Abitur Rheinland-Pfalz Englisch 2023 · GK · Thorpe: Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'

Devin Thorpe: Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn' 1

Originally from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, successful tech entrepreneur Clarence Wooten,

46, got into tech and computers through video games as a kid. He played on the old Atari,

ColecoVision and Commodore platforms.

From those modest beginnings, a career blossomed. As a youth, Wooten looked up to people

5 like Bill Gates and Reginald Lewis 2 as role models. […]

Still in Baltimore in the late 90s, Wooten founded ImageCafe, a startup that provided website

templates for small businesses, something like what Wix and Squarespace do today.

“We were getting ready to raise a big venture round when Network Solutions, who was the

GoDaddy 3 of that time, swooped in and acquired us,” Wooten says. The deal was concluded

10 for $23 million at the end of 1999, near the top of the dot com boom. “Sometimes it’s better to

be lucky than good.” […]

He moved to Silicon Valley and has started several companies since. “I’m this guy who takes

wacky ideas and turns them into things,” Wooten quips. To ignore race in the context of

Wooten’s success would be to ignore one of the glaring issues facing Silicon Valley today. The

15 treatment of women and minorities became the hot-button topic of 2017.

Wooten moved around a lot as a kid. Starting out in the inner city, virtually all his friends were

black. Later he moved to a virtually all-white school. “I felt like I had a pretty diverse social

upbringing and as a result you know I was never uncomfortable around anyone.” Wooten’s

personal philosophy doesn’t allow him to blame others for the challenges in his life. “You know

20 you really can’t think about how you may be being held back for reasons that are beyond your

control because if that enters your mind and stays in your mind you will not be successful

because it will weigh you down.”

He has no apparent resentment toward the Silicon Valley culture — why should he? He’s been

successful there. He says he’s treated about the same there as elsewhere. Still, he

25 acknowledges the challenges. “I mean, being based in Palo Alto 4 as an African-American

entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some

degree is like a black unicorn, which is unfortunate. So, my dream is to see more success for

African-Americans in tech.”

Wooten’s latest startup, STEAM Role, is his effort to fulfill that dream. The name is first a

30 reference to Silicon Valley’s areas of focus — science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

He points out that Apple proved the value of adding the arts to STEM. The name also provides

a clue to the secret sauce: role models. “We aim to provide companies with a platform to

inspire, track and hire diverse STEAM talent by leveraging their existing employees as role

models to attract future hires,” he says.

35 Flipping the lens, he adds, “We aim to provide a roadmap for anyone to acquire their dream

career by following and learning from role models that they can relate to.” […]

To build an audience for the enterprise clients, STEAM Role is partnering with middle through

high school guidance counselors and the startup has created a brand ambassador program

across colleges and universities.

40 “You can learn anything you want to know on-line and virtually for free. Information is widely

available; however, inspiration is not,” Wooten says.

“Think Tinder,” Wooten says of how the mobile app works. “But instead of swiping through

your potential dates we’re showcasing role models that you can relate to. We show you their

company, their job title, a one sentence description of what they do and we pull from

45 Glassdoor 5 their salary range.” Don’t confuse role models with mentors. “Mentorship doesn’t

really scale because it’s one to one,” he says. One role model can influence thousands of

aspiring professionals on STEAM Role. “So, if there’s an African-American, teenage female in

Baltimore, we will try to show her African-American women who are STEAM professionals —

successful.” Ultimately, the app will show her role models based on her interests, regardless

50 of gender and ethnicity.

When she clicks on a role model, she can see all the skills that person acquired to get that

position. She can also see where she can learn those skills and ultimately get someone to

endorse her for having the skill.

Wooten says the design was inspired by watching his daughters use SnapChat and Instagram.

55 The idea is to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity that today’s young people — who

grew up with super computers in their pockets connected to all the world’s information — crave.

[…]

“In the last ten years, I came to the realization that the first third of your life you learn, the

second third you earn and in the last third you return.”

791 words

Thorpe, D. (2018). Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'. Forbes. 15 January, 2018.

1 unicorn – here: something unusual, rare, or unique; also used for startups valued at one billion dollars or more

2 Reginald Lewis (1942 – 1993) – first African-American to build a billion-dollar company in the 1980s

3 GoDaddy – domain name generator, cloud provider for businesses

4 Palo Alto – city in California, home to various high-technology companies

5 Glassdoor – website where employees anonymously review companies and which allows people to submit and view salaries

1

Sum up the biographical information on Clarence Wooten. (30 %)

Devin Thorpe: Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn' 1

Originally from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, successful tech entrepreneur Clarence Wooten,

46, got into tech and computers through video games as a kid. He played on the old Atari,

ColecoVision and Commodore platforms.

