Are there any good tech companies where your surplus value isn't stolen, and the fate of the company isn't in the hands of a few rich owners and VCs?
Are there any good tech companies where your surplus value isn't stolen, and the fate of the company isn't in the hands of a few rich owners and VCs?
I don't know any successful ones yet.
I think the fast-growth startup model popularized by Silicon Valley has a lot of potential as a way to bring power to workers though. The way folks like Paul Graham managed to convince everyone that VC funding was the default structure for a field with practically no capital costs was a real coup for the capital class.
If you're looking to start your own, I'd recommend building specialist tooling software for underserved professions. Chip design software stands out to me as an example of something economically active where nobody can stand their tools, but if you know something further from tech that'd be a better choice. This sort of thing is invisible to VC because nobody has built a huge tooling company since the 90s, it's reasonable to bootstrap (which you'll have to do with no VC money), and it builds its own growth market since you're actually helping your target market become relevant.