In reply to Justin Tadlock.

Thanks for keeping this on track, Justin. I apologize for using the word "pathetic." However, a better word may be "alarming" about a company that just raised $15M, has employees in 16 countries, and serves a global user base. Yet, it doesn't have a single obvious person of color on its team.

We are all culpable in some way if we don't work to be inclusive and diverse in our hiring practices. We lock out those who can teach us something from unique perspectives we will never be able to see if we don't try. And, when I say "we," I mean the majority white male tech founders and CEOs who benefit from investment in our brands and businesses.

When I founded my first startup, all my employees were women and two of them were women of color. When I worked at another startup, I led a team that had two people of Hispanic descent, as it was important in my role to cover music generated by Hispanic artists. I looked for people who could understand and relate to the music being covered and didn't hire people who had limited exposure to the cultural nuances of those genres. I was in a position to hire people who looked like me, but my overall background helped me see the value of finding talented people who had experience in the culture, which made for a better product, all around.

While this topic is uncomfortable and we can see some in this thread who seemingly could care less and think it's just about the software, I care, which is why I brought it up in the first place. It's important to keep the conversation going, but I agree that harmful rhetoric is not the solution.