Venture capitalists must stop funding tech startups plagued by "bro culture," author Dan Lyons writes in the New York Times opinion section.
Mr. Lyons, a writer who previously worked at a Boston-based startup, defines bro culture as an environment that "favors young men at the expense of everyone else." He takes particular aim at what he calls the "bro CEO" — "a young man who has little work experience but is good-looking, cocky and slightly amoral."
Mr. Lyons says the main issue with these leaders is an attitude of entitlement coupled with minimal work experience. "The real problem with tech bros is not just that they're boorish jerks," Mr. Lyons writes. "It's that they're boorish jerks who don't know how to run companies."
He notes how the social product development platform Quirky, which raised $185 million after its launch in 2009, filed for bankruptcy soon after, in part because of its CEO's lack of industry experience.
Another complaint of Mr. Lyons': bro CEOs often lack a sense of professionalism that characterizes the traditional executive.
He says excessive partying goes hand-in-hand with the bro CEO. For instance, although Uber is currently valued at $69 billion, its top executives have left with many citing issues with its workplace culture as reasons why. Uber's CEO, Travis Kalanick, has faced public backlash over a few indiscretions, notably when he invited his colleagues to an escort bar in South Korea in 2014.
Aside from workplace environment, Mr. Lyons takes issue with how the bro CEO "values speedy growth over sustainable profits" and "encourages cutting corners."
"This poisonous state of affairs will get fixed only when investors start getting hurt," Mr. Lyons concludes. "A crash at Uber, the most high profile tech startup in the world, could provide the jolt that finally brings the tech industry back to its senses."
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