Valence

Social network for black professionals

1 follower

Social network for black professionals

1 follower

Valence aims to unlock the global combined power of black professionals to create massive economic and social progress. From industry titans to up-and-comers, their members include the best Black talent in Tech, Media, Finance and Entertainment.

Launch tags:Tech

Launch Team

Framer AI AgentsDesign and publish professional sites with AI

Promoted

Superwall

Hunter

Interesting to see the rise of niche communities like these. As a mid-career black professional it's exciting to see the success of professionals who look like me who I can learn from.

Report

7yr ago

@lanre_akinyemi this is exciting, congratulations on the launch!

Report

7yr ago

@lanre_akinyemi Wouldn't call black people a niche community.

Report

7yr ago

Superwall

Hunter

@joaosardinha Black people in tech - especially senior positions is niche

Report

7yr ago

@lanre_akinyemi @joaosardinha black people in tech is something we look forward to. I have to agree it’s a niche too.. we can be celebrated differently..

Report

7yr ago

@joaosardinha @lanre_akinyemi facts.

Report

7yr ago

Hi, see a lot of men in particularly chiming in to talk about feeling excluded. Yes, it would be lovely if we could all be equal but it’s not the case and communities have to segregate like this in order to feel safe, empower each other bc as a collective we have negated/severely neglected them. You think this is unique? It happens OFFLINE too, check out the Samburu tribe, an only women village created bc of the high rate of femicide amongst women, sometimes these "seemingly exclusive" communities rise as a survival tactic. We can't deny that our collective has a lot to do, particularly dismantling oppressive systems that have always disfavored people of color and women. There is so much work to do that can't be solved in a day or a year, once we can dismantle that oppresive system most of the world runs on, then we can start talking about equality and inclusivity, until then, you will see this happen, as it has always happened before, minorities uniting as a way to shield themselves.

Report

7yr ago

@iiiitsandrea Most of us disagree with the premise of the survival thing. We have been asking about actual data proving this claim by the way.

Report

7yr ago

@iiiitsandrea @soueuls why not go do some research yourself and report back? The data is out there, however, no one here is your personal Google.

Report

7yr ago

@iiiitsandrea @aachanta I am commenting because I have made my research. Now I am waiting for anyone to mathematically prove what they are claiming in this thread. There is even a African American guy admitting that it's completely racist

Report

7yr ago

Mint Club

So funny that only "white" people saying this is a "racist" product. What's the difference between this one and "black professional" subreddit? Will the subreddit be considered as a racist too? Sometimes white people too much overacts 🤣

Report

7yr ago

@andrew_cho Yup - some people need ALL the privilege 🤦‍♂️

Report

7yr ago

@andrew_cho well the excluded group does say it's racist because they are excluded. I feel excluded and would be inclined to say the same. All of this talk of inclusivity going on, yet we exclude others :D

Report

7yr ago

@andrew_cho @alex_salmon that part.

Report

7yr ago

@yurix @andrei_nedelcu @nartydev @therealrossmac I'm really confused by the negative comments. Currently only 3% of Silicon Valley’s workforce is black. There are only three black chief executives in the Fortune 500, and only 0.0006% of venture capital funding goes to black female founders. Finally, black people make up 13% of the nation’s population, but only hold 3% of the nation’s wealth. It's a fact that black people are systematically disadvantaged in professional life. Have any of you read Blink by Malcom Gladwell or heard about the IAT test? The majority of people who took that test instantly associated black and black faces with words such as 'bad' 'dumb' 'dangerous'. Combine subconscious bias with nepotism/ 'pattern matching' and you've got a dangerous mix. Nepotism is how a lot of business deals are done / promotions are made. If the vast majority of power (power = wealth + professional seniority) sits with white people, how do you think this stacks up for black people? Subconscious bias against black people is a recorded fact. So Valence is a brilliant tech solution designed to level the playing field. I'm not sure what is 'racist' or 'stupid' about it?

Report

7yr ago

@shopedelano you can't say all of that and look at the consumption culture of hip hop that almost never promotes investing within the black community. Rather let me spent my racks at the strip club and buy chains and a european car :D City Girls promoting hot girl summer, but instead should be promoting get an internship in tech or finance during the summer and progress in life! This is the same argument that I sort of give undocumented immigrants and the whole immigration topic (there's rules when you go to a country). These are self inflicting wounds our people create. Also, know that when a group of people feels excluded how can you not see that as reverse racism which is what those individuals are arguing.

