Colin Keeley: As a founder, you always have so many different balls in the air and an endless list of things to do. At what point do you have that discussion about diversity? Do you do it at 2 people? 10 people? 50 people?
Star Cunningham: I think founders have to really be responsible. You see what happened to Twitter and other organizations as they grew and this was an inherent part of their growth. It ended up being more difficult to diversify as they have gotten to be so large. I think that as founders found companies they have to be responsible. One of the two of you would have to say something and if you hire two more people and no one in the four says something then you kind of have to say “we’re doing something wrong”.
As a founder myself, obviously it is a priority. It is a priority and I also know that the statistics don’t lie. Having a diverse culture and a diverse team is better than not having one. I plan to benefit from the statistics in a way and make certain that I’m hiring a diversity of thought, a diversity of people, a diversity of different things so that my company can be wildly successful.
This is an excerpt from a Tech In Chicago podcast episode. To listen to the whole episode and catch up with all Tech In Chicago episodes, click here.
This transcript has been lightly condensed and edited.
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