Mark Howard
@mrshoward.bsky.social
Humanistic Social Scientist and Political Economist; writing a book on venture capital, disruptive innovation, and society titled “Hypergrowth: A Poltical Economic Theory of Venture Capital”
https://ucsc.academia.edu/MarkHoward
https://ucsc.academia.edu/MarkHoward
Pinned
Mark Howard
@mrshoward.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Contrarian optionality and negative mimesis: venture capital and the institutional logic of Silicon Valley
This paper offers a theorization of contrarianism in Silicon Valley, presenting it as a strategic rationality underpinned by institutional infrastructure. Rather than treating contrarianism as prin...
www.tandfonline.com
Check out my new article published @distinktionjournal.bsky.social on contrarianism as a cultural practice enabled by the institutional logic of Silicon Valley VC. Read it here (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
PitchBook: >25% of unicorns likely sub-$1B, while total unicorn value holds steady (top 10 > 50%).
Hypergrowth was always meta-growth -- valuation above fundamentals, organizing time, capital, expectation.
Exit well: simulation becomes institution
Miss the moment: undercorn
Hypergrowth was always meta-growth -- valuation above fundamentals, organizing time, capital, expectation.
Exit well: simulation becomes institution
Miss the moment: undercorn
February 12, 2026 at 5:27 PM
PitchBook: >25% of unicorns likely sub-$1B, while total unicorn value holds steady (top 10 > 50%).
Hypergrowth was always meta-growth -- valuation above fundamentals, organizing time, capital, expectation.
Exit well: simulation becomes institution
Miss the moment: undercorn
Hypergrowth was always meta-growth -- valuation above fundamentals, organizing time, capital, expectation.
Exit well: simulation becomes institution
Miss the moment: undercorn
Two neurosurgeons just raised $25M to use living neurons as compute. Wow. Capital abides no limits.
If biology = infrastructure, we’re not just solving an energy crunch but paving a path to biocommodification: life as circuit component.
fortune.com/2026/02/11/t...
If biology = infrastructure, we’re not just solving an energy crunch but paving a path to biocommodification: life as circuit component.
fortune.com/2026/02/11/t...
Two neurosurgeons just raised $25 million betting brain cells can (someday) outcompute silicon | Fortune
The Biological Computing Co. (TBC) has raised $25 million in seed funding, Fortune has learned.
fortune.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Two neurosurgeons just raised $25M to use living neurons as compute. Wow. Capital abides no limits.
If biology = infrastructure, we’re not just solving an energy crunch but paving a path to biocommodification: life as circuit component.
fortune.com/2026/02/11/t...
If biology = infrastructure, we’re not just solving an energy crunch but paving a path to biocommodification: life as circuit component.
fortune.com/2026/02/11/t...
Interesting piece on VCs using “AI second brains.” Legitimation dressed as efficiency.
VC turns capital + audacity into “genius.” AI now accelerates it: faster theses, denser hype, cleaner inevitability.
Future “necessity” can’t arrive fast enough it seems.
www.businessinsider.com/how-venture-...
VC turns capital + audacity into “genius.” AI now accelerates it: faster theses, denser hype, cleaner inevitability.
Future “necessity” can’t arrive fast enough it seems.
www.businessinsider.com/how-venture-...
We asked 13 rising-star VCs how they use AI. Here's what they told us.
For up-and-coming venture capitalists, tools like ChatGPT and NotebookLM have become a core part of the job.
www.businessinsider.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Interesting piece on VCs using “AI second brains.” Legitimation dressed as efficiency.
VC turns capital + audacity into “genius.” AI now accelerates it: faster theses, denser hype, cleaner inevitability.
Future “necessity” can’t arrive fast enough it seems.
www.businessinsider.com/how-venture-...
VC turns capital + audacity into “genius.” AI now accelerates it: faster theses, denser hype, cleaner inevitability.
Future “necessity” can’t arrive fast enough it seems.
www.businessinsider.com/how-venture-...
Musk’s SpaceX–xAI move is less “AI ambition,” more VC power logic at planetary scale. Loss-making xAI gets laundered through SpaceX’s future necessity; it’s an attempt to capitalize on anticipated dependence (orbital compute) before it exists. Contrarian optionality: burn now, monopolize later. 🚀📈
February 6, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Musk’s SpaceX–xAI move is less “AI ambition,” more VC power logic at planetary scale. Loss-making xAI gets laundered through SpaceX’s future necessity; it’s an attempt to capitalize on anticipated dependence (orbital compute) before it exists. Contrarian optionality: burn now, monopolize later. 🚀📈
Reposted by Mark Howard
Sharing a great new paper on VC from David Kampmann, LSE really leading the way on the new critical scholarship on VC
@jathansadowski.com @mrshoward.bsky.social @edwardongwesojr.com @parismarx.com @profhilaryallen.bsky.social @jacobsilverman.com
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
@jathansadowski.com @mrshoward.bsky.social @edwardongwesojr.com @parismarx.com @profhilaryallen.bsky.social @jacobsilverman.com
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
The political economy of venture capital: winners-take-all and founder control
Abstract. In many US Tech corporations such as Meta, Alphabet, and SpaceX, founders still hold shareholder voting control. How can we better understand the
academic.oup.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Sharing a great new paper on VC from David Kampmann, LSE really leading the way on the new critical scholarship on VC
@jathansadowski.com @mrshoward.bsky.social @edwardongwesojr.com @parismarx.com @profhilaryallen.bsky.social @jacobsilverman.com
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
@jathansadowski.com @mrshoward.bsky.social @edwardongwesojr.com @parismarx.com @profhilaryallen.bsky.social @jacobsilverman.com
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
Seen at an AI investment summit hosted by UC Berkeley today. We need to stop being so overly deperndent on AI folks.
