Marketplace All-in-One Silicon Valley's tech bro culture is changing
Nov 5, 2025
Raya Jetha, a tech culture reporter at The San Francisco Standard, dives into the evolution of Silicon Valley’s tech culture. She highlights the shift from software-focused founders to charismatic leaders in the hard tech and AI space. Jetha contrasts today's geopolitically minded entrepreneurs with the optimism of the 2010s app era. She also discusses the dominance of young male founders in funding, their role models like Elon Musk, and their new conservative family values. The conversation sheds light on the changing dynamics of this vibrant industry.
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From App Nerds To Hard‑Tech Founders
- Silicon Valley's culture shifted from consumer-software nerds to charismatic founders building capital-intensive hardware and AI.
- Raya Jetha links this change to new technologies and funding moving toward defense, AI, and hard tech.
Patriotism Replaces Utopian Tech Idealism
- The new tech bro is more motionary than missionary, driven by geopolitics and national goals rather than utopian consumer aims.
- They cast their work as patriotic, aiming to 'solve' and strengthen America through technology.
Male Founders Dominate Funding And Culture
- Men dominate startup funding and loudly shape Silicon Valley's cultural agenda via events and social media.
- Only a tiny share of VC funding goes to female founders, reinforcing male cultural dominance.