Use the term “tech bro” and most people develop an impression of a very specific type of man in their mind.
“Tech bro” or “brogrammer” is slang for individuals working in the technology industry who perceive themselves as hyper masculine—usually adhering to outdated stereotypes—but who rarely match their self-perception.
When Cambridge Dictionary added the term to their tome, their lexicographers wrote:
“Tech bro: someone, usually a man, who works in the digital technology industry, especially in the United States, and is sometimes thought to not have good social skills and to be too confident about their own ability.”
Part of thev jjjjtonech bro archetype is exaggeration or outright lying about themselves to better match the persona they’re trying to project to their brogrammers.
A person well acquainted with a tech bro turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for feedback after exposing one of the brogrammer’s online lies.
DevelopmentAfraid733 asked:
“AITA for calling out my friend who pretends he dropped out of our Ivy League university?”
The original poster (OP) explained:
“My friend (22, male) is a rising star in the startup world. He raised a significant round of venture capital money and has gone viral several times for his tech.”
“He has also amassed a whole following of wannabe tech bros on LinkedIn and other spaces who admire him. The problem is, him and his co-founder are both lying, calling themselves Ivy League dropouts, when they actually graduated.”
“They’re bragging about how they didn’t need college to succeed, comparing themselves to Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and influencing younger kids to drop out of school.”
“In reality, they built their startup on the back on our school’s generous resources. All of their early financial support and access to tech has come from our school’s startup incubator and tech labs.”
“And they did graduate. I walked across the stage with them in May and watched them get their diplomas.”
“But now they’re online bragging about how they’re Ivy League dropouts because they took a semester off two years ago to focus on their startup. So I called them out on social media and said my friend is lying to his fans and promoting anti-education nonsense, when he actually built his whole startup off our college’s resources.”
“He was actually a low-income student on full financial aid. Our university paid for all his tuition and living expenses and helped him build his startup, and now he’s telling other low-income kids they don’t need college and bragging about how he’s a drop out.”
“He’s not even the only startup founder I personally know pretending to be a college drop out on social media.”
“That ignited a whole social media sh*t storm of people arguing on my friend’s page, and he’s since been saying I’m just jealous of him and that it is inconsequential whether he dropped out or not.”
“AITA?”
The OP summed up their situation.
“I might be the a**hole because I exposed him unnecessarily to all his fans online.”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Reddituors decided the OP was not the asshole (NTA).
“NTA. I would dunk all over them. Especially if they are leading others to drop out.” ~ wy100101
“Bro is pulling up the ladder.” ~ Hejdbejbw
“Exactly — nothing screams privilege like cosplaying struggle while conveniently forgetting the free incubators, labs, alumni connections, and brand name that opened every single door for them. They didn’t beat the system, they milked it and now want to pretend they did it all solo.”
“They flash the Ivy name when it benefits them with investors, then play the scrappy dropout card for clout online. It’s not genius—it’s just brand manipulation dressed up as hustle.” ~ Shoddy_Ad_2394
“I would also bet money that they told their venture capital funders that they graduated from that Ivy League school. They’re playing both sides here, reaping all of the benefits of the name recognition and prestige from their school while also building a fanbase claiming that the fancy degree isn’t necessary.”
“Rich, privileged a**holes building empires off of their privilege while still publicly projecting a persona of relatability to everyday people is one of the greatest plagues of modern society.”
“And this particular brand of elitism wrapped in populism is clearly effective (though I will decline from naming any names).” ~ Wynfleue
“I truly will never understand why people do this. Like, the reason my partner and I are alive today, let alone thriving and able to pursue success, is because of the generosity and support of family, friends, and community.”
“A friend let us stay in her spare room for a month so we wouldn’t be homeless. My dad helps out when my food stamps and SSI are not enough to cover allergen-safe food.”
“Our respective teams of medical professionals helped with diagnoses and treatment to the point that we have some functionality and quality of life. And so on.”