November 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Seen at an AI investment summit hosted by UC Berkeley today. We need to stop being so overly deperndent on AI folks.
The second (excellent) article from Distinktion’s special issue on Silicon Valley imaginaries is now available. Check it out below.
The second article has just been published! The always brilliant Sherryl Vint argues that Silicon Valley’s core product is a “science-fictional ideology". It promotes an identity where one aims to be capital itself, ever-growing and immortal, erasing the working class & undermining solidarity.
October 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The second (excellent) article from Distinktion’s special issue on Silicon Valley imaginaries is now available. Check it out below.
Reposted by Mark Howard
A recording of my seminar "A Critical Theory of VC" www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhJy...
A Critical Theory of Venture Capital
YouTube video by Olivier Jutel
www.youtube.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:53 AM
A recording of my seminar "A Critical Theory of VC" www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhJy...
Check out my new article published @distinktionjournal.bsky.social on contrarianism as a cultural practice enabled by the institutional logic of Silicon Valley VC. Read it here (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Contrarian optionality and negative mimesis: venture capital and the institutional logic of Silicon Valley
This paper offers a theorization of contrarianism in Silicon Valley, presenting it as a strategic rationality underpinned by institutional infrastructure. Rather than treating contrarianism as prin...
www.tandfonline.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Check out my new article published @distinktionjournal.bsky.social on contrarianism as a cultural practice enabled by the institutional logic of Silicon Valley VC. Read it here (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Having Jaron Lanier visit my Ethics and Technology class today to talk to my students was a real treat. Generous, thoughtful, and refreshingly optimistic - the class and I feel so very lucky to have had this opportunity.
August 14, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Having Jaron Lanier visit my Ethics and Technology class today to talk to my students was a real treat. Generous, thoughtful, and refreshingly optimistic - the class and I feel so very lucky to have had this opportunity.
What a time to be alive.
July 16, 2025 at 2:39 AM
What a time to be alive.
Hey folks — my friend Randy is running for congress in a Republican-held district and needs support. Randy is running a grassroots campaign but the Democratic establishment wants someone who will take corporate money. Please, if you’re able, consider chipping in:
secure.actblue.com/donate/callt...
secure.actblue.com/donate/callt...
I just gave to Randy Villegas!
Show your support with a contribution.
secure.actblue.com
June 30, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Hey folks — my friend Randy is running for congress in a Republican-held district and needs support. Randy is running a grassroots campaign but the Democratic establishment wants someone who will take corporate money. Please, if you’re able, consider chipping in:
secure.actblue.com/donate/callt...
secure.actblue.com/donate/callt...
Reposted by Mark Howard
I am very happy that my program is hosting @mrshoward.bsky.social in two weeks for a discussion of the role of contrarianism in the Silicon Valley founder/VC mythos. QR code for Zoom Deets
May 12, 2025 at 1:30 AM
I am very happy that my program is hosting @mrshoward.bsky.social in two weeks for a discussion of the role of contrarianism in the Silicon Valley founder/VC mythos. QR code for Zoom Deets
And so the FTC’s careers page has seemingly been deleted. That didn’t take long. It seems Silicon Valley’s cozying up to the incoming administration is already paying dividends. Prepare yourself for unprecedented monopolization and market manipulation.
January 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
And so the FTC’s careers page has seemingly been deleted. That didn’t take long. It seems Silicon Valley’s cozying up to the incoming administration is already paying dividends. Prepare yourself for unprecedented monopolization and market manipulation.
One of my greatest dislikes about being an academic/writer is my ability to come up with perfect sentences (and sometimes even paragraphs) in the shower that I am somehow incapable of writing coherently 5 minutes later. Sigh.
December 20, 2024 at 8:19 PM
One of my greatest dislikes about being an academic/writer is my ability to come up with perfect sentences (and sometimes even paragraphs) in the shower that I am somehow incapable of writing coherently 5 minutes later. Sigh.
Oh my. This is how a republic dies. There will no longer be any accountability or consequences for political actors. Even if Biden doesn’t do it, Pandora’s box is now open. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/u...
