s**********g
发帖数: 1578 | 1 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/201557
By Jessica Guynn
Los Angeles Times
With a few notable exceptions, Silicon Valley's rising young stars are
rejecting the traditional symbols of status: fast cars, yachts, luxury homes
. To make their mark, they're putting their wealth into social causes and
startup ventures.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Aaron Patzer lives in a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom
apartment in Palo Alto with an old couch and TV. His favorite shoes are hand
-me-down brown leather wingtips that, at 39, are older than he is. He gets $
12 haircuts.
He drove a 1996 Ford Contour until he ran it into the ground at 150,000
miles. His new ride is a Subaru Outback that he bought for $29,000.
You'd never know the 30-year-old entrepreneur sold his Internet startup for
$170 million in 2009 or that he is now a top executive at Intuit, the
financial-software company.
With a few notable exceptions, Silicon Valley's rising young stars are
rejecting the traditional symbols of status: fast cars, yachts, luxury homes
. To make their mark, they're putting their wealth into social causes and
startup ventures.
"Wealth needs a purpose greater than big houses and flashy cars," said
Patzer, founder of Mint.com, which helps people manage their money.
It's more about creating technology that millions will use than making
millions of dollars, they say. Their aim is to keep up with Steve Jobs, not
the Joneses.
At 27, Dustin Moskovitz is the world's youngest billionaire, according to
Forbes. He was born eight days after his Harvard College roommate Mark
Zuckerberg, with whom he founded Facebook.
Moskovitz could afford any home he wanted but chose an $800,000 San
Francisco condo. He bikes to work at his tiny startup, Asana, which makes
social-networking tools for businesses. He leaves his Volkswagen R32
hatchback in the garage.
He says he flies coach, and he's socking away money to fund his
philanthropic foundation. Like Zuckerberg, he has pledged to give away his
wealth during his lifetime.
"Things can't bring you happiness," Moskovitz said. "I have pictured myself
owning expensive things and easily came to the conclusion that I would not
have a materially more meaningful life because of them."
Zuckerberg is another billionaire living below his means. For years, he
crashed in a tiny apartment with a mattress on the floor and dial-up
Internet access. He recently bought his first house in Palo Alto for $7
million, a fraction of what he could afford.
Zuckerberg, who has listed "minimalism" and "eliminating desire" as
interests on his Facebook profile, drives an Acura. His one major outlay:
Last year he donated $100 million to help the public schools in Newark, N.J.
, among the country's worst-performing school systems.
Not an act
Skeptics may wonder whether all this conspicuous self-denial is script ed.
Tech titans know they score public-relations points by showing a common
touch — particularly in austere times.
But the evidence suggests that it's not an act, according to Alice Marwick,
a researcher with Microsoft, whose New York University doctoral dissertation
in media studies was about social status among the Internet set.
It's not that this new generation of tech entrepreneurs doesn't seek status,
Marwick said. They just seek it in different ways.
"This is not a community that values good looks, visible wealth or having a
hot body. Those are not the ways that they distinguish high status from low
status," Marwick said. "Technology millionaires don't hobnob with
celebrities or buy a fancy car. They travel to Thailand, or they fund an
incubator. These things are just as expensive, but that's the classic hacker
ethos that prizes the mind, not materials."
The hacker ethos is also classically male. "Being concerned with appearance,
shopping for clothes and decorating your house are feminine values. Tech
millionaires see that type of spending as silly and frivolous," Marwick said.
On the other hand
Wealth does have its privileges. Patzer spent $25,000 to spend a week
celebrating his 30th birthday with friends aboard a catamaran yacht in the
British Virgin Islands, and he's paying for his younger brother to get a
degree in computer science.
