While he made early progress with product development and industry partnerships, funded from a few early stage angel investors, access to venture capital was nearly impossible.  While he says the adtech industry was open to him, he was shut out by VC’s — unable to even to get preliminary pitch meetings.  He blames racial bias.

With VC’s investing less than 1 % in Black-founded start-ups, Andre is committed to changing the equation both by his example, advocacy and now personal investing in promising companies.

This is one of the topics covered in a wide ranging podcast session moderated by guest host Ashley Swartz, CEO of Furious Corp.  They cover a number topics including the transformation of TV, the background and promise of the acquisition by Transunion.

Editor’s Note: This episode was published in January of the year.   It is as compelling and important as ever, so we are republishing it this week.

Please subscribe to the #BeetCast on your favorite podcast service.

The BeetCast is sponsored by Mediaocean.

I am grateful to Kirk McDonald and my other dear friends, along with so many new acquaintances, for having spoken so candidly and personally about what is like to be Black in our industry and for sharing their anguish and hopes in this time of racial injustice and social unrest.

Simply put, we’re having conversations we’ve never had before.

Several of the executives in the series speak of needing a “safe space,” a place where fellow people of color can freely share about who they are and to discuss  difficult issues in their work experience.

Well, Beet.TV is now that “safe space.”

I hope that the series will help to foster understanding and progress.  The series is far from over.  We will produce more videos in the months ahead.

As a publisher, we are determined to bring more people of color to regular Beet.TV industry coverage.  And we have made progress.  Much more to come.

I am very moved by Kirk McDonald’s words about my work.  I have published this short video on this page. Thank you Kirk, my friend, for opening the conversation.  We all need to take a few steps forward.

Update: Since we published this video, Kirk has been appointed CEO of GroupM North America.   Congrats Kirk.

Here is our series to date: 

• Black Women: We Can Be Our Worst Enemy, Innovid’s Stephanie Geno
• Channeling Frederick Douglass: He Would Want Us All to Vote w/ Maria Weaver, CMO, Comcast Advertising
• Being Black in AdTech: “You Lose Bits of Yourself” w/Kerel Cooper, SVP Global Marketing at LiveInten
• People See Color in the Workplace — And that’s OK, NBCU’s Brian Norris
• Let’s Recognize and Celebrate Our Differences, Dish’s Sean Robertson
• “The Mask Doesn’t Work: Be Your Beautiful, Authentic Self,” Monique Nelson
• “We All Have to Develop Empathy” Now, IBM’s Kareem Yusuf
• Racial Diversity Programs Must Address Systemic Racism, Comscore’s Tershone Phillips
• “Our Voices and Ideas Are Suppressed in the Workplacew” w/ Kelle Coleman, SVP Brand Partnerships, Nielsen
• “We’re Not Allowed to Fail, We Have to be Perfect w/Cavel Khan, Chief Revenue Officer of Tumblr
• “Diversity Needs to Woven into the Fabric of Everyday Decisions,” Facebook’s Alvin Bowles
• Being a Black Woman in Silicon Valley: The Stereotyping is Exhausting w/ Kenya Hayes, Head of Comms, NA, Appsflyer
• “We All Play the Game.” We’ve Learned to “Code Switch” at Work, Christian Borges
• Kirk McDonald: Exhausted by the Turmoil, Positive about Changes Ahead’
• Andre Swanston Shares His Experiences, Lessons and Hopes for Society in this Beet Series Debut

This video is part of an ongoing Beet.TV series of interviews with men and and women of color, addressing their personal experiences and hopes for essential change addressing racial inequality. Please find additional videos here.