In mid-October 2016, not long after a video surfaced with Donald Trump boasting about committing sexual assault, Peter Thiel made a $1.25 million contribution to his campaign.
Discussion ensued, largely focusing on Thiel’s involvement with Silicon Valley accelerator and investment firm Y Combinator, where he’s an unpaid part-time partner and his friend Sam Altman is CEO; and with Facebook, where he was an early investor and remains a board member.
Should Y Combinator and Facebook cut ties with Thiel?
If they don’t, what (if anything) is an appropriate response?
Here are a handful of news articles with the details.
- Peter Thiel to Donate $1.25 Million in Support of Donald Trump, David Streitfeld, New York Times
- Y Combinator boss Sam Altman says he’s not going to cut ties with Peter Thiel for supporting Donald Trump, Peter Kafka, Recode
- Mark Zuckerberg defends Peter Thiel’s $1.25M Trump donation, Jessica Guynn, USA Today
- Comparing the politics of Trump and his Silicon Valley surrogate Peter Thiel, Katie Conger, TechCrunch
- Peter Thiel Defends His Most Contrarian Move Yet: Supporting Trump, David Streitfeld, New York Times
What lens are you looking through?
Many people in the tech word have strong opinions on the subject. A lot depends on the lens you look through – the essence of standpoint theory. For example, women in tech often see things differently than guys. And the differences are even greater between black, Latinx, Asian, multiracial women (and other women of color) and white guys.
So here are some perspectives from various women in tech – tweets, articles, and other public posts. It’s in chronological order, from October 15 through October 24. Of course, it isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s based on what I saw from the people I follow on Twitter and Medium, my friends on Facebook and other social networks, discussions on Hacker News, links from TechMeme, and what I found with Google and Twitter searches.
How does it look through their eyes?