- Silicon Valley's existence is, at once, an almost-improbable mash-up of contradictions and the obvious twenty-first century step of American innovation.
- The absurdity of Silicon Valley necessitates a healthy dose of skepticism, and easily makes it a target of satire.
- I lived in Palo Alto for a handful of years, and San Francisco for a stint. My memories now converge as a tableau of farce; so, here are 29 memes roasting Silicon Valley.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In my mind's eye, I see University Avenue in Palo Alto littered with Philz coffee cups, rogue boba pearls, and strewn hover boards. A Stanford undergraduate computer science student weeps into their MacBook as their code loops endlessly. Batman-style doors lift up; a tech exec tumbles out of his Tesla Model X and crawls frantically to the nearest electric charging port. Two VC-bros poke their chopsticks at toro at the Palo Alto Nobu and discuss seed funding the Uber-of-vegan-soft-serve that Elon Musk will, most definitely, franchise on Mars. Mark Zuckerberg peers out from a manhole on the street while Jack Dorsey directs traffic around him and recites his tweets from 2006.
I lived in Palo Alto for a handful of years, and San Francisco for a stint. My memories now converge as a tableau of farce, like the above.
In such a historically fertile incubator — where you can succeed beyond known measure or fail spectacularly — the air is fraught. But actually being stressed is taboo, so techies throw themselves at the pseudo-spiritual in the flashiest way possible. Silicon Valley is also one of the hungriest places — for innovation, success, domination, fame — I've ever lived. And it's also run by bonafide geeks.
Silicon Valley's existence is, at once, an almost-improbable mash-up of contradictions and the obvious twenty-first century step of American innovation. Its absurdity necessitates a healthy dose of skepticism, and heavy satire.
Here are 29 memes roasting Silicon Valley.
Will Fischer contributed to the meme-harvesting you see below.
This Jeff Bezos glow-up.
—Khalil Sehnaoui (@sehnaoui) July 15, 2017
This supercut of Mark Zuckerberg evangelizing Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce during his Facebook Live grill sesh.
—Hannah (@hanreli) June 17, 2019
When AI couldn't get on Magritte's level.
—Manos Tsakiris (@manos_tsakiris) November 29, 2017
When Pam knew.
these spot the difference games are getting more and more difficult 🤔🤔
A post shared by The Bae Area (@siliconvalleyprobs) on Aug 22, 2019 at 10:01pm PDT
"Thx Elon"
A post shared by Venture Capital Memes (@prayingforexits) on Jun 24, 2019 at 12:51pm PDT
When you whip out your tech-guru Twitter persona.
—Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) September 4, 2019
Silicon Valley, the bastion of white male privilege.
—The Valley Muse (@Valley_Muse) July 24, 2019
Where "going public" means ...
Friends. Nopa. 📣😎 Overheard by @jannatraeger 📥 #StalkOptions #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Jul 23, 2019 at 11:50am PDT
Where the algorithm tests fate.
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Jul 2, 2019 at 11:52am PDT
Where breakups are digitized.
Jane on Fillmore. 📬🍵 Overheard by @taraviswanathan 📥 #TheWeakestLink #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Apr 14, 2019 at 10:56am PDT
Bonus points for drinking Soylent while wearing Allbirds and carrying some light reading on successful unicorns too.
—matt weinberger (@gamoid) August 28, 2019
Where the rent is too dang high.
Coworkers. SOMA. ⛺️🍸 Overheard by @zogerr 📥 #YuppieKiYay #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Mar 17, 2019 at 10:33am PDT
Where every opportunity is a networking opportunity.
VCs who pass on the Seed but really want the A be like
A post shared by Venture Capital Memes (@prayingforexits) on Jul 17, 2019 at 9:03am PDT
Where everybody thinks they're the truffle-sniffing pig of startups.
Honestly shout out to Ashton Kutcher and Ashton Kutcher only
A post shared by Venture Capital Memes (@prayingforexits) on Jul 16, 2019 at 8:45pm PDT
#StartupLife
Office. FiDi. ⏳🥥 Overheard by Anonymous 📥 #CroixMeARiver #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Jun 7, 2019 at 12:05pm PDT
My tech company has better snacks than yours ...
Alameda. 🥛🏰 Overheard by @livlasky 📥 #nonDairyQueen #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Apr 5, 2019 at 12:17pm PDT
... but my coworkers leave a lot to be desired.
Hayes Valley. ⌨️💭 Overheard by @kai.i0 📥 #humanerror #overheardsanfrancisco
A post shared by Overheard San Francisco (@overheardsanfrancisco) on Jul 14, 2019 at 11:10am PDT
It's the uniform.
Brovesters from another movester.
A post shared by Vest Me, Bro. (@look_up_sf) on Jun 6, 2018 at 5:29pm PDT
No, but seriously.
Patagonia got so sick of being the staple of fintech bros that in April, Buzzfeed News reported that the company was refusing to sell its iconic power vests to some financial firms.
"Patagonia has nothing against your client or the finance industry, it's just not an area they are currently marketing through our co-brand division," a Patagonia reseller wrote to a potential client, according to Buzzfeed News. "While they have co-branded here in the past, the brand is really focused right now on only co-branding with a small collection of like-minded and brand aligned areas; outdoor sports that are relevant to the gear we design, regenerative organic farming, and environmental activism."
Does Market Street have a dress code?
And finally, here's an "Old Town Road" remix about Old County Road in Palo Alto.
A post shared by The Bae Area (@siliconvalleyprobs) on Jul 28, 2019 at 9:54am PDT
I got my internship on Old County Road
I'm gonna try to teach myself to code
I got my vape pen in the back
Juul pod is attached
Screen is matte black
Running Logic on my Mac
In the Apple store
You can sell your Porsche
We live in the Valley, we got Tesla right next door
Zuckerberg is always watching
Zucc is always watching
Zuckerberg is always stalking
Zucc is always stalking
