Shaping SF: TechBros Brew Bubbles: Then and Now (Public Talk at 518 Valencia)

A quarter century ago San Francisco was swamped by the first Dotcom boom and in 2001 it went ‘pop’. Two sharp writers were there and they each have books describing that era and providing vital information on how it shapes our world 25 years later. Paulina Borsook wrote Cyberselfish in 2000, with a newly reissued edition this September, and her prescience in describing the libertarian politics and dysfunctional personalities of the tech bro elite is stunning. Jonathan Weber’s new book City on the Edge builds on his intimate knowledge of that tech boom and its investors, entrepreneurs, and the politicians who laid down the red carpets when he was editor of the Industry Standard, briefly one of the most successful magazines in history. Join them to plumb the depths of a cultural, economic, and political zeitgeist still reverberating through the streets of San Francisco today.