Enough is enough, Silicon Valley must end its elitism and arrogance

[Commentary] When computers were just for nerds and large corporations, Silicon Valley’s elite could get away with arrogance, insularity and sexism. In most industries, discriminating on the basis of gender, race, or age would be considered illegal. Yet in the tech industry, venture capitalists routinely show off about their “pattern recognition” capabilities. They say they can recognize a successful entrepreneur, engineer, or business executive when they see one. The pattern always resembles Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, or them: a nerdy male.

Women, blacks, and Latinos are at a disadvantage as are older entrepreneurs. VCs openly admit that they only fund young entrepreneurs and claim that older people can’t innovate. Silicon Valley has an important role to play in solving the world’s problems. It is the epicenter of innovation. Most technologists I know have a social conscience and want to do whatever they can to make the world a better place. Yet the power brokers -- most venture capitalists, super-rich angel investors, and CEOs consistently show a disregard for social causes. They display a high level of arrogance, demand tax cuts for themselves, and have a don’t-care attitude. As demonstrated by the Perkins letter, this sends the wrong message to the world and holds Silicon Valley back. It is time for the Silicon Valley elite to smell the coffee and realize that the world has changed -- and that they must too. It is time for tech entrepreneurs to focus on solving big problems and giving back to the world.

[Vivek Wadhwa is Vice President of Innovation and Research at Singularity University]