Scott Hartley - The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World

While Silicon Valley is generally considered a “techie" stronghold, the founders of companies like Airbnb, Pinterest, Slack, LinkedIn, PayPal, Stitch Fix, Reddit, and others are all "fuzzies"— people with backgrounds in the Arts and Humanities.

In his thoughtfully counterintuitive book, Scott Hartley explores the vital role of liberal arts in humanizing our technology, shattering assumptions about business and education today. Learning to code is not enough; the soft skills—curiosity, communication, and collaboration, along with an understanding of psychology and society’s gravest problems—are central to why technology has value. Well-rounded people are the instrumental stewards of robots, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning; offering a human touch that is of critical importance in our technology-led world. A new generation of entrepreneurs, those who are both fuzzy-and-techie, is fast emerging, and will be the center of our future economy.

For anyone doubting whether a well-rounded liberal arts education is practical in today’s world, Mr. Hartley’s discussion offers inspiring insights.

Biography

Scott Hartley, author of The Fuzzy and the Techie, is co-founder and partner at The Fund and Two Culture Capital where’s he has invested in over 75 startups. A former partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, Mr. Hartley has served as Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House and worked at Google, Facebook, and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He earned a BA in Political Science from Stanford University and an MA and MBA from Columbia University. Scott is a Palo Alto native, having attended Nixon Elementary, Jordan Middle School, and Palo Alto High School.

Additional Information

Audience: Grade 6 - 12 parents, caretakers, teachers, and counselors
Admission: Free