Most Cities Would Welcome a Tech Billionaire, But Peter Thiel? (bloomberg.com)

Sarah McBride, writing for Bloomberg: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco, adding another dose of legitimacy to a burgeoning startup scene in Southern California -- along with some controversy. The co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, Thiel runs Founders Fund, one of the more-respected venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. He comes with a little baggage, though, including his staunch support for President Donald Trump, his secretive funding of the legal battle between Hulk Hogan and Gawker.com, and comments some people say have been derogatory toward women. "I'm not sure why Peter Thiel believes he'll receive a warmer reception on the L.A. tech scene than he's had in Silicon Valley," said Tracy DiNunzio, chief executive officer of Tradesy, a fashion-reselling company based in Santa Monica, California. "Our venture and startup ecosystem is fairly left-leaning."

Comments

Re:Why do his politics matter?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Most "conservatives" today aren't really conservative by the classical definition. They are classical liberals. The Left usurped the term "liberal" when the label "progressive" got a bad reputation due to its association with socialism, fascism, eugenics, and racism in the early 20th century. They've worked really hard since then to push the worst of those associations onto the right, but originally everyone knew they were associated with the left, and "progressives" in particular.

Ironic that when conservatives speak to the Left the way the Left speaks to conservatives every day, The Left considers it a sign of mental instability.

I'd care about the character

[rsilvergun]

Of my investors. Ever read the history of the Commodore Amiga? Jack Tramiel basically backed the engineers into a corner that let him take everything until Commodore road in and saved the day. Tech investors have a long history of screwing over start up. So yeah, I'd care who the guy voted for. Maybe I'd still risk it. But I'd be aware of the risk...

Re:Why do his politics matter?

[DNS-and-BIND]

If I had to define "tolerance" it would be something like "respect and kindness toward members of an outgroup".

The Emperor summons before him Bodhidharma and asks: "Master, I have been tolerant of innumerable gays, lesbians, bisexuals, asexuals, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, transgender people, and Jews. How many Virtue Points have I earned for my meritorious deeds?"

Bodhidharma answers: "None at all".

The Emperor, somewhat put out, demands to know why.

Bodhidharma asks: "Well, what do you think of gay people?"

The Emperor answers: "What do you think I am, some kind of homophobic bigot? Of course I have nothing against gay people!"

And Bodhidharma answers: "Thus do you gain no merit by tolerating them!"

-- I can tolerate anything except the outgroup