Then there's Sean Parker, 31, a driving force behind Napster and Facebook,
who trots the globe in private jets and is known to have dropped $13,000 on
dinner and wine. Parker co-founded Causes, a social-networking service that
encourages people to donate millions to nonprofits. He says it's his way of
giving back. | s**********g
发帖数: 1578 | 2 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/201557
By Jessica Guynn
Los Angeles Times
With a few notable exceptions, Silicon Valley's rising young stars are
rejecting the traditional symbols of status: fast cars, yachts, luxury homes
. To make their mark, they're putting their wealth into social causes and
startup ventures.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Aaron Patzer lives in a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom
apartment in Palo Alto with an old couch and TV. His favorite shoes are hand
-me-down brown leather wingtips that, at 39, are older than he is. He gets $
12 haircuts.
He drove a 1996 Ford Contour until he ran it into the ground at 150,000
miles. His new ride is a Subaru Outback that he bought for $29,000.
You'd never know the 30-year-old entrepreneur sold his Internet startup for
$170 million in 2009 or that he is now a top executive at Intuit, the
financial-software company.
With a few notable exceptions, Silicon Valley's rising young stars are
rejecting the traditional symbols of status: fast cars, yachts, luxury homes
. To make their mark, they're putting their wealth into social causes and
startup ventures.
"Wealth needs a purpose greater than big houses and flashy cars," said
Patzer, founder of Mint.com, which helps people manage their money.
It's more about creating technology that millions will use than making
millions of dollars, they say. Their aim is to keep up with Steve Jobs, not
the Joneses.
At 27, Dustin Moskovitz is the world's youngest billionaire, according to
Forbes. He was born eight days after his Harvard College roommate Mark
Zuckerberg, with whom he founded Facebook.
Moskovitz could afford any home he wanted but chose an $800,000 San
Francisco condo. He bikes to work at his tiny startup, Asana, which makes
social-networking tools for businesses. He leaves his Volkswagen R32
hatchback in the garage.
He says he flies coach, and he's socking away money to fund his
philanthropic foundation. Like Zuckerberg, he has pledged to give away his
wealth during his lifetime.
"Things can't bring you happiness," Moskovitz said. "I have pictured myself
owning expensive things and easily came to the conclusion that I would not
have a materially more meaningful life because of them."
Zuckerberg is another billionaire living below his means. For years, he
crashed in a tiny apartment with a mattress on the floor and dial-up
Internet access. He recently bought his first house in Palo Alto for $7
million, a fraction of what he could afford.
Zuckerberg, who has listed "minimalism" and "eliminating desire" as
interests on his Facebook profile, drives an Acura. His one major outlay:
Last year he donated $100 million to help the public schools in Newark, N.J.
, among the country's worst-performing school systems.
Not an act
Skeptics may wonder whether all this conspicuous self-denial is script ed.
Tech titans know they score public-relations points by showing a common
touch — particularly in austere times.
But the evidence suggests that it's not an act, according to Alice Marwick,
a researcher with Microsoft, whose New York University doctoral dissertation
in media studies was about social status among the Internet set.
It's not that this new generation of tech entrepreneurs doesn't seek status,
Marwick said. They just seek it in different ways.
"This is not a community that values good looks, visible wealth or having a
hot body. Those are not the ways that they distinguish high status from low
status," Marwick said. "Technology millionaires don't hobnob with
celebrities or buy a fancy car. They travel to Thailand, or they fund an
incubator. These things are just as expensive, but that's the classic hacker
ethos that prizes the mind, not materials."
The hacker ethos is also classically male. "Being concerned with appearance,
shopping for clothes and decorating your house are feminine values. Tech
millionaires see that type of spending as silly and frivolous," Marwick said.
On the other hand
Wealth does have its privileges. Patzer spent $25,000 to spend a week
celebrating his 30th birthday with friends aboard a catamaran yacht in the
British Virgin Islands, and he's paying for his younger brother to get a
degree in computer science.
Then there's Sean Parker, 31, a driving force behind Napster and Facebook,
who trots the globe in private jets and is known to have dropped $13,000 on
dinner and wine. Parker co-founded Causes, a social-networking service that
encourages people to donate millions to nonprofits. He says it's his way of
giving back. |
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