Morgan DeBaun, AfroTech and How Black Tech Innovators Can Take Advantage of the Moment

Rachel Uranga

Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.

Morgan DeBaun, AfroTech and How Black Tech Innovators Can Take Advantage of the Moment

Seven years ago, Morgan DeBaun left her job in Silicon Valley to help create Blavity, a news and events company geared toward Black millennials.

The name comes from the concept of "Black gravity"— the force that pulls people of color toward each other in predominantly white spaces — and it's intended to reflect the very voices she saw excluded in her tech job.


Over the years Blavity has become an influential voice, birthing AfroTech, a conference that it calls the largest for Black founders and creators, and acquiring travel startup TravelNoire in 2017.

On Saturday, Blavity will host its inaugural AfroTech Executive in Los Angeles. DeBaun, the company's CEO, sees the gathering of dozens of venture capitalists and founders as means to build ideas among leaders who share a collective consciousness about race. It can also help build a network of Black executives so they can get into decision making positions at some of the most powerful tech companies.

Founder and CEO of The Plug Sherrell Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Reddit Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Squire Technologies Songe Laron are among those slated to speak.

DeBaun thinks that coming together is a powerful force, especially after 18 difficult months. At the start of the pandemic, Blavity asked employees to take a 30% pay cut and shut down the Los Angeles office in anticipation of falling revenue. Then came the killing of George Floyd. It took a mental toll on staff but also gave her mission ever more urgency.

The company, which has since secured $12 million in venture funds, has bounced back. And the remote work experience made her realize that the arrangement made sense for employees who had to take care of children or parents.

How did AfroTech Executive evolve? And why did you feel it was needed?

AfroTech has been such a fruitful conference and brand for bringing together incredible Black tech innovators, we knew we wanted to continue to expand into different segments of our community to provide different experiences for connection. We wanted to create a space for executives to dive deep into what is going on in their industry and company, and be able to have candid conversations about what is and isn't working. This sort of exchange of ideas and long-lasting partnerships are at the foundation of AfroTech.

There is a shift going on right now in conversations about diversity and inclusion. But certainly these are not issues that are new to Black Americans. How have these changes impacted thinking among Black executives and other leaders?

Black executives and other Black leaders are really having their voices heard right now and that has pushed people forward, rightfully so, to use this as an opportunity to launch more ambitious ideas for people of color as consumers and different audiences. Taking advantage of this time to build a better opportunity for their employees and community moving forward is definitely something that is on the minds of Black leaders in business as they execute on their priorities.

Are we just at a moment or is there any real change going on?

These continued conversations will bring about real change if we continue to have them and hold businesses accountable by voting for what corporations succeed with our dollars. Through our purchases and our platforms, we should reward the companies that address our needs and treat our community with equity respect, not just in this moment, but for years to come.

You wrote a really powerful piece for dot.LA last year after the killing of George Floyd. You said: "Our pain serves a purpose. Destruction is necessary to make space for a new reality. A new world must eventually emerge because, as former President Barack Obama addressed in his statement this morning, we cannot accept our current reality." How does AfroTech Executive fit into that vision?

It's been a little over a year since George Floyd was murdered and we haven't had a chance to get together in person to celebrate the progress that has been made. Having a moment of time with your community and like-minded individuals to talk about what we've learned, how we've grown, and to celebrate success in Black tech and the media industry is important as this 'new world' continues to evolve.

Who is going to be at AfroTech Executive? Talk to me about the value of bringing these particular folks together.

Incredible tech innovators, investors, startup founders and tech moguls will come together for AfroTech Executive. The conversations that happen, partnerships that get started, and ideas that get sparked when these people are in the room are extremely valuable to the AfroTech community and the larger tech and startup community.

Why in Los Angeles?

L.A. is one of the most diverse cities at the intersection of media, entertainment, tech and finance. It's important to us that we create a community here in L.A. to help bridge the gap between those different industries, and AfroTech does just that.

Is it a good time to be a Black person in tech? Do you have any advice for Black people in tech?

Black people in tech are being heard more than they have historically, and my advice for Black people in tech is to take advantage of this time and push all of the ideas that you have out into the open. Continue to innovate and build.

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How the 'Thrift Haul' Boosted Secondhand Ecommerce Platforms

Lon Harris
Lon Harris is a contributor to dot.LA. His work has also appeared on ScreenJunkies, RottenTomatoes and Inside Streaming.
How the 'Thrift Haul' Boosted Secondhand Ecommerce Platforms
Evan Xie

If you can believe it, it’s been more than a decade since rapper Macklemore extolled the virtues of thrift shopping in a viral music video. But while scouring the ranks of vintage clothing stores looking for the ultimate come-up may have waned in popularity since 2012, the online version of this activity is apparently thriving.

