This has been the defining trait of my career over the last 20 years, working in tech. Everyone can see it now, because they’ve seen the corruption of the tech tycoons, but we had the first view of their venality, and watched as they ruined the lives of so many who raised the alarms about it.
It’s weird to live in a time when basic principles like cruelty is wrong, cheating is empty & the idea that curiosity, generosity, originality, the satisfaction of earned accomplishments & loving intimacy are the center of a good life feel like countercultural concepts
I could have made millions of dollars, multiple times, if I had chosen to just go along with people who later went on to destroy the public sphere, to undermine journalism, to weaken democracy globally, to enable the rise of fascism, to *literally directly enable genocide*. So many others did.
May 11, 2025 16:51I didn't had the same opportunity but I had more than enough for my league. Then 10 years ago I had money to start a business. I now run a Makerspace which is a mix of a digital business but connected to the real world, serving real people who want to build physical things. I don't want to go back.
I have friends who made a ton of money with startups and digital marketing strategies. I can't do that. I could have started a YouTube channel about the things that I love 10 years ago that could have made me a ton of money, but that would have sucked the life out of me. Life choices.
In other words, you could have been another Kara Swisher, but you have professional ethics.
Had the exact same experience when, after building a company founded on talent and rich, meaningful work, I found myself swimming in the private equity world. Could’ve stayed and made even stupider sums of money, but the stench of unbridled greed was just too pungent for this once-blue collar kid.
