Silicon Valley Now Rewards 'Agency' Over Technical Chops
Harper's profiles a new breed of tech founders where hustle and boldness matter more than coding ability.
A deep Harper's feature by Sam Kriss profiles the rise of hyper-"agentic" young men in Silicon Valley — founders like Cluely co-founder Chungin "Roy" Lee and Donald Boat who embody a shift in what the tech world values most.
The thesis is stark: agency — raw initiative, audacity, willingness to move fast and break things personally — is overtaking pure technical skill as the currency of power in tech.
Cluely and Lee were deliberately controversial, courting attention as a strategy rather than a liability. The piece paints a portrait of a new generation that treats provocation as product-market fit.
It's a cultural inflection point. The builders who rise now aren't necessarily the best engineers. They're the ones who act first, ship fast, and worry about consequences later. Technical depth is table stakes. Sheer force of will is the differentiator.