What Happened to the Future?
Founders Fund (Bruce Gibney) · 2011
"Venture abandoned hard technology for trivial consumer apps; 'we wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.'"
Peter Thiel and Founders Fund published a manifesto titled 'What Happened to the Future?', famously stating: 'We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.' It was a critique of the venture capital industry's shift away from hard technology.
Thiel argued that society had experienced massive technological stagnation in the physical realm (energy, transportation, aerospace) since the 1970s. Venture capital, originally designed to fund massive, risky hardware and semiconductor breakthroughs, had become lazy. It was too focused on funding low-risk, consumer internet apps with quick exits. Thiel called for a return to funding 'Deep Tech'—companies tackling difficult engineering problems that could fundamentally advance human civilization.
What was the main critique in 'What Happened to the Future?'
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The explanation above is written with AI assistance. These are the originals — go to them to check it.
- Founders Fund & the manifesto (context/reception)Wikipedia
What We Owe the Future
"Future people matter morally; positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority (longtermism)."