In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener left New York to work for a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley tech bubble: a world of surreal extravagance, unchecked ambition, and dubious success. Anna arrived amidst a massive cultural shift, as the tech industry rapidly transformed into a locus of wealth and power, while nonetheless clinging to an underdog identity. “Uncanny Valley,” a memoir of her time working at startups on both coasts, is a first-person glimpse into the wild fortune, corporate fealty, boyish camaraderie, and accelerating political power characteristic of the startup ecosystem—and a narrative of both seduction and disillusionment.

In this session, Anna will discuss startup culture, solutionism, the fetish for optimization, post-recession millennial idealism, the stories Silicon Valley companies have long told about (and to) themselves, and where the industry might find itself next.