I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong

Of course, Silicon Valley was never all flowers and psychedelics. “For all that it might flatter itself with counterculture roots, making money and accumulating power has always been in the mainstream,” says Kapor. And of course, the Valley’s politics always accommodated a strong libertarian strain.

But even venture capitalists seemed to vibe with the feeling of revolution—as if the Weathermen switched from making bombs to doing IPO road shows. When the internet arrived like a thunderclap, the…