It’s no secret that the incredible wealth of the technology industry has attracted critics in recent years. In this country’s two capitols of capital, San Francisco and New York, influxes of tech workers are reshaping neighborhoods, and accelerating tech salaries are ramping rent prices in entire area codes. Technology promises change, but not all change is popular.
Startup investors Ron Conway of SV Angel and Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures stand out from the usual technology crowd because of their efforts to boost civic engagement among tech workers in their respective coastal enclaves.
Both will be at Disrupt NY this year in May.
For example, Conway is involved in the Pledge 1% project, which encourages to set aside a portion of their equity early in their life to build out philanthropic arms. SV Angel is a partner of the project.
Increasing income inequality is a flashpoint in our nation’s political conversation. And as technology remains the primal industry of the United States, it cannot escape the conversation. Conway and Wilson are among the most respected and influential investors in the industry. If they can convince entrepreneurs on both coasts — and everywhere in between — to give more, and invest in their communities, we will all be the better for it.
Both investors will be on stage in the middle of our ongoing industry-wide discussion of what a bubble is, how to measure one, and if we are currently ensconced in something soapy.
Fred Wilson and Ron Conway will join other notable Disrupt NY speakers, including Joanne Bradford, Aaron Levie and Tristan Walker.
The show runs May 4-6 at the historic Manhattan Center. Tickets are available at an early-bird discount rate until April 11.
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