The Vivek Wadhwa I Know Is A Feminist

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 28JAN11 - Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, USA; Young Global Leader are captured during the session 'Handling Hyper-connectivity' at the Annual Meeting 2011 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 28, 2011. Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Jolanda Flubacher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am not even aware of the full conversation, but I caught a snippet first on his Facebook page, then on Twitter. Strange things are known to happen in social media. You don't have to be female to be feminist. And for me the term is like saying someone is a civil rights activist. Sheryl Sandberg is a feminist, in my  book. And Vivek getting called the opposite --- well, it is fun! Really. I am like, really? He is a rare man who makes intelligent, well thought out, numbers supported cases for why women should get more in tech. Few men cheer women, fewer still make strong, well thought out cases. Vivek is in the rare category. That is the truth. But don't let truth get in your way. Enjoy Twitter! It is the experience.

@ElissaBeth having seen backlash @wadhwa has received, I'm not sure it is worth it for men to stand up for women's rights. I hope I'm wrong.
— Sahil M. Bansal (@SMB06) February 15, 2015

Looks like the spat even got colorful!

.@ncweaver And are you helping women by spreading such slander? When professors meet students, is there a threat to the student?
— Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) February 15, 2015

My response to the podcast that unfairly attacked me

Vivek Wadhwa is not just another dude who writes articles. He is the smartest dude in Silicon Valley. Yes, I did say that. He talks in terms of the trillion dollar industries of tomorrow, in ways only a free thinker can. Top tech CEOs in the Valley can not afford to. They need their horse cart blinders to keep their focus on the narrow stretch that is their company.

The funny thing is, he is not only on the cutting edges of innovation, he is also on the cutting edges of gender in tech. Take his name out and circulate his articles on the topic and compare them to writings on the same topic by top rated feminists. His are more effective. He is outdoing wo-men on gender! That is no small feat.

But a little color on Twitter never hurt.

This is a dude that I want sitting on my company's Board at the earliest possible opportunity. For the record.

The Tragedy of Losing Vivek Wadhwa as an Ally

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The Unimaginative Motherfuckers Of The Old Economy

They say there is this cultural divide between California and New York City. All of Silicon Valley money comes from NYC. But California has the cultural advantage.

I have been aware of this. But I am staying put. Because, well, this is hometown. Also because the app I am working on -- this city is going to be the number one city for it. It will take your interactions with the city to a whole new plane.

And it is okay for the old economy to be in the backdrop. It is more than okay, it is actually very necessary. The apartment of AirBnb is old economy. Uber's cab is old economy. And they are just scratching the surface. The next wave of innovation in software is industry level. Which means we need people who can reimagine entire industries. Coders can be provided to them.

But when I say the unimaginative motherfuckers of the old economy, I am referring to this other type. Not only do they not get cutting edge innovation, they do not get the fundamentals of a tech startup, they actively act hostile given the opportunity. And there are a ton of those, plenty with Indian/brown faces, just to be fair. But it is equal opportunity, truly so. Like this guy on Wall Street who, believe it or not, wanted to do a tech startup, who would call VC money "funny money." Good luck with that. Or this dude who had a job where success was doubling the money every five years. Point be noted, money doubles on its own every seven years. All you have to do is not mess it up, just stay out of the way. Don't tinker. And he deals with big sums! I guess two years faster is still a margin, but then don't start commentaring on tech startups, in the negative, spilling one ignorance after another.

Very few people will do the tech startup thing. By definition. So it is not like you need 100% participation. And there is an affirmation you seek among other startup types. There is that ecosystem. It is a small island in a sea of the old economy, and that is the way it should be.

You do want to stay close to your average users. You do want to meet regular people.

But the unimaginative motherfuckers are a whole different thing. They lack it. They don't know it. And they will meddle if they can. Heck, they might even start a company!

Race, Gender And Tech Entrepreneurship

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