“Young Guns” form secret Silicon Valley society

November 8, 2006 | Matt Marshall | Comments | |

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That’s what Rolling Stone wants you to believe, in its latest edition. In a story called “Baby Billionaires of Silicon Valley,” Rolling Stone catches up with a group nine entrepreneurs who get together to strategize. This is another hype job, since none of these people are billionaires. (Update: Blake Ross, in comment below, says this is no secret society, and headline is wrong.)

From the piece:

That’s why they’ve gathered here tonight. This is one of the first meetings of a secret society they formed and jokingly called the Young Guns; a more apt moniker might be the Valley Brats. It’s an invite-only cabal of the most powerful under-thirty-year-old mavericks in town. Every few weeks they gather to drink, plot global domination, make friends and, mainly, just act their age. “We got sick of hanging out with older guys,” says the Brats’ gregarious founder, Rob Pazornik, twenty-six-year-old creator of an online shopping startup called LicketyShip. “All they talk about is mortgages and nannies. It’s like hanging out with your dad’s friends.”

Featured in the cover photo, from left to right: Blake Ross (formerly Firefox, now Parakey), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Matt Sanchez (VideoEgg), Robert Pazornik (LicketyShip), Seth Sternberg (Meebo), Todd Masonis (Plaxo). Also featured are Chad Hurley & Steve Chen (YouTube), and Bram Cohen (BitTorrent).

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About the Author, Matt Marshall

Matt Marshall is editor and CEO of VentureBeat. Follow him on Twitter at @mmarshall, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • guy
    The author forgot to include Lewis, Gilbert and Poindexter. I think their 'meeting' really took place in the library or computer lab.

    in all seriousness, what is the point of this article? this author must be a hater from the bible belt because this is nothing new.....networking get togethers have been a part of the valley culture for decades. jesus christos, there are frickin companies built around these 'meetings'!!!

    i just noticed lickityship is taking a queue from Zuckerberg by stroking rob and kent on the footer of everypage. is that the secret handshake?
  • Ring Sting
    another sign of the bubble.
  • johnrob
    Um... I think this caption says it all:
    YouTube's Steven Chen (left) and Chad Hurley joined the billionaires' club just a year after they sold their company to Google for $1.65 billion.
    That is, TWO people, 1.65 billion. Do some math.
  • There's nothing secret about this "society"; we're just a few guys who get together occasionally to shoot the breeze. The headline is indeed wrong, but we didn't write it, nor were we privy to it. (Wary of another $60M BusinessWeek debacle, I even asked for a preview--and was denied.)
  • MD
    Blake, you seem like a level-headed guy...the article notwithstanding, the next time you get together you might want to suggest that your buds tone down the whole "internet - the place where kids rule!" vibe. I think it's great you're all up to cool and interesting things, but adults do business, kids play games...and if any of you want to realize any real money (let alone billions) you're going to have to deal with adults at some point.
  • Billionaires, You cant visit with them .They put up
    barriers , You can write to them they will have one of
    there people write back say Good luck , we get so much mail . They can live there life while other people
    around the world live in boxes and people starving for food , while meny thoe give to great causes . and great way to save on taxes , Ive have not known a billionaire , Billionaire is a word that says wealth .
    Im reaching out to them . Nothing . I have brand FUTURE pend for a world to help all people and countries see..Im fighting a Global battle Brand FUTURE Media is a cover up so far and the uspto On my web page
    Kent G Anderson
    www.futurevisionaries.com
    home -701-223-0639