He had a successful exit<\/a> when his start-up Tru Optik was sold to data giant Transunion last year.\u00a0 \u00a0But it was\u00a0 tough sledding, building an advanced media data business five years ago.\u00a0 Now a super-hot sector, Andre was ahead of his time.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He blames racial bias.<\/p>\n With VC’s investing less than 1 % in Black-founded start-ups<\/a>, Andre is committed to changing the equation both by his example, advocacy and now personal investing in promising companies.<\/p>\n This is one of the topics covered in a wide ranging podcast session moderated by guest host Ashley Swartz<\/a>, CEO of Furious Corp.\u00a0 They cover a number topics including the transformation of TV, the background and promise of the acquisition by Transunion.<\/p>\n Please subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to the #BeetCast on your favorite podcast service.<\/p>\n