The myth of the entrepreneur is so popular because it aligns with core American values. Orvis Collins and David Moore write that the entrepreneur is a "heroic figure in American folklore akin perhaps, to Davy Crockett and other truly indigenous epic types—stalwartindependents who hewed forests, climbed over the mountains, built new communities, rose from nothing to something, and did all the things American heroes must have done to build a great nation." American culture places a high value on the "self-made man" and the rags-to-riches story of Horatio Alger, both of which are still remarkably persistent tropes in popular discourse and business writing. The image of the successful high-tech entrepreneur is surprisingly similar across twenty-five years of technology development: young, rich, famous, intrinsically risk-taking, innovative, and intelligent. This image has deep implications for the way the technology industry functions, particularly when it comes to gender.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 682