Paul GrahamVerified account

A serious non-troll question. Have you reflected/written up your feelings on the ways tech has gone wrong (define that as you like) over the period of YC, why, and how you figure in that? Because people care now, smile less, and not without reason.

I don't think it has gone wrong so much as that when you become successful you attract a lot of carpetbaggers and haters. When someone talked about startups in 2005, it was because they cared about startups. But you can't assume that in 2020.

No, I mean how tech went wrong. How startup culture, the focus and the logic of tech startup success created serious social problems that we're suffering from today. I could expand on my feelings there, but I'd rather find out what you think.

The main problem that comes to mind is polarization. The internet lets each person find what they want to believe. But that's not a byproduct of startup culture.

I think there's something in assembling smart, super-young, culturally similar people with no background in anything else, and encouraging them to focus on growth above all. As S. Levy notes, the pathologies of FB today are the result of decisions made in early, startup days.

Historically that has been the recipe for a lot of great achievements. It's not specific to startups. It just as accurately describes Xerox PARC, the Manhattan Project, and many if not most literary and artistic movements.

So you don't think the pathologies and limitations of the tech startup world contributed anything notable to the pathologies of tech today? You are known for smart, unusual takes, but I'm surprised at that.