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by dkarapetyan 4268 days ago
Feedback loops and echo chambers are an excellent way to describe it. There is an analogy that I think is relevant but most people don't get when I bring it up or just think I'm plain crazy. The analogy is the fire ecology.

In certain ecosystems fire is a necessary component of ecological vitality. It is destructive in the short term but leads to a more robust and diverse ecosystem in the long term. Coming back to your points we have reached a certain kind of equilibrium in the startup ecosystem where the incumbents through network effects have become entrenched and are now actively detrimental to diversity and innovation. I don't know what the equivalent of fire would be in the startup and technology ecosystem.
2 comments
seanccox 4268 days ago
I believe the 'fire' is something akin to the post-2000 tech bubble collapse. When markets correct or collapse, investors tend to become more conservative (or outright scared) and risk averse. That dries up the sources of capital available to more risk-prone endeavors, like funding tech startups. Even with lower capital costs, a VC firm looking for tech opportunities will be more selective in post-correction market. Whether that means startups will be more innovative or diverse, to impress VCs, or become more homogenous but cost-effective, in order to attract investment, is an issue I don't know enough about to predict. In any event, I like the idea of a fire ecology. I think it's a good one.
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webwright 4267 days ago
"Coming back to your points we have reached a certain kind of equilibrium in the startup ecosystem where the incumbents through network effects have become entrenched"

So, with ~50% of the top venture backed companies being founded by immigrants and 75% of them having immigrants in key product/management positions, you think we're in a "burn it down" moment? This doesn't even account for the non-immigrants-non-insider people who succeed in the Valley every day. I'm all for working to reduce cronyism, racism, ageism, etc. But I don't think we're remotely near needing to set fire to things (metaphorically or otherwise).

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