Silicon Valley Now Has Its Own Populist Pundit It’s not easy being the first and only Fox News host in Silicon Valley. But Steve Hilton, a tech entrepreneur who was once chief adviser to former Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, added that role to his résumé in June. Now every week, Mr. Hilton flies from the home he shares with his high-profile tech executive wife, Rachel Whetstone, in Silicon Valley’s billionaire enclave of Atherton, Calif., to Fox’s studios in Los Angeles to host “The Next Revolution With Steve Hilton.” Fox News markets the Sunday night program as exploring “the impact of the populist movement.” All of which makes life complicated for Mr. Hilton in overwhelmingly liberal Silicon Valley, where supporters of President Trump are nearly nonexistent and few think populism would improve their lives. [ NY Times ] SoftBank’s Plan B: Win over Uber investors who aren't Benchmark SoftBank has begun approaching other investors besides Benchmark in a continuing effort to acquire a piece of Uber, according to people briefed on the moves. As has been widely reported, the giant Japan-based investor and conglomerate has offered to buy shares in the car-hailing company owned by the Silicon Valley venture firm, but has been unsuccessful so far due to differences on price. (SoftBank had offered to buy shares at a $45 billion valuation for Uber, said sources, while Benchmark has publicly stated that they believe Uber will be worth $100 billion.) Founder FriendlyLong time VC watcher, writer, and analyst Dan Primack suggested on Friday that the days of VCs trying to out “founder friendly” each other are now over. It is an interesting observation and was worthy of a reply. The VC industry is highly competitive for the best opportunities and we certainly do try to ingratiate ourselves and our firms to the entrepreneurs who will decide who gets to invest in their companies and who does not. Being “founder friendly” is an important way to do that. But there is another important participant in the VC/entrepreneur relationship and that is the Company the entrepreneur creates and all of it’s stakeholders; the employees, the customers, the suppliers, and even the community around the Company. Having worked with entrepreneurs for over thirty years now, I have developed tremendous admiration for what they do and for the Companies they create. Entrepreneurs are a very special breed of people. [ AVC ] I'm a woman in computer science. Let me ladysplain the Google memo to youI’m a lecturer in computer science at Stanford. I’ve taught at least four different programming languages, including assembly. I’ve had a single-digit employee number in a startup. Yes, I’m a woman in tech. I have known, worked for, and taught countless men who could have written the now-infamous Google “manifesto” — or who are on some level persuaded by it. Given these facts, I’d like to treat it — and them — with some degree of charity and try to explain why it generated so much outrage. [ Vox ] What does a tech startup do after raising $232 million selling digital coins to investors? Set up a VC fund
A 22-year-old who once pitched Justin Caldbeck has built an anonymous tool for rating investors "It was a complete blindside to not know that side of their character ... before pitching them," he said. "I got to talking to other founders and sharing stories. Lots of [stories] showed behaviour that was very biased, or flat out disrespectful. Like having five meetings, being really interested, requesting lots of information, then never calling again." His solution? A kind of Glassdoor for VCs where, instead of rating places of employment, people rate investors. Zhang has spent the last month building Know Your VC, a platform where founders can anonymously or publicly submit reviews and comments for any investor. [ Business Insider ] Can protein startups and their investors take on Big Cow?For many of us, our first experience with fake meat involves rubbery tofu that tastes more like sneaker sole than seared filet. As we forage on, next come the veggie burgers, the soy dogs, the meatless meatballs, the caramel-brown vacuum-sealed lumps called field roasts. Eventually, we grow accustomed to these chewy, protein-dense, vaguely meat-like foodstuffs. And yet, the dream lives on: What if fake meat tasted and satiated like the real deal? I'm a successful woman in tech — and I didn't complain to HR about the sexual harassment I've experiencedI didn’t complain to HR when the president of [our unit in] Korea took me to a brothel and bought me a prostitute. Or when that same president sent his managing director to my hotel room in the middle of the night to threaten me if I did complain. Or when he withheld my plane ticket (back in the days when you needed old fashioned paper to board a plane) so I was, in essence, hostage in a foreign country. I didn’t complain to HR when the male sales reps I worked alongside took their clients to strip clubs. Or when my boss joined them. Or when they all came to work hung over the next day and recounted their adventures loudly for all to hear. I didn’t complain to HR when coworker after coworker assumed traveling for business gave him a free pass to come on to me. Or when they commented on my cleavage. |