The dot-com crash of the early 2000s nearly destroyed Sabaa Quao’s first business. Today, the global creative executive and advisor to artificial intelligence and fintech firms sees echoes of that era in the predicted bursting of the AI bubble – but not in the way one might expect.
“I’d built my first marketing and design firm, and everything was going great. And then the dot-com meltdown hammered us and I lost almost everything,” he said.
“But when you look at the period from 2001 to 2007 and what was built after that, there were survivors, there were innovations from Google, from Apple, from Netflix. And 25 years later, that’s where all the growth was,” he explained.
“Now, everyone is saying there’s going to be an AI crash. But we’re going to come out of it with a completely different way of moving forward in the world.”
While some might call him an optimist, Quao points out that he is embracing a documented pattern, not just of technological innovation, but of changing societies. That long view – of cycles, setbacks and reinvention – shapes the message he will bring to McGill this month as the keynote speaker for Black History Month (BHM). His address, One Step Back. Two Steps Forward., will mark the 30th anniversary of Canada’s recognition of Black History Month by reflecting on ongoing challenges and progress in equity and inclusion and exploring how creative disruption can help move society forward.
Struggle is natural
Quao is candid that change isn’t easy. As the Founding President of Cossette offshoot PlusCo Venture Studio, he saw this firsthand over the past 18 months while supporting startups that must navigate the slow pace of several industries, including finance.
“There’s a gap between startups thinking deeply and acting quickly, and corporate structures that can’t keep up,” he explained. “Tech is moving faster than the culture. It’s natural for people to struggle, and we see it at multiple levels.”
For him, technological disruption can’t be separated from social disruption. Sometimes that struggle stems from resistance – not to what’s possible, but to what people are
unwilling to let go of, including entrenched advantages linked to race and wealth. “We have to ask people what they’re holding onto,” Quao said. “Many won’t go through that process, but it’s a question they need to confront: Have they benefited from inequality? Recognize it if you can – because change is coming.”
Learning from the past
It’s part of the motivation behind Wealthie.Works, the company he co-founded to encourage parents and older generations to invest in the children in their life, shift cash across the age divide and build intergenerational wealth. He also mentors other entrepreneurs through the Black Wealth Club. Both initiatives tackle long-standing economic and social inequities that disproportionately affect Black communities, women and other underrepresented groups, something that is both personal and historical for Quao.
He points to those who came before him, many of whom faced systemic barriers, yet found creative ways to survive and thrive.
“Historical context reminds me that some people had it harder and still moved ahead. We have no excuse. We have all that knowledge; we need to apply it,” he said, quoting historian John Henrik Clarke: “Bury the man, continue the plan.”
It’s this philosophy that carried him through the dot-com collapse: When the world shifts, you decide whether to cling to the past or remain open to what comes next.
“At any given moment, I’m working with five to seven startups, each led by founders with a vision, each of them building something that disrupts the order of things,” Quao said. “It’s OK if you can’t do it all, but everyone has to pick a lane.”
“The alternatives are dismal,” he added. “I don’t want to go backwards. Everyone who has a stake in the future has to refuse to accept the past.”
Sabaa Quao’s keynote address, One Step Back. Two Steps Forward., took place on Thursday, Feb. 12. Watch the video.