From those modest beginnings, a career blossomed. As a youth, Wooten looked up to people

5 like Bill Gates and Reginald Lewis 2 as role models. […]

Still in Baltimore in the late 90s, Wooten founded ImageCafe, a startup that provided website

templates for small businesses, something like what Wix and Squarespace do today.

“We were getting ready to raise a big venture round when Network Solutions, who was the

GoDaddy 3 of that time, swooped in and acquired us,” Wooten says. The deal was concluded

10 for $23 million at the end of 1999, near the top of the dot com boom. “Sometimes it’s better to

be lucky than good.” […]

He moved to Silicon Valley and has started several companies since. “I’m this guy who takes

wacky ideas and turns them into things,” Wooten quips. To ignore race in the context of

Wooten’s success would be to ignore one of the glaring issues facing Silicon Valley today. The

15 treatment of women and minorities became the hot-button topic of 2017.

Wooten moved around a lot as a kid. Starting out in the inner city, virtually all his friends were

black. Later he moved to a virtually all-white school. “I felt like I had a pretty diverse social

upbringing and as a result you know I was never uncomfortable around anyone.” Wooten’s

personal philosophy doesn’t allow him to blame others for the challenges in his life. “You know

20 you really can’t think about how you may be being held back for reasons that are beyond your

control because if that enters your mind and stays in your mind you will not be successful

because it will weigh you down.”

He has no apparent resentment toward the Silicon Valley culture — why should he? He’s been

successful there. He says he’s treated about the same there as elsewhere. Still, he

25 acknowledges the challenges. “I mean, being based in Palo Alto 4 as an African-American

entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some

degree is like a black unicorn, which is unfortunate. So, my dream is to see more success for

African-Americans in tech.”

Wooten’s latest startup, STEAM Role, is his effort to fulfill that dream. The name is first a

30 reference to Silicon Valley’s areas of focus — science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

He points out that Apple proved the value of adding the arts to STEM. The name also provides

a clue to the secret sauce: role models. “We aim to provide companies with a platform to

inspire, track and hire diverse STEAM talent by leveraging their existing employees as role

models to attract future hires,” he says.

35 Flipping the lens, he adds, “We aim to provide a roadmap for anyone to acquire their dream

career by following and learning from role models that they can relate to.” […]

To build an audience for the enterprise clients, STEAM Role is partnering with middle through

high school guidance counselors and the startup has created a brand ambassador program

across colleges and universities.

40 “You can learn anything you want to know on-line and virtually for free. Information is widely

available; however, inspiration is not,” Wooten says.

“Think Tinder,” Wooten says of how the mobile app works. “But instead of swiping through

your potential dates we’re showcasing role models that you can relate to. We show you their

company, their job title, a one sentence description of what they do and we pull from

45 Glassdoor 5 their salary range.” Don’t confuse role models with mentors. “Mentorship doesn’t

really scale because it’s one to one,” he says. One role model can influence thousands of

aspiring professionals on STEAM Role. “So, if there’s an African-American, teenage female in

Baltimore, we will try to show her African-American women who are STEAM professionals —

successful.” Ultimately, the app will show her role models based on her interests, regardless

50 of gender and ethnicity.

When she clicks on a role model, she can see all the skills that person acquired to get that

position. She can also see where she can learn those skills and ultimately get someone to

endorse her for having the skill.

Wooten says the design was inspired by watching his daughters use SnapChat and Instagram.

55 The idea is to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity that today’s young people — who

grew up with super computers in their pockets connected to all the world’s information — crave.

[…]

“In the last ten years, I came to the realization that the first third of your life you learn, the

second third you earn and in the last third you return.”

791 words

Thorpe, D. (2018). Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'. Forbes. 15 January, 2018.

1 unicorn – here: something unusual, rare, or unique; also used for startups valued at one billion dollars or more

2 Reginald Lewis (1942 – 1993) – first African-American to build a billion-dollar company in the 1980s

3 GoDaddy – domain name generator, cloud provider for businesses

4 Palo Alto – city in California, home to various high-technology companies

5 Glassdoor – website where employees anonymously review companies and which allows people to submit and view salaries

2

Analyze the way the author presents Clarence Wooten and his startup STEAM Role. (30 %)

Devin Thorpe: Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn' 1

Originally from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, successful tech entrepreneur Clarence Wooten,

46, got into tech and computers through video games as a kid. He played on the old Atari,

ColecoVision and Commodore platforms.