Report

7yr ago

There's An AI For That

@shopedelano I am not disputing any of the facts you mentioned. I'm disputing the way they are promoting the platform. Had they promoted it as "an inclusive platform" or a "non-discriminatory platform", that would have been great. However, they are promoting it as a platform for black people, and this is the opposite of non-discriminatory. By definition, racism means discriminating a group of people in a certain context based on something which is completely unrelated to that context. If you make skincare products for black people, that is not racist, because you are discriminating based on the relevant characteristics of black people's skin. However, skin color has nothing to do with entrepreneurship or business. So discriminating in business or entrepreneurship based on skin color is racist. You might as well make a platform for businessmen who like cats. To touch the essence of your point, I don't think we necessarily need more black people in business. I think we need more competent people - and if they happen to be black, green or violet, it doesn't matter. So if we really want to fight discrimination, instead of saying "we need more black people in business", we should say "we need to make sure that people advance in business regardless of race, and if we do that, we will get to whatever the natural ratio of black vs white people is, in business". Incidentally, I don't think that would match the ratio of black vs white people in the general population - but not because of skin melanin. Because of cultural differences which exist between groups. In other words, you are unlikely to get to a uniform ratio when taking any two distinct groups of people. This is because you are comparing it with two theoretically random samples of the population.

Report

7yr ago

@edisonjoao6871 This is definitely the most racist take yet. Congrats.

Report

7yr ago

@edisonjoao6871 Would love to better understand your argument, but I'm a bit confused. There are problematic behaviours within every community. How does this negate my above argument? Are you suggesting that black people who 'spend racks at strip clubs' are contributing to the reason why black people are systematically disadvantaged?

Report

7yr ago

@sarrah the most racist take by you. You know I'm speaking facts and can't deny that. That's all you can say. Contribute to the conversation. Add something. Don't just call people racists, that's racist in itself. Congrats racists for being the first person to ever call me racist. How much shallow can you get?

Report

7yr ago

Digital Tools Directory

I feel this could be taken as a racist platform TBH. Imagine if this was a social network for white professionals? it would be scrutinized. It shouldn't matter about colour! Period!

Report

7yr ago

Product Hunt

@paulparsons1981 community and representation is so important for all types of people. At its core, Valence is on a mission to support a group of people – some of whom might be your friends or current/future teammates. We shouldn't view their efforts as zero sum. I.e. You and I aren't disadvantaged because of something like this.

Report

7yr ago

Unrevealed

@paulparsons1981 They're trying to close a gap. Creating a platform only for white people would only make the gap bigger. Do you see the difference? In one case you're solving a problem, in the other you are the problem.

Report

7yr ago

Digital Tools Directory

@rrhoover I completely get that, what my comment was highlight is the double standard of if this was positioned differently, how would it be taken.

Report

7yr ago

Digital Tools Directory

@thomgroutars The best way to close the gap is to not isolate groups, but include them and shine. My point was about if this was the other way around, it would be called racist, which is not fair and the number of upvotes on my comment shows I am not the only one who sees that.

Report

7yr ago

@rrhoover @paulparsons1981 Except it's not a double standard. There's a valid reason for one to exist and not the other.

Report

7yr ago

Yoodoo

Lol - this is a really weird product to be launching - and 100% racist. If you ain't black you can't sign up? C'mon man - this is 2019 get with the program :)

Report

7yr ago

@therealrossmac If you knew the statistics behind the bias towards black professionals you would understand why this exists.

Report

7yr ago

Yoodoo

@xstex Then kindly share your statistics. I'm fully aware of unconscious bias, and white privilege. Maybe I'm in no position to comment, what I do know is segregation is a backwards move. There's much better ways to solve the problem than creating a platform exclusively for 'a certain race of people'. 'A certain religion' maybe, but a certain race, c'mon man.

Report

7yr ago

@therealrossmac "this is a really weird product to be launching" This guy would never say that publicly at an all woman group launch. I don't see anywhere you have to be black to sign up though. i wouldn't agree with that. Where'd you get that impression?

Report

7yr ago

Teleprompt.me

@xstex @therealrossmac "Maybe I'm in no position to comment" - then don't. :)

Report

7yr ago

Superwall

Hunter

@therealrossmac @idwithheld This is so well written, thanks Temi!

Report

7yr ago

Product Hunt

This is a fantastic product and it's so exciting to see the rise of these communities as @lanre_akinyemi mentioned. People of Color alongside other minorities are grossly under-represented in many industries including tech, it's time for a change and Valence is trying to provide it's own solution to this.

Report

7yr ago

1 2 3

•••

Reviews