three weeks ago, y combinator president sam altman explained in the accelerator<u+2019>s blog that his unusual step of endorsing hillary clinton came in large part because he viewed a donald trump presidency as an <u+201c>unprecedented threat<u+201d> to the economy and innovation. like the many other tech and venture-capital leaders who bet on mrs. clinton, mr. altman<u+2019>s worst fears took hold, creating a sense of dread that, at least for one dark night, overshadowed the usual entrepreneurial optimism that has long been a hallmark of silicon valley<u+2019>s forward thinkers. <u+201c>this feels like the worst thing to happen in my life,<u+201d> mr. altman tweeted even when the election returns were still too close to call. <u+201c>i assume we<u+2019>ll get through it, but it sure doesn<u+2019>t feel that way right now.<u+201d> paul graham, a founder of y combinator, based in mountain view, calif., mixed anxiety with a determined rally cry that was being heard in many pro-clinton quarters as mr. trump picked up state after state in the early going. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m scared,<u+201d> mr. graham said. <u+201c>but we can<u+2019>t give up. the challenge has just switched from preventing a trump presidency to mitigating its effects.<u+201d> iranian-born entrepreneur shervin pishevar, now a u.s. citizen who is co-founder and managing director of san francisco-based sherpa capital, said in a tweet that he intends to back <u+201c>a legitimate<u+201d> movement for california to secede from the u.s., assuming a trump victory. peter thiel, one of the only prominent silicon valley executives to back mr. trump, congratulated the president-elect. <u+201c>he has an awesomely difficult task, since it is long past time for us to face up to our country<u+2019>s problems,<u+201d> mr. thiel said in a statement. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re going to need all hands on deck.<u+201d> several venture investors who opposed mr. trump moved quickly to digest lessons learned about america<u+2019>s divided electorate. <u+201c>trump<u+2019>s victory shows that we<u+2019>ve failed much of our country on the promise of the american dream,<u+201d> said ben parr, a partner at dominatefund who also serves as chief marketing officer of chat-bot specialist octane ai. <u+201c>we didn<u+2019>t understand their pain, and now the entire country will suffer because of it.<u+201d> matt murphy, managing director at menlo ventures in menlo park, calif., expressed shock and viewed the results as a <u+201c>wake-up call<u+201d> for the nation about the political establishment<u+2019>s standing. but he and others talked about mr. trump being pro-business. mr. murphy also voiced a ringing vote of confidence in the power of american commerce, particularly venture-backed enterprise, to overcome social and political shocks. <u+201c>the main pillars driving innovation<u+2014>great entrepreneurs, mobile, cloud, ai<u+2014>are in place and transcend political parties,<u+201d> mr. murphy said. <u+201c>we are lucky to be part of a strong and resilient country with an unparalleled ability to innovate. that is our truth and it will remain the truth tomorrow and the days after.<u+201d> <u+2014>tomio geron, patience haggin and rolfe winkler contributed reporting. write to alexander davis at alec.davis@wsj.com
stunned venture investors seek reboot as clinton falls - wsj
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