Prior to building the startup Cinchapi, Jeff Nelson, Co-Founder and CTO at Blavity, combined talents with Morgan Debaun, Aaron Samuels, Jonathan Jackson, to created the most culturally relevant venture-backed technology and media company aimed at building beautiful products and experiences for black millennials.

Through a series of cascading connections, Jeff shares the backstory about how the founders met and eventually decided to build Blavity after working on over 10 earlier ideas. He also shares a story of the founding team “sticking to their guns” when a potential investor tied their investment in the company to the team changing the name from Blavity.

Right now Jeff is excited about his new startup - Cinchapi. At Cinchapi, Jeff is building a platform to help people understand data, then use data more effectively to solve problems in a variety of places. Cinchapi is fascinated in how the accessibility of data is key to solving some of the World’s most challenging problems.

He dives into the major differences building an enterprise B2B ( Business to Business) software company versus his experiences building Blavity’s technology.  

Frankly, Jeff notes how one major differences is his target audience. On this episode, Jeff talks about diversity in tech, not “looking the part,” and trying to have conversations with 60 year old white guys at the bar as a twenty-something black man.

Jeff is married with two young children. The importance of life and work balance, mentoring, and helping other technology entrepreneurs reach their goals.

 

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter @InnovatorTribe

 

Fun Facts

Favorite TV shows

• Breaking Bad, Black-ish, and Modern Family

Hype song

• “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem

 

Cool Resources

Cyberlaunch Accelerator - http://www.cyberlaunch.vc/

 

Contact:

• @jeff4code
• www.github.com/jtnelson
• @Blavity
• @Cinchapi

 

Music Produced by Calid B @Calidb