Reckoning with the Backlash Against Tech

I have been thinking a lot lately about the undercurrent of distrust people outside the technology business have for Silicon Valley—and how that animosity is becoming one of the biggest risk factors for the tech industry.

Headlines about San Francisco gentrification protests, coverage about techies being out of touch with politics—and even satirical TV shows like HBO’s hilarious “Silicon Valley”—all illustrate the sentiment.

Recently, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur has asked me: “What value has the finance industry added to the world?” Two days later, a New York investment banker said during a breakfast in New York: “What’s up with all you people in Silicon Valley who hate us?”