I Was a V.C. Partner. We Can’t Let Silicon Valley Buy Democracy.

Mr. O’Farrell is a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.

I first came to America from Ireland in 1984, as a young engineer about to attend business school. I chose Stanford University — partly for the weather and natural beauty, but more for the electrifying entrepreneurial spirit coursing through Silicon Valley. I was riveted by Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl ad — an athlete hurls a sledgehammer into Big Brother’s screen, shattering IBM’s grip on computing. More than an advertisement, it was a manifesto that technology could dismantle power.

Over the past 40 years, I’ve been privileged to play a leading........

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