LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, Silicon Valley’s biggest democrat supporter says: There’s a problem with Blue states and they need to … |

LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman admitted that his own party “really did alienate” parts of Silicon Valley, driving tech leaders toward Donald Trump through attacks on cryptocurrency and Big Tech companies.Speaking on Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale’s “American Optimist” podcast, Hoffman acknowledged that Democratic policies created an environment where tech innovators began viewing the party as hostile to technological progress and business growth.

Blue states fall behind Red states in innovation-friendly policies

Hoffman expressed particular frustration with California’s regulatory environment, despite the state being the birthplace of the tech industry. He cited Aurora Innovation, an autonomous trucking company backed by his Greylock Partners, as a prime example of regulatory dysfunction.While Aurora is headquartered in California, the company successfully tested its first driverless commercial truck in Texas due to more favourable regulations. “Where are we driving our first heavy-duty trucks? Texas, of course,” Hoffman said, highlighting the regulatory contrast between blue and red states.

Tech titans abandon Democrats over anti-innovation perception

The billionaire investor, who spent heavily supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, watched former allies including Elon Musk shift their support to Trump. He attributed this exodus partly to Democrats being perceived as wanting to “snuff out innovation.”Hoffman emphasised that Silicon Valley’s core belief centers on creating “scale technologies” through companies to drive human progress. When political leaders attack or limit that process, he argued, “you have all kinds of problems.”He now recommends Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book “Abundance” to colleagues, noting that while written from a progressive perspective, it clearly demonstrates areas where Republican-led states outperform Democratic ones in policy innovation.“There are a bunch of things that red states are doing better than blue states, and we should learn from them,” Hoffman concluded, calling for Democratic leaders to adopt more business-friendly approaches to maintain technological leadership.