on non-traditional paths.

On this episode, I chat with the phenomenal Charles Hudson of SoftTech VC on part 1. At SoftTech, Charles is a partner and focuses on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces.

We discuss venture capital, the perfect pitch, music, and Charles drops knowledge bombs one after another.

Part 2: Megan Rose Dickey. A rockstar personality, recovering journalist, and all around tech enthusiast. We discuss her journey in technology and startup storytelling.

Part 1: In this chat with Snapchat QA Engineer Justin Washington, we discuss his journey to the ultra-popular and high-growth startup Snapchat, how he became a believer in the product, and working with Steve Jobs.

We also talk about growing up in the midwest (he’s from Detroit), ambitions in the music business, and both of our impeccable tastes in music.

Part 2: Brian Dixon is very smart, and he knows startups and pitching like the back of his hand. He’s a VC at Kapor Capital, a venture firm focused on startups making a significant social impact. In his role, he’s on the hunt for the next big thing.

We talk about how to pitch effectively to get VC attention, and Silicon Valley.

On this episode, I chat with two incredible and accomplished minorities in tech, Michael Seibel of Y Combinator, and Hadiyah Muhjid of Black Founders + Playpen Labs. 

Michael was a co-founder at Justin.TV which rebranded as Twitch and sold to Amazon for close to a billion dollars in 2014. He recently became a full partner at the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator for startups.

Hadiyah is a full stack software engineer. She graduated with her CS degree from University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and received her MBA from Drexel. She founded Black Founders, an organization which serves as a platform for minorities in technology in Silicon Valley and across the US.

On this episode, I chat with Makinde Adeagbo, the Engineering Manager at Pinterest which brands itself as '...a place to discover ideas for all your projects and interests, hand-picked by people like you.'

Makinde displays his thoughtfulness and smarts in the fun chat. He’s such a smart guy and we could’ve talked for another hour. We discuss his growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, his thoughts on whether or not kids should be coding at an early age, and tips for startup growth hacking.

Makinde has done some extreme marathons, including a 50 mile race in 2012. We’ll chat briefly about that.