For some context, besides having a criminal record, I was/am a solo founder who somehow talked his way into Y Comb. Perhaps most surprising is my age: I'm 68. To my friends I grew up with, I'm f'-ing Steve Jobs. To you guys, you'd no doubt see me as the bumbling great uncle at Thanksgiving that isn't allowed to touch the TV remote control.
So it's all been pretty weird. (wanna see it get weirder? google me and check out my past)
As you all know, doing a 2-sided marketplace is always tough. But imagine if neither side of your marketplace was convinced they wanted your product. Chances are you keep your distance from such an undertaking ("Build something people want," my YC t-shirt says). I build something arguably no one wanted, but I knew they needed. Does that make me a schmuck? Probably.
But to those who've never gotten close to someone with as record--particularly someone with a different color than you, who was brought into an unfair world from Day One, someone who wanted the same things as you, but never quite figured out how to get there, I'm here to say that some of these folks are the most honorable, humble, appreciate, hard-working people you could imagine. They just want a peaceful life, to take care of their family and get a good night sleep.
So that's where the mission comes in, and that's when zealots are born. The truth is, I have nothing in my life other than my work. No wife, no kids, no home, nothing. But the satisfaction I got from helping these heroic folks, and the smiles I'd see on their kids' faces when they were reunited, meant/means the world to me. If you don't have something like this in your life, I urge you to find it. Your karma will thank you for it.
I invite you all to ask your questions and continue to opine. If you have something to share that isn't merely an attempt to win an argument, I'd appreciate your taking the time to email me. More importantly, if you're ever in a position to hire someone with a record, take the chance. Life is too short not to take chances. Richard
As other commenters have said, it isn't just people with criminal records who get marginalised. Members of my family experienced social exclusion due to PTSD following military service. Many vets come back with similar issues as ex-prisoners. What happened to those who served in Vietnam and Korea is shameful. But there are also people who are simply atypical, low IQ, old, queer, disabled, or the wrong skin colour. We have a very, very long way to go to become the society we imagine ourselves to be, one where everyone doesn't just "get by" but prospers, and feels wanted and fulfilled in life.
I know it will be unpopular to say here, but amongst all nations the USA seems particularly brutal with regard to its social exclusion, and I think it will only ever be solved from the political level, not bottom-up. At 68 you're still a spring chicken for politics, so I'd go into that if I were you, as a single-issue candidate on "jobs for the marginalised". Judging by the size of the US "excluded population" you'd win a landslide. :)