“We’ve struggled, sure, but even if I can graduate from online school and get a job like I hope, I can’t imagine ever seeing myself as ‘self-made’ rather than ‘community-made’, even working as hard as I can.”
“It’s something to be celebrated, actually! Thriving due to genuine and deep personal connections that mean you’re deeply aware of and woven into the vast interconnected web of life and community? That’s a lovely feeling!”
“I don’t know, maybe they just haven’t experienced that, and treat the help they’ve received as purely transactional. If that’s the case though, I feel sorry for them.”
“Unless you’re one of the more rare cases of a person who genuinely can thrive alone (which to those people, valid and more power to them) it’s just… sad that they’re missing out on that.” ~ medicalpurposesonly
“Right, it’s rewriting the story to make themselves look more heroic than they really are.” ~ AltruisticRegular219
“I have no idea what it’s like to have that kind of privilege, maybe that’s my privilege. These guys need to be called out, NTA.” ~ Obvious-Arrival2571
“NTA. Shoot, if you’re feeling extra petty, find the graduation video of that year and post it with a timestamp. If it didn’t matter whether he graduated or not, then he wouldn’t be spewing how he’s a dropout in the first place.” ~ At0mic1impact
“NTA. They lied. They deserve whatever happens.”
“I can’t believe we’re in a time where saying you dropped out of any Ivy is considered more credible or cooler or has more cache than saying you’re a grad of an Ivy. Wild!”
“It’s one thing to lie, but another to encourage people to also drop out, when they actually graduated. Way to f-up other kids’ lives.”
“I would leak it to journals in the tech space and contact the VCs directly, so they know who they’re going into business with.” ~ archetyping101
“99% of tech-rich guys lie about how they got a substantial amount of startup cash from family members, usually their parents. Expose all these liars.”
“Let young dreamers know they need a name-brand degree and at least high five figures if not six or more as a ‘gift’ from the Bank of Parents to succeed, and also that most of them did not do the actual grunt work themselves, they mostly provided the money, not the ideas.”
“NTA. Tell the truth.” ~ shelwood46
“NTA. This lie is not inconsequential, it’s part of the global move to anti-intellectualism that is causing huge damage right now.”
“It is important to note that his success was based on university education and funding, in a year where university funding is being hugely slashed for sh*ts and giggles.”
“This a**hole is part of a larger trend that is majorly hurting science and innovation in the US.” ~ arsenal_kate
“NTA – They’re just trying to capture that image of being an Ivy League dropout, like you said.”
“Sooner or later, that truth will come out. I feel like perhaps you’re doing them a favor by getting it out now and not down the road. Also, this sh*t is so easily verifiable, why lie about it?” ~ danielstover
“His lie is worse, because universities and the good they do for society are a net benefit for the country and the world, and running them down as unnecessary and parasitic makes society worse.” ~ Middle_Raspberry2499
“NTA. Most success stories are always like this, fabricated and a far stretch from the truth. This in return gives people false hope or assumptions.” ~ Sshank96
“NTA Did they really expect to keep up this facade in a world where everything is recorded?” ~ Flynn_JM
“Tech bros usually think they’re much smarter and cleverer than they actually are.” ~ No_Consideration8800
“NTA. I mean…you didn’t really need to stick your nose in it; if they get even remotely in the range of early Zuckerberg or Gates, they’ll get caught out by people whose job it is to fact-check stuff.”
“Investor due diligence, press, etc… If they didn’t get called out by someone else first.”
“That said, if it’s ‘inconsequential’ then why did he lie about it in the first place? It’s because it’s not inconsequential, it contributes to essentially a brand mythology that he’s trying to get people to invest money in.”
“Of course it’s consequential, and he knows it, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it.”
“And if he doesn’t wanna get called out for lying on the internet, he shouldn’t lie on the internet, especially while trying to drum up attention to become a tech megastar.” ~ oliviamrow
The best way to not get caught in a lie, is to not lie.