Headline, August 18 2022/ ''' '' SILICON VALLEY'S STIRRUP '' '''

''' '' SILICON VALLEY'S

 STIRRUP '' '''

'' GIVING THE WORLD BACK TO THE STUDENTS.'' Every leader in the world has the highest of respect, understanding, and great wishes for The World Students Society - the exclusive ownership of every student in the world.

ON THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY - ' WE INSPIRED ' THE WHOLE MANKIND, - the students of the entire world, to totally believe in the impossible - that they could change and build a real better world.

IT'S ALL the buzz. On !WOW! - the most democratic organization in the world, and as a matter of founding policy, the Global Founder Framers understand and agree, never ever to take undue advantage of their upper hands, if any. On The World Students Society everybody is equal. ' Welcome All ! '

AS THE GLOBAL FOUNDER FRAMERS OF !WOW! are beginning to mount their unicorns, the young kings of Silicon Valley are dismounting their unicorns.

They're writing sentimental blogposts that outline their legacies. They're expressing hopes for their companies' prospects. They're quitting their jobs as leaders of the start-ups they founded.

SILICON VALLEY'S BOY BOSSES ARE GETTING OFF THEIR UNICORNS. The industry began to talk of ''wartime C.E.O's'' who can do with more less, while bragging about lessons learned from previous downturns.

Patience with visionaries wore thin. Founder-led companies started to seem like liabilities, not assets.

''All of this changed in the last 90 days, and it's not coming back anytime soon,'' said Will Schroter, the founder of Startups.com, an accelerator program for young companies. The ''we'll figure it out later'' approach is no longer attractive to investors, he added.

In addition to Mr. Silbermann, Mr. Gebbia and Mr. Mehta, founders at the top of Twitter, Peloton, Medium and Microstrategy have all resigned this year.

They're not leaving on a high note. Shares of Pinterest are down 60 percent from a year ago. Elliott Management, an activist shareholder known for pressing companies to make big changes, recently took a stake in the company.

Airbnb shares are down 25 percent from a year ago. And Instacart lowered its internal valuation almost 40 percent in March, as it prepared to go public in a hostile market.

''It's surely less fun being a C.E.O when markets are down, the economy is trending negative and regulation is increasing,'' said Kevin Werbach, a professor of business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. ''If you're as already rich, famous and successful as these guys, there usually comes a point where staying in the saddle is less appealing from riding off into the sunset.''

In start-up lore, Mark Zuckerberg pioneered the modern boy boss role. Carrying business cards that read, ''I'm C.E.O., bitch'' and ruffling Wall Street feathers with his ''disrespectful'' hoodie, he demanded that investors let him keep a controlling interest in Facebook as it grew, ushering in today's era of ''founder friendly'' deal-making.

Young, ambitious men like Mr. Zuckerberg received similar protections and leeway as venture capital firms rushed to appear as accommodating as possible, lavishing the entrepreneurs with perks [dinners, jets, celebrity]  and services [recruiting, public relations, design]. One firm even publicly pledged never to vote against a founder on company matters.''

It inspired our whole generation to believe in the impossible - that they could start companies,'' said Trace Cohen, 34, an investor in very young startups.

Founders took advantage of their upper hands. They stayed in the top jobs, even when the companies outgrew their skills as managers. And they kept their companies private for as long as possible, avoiding pesky business realities like turning profits. They were given the benefits of the doubt -something female founders never got.

As the tech sector became a dominant force in the American economy, the cult of the start-up founder made its way into popular culture via celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and TV shows like the HBO satire ''Silicon Valley''.

Some founders of this era took their latitude too far. Adam Neumann's spending and partying got him forced out of WeWork in 2018, even though he held a controlling stake in the company. And Travis Kalanick's aggressive tactics at Uber resulted in his ouster in 2017, despite his super-voting shares.

The rest mostly held on through the companies' initial public offerings. But it turns out that running a publicly traded company, with its attendant fiduciary duties, analysts calls and slog of quarterly earnings, is a far cry from the hustle and thrill of start-up life

Now, as the troubles mount amid a market meltdown, they're giving up the power and control they once fought for.

In his announcement, Mr. Silbermann said that running Pinterest had been ''the gift of a lifetime,'' Mr. Gebbia, who will become an adviser to Airbnb, posted an effusive reminiscence of the company's early days, alongside photos, nicknames of his co-founders [Brian ''Jet Fuel'' Chesky and ''Indiana Nate'' Blecharczyk] and lessons about the goodness of humanity. [Mr. Chesky remains its chief executive].

Mr. Mehta tweeted that he ''cared deeply'' about Instacart - the ''one thing I have thought about for every waking minute of the last decade.''

Leaving the billionaires, they have emanated Silicon Valley's relentless positivity. ''Pinterest is just getting started,'' Airbnb ''is in the best hands it's ever been in'' and Instacart has an enormous opportunity ahead,'' the founders wrote. Both Mr.Mehta and Mr. Gebbia said they had plans for new projects.

Investors say they anticipate more of these resignations from founders who are realizing that they now have to work harder for less [relatively speaking]. ''Now, they can let some executives step up, take over and grow it with different incentives,'' Mr. Cohen said. 

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Silicon Valley, Unicorns, great C.E.Os, Times and Tides, continues. The World Students Society thanks author Erin Griffith.

With respectful dedication to the Silicon Valley, Unicorns and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society -for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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