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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. Writing and publishing manifestos is a normal thing. Surely if you cannot link to your manifesto it is simply because you’ve yet to finish proofreading it
I too am intensely distrustful of anyone expressing an opinion in more than a few paragraphs
Most "news" in the tech industry is funded by VCs, if you follow the money. It's not a terrible fact, but it's one to be aware of. All the `"X Technology" [that Y VC firm has recently raised $4Bn of capital to chase, cough cough] has massive potential to upend [big industry], here's why` articles are compensated-for boosterism. There's still signal in there, although it's mostly in the meta-facts of what they choose…
When you compare the press coverage of "X VC-backed startup with product A" to "Y bootstrapped startup with product A," it's sort of evident how corrupt startup media actually is. Taking it at face value is not usually a good idea.
Tom Scott made an interesting video about internet advertising regulations a while back. [1]
Not all of them are marketing. Some of them expose his belief system. After “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto” it’s very hard for me to take him seriously again.
About four years ago Andreesen published this: https://a16z.com/its-time-to-build/ They were and remain big crypto investors and it's pretty weird that the essay doesn't acknowledge how much talent and money crypto sucked up. He asks where the supersonic aircraft are and - ignoring that they have awful externalities - there is actually a supersonic jet startup. A16Z hasn't invested in Boom, though, near as I can tell…
A quick review of their website and some cursory googling reveals that while boom is not in their portfolio they have invested in a company developing a super sonic jet engine technology (Astro Mechanica) [1] as well as a company producing precision machine parts for aerospace (Hadrian) [1] and various other companies that intersect with the area. [3] Perhaps they wanted to invest in Boom but the deal wasn’t right or they are skeptical of that particular company or they simply never got the chance but clearly they are putting their money into this area and it’s worth researching before judging them.
1. https://www.notboring.co/p/astro-mechanica
3. https://a16z.com/portfolio/ (Look under American dynamism)
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how totalitarian? you have free markets (which the manifesto supports) or planned economies and planned economies are where totalitarianism works.
If one could have a "free market" in the sense that there were no state to begin with (which one can't) then you wind up with anarcho capitalism, in which a single entity wins because returns to capital accelerate. This single entity can then do whatever it likes. In reality, you start with a state and then have increasing regulatory capture by large private entities who turn the state into a system that exists purel…
You could have a natural monopoly form in anarcho-capitalism but unless they also grabbed a monopoly on the use of force and barred competition (basically became the state) then if they did abuse their monopoly position they would inevitably have competition arise even if it was required to route around whatever their monopoly was.
Most things in america are paid ads in disguise: these posts, blogs by mckinsey/bcg/big 4 accounting firms, news is often a paid ad/agenda in disguise. You're honestly better off spending time with your family and developing a small hobby. ~ musings from a late 30s guy
Maybe I am ignorant in thinking that by now everyone knows that they are just pump and dump operators. Even without financial implications lot of their blogs appear clueless about technology. They seem to target folks who may find Gartner quadrants too advanced.
just stop
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The manifesto is hosted on the main a16z website. So the obvious assumption is that Ben and the other leadership is supportive of it.
It's also signed Marc Andreesen: https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ Like he's the author of the post, at the top of the page.