Biden Team Considers Blanket Pardons Before Trump’s Promised ‘Retribution’
White House officials believe President-elect Donald J. Trump’s selection of partisan warriors for top law enforcement jobs indicates that he will pursue revenge against his perceived enemies.
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2024 at 2:11 AM
Oh my. This is how a republic dies. There will no longer be any accountability or consequences for political actors. Even if Biden doesn’t do it, Pandora’s box is now open. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/u...
Apparently Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI argues that latter violated antitrust law by asking investors not to back competitors. If he wins, this could all but make illegal a basic principle of VC investment: don’t spread your bets; monopoly FTW.
December 2, 2024 at 6:43 PM
Apparently Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI argues that latter violated antitrust law by asking investors not to back competitors. If he wins, this could all but make illegal a basic principle of VC investment: don’t spread your bets; monopoly FTW.
Reposted by Mark Howard
1/4. Excited to share our new article, "Alternative Archives: Researching Politics with Chunks of Reality".
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @luciavitale.bsky.social @henrymclaughlin.bsky.social @mrshoward.bsky.social
#SAGE
Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @luciavitale.bsky.social @henrymclaughlin.bsky.social @mrshoward.bsky.social
#SAGE
Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
tinyurl.com
November 23, 2024 at 8:24 PM
1/4. Excited to share our new article, "Alternative Archives: Researching Politics with Chunks of Reality".
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @luciavitale.bsky.social @henrymclaughlin.bsky.social @mrshoward.bsky.social
#SAGE
Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @luciavitale.bsky.social @henrymclaughlin.bsky.social @mrshoward.bsky.social
#SAGE
Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
New open access article on generating insights from social science research failures. Written by myself and several excellent colleagues at UCSC. Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Alternative archives: Researching politics with chunks of reality - Sarah Cheikhali, Ingy Higazy, Mark Howard, Henry McLaughlin, Gabriela Segura-Ballar, Matthew Sparke, Lucia Vitale, 2024
The challenges and opportunities of accessing empirical material present a puzzle insofar as they index simultaneously the politics of research archives and the...
journals.sagepub.com
November 21, 2024 at 5:09 PM
New open access article on generating insights from social science research failures. Written by myself and several excellent colleagues at UCSC. Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Axios reporting a second order boom in nuclear fusion tech investment to support the AI acceleration. No Roko’s basilisk for these VCs. Skynet thanks you.
November 21, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Axios reporting a second order boom in nuclear fusion tech investment to support the AI acceleration. No Roko’s basilisk for these VCs. Skynet thanks you.
Reposted by Mark Howard
We tried to warn. And yet the press “fact checked” anyone who dared to say Trump was going to implement Project 2025—because he said he wouldn’t.
Insane.
Insane.
November 21, 2024 at 3:16 AM
We tried to warn. And yet the press “fact checked” anyone who dared to say Trump was going to implement Project 2025—because he said he wouldn’t.
Insane.
Insane.
Reposted by Mark Howard
Silicon Valley is seizing the levers of power, but we’re here to help you chart a course through the madness.
I’m thrilled to announce SYSTEM CRASH, a new podcast I’ll be cohosting with my pal @bcmerchant.bsky.social.
Join us as we dissect the tech dystopia. Starts Friday!
I’m thrilled to announce SYSTEM CRASH, a new podcast I’ll be cohosting with my pal @bcmerchant.bsky.social.
Join us as we dissect the tech dystopia. Starts Friday!
November 19, 2024 at 6:57 PM
Silicon Valley is seizing the levers of power, but we’re here to help you chart a course through the madness.
I’m thrilled to announce SYSTEM CRASH, a new podcast I’ll be cohosting with my pal @bcmerchant.bsky.social.
Join us as we dissect the tech dystopia. Starts Friday!
I’m thrilled to announce SYSTEM CRASH, a new podcast I’ll be cohosting with my pal @bcmerchant.bsky.social.
Join us as we dissect the tech dystopia. Starts Friday!
Reposted by Mark Howard
Myself and @garethbryant.bsky.social have been editing the blog @ppesydney.bsky.social for 10 years now addressing the worldliness of critical political economy issues. So here's a thread celebrating its practical and theoretical diversity #HappyBirthdayPPE
www.ppesydney.net
www.ppesydney.net
Home - Progress in Political Economy (PPE)
Latest Blog Posts / Events Tags:AllaffectAgnes Helleragrarian questionAIPENAlfredo Saad-Filhoanarchismanimal welfareanti-capitalismanti-politicsAntonio GramsciArab SpringarchitectureArgentinaartAsiaas...
www.ppesydney.net
November 19, 2024 at 1:03 AM
Myself and @garethbryant.bsky.social have been editing the blog @ppesydney.bsky.social for 10 years now addressing the worldliness of critical political economy issues. So here's a thread celebrating its practical and theoretical diversity #HappyBirthdayPPE
www.ppesydney.net
www.ppesydney.net