When tech entrepreneur Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell was laid off from Twitter in February 2023, he had no idea the sudden job loss — part of erratic new owner Elon Musk’s indiscriminate cuts — was a blessing in disguise.
At the time, the 42-year-old, who was the company’s global head of social and editorial, simply knew he was “done worrying” and was “ready to bet on himself, and ready to build something meaningful.” Just three months later, he’d already co-founded his own social media start-up, Spill , and had raised $2.75 million for it in the pre-seed or “friends and family” round.
Monday, at Newark Tech Week — “N.J.’s premier technology and innovation conference” — Terrell, will spill on his journey creating the culture-focused photo, video, and audio content platform.
Spill, which launched in mid-2023, now has over 500,000 downloads and has recently attracted some high-profile investors including actress Kerry Washington . In a Forbes interview , Washington said Spill drew her in because it protects and prioritizes “Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ folks.” And that, of course, was by design.
As a Black and queer man, Terrell was, from the start, intentional about creating a space where people from diverse backgrounds and of varying identities could feel safe, seen, heard, and valued.
In his words, he and co-founder DeVaris Brown (who’s also a former Twitter employee) wanted to build a platform that was “by us, for us” — a place where rules, moderation, and features were designed to be “sensitive to the languages, norms, and lived realities of underrepresented communities.”
Terrell and DeVaris also wanted Spill to be a platform where Black and brown content creators could finally be compensated fairly.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case on sites like X (formerly Twitter) or Meta-owned Instagram. Reports by social media marketing agencies — like this one by SixSeven Agency — show that creators of color are paid 34% less than their white counterparts. A Stanford University study also revealed that influencers of color are more likely to be asked to work for free and less likely to be offered discounts and free products.
Spill’s design, Terrell says, “includes mechanisms to credit creators whose content goes viral.”
His and DeVaris’ efforts and Spill’s reputation as a “soft landing place” for people of color are paying off . Last fall, the company had a “sign-ups growth spurt” and saw an impressive 280% increase in new users. Go Spill!
Wanna meet Terrell? Listen to him speak or chat him up after his talk at Newark Tech Week’s Newark Tech Summit, Monday, October 13, 2025, 4-8 pm, Ruth Bader Ginsberg Hall, Rutgers University Newark. The conference is free but attendees must register for individual events .
Read the original article on NJ.com . Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
