Is Silicon Valley a meritocracy, and if so, why do mostly men prevail? Heres a fascinating note I got from David Sacks, part of a close-knit group of technology entrepreneurs and investors-- think Peter Thiel-- who started, improbably enough, as conservative campus newspaper editors who hated Stanfords diversity policies. Im sharing it to give more context to his views, and because it raises an important question: can the market be trusted to make sure that everyone has a shot in our countrys most dynamic industry? Some quick thoughts: I am a fervent believer in meritocracy. Its one of my core values and a common thread in terms of what I advocated then (as a student) and what I believe now (as an entrepreneur/CEO). As an immigrant, I also believe it is a core value of America. In my mind, judging people based on merit is the definition of fairness. In political contexts, fairness has come to mean a top-down redistributive process that seeks to correct injustices that have already occurred. We can debate the very valid issues around that: which injustices, what forms of redress, who pays, and who should decide. But I also believe it is possible to create bottom-up systems where incentives are aligned (e.g. through widespread equity ownership) so that more fair and inclusive results can occur in the first place. That certainly includes more opportunities for women, to answer one of the specific questions you are asking. As you have hopefully discovered, throughout my career I have worked with, hired, and promoted women. Two of my top lieutenants at PayPal were women, promoted to VP roles for the first time by me. Similarly, many members of my executive ranks at Yammer were women. I am not saying this to beat my chest for serving a higher moral objective. In each individual case, I chose the best person for the job, I needed the best talent to win, and I wanted to foster a culture of excellence. As an equally important example, throughout my career I have never relied on the seniority system for promotion. I have always tried to pluck high-performing individuals for promotion from any level of the organization. As a result, I have given many people their first management roles. The way I see it, you can teach a star performer how to manage, but you cant teach a mediocrity how to become brilliant, no matter how many years of management experience they have. If you would like a fresher perspective on my management style, you might want to talk to people from Yammer as well as PayPal. I was COO of PayPal 13 years ago, when I was still in my twenties. As CEO of Yammer, I had some opportunities to improve on what I first learned there. One final thought: no human society is perfect. That said, if meritocracy exists anywhere on earth, it is in Silicon Valley. And if meritocracy exists nowhere on earth, Silicon Valley is probably not to blame for that. The thirst for talent, and the competition to find and participate in the next great idea, are so strong here that Silicon Valley has both the intense desire and the self-correcting mechanisms to constantly improve itself. This process is playing out even now in a very organic, bottom-up way as you see many members of the community speak out about the issues you raised. Hope this helps. Please let me know if you want to explore further. Regards, David cc Amy Webb Max Levchin David O Sacks Gina Bianchini Trae Vassallo Fred Turner Freada Kapor Klein Sarah Kunst Peter Thiel Keith Rabois Claire Cain Miller Rachel Sklar Ann Miura-Ko Anne-Marie Slaughter
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 23:32:35 +0000
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