According to a new trend story from CNBC, interest in “reselling” platforms like Etsy-owned Depop and Poshmark has exploded in the years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. In an article that spends a frankly surprising amount of time focused on sellers receiving death threats before concluding that they’re “not the norm,” the network cites the usual belt-tightening ecommerce suspects – housebound individuals doing more of their shopping online coupled with inflation woes and recession fears – as the causes behind the uptick.

As for data, there’s a survey from Depop themselves, finding that 53% of respondents in the UK are more inclined to shop secondhand as living costs continue to rise. Additional research from Advance Market Analytics confirms the trend, citing not just increased demand for cheap clothes but the pressing need for a sustainable alternative to recycling clothing materials at its core.

The major popularity of “thrift haul” videos across social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok has also boosted the visibility of vintage clothes shopping and hunting for buried treasures. Teenage TikToker Jacklyn Wells scores millions of views on her thrift haul videos, only to get routinely mass-accused of greed for ratching up the Depop resell prices for her coolest finds and discoveries. Nonetheless, viral clips like Wells’ have helped to embed secondhand shopping apps more generally within online fashion culture. Fashion and beauty magazine Hunger now features a regular list of the hottest items on the re-sale market, with a focus on how to use them to recreate hot runway looks.

As with a lot of consumer and technology trends, the sudden surge of interest in second-hand clothing retailers was only partly organic. According to The Drum, ecommerce apps Vinted, eBay, and Depop have collectively spent around $120 million on advertising throughout the last few years, promoting the recent vintage shopping boom and helping to normalize second-hand shopping. This includes conventional advertising, of course, but also deals with online influencers to post content like “thrift haul” videos, along with shoutouts for where to track down the best finds.

Reselling platforms have naturally responded to the increase in visibility with new features (as well as a predictable hike in transaction fees). Poshmark recently introduced livestreamed “Posh Shows” during which sellers can host auctions or provide deeper insight into their inventory. Depop, meanwhile, has introduced a “Make Offer” option to fully integrate the bartering and negotiation process into the app, rather than forcing buyers and sellers to text or Direct Message one another elsewhere. (The platform formerly had a comments section on product pages, but shut this option down after finding that it led to arguments, and wasn’t particularly helpful in making purchase decisions.)

Now that it’s clear there’s money to be made in online thrift stores, larger and more established brands and retailers are also pushing their way into the space. H&M and Target have both partnered with online thrift store ThredUp on featured collections of previously-worn clothing. A new “curated” resale collection from Tommy Hilfiger – featuring minorly damaged items that were returned to its retail stores – was developed and promoted through a partnership with Depop, which has also teamed with Kellogg’s on a line of Pop-Tarts-inspired wear. J.Crew is even bringing back its classic ‘80s Rollneck Sweater in a nod to the renewed interest in all things vintage.

Still, with any surge of popularity and visibility, there must also come an accompanying backlash. In a sharp editorial this week for Arizona University’s Daily Wildcat, thrift shopping enthusiast Luke Lawson makes the case that sites like Depop are “gentrifying fashion,” stripping communities of local thrift stores that provide a valuable public service, particularly for members of low-income communities. As well, UK tabloids are routinely filled with secondhand shopping horror stories these days, another evidence point as to their increased visibility among British consumers specifically, not to mention the general dangers of buying personal items from strangers you met over the internet.

How to Startup: Mission Acquisition

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

How to Startup: Mission Acquisition

Numbers don’t lie, but often they don’t tell the whole story. If you look at the facts and figures alone, launching a startup seems like a daunting enterprise. It seems like a miracle anyone makes it out the other side.

  • 90% of startups around the world fail.
  • On average, it takes startups 2-3 years to turn a profit. (Venture funded startups take far longer.)
  • Post-seed round, fewer than 10% of startups go on to successfully raise a Series A investment.
  • Less than 1% of startups go public.
  • A startup only has a .00006% chance of becoming a unicorn.

Ouch.

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From The Vault: VC Legend Bill Gurley On Startups, Venture Capital and Scaling

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

Bill Gurley in a blue suit
Bill Gurley

This interview was originally published on December of 2020, and was recorded at the inaugural dot.LA Summit held October 27th & 28th.

One of my longtime favorite episodes of Office Hours was a few years ago when famed venture capitalist Bill Gurley and I talked about marketplace-based companies, how work-from-home will continue to accelerate business opportunities and his thoughts on big tech and antitrust.

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