“Part of being an entrepreneur is learning how to solve those itches, that voice in your head every single day. For me, that voice in my head was telling me to open a computer shop, despite the odds.”
Keith Gordon started his entrepreneurial journey at 15, when he joined an After School Matters high school program that taught him to take apart computers and put them back together. As Keith tells it, he started his first business “on accident” when people began handing him their computers to fix, launching a life-long pursuit to learn and grow.
Today Keith is the founder of We Love Code, a full-stack, product development agency that works with non-technical teams and entrepreneurs to build, maintain and upgrade websites. Keith is also an active member and mentor in the 1871 community, where he is leading the effort to create the Black Founder Directory—a centralized and searchable listing that will allow potential customers, partners, and investors to more easily support and work with our members.
We’re thrilled to announce that the Black Founder Directory is now live! It has been long overdue for Chicago to have a way to find Black entrepreneurs running companies, and we are proud to unveil it during Black History Month as a testament to the work that needs to be done.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have Keith as a member of our 1871 community,” said Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871. “He’s a talented entrepreneur, an innovative technologist, and most of all a wonderful, caring person. I’m proud that we’ve had the opportunity to partner with Keith as a contractor on the Black Founder Directory and thankful for his leadership and devotion to making Chicago tech a more inclusive space.”
So what’s Keith’s secret for success when following that itch to learn?
“I’m not afraid to go outside my comfort zone every day,” he said, “and that’s what makes this thing called entrepreneurship so fun.”
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Founding Moments
“Founding Moments” is 1871’s early-stage member series that spotlights our members, their journey, and the moments that made them.
