(2020-09-15) Gen Zers Say Silicon Valley Is Elitist And Exclusive Can They Build A New System

GenZers Say Silicon Valley Is Elitist and Exclusive. Can They Build a New System? For young people, breaking into the cutthroat tech industry — or any industry, really — has become far more difficult during the pandemic. In-person networking events and club meetings are on hold

In late July, Emma Salinas, a 20-year-old designer and engineer in San Francisco, along with her friend Carson Poole, 21, a founder of an AI start-up, decided it was time to do something about it. Ms. Salinas set up a server on the messaging platform Discord called Gen Z Mafia (riffing on the PayPal Mafia, a set of early employees at the company who went on to become industry leaders), to communicate and connect with other young people seeking to break into the industry. (Generation Z)

Together, the server’s members are collaborating, networking and building products that they hope will shape the future.

Anyone over the age of 24 is placed into a group called Daddy Gang and limited to only a few channels.

“We wanted to provide an intimate space where people could send memes and be themselves and not be scared to say something because the V.C.s are there,” said Sudarshan Sridharan, 20, a founder of the group. “They’ve got a lot of money though, and we want them to give it to people in the group.”

The group has a laid-back, playful vibe. Its most senior members are known as “the Ministry of Building,” a play on a recent post by the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen titled “It’s time to build.”

Gen Z Mafia has faced criticism for myriad missteps, many of them misogynistic in nature. Early on, members could award each other a digital currency called “wives.” “We took it down immediately, as soon as we realized,” Ms. Salinas said. “The only currency we have now is emojis.”

Gen Z Mafia is part of a larger movement of young people looking to challenge the tech establishment.