"I'm Sure That Some People Didn't Like Working With Me Or For Me Because Of My Race": A Conversation With Ken Coleman

We talk to the tech pioneer about his career, racial biases in hiring, and why he's hopeful for the future.

Ken Coleman, 69, has been a tech pioneer in Silicon Valley before "disrupting" was even a cliché. He became an executive at Hewlett-Packard in the '70s, and a decade later hired a summer intern named Ben Horowitz at Silicon Graphics. Horowitz, of course, went onto investing fame and fortune and has since brought his mentor on board as an advisor to his own firm, Andreessen Horowitz. In the wake of our look at Tristan Walker and the persistent problem of race in tech hiring, we talked to Coleman about his career, what his experience in the field has been, and what he thinks should change. Coleman is still "optimistic," despite it all. "The great thing about technology," he says, "is it creates opportunities for everybody."

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