Drixxon Kyser, a young Black app developer, says his “heart was ripped out of his chest” when Diddy announced his Shop Circulate discovery app for Black-owned businesses.
In a statement, Diddy gushed:
Building Black wealth starts with investing in Black-owned businesses and giving entrepreneurs access to the consumers needed to build sustainable companies that can thrive. I’m excited to partner with Salesforce to create a platform that will advance our collective pursuit of economic justice.
The issue is Drixxon has been working on the same app for the past year.
Oh, and the apps have similar names. ????
In a video, posted on his socials, Drixxon Kyser said:
Have you ever had your heart ripped out of your chest? For the past year, I’ve been building, developing, and promoting my Black business discovery app, called Circulate. This past Wednesday, P. Diddy announces he’s creating a Black business discovery platform, called Shop-Circulate.
This is what the Black entrepreneur faces all the time. We go underfunded, we can’t get loans, we don’t have a network to get resources from. Like look man, I’m a kid from the South Ward of Newark, New Jersey. I can’t fight this machine all alone. I need help… And if somehow this reaches the ear of P. Diddy, you can email me at drixxon@circulatetheapp.com.
See the original video below.
Apparently, Drixxon grew frustrated and became a tad more aggressive when he posted (then deleted):
P. Diddy, did you do your homework? When I heard Diddy and Sales Force are launching a Black business marketplace called Shop-Circulate, I was surprised–because I’ve already created and launched my own Black business discovery platform called Circulate. I launched last November, after doing my homework.
He later removed the post and shared:
I’ve cooled off, thanks for watching. Tiktok link is in the bio if you want to support. Whether this goes, idk. We trudge forward regardless ????????
The biggest issue I see Drixxon running into is the fact that Black-owned business discovery apps and websites are not a new or exclusive idea.
I wish him the best as he trudges forward.
Your thoughts?
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