From those modest beginnings, a career blossomed. As a youth, Wooten looked up to people

5 like Bill Gates and Reginald Lewis 2 as role models. […]

Still in Baltimore in the late 90s, Wooten founded ImageCafe, a startup that provided website

templates for small businesses, something like what Wix and Squarespace do today.

“We were getting ready to raise a big venture round when Network Solutions, who was the

GoDaddy 3 of that time, swooped in and acquired us,” Wooten says. The deal was concluded

10 for $23 million at the end of 1999, near the top of the dot com boom. “Sometimes it’s better to

be lucky than good.” […]

He moved to Silicon Valley and has started several companies since. “I’m this guy who takes

wacky ideas and turns them into things,” Wooten quips. To ignore race in the context of

Wooten’s success would be to ignore one of the glaring issues facing Silicon Valley today. The

15 treatment of women and minorities became the hot-button topic of 2017.

Wooten moved around a lot as a kid. Starting out in the inner city, virtually all his friends were

black. Later he moved to a virtually all-white school. “I felt like I had a pretty diverse social

upbringing and as a result you know I was never uncomfortable around anyone.” Wooten’s

personal philosophy doesn’t allow him to blame others for the challenges in his life. “You know

20 you really can’t think about how you may be being held back for reasons that are beyond your

control because if that enters your mind and stays in your mind you will not be successful

because it will weigh you down.”

He has no apparent resentment toward the Silicon Valley culture — why should he? He’s been

successful there. He says he’s treated about the same there as elsewhere. Still, he

25 acknowledges the challenges. “I mean, being based in Palo Alto 4 as an African-American

entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some

degree is like a black unicorn, which is unfortunate. So, my dream is to see more success for

African-Americans in tech.”

Wooten’s latest startup, STEAM Role, is his effort to fulfill that dream. The name is first a

30 reference to Silicon Valley’s areas of focus — science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

He points out that Apple proved the value of adding the arts to STEM. The name also provides

a clue to the secret sauce: role models. “We aim to provide companies with a platform to

inspire, track and hire diverse STEAM talent by leveraging their existing employees as role

models to attract future hires,” he says.

35 Flipping the lens, he adds, “We aim to provide a roadmap for anyone to acquire their dream

career by following and learning from role models that they can relate to.” […]

To build an audience for the enterprise clients, STEAM Role is partnering with middle through

high school guidance counselors and the startup has created a brand ambassador program

across colleges and universities.

40 “You can learn anything you want to know on-line and virtually for free. Information is widely

available; however, inspiration is not,” Wooten says.

“Think Tinder,” Wooten says of how the mobile app works. “But instead of swiping through

your potential dates we’re showcasing role models that you can relate to. We show you their

company, their job title, a one sentence description of what they do and we pull from

45 Glassdoor 5 their salary range.” Don’t confuse role models with mentors. “Mentorship doesn’t

really scale because it’s one to one,” he says. One role model can influence thousands of

aspiring professionals on STEAM Role. “So, if there’s an African-American, teenage female in

Baltimore, we will try to show her African-American women who are STEAM professionals —

successful.” Ultimately, the app will show her role models based on her interests, regardless

50 of gender and ethnicity.

When she clicks on a role model, she can see all the skills that person acquired to get that

position. She can also see where she can learn those skills and ultimately get someone to

endorse her for having the skill.

Wooten says the design was inspired by watching his daughters use SnapChat and Instagram.

55 The idea is to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity that today’s young people — who

grew up with super computers in their pockets connected to all the world’s information — crave.

[…]

“In the last ten years, I came to the realization that the first third of your life you learn, the

second third you earn and in the last third you return.”

791 words

Thorpe, D. (2018). Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'. Forbes. 15 January, 2018.

1 unicorn – here: something unusual, rare, or unique; also used for startups valued at one billion dollars or more

2 Reginald Lewis (1942 – 1993) – first African-American to build a billion-dollar company in the 1980s

3 GoDaddy – domain name generator, cloud provider for businesses

4 Palo Alto – city in California, home to various high-technology companies

5 Glassdoor – website where employees anonymously review companies and which allows people to submit and view salaries

3.1

“[B]eing based in Palo Alto as an African-American entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some degree is like a black unicorn, which is unfortunate.” (ll. 25-27)

Taking the quote as a starting point, discuss the accessibility of the American Dream for people of color. (40 %)

Devin Thorpe: Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn' 1

Originally from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, successful tech entrepreneur Clarence Wooten,

46, got into tech and computers through video games as a kid. He played on the old Atari,

ColecoVision and Commodore platforms.

