Lessons for the Techlash from the Tech Crash

In most tellings, the 2000 tech crash is a straightforward story: the music stopped and unprofitable dot-com companies failed, paving the way for the more innovative companies of the Web 2.0 era. This episode explores a very different view of the tech crash: as a key turning point where the idealism of early web entrepreneurs gave way to new business practices that would in time, drive today’s backlash against technology companies—the “techlash.” This fresh look at tech’s evolution suggests new answers for idealism in tech, and for promoting greater equality and innovation in the US economy.

Guests

Jerry Davis, Brian McCullough, Jaime Levy

Host

Michelle Harven

Writing and Production

Written by Keith Schumann with input from T.A. Frank, Miguel Padró, Felicia Davis, and the Business & Society Team.

Recorded by Ben Eyler and edited by Jesse Krinsky. Additional editing by Ben Berliner and Clifton King.

The Business & Society team wishes to thank the audio technicians and everyone involved in the production of this episode, including:

• Rebecca Kruth
• Anny Celsi
• Marci Krivonan

Music Samples Featured in this Episode

The End is Near (Part 1) by Daniel Birch (www.danielbirchmusic.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Effemeah Weeps by Uncan Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Typical Babbler by Unconceptual Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Technetium Planet by Lobo Loco Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Asset House by Six Umbrellas Licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Tobacco Road – Storyblocks Audio

Sound Samples Featured in this Episode

Pit_trading » Floor_trading7.wav