I’m American, I voted, and I believe in democracy.

When I came to this country, more than a decade ago, I was full of enthusiasm and hope. Not only was it the promised land, the Silicon Valley was the only place for me. It was the place for the misfits. At that time, I had nothing but some weird ideas, a half broken prototype, some rebellious tendencies, and an undeniable will to make the world a better place.

It took me a while to realise that despite my passion for France, in many ways, I became American. I don’t kid myself: I wouldn’t have the life I have today without the US. And I’ve spent my entire career here. Everything I know about technology, video games, and also companies in general, is thanks to this place. That’s why, I decided to become a citizen about a year ago. It was a beautiful and emotional moment. It was the materialisation of the American dream.

And now, I’m facing the most important decision as a new citizen. I’m being trusted with such an enormous power. I don’t take it for granted. I’m grateful for such a privilege. And that’s why I want to do everything I can to defend what I believe. That’s why I’m committed to defending these ideals that make this nation extraordinary.

I’ve always considered that we shouldn’t be judged by what we didn’t decide. I didn’t choose to be born where I was born, nor I decided where I grew up. I didn’t even pick my name. But I choose where I live, where I work, what I do, what I say or write. I pick my principles and it is my choice to respect or to change them.

I choose to be a good person. I want to be a better man.

In a few days, no matter what are the results, people will know where I stand. And I want to make extremely clear: I’d rather be poor than be bad. I’d rather be a loser than be a coward. And more importantly, I’ve done my duty as a proud American.

I’ve never had so much anxiety about politics until recently. And with only a few days left, my anxiety is reaching its peak. I’m worried. I’m afraid. I’m sad. But I’m not going down quietly.

Too often, we focus on what to change and we adore discussing potentials. But we forget to look at what’s present, what’s real. As a VC, I know that quite well. We are the first culprits of being squirrils and chasing the next big things. And as a hacker, the adage of move fast and break things still resonates well with me. But now, unlike when I was in my early 20s, I also have enough wisdom to understand that it is equally important, maybe even more so, to recognise what’s good already and protect them. There is so much goodness in the US. I don’t think it is worth it to break everything. Innovation doesn’t need to be born from ruins.

No matter what happens next, I’m grateful. During this period, I’ve learnt a lot about myself and I’ve concretised some of my views on different subjects. I validated some and I’ve pivoted from some others. I’m now even more open to the idea that I might change again.

And for now, these are my views that drove me to my decision:

On money.

Money doesn’t make anyone good nor bad. It doesn’t make anyone happy nor sad. It is a multiplier. If you are a happy person, with more money, you will be happier. And if you are a good person, with more money, you can bring even more good to the world. But if you are sad, or bad, it also multiplies. I’ve always believed that and it never changed.
What has changed though is my view on how money could change people. These elections showed me for the first time the danger of billionaires. I never fully understood that before. Call me naïve. Sure, I’ve heard stories of the Russian Oligarchs but I never took them too seriously; they were like some sort of futile, distant rumours. But now, I see the consequences of extreme cumulation of wealth with my own eyes. When you have so much more than anyone on the planet, you essentially don’t live in the same world. It is similar to VC funds that raise billions of dollars and don’t want to invest $200k in a great project, because even if it returns 10x, it doesn’t move the needle. It is the same idea as Activision killing their indie publishing, despite it doing pretty well, because everything looks small compared to CoD.
If you are literally one of the richest people on the planet, what is good for you is probably very different from what’s good for the rest of the world. This is why when the people in charge are completely disconnected from everyone’s reality, and are given so much power, things become dangerous. Billionaires don’t have our best interests at heart. Not because they are necessarily bad but because they aren’t affected the same way. Because they don’t live in the same world as the rest of us.

On minority.

I’m in favour of meritocracy. I’m for competition. And I’m probably what people would consider an elitist in many ways. My obsessive personality naturally drives me to do the best and look for the best. And very often, I tend to care too much about the best.
But to find the best, we have to set the right set of rules. We can only determine the best when everyone is given an equal chance to compete. And that is the hard part. I don’t know what’s the best solution. I still haven’t found the perfect way to organise such a fair competition. But not having something better to offer doesn’t mean I should destroy what is in place. To be honest, I was against anything related to the idea of giving an advantage to a certain population. Until I realised that the foundation of our democracy in this country is based on such a practice. One of the reasons the electoral college was created was to balance the power between large and small states. And if we are comfortable with the idea that someone in Wyoming has relatively much more power than someone in California, why should we not be comfortable with the idea of giving to other under-represented groups relatively more power on other topics? If I don’t know how to organise a fair fight, at least I can be coherent.

On freedom.

No one likes freedom more than Americans. Or at least no one likes to talk, sing, rap, and scream about how much they like freedom more than we do. But what does it mean? For me, it is a privilege that I only started to truly understand after so many years. I’m not just talking about the obvious things like being able to start a company or being able to say or write what you want. There is something even stronger, deeper, and more beautiful in a way: the freedom to be who you want to be. As I wrote in the beginning, there are so many things I didn’t choose. And I’m probably also still extremely influenced by those things.
But I choose who I want to be. And I think anyone should be able to do so. Sure, I find many things confusing. I don’t really know whether gender is a social construct or not. Maybe? And yes, I’m probably still confusing sex and gender. I don’t know whether we are born hetero or gay. I also have trouble changing my vocabulary. And with age, it’s probably not gonna be any easier to adapt. But my confusion, my ignorance, and my inability to adapt to a living, and growing, and evolving society should not prevent someone else from being who they want to be. And clearly no one should decide on anyone else’s body.