From those modest beginnings, a career blossomed. As a youth, Wooten looked up to people

5 like Bill Gates and Reginald Lewis 2 as role models. […]

Still in Baltimore in the late 90s, Wooten founded ImageCafe, a startup that provided website

templates for small businesses, something like what Wix and Squarespace do today.

“We were getting ready to raise a big venture round when Network Solutions, who was the

GoDaddy 3 of that time, swooped in and acquired us,” Wooten says. The deal was concluded

10 for $23 million at the end of 1999, near the top of the dot com boom. “Sometimes it’s better to

be lucky than good.” […]

He moved to Silicon Valley and has started several companies since. “I’m this guy who takes

wacky ideas and turns them into things,” Wooten quips. To ignore race in the context of

Wooten’s success would be to ignore one of the glaring issues facing Silicon Valley today. The

15 treatment of women and minorities became the hot-button topic of 2017.

Wooten moved around a lot as a kid. Starting out in the inner city, virtually all his friends were

black. Later he moved to a virtually all-white school. “I felt like I had a pretty diverse social

upbringing and as a result you know I was never uncomfortable around anyone.” Wooten’s

personal philosophy doesn’t allow him to blame others for the challenges in his life. “You know

20 you really can’t think about how you may be being held back for reasons that are beyond your

control because if that enters your mind and stays in your mind you will not be successful

because it will weigh you down.”

He has no apparent resentment toward the Silicon Valley culture — why should he? He’s been

successful there. He says he’s treated about the same there as elsewhere. Still, he

25 acknowledges the challenges. “I mean, being based in Palo Alto 4 as an African-American

entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some

degree is like a black unicorn, which is unfortunate. So, my dream is to see more success for

African-Americans in tech.”

Wooten’s latest startup, STEAM Role, is his effort to fulfill that dream. The name is first a

30 reference to Silicon Valley’s areas of focus — science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

He points out that Apple proved the value of adding the arts to STEM. The name also provides

a clue to the secret sauce: role models. “We aim to provide companies with a platform to

inspire, track and hire diverse STEAM talent by leveraging their existing employees as role

models to attract future hires,” he says.

35 Flipping the lens, he adds, “We aim to provide a roadmap for anyone to acquire their dream

career by following and learning from role models that they can relate to.” […]

To build an audience for the enterprise clients, STEAM Role is partnering with middle through

high school guidance counselors and the startup has created a brand ambassador program

across colleges and universities.

40 “You can learn anything you want to know on-line and virtually for free. Information is widely

available; however, inspiration is not,” Wooten says.

“Think Tinder,” Wooten says of how the mobile app works. “But instead of swiping through

your potential dates we’re showcasing role models that you can relate to. We show you their

company, their job title, a one sentence description of what they do and we pull from

45 Glassdoor 5 their salary range.” Don’t confuse role models with mentors. “Mentorship doesn’t

really scale because it’s one to one,” he says. One role model can influence thousands of

aspiring professionals on STEAM Role. “So, if there’s an African-American, teenage female in

Baltimore, we will try to show her African-American women who are STEAM professionals —

successful.” Ultimately, the app will show her role models based on her interests, regardless

50 of gender and ethnicity.

When she clicks on a role model, she can see all the skills that person acquired to get that

position. She can also see where she can learn those skills and ultimately get someone to

endorse her for having the skill.

Wooten says the design was inspired by watching his daughters use SnapChat and Instagram.

55 The idea is to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity that today’s young people — who

grew up with super computers in their pockets connected to all the world’s information — crave.

[…]

“In the last ten years, I came to the realization that the first third of your life you learn, the

second third you earn and in the last third you return.”

791 words

Thorpe, D. (2018). Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'. Forbes. 15 January, 2018.

1 unicorn – here: something unusual, rare, or unique; also used for startups valued at one billion dollars or more

2 Reginald Lewis (1942 – 1993) – first African-American to build a billion-dollar company in the 1980s

3 GoDaddy – domain name generator, cloud provider for businesses

4 Palo Alto – city in California, home to various high-technology companies

5 Glassdoor – website where employees anonymously review companies and which allows people to submit and view salaries

3.2

You are taking part in a TEDxTeen event, an international platform that invites young people to give talks on current topics.

For this event, write a speech, assessing the factors that determine a person's success in life. (40 %)