Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Our Broken Chains

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Credit: Broken Chains

Congratulations on the well-deserved international recognition for your documentary, Broken Chains! As a Black investor based in Singapore, why was making a documentary about this pressing issue so important to you?

Broken Chains is a documentary project started in June 2020 in Singapore after global protests against institutional racism following the murder of George Floyd. The death of George Floyd and discussion about institutional racism inspired me to write a Medium-post called “I am exhausted and I want you to know why.” I was looking for a way to help bring systemic racism to the attention of corporations and the tech industry. Oftentimes people would see racism but have difficulty understanding how these issues have reverberating and persistent effects on the individuals targeted as well as society at large. After I published my article, many people asked: “what can I do besides listen?” The answer is not only complex but requires input and insight from different layers of society, different generations, and different backgrounds.

In the days following George Floyd’s death, over 200 major companies made statements supporting social justice. Almost all of those statements were made via Twitter. They used words like “justice,” “solidarity” and “equality.” If the responses of some of the most economically powerful organizations on the planet can be summed up in less than 280 characters, we have a problem. That’s not a discussion on racism. That’s not a roadmap to economic empowerment. That’s a snapshot for social media and we need a plan.

Broken Chains gives perspectives on how we move on from here. Systemic racism is prevalent in corporate life, sports, social life. Every part of our lives. We can’t solve all these problems in one go but we intend to give some insight on one of the larger issues amongst people of color: lack of access to opportunity and the creation of wealth. One of the common threads in the documentary is about generational wealth.

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Credit: Broken Chains

Broken Chains unveils America’s racial wealth divide. Does the film talk about how equal opportunities can be fostered to reduce this gap? Can you give us any insights into this?

Through the documentary we are investigating the effects of systemic racism through an economic lens, Broken Chains is a personal documentary exploring the racial wealth gap in America. Featuring in-depth interviews with today’s leading economists, educators, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and technologists, We identify 8 critical barriers to black success and explores what needs to be done to create a more equitable system that fosters equal opportunity. Unfortunately, we live in a society plagued by systemic racism. How can we, as a society, work to improve this situation? There are a lot of ways we can move forward but the first step is listening to the issues in the community. Next we need major stakeholders such as corporates and investors provide a level playing field. We can’t move forward if access isn’t equally distributed.

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Credit: Broken Chains

On October 19th, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is hosting a fantastic event titled “Step Forward.” Are you seeing other corporate events taking similar steps to boost the conversation about diversity on the horizon?

Over the past few years, we have seen more corporates step up and have a conversation about diversity. We still have a long way to go.


Check out the virtual SVB Step Forward event on October 19th where Michael will be joining the “Story of Hope and a Call to Action” panel to discuss the film with cast members Jotaka Eaddy (Founder & CEO, Full Circle Strategies) and Nick Caldwell (Twitter’s VP of Engineering) – moderated by Courtney Karnes (SVB’s Access to Innovation Director).

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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