On strength.

I grew up fighting all the time. It was so important to me to show that I wasn’t weak. In the locker room, at school, or even in the street. At some point, it was caricatural how I would always do the opposite of whatever anyone else does, so I could force some sort of argument just to show that I’m not afraid of a fight.
Then, when I was in high school, one of my best friends made me read The adventure of Dai. I barely remember the manga but I remember that one character: Popp. I absolutely detested this character initially. A typical coward. Always afraid. Always the last in training. So weak. The guy couldn’t even fight against some level 1 minions. So useless. And he was part of this group where everyone else was so impressive and talented and brave and smart and great. To make it even worse, Popp was envious of his leader, Dai! Popp was everything I hated.
Then, later in the manga, the group was facing that demon. The only way to defeat it is that everyone becomes a true hero. So, they go through some sort of intense trainings. And again, the worst was Popp who can barely do anything. In the end, there was that ceremony to decide who’s gonna be a true hero. But they really needed everyone to become a true hero to even have a chance to win. The ceremony started and one after another was given the title of true hero. For all of them, it was quite obvious: “A hero is one with Justice”, “a hero is one with Kindness”, “a hero is one with Honour”, “a hero is one with Wisdom”… and then, Popp.
I remember asking myself what will happen. Popp was so afraid of screwing the entire ceremony because no one could think of anything heroic about him. Not even himself. So useless. And then: “a hero is one with Courage”. I was so shocked when I read that as a kid. Those pages changed me forever. Because I started to realise that despite being physically weak, Popp still went through all those exercises. Despite being afraid, he always came back for his friends. Despite his insecurities, he’s always helped Dai. I understood that day that being a bully doesn’t make a person strong. Randomly hitting, insulting, or being loud aren’t signs of strength. It is when the stakes are high, and when we are the most vulnerable, and when we are scared, and when things are difficult that we show our true strength.

On decency.

My father once told me that one of the main responsibilities of the President is to represent its people. Growing up in France, I’ve always seen the US as a cool place. Everything from the US was cool. Nike, Coke, McDonald’s, Die Hard, Jordan, Star Wars, Eminem, Dr Dre, Apple, The Matrix, Obama… and then, suddenly, without realising it, it started to change. Now I’m American, I want my country to be cool. I want the next generations to grow up with the same fascination and attraction to this place that I had. I want someone who represents us in the best way possible to the world. Sure, it’s gonna be hard to have the same aura, the same charisma, the same swag as President Obama. It’s once in a generation probably.
But at least, at the very least, we can be decent. Before being cool again, we should be decent again.
I often disagree with people on many counts. But there is a way to converse, there is a way to behave, there is a way to conduct a party that is respectful. We can be direct without being vulgar. We can be critical without being cynical. We can be practical without cheating. We can disagree and still be courteous. And we can win with decency.

On democracy.

This is the hardest one for me. I have to admit that for many years, I’ve changed my opinion back and forth on this topic a lot. Especially recently when I observed what happened with the Brexit, the European elections, and now, with the US elections. I really started to question whether the system is solid enough. Some even tried to persuade me that maybe, just maybe, when things aren’t so well, we could try tyranny. Because the people cannot decide what’s right for themselves. So, we have to help them. One of the most obvious things some would say to defend this suggestion is that democracy only works when people are educated enough. Or smart enough. And mass is just not smart enough. That people don’t know what’s good for them because they aren’t educated enough. Movies like Idiocracy reinforce such an assumption. But what does it really mean? And is it true in practice? Because right now, some of the most educated and smartest people in this country are voting for a party that is against some of the most basic principles of that democracy they all pretend to defend. They are voting for a party that is trying to destroy the very fabric of our current society. So, I doubt that the answer is as easy as “people have to be smarter”. What if people are smart enough? What if people know exactly what they want? What if people can govern themselves?
The essence of democracy is that everyone is equal. More specifically that people can decide for themselves. This is an extremely powerful idea because it is much easier to believe the opposite. The true beauty of democracy is the idea of emancipation. The idea that no one needs a master. The idea that no one needs someone else to choose what is right for them. Jacques Rancière gave the most elegant definition of democracy I’ve read in years: “the democratic principle is the affirmation of the power of human beings without any particular qualities, without any particular title, to govern. Not the birth, not the wealth, and not even the knowledge”.

No, I don’t understand how can anyone vote for Trump after all the things he’s said and done.

No, I don’t understand how this could even be such a tight race.

But I care about democracy. I believe in democracy.

So, yes, I have to accept it if the other party wins in a democratic election.

What can I do?
I voted for Kamala Harris.

And now, just like Ryan told me last week: “it’s ok. Trust the system, trust the process.”