--- title: Being Gay in Silicon Valley Affected My Career description: "It’s impossible to talk authentically about my startup journey without talking about my queer journey. These two are intrinsically linked." canonical: https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-27T13:00:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:53:43.175Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Being Gay Affected My Career Path in Silicon Valley og:description: "It’s impossible to talk about my startup journey without my queer journey." og:url: https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd89727b60642708e/69889abd196cf44bd503c4a7/gettyimages-147470005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4256 og:image:height: 2394 og:image:alt: A participants holds a rainbow flag duri og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Being Gay Affected My Career Path in Silicon Valley twitter:description: "It’s impossible to talk about my startup journey without my queer journey." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd89727b60642708e/69889abd196cf44bd503c4a7/gettyimages-147470005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Being Gay Affected My Career Path in Silicon Valley > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=9b628767-006f-4232-a45b-bc3d0ea2189e&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Matthew Cooper / Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Matthew Cooper / Quora Jan 27, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  A participants holds a rainbow flag during the gay and lesbian pride parade in the center of Madrid on June 30, 2012 A participants holds a rainbow flag during the gay and lesbian pride parade in the center of Madrid on June 30, 2012 Pedro Armestre—AFP/Getty Images by [Matthew Cooper / Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Matthew Cooper / Quora Jan 27, 2017 1:00 PM UTC _Answer by_ [_Matthew Cooper_](https://www.quora.com/profile/Matthew-Cooper-82)_, Co-Founder of EarnUp, on_ [_Quora_](http://www.quora.com)_._ Being openly gay has greatly affected my career choices and how I became an entrepreneur. It’s impossible to talk authentically about my startup journey without talking about my queer journey. The two are intrinsically linked. I came out to my family at 26, the same year I started thinking about EarnUp. In many ways coming out gave me the strength to jump head first to starting EarnUp and taking on the entrepreneur role. The energy to create and explore in my professional life emerged at the same time as my personal life. **_Related from Quora:_** [_How do decisive people think?_](https://www.quora.com/How-do-decisive-people-think/answer/Auren-Hoffman) And although I am very privileged to be able to be in a society where I can stand out and proud, being gay deeply shook my self-confidence growing up, and it still does at times today. This has in many ways made me hyper-aware to other communities facing different forms of injustices. It has driven my career path and my ultimate decision to pursue EarnUp. The financial industry is wrought with various forms of injustices on a socioeconomic level, and this is an area I’ve witnessed first-hand. My parents are struggling under massive amounts of debt heading into retirement; my friends and myself have dealt with the pain of student loans. And across the country, millions of low-income and minority communities suffer from an economic system that is stacked against them. These are the things that push me to make sure EarnUp is successful and truly helping the average American. **_Related from Quora:_** [_What are your tricks to start a conversation with a stranger?_](https://www.quora.com/What-are-your-tricks-to-start-a-conversation-with-a-stranger/answer/Nelson-Wang-2) On a personal level, I feel a deep humility and responsibility to be as visible as possible given the lack of LGBT founders today. Writing openly about my experience in forums like the [Advocate](http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/12/07/how-come-out-and-start-business) and working with organizations like [StartOut](https://startout.org/success%5Fstories/matthew-cooper-transforming-consumer-loan-payment-experience/) are small ways to giving back—and hopefully will give others the courage to be their authentic self without fear of discrimination. _This_ [_question_](https://www.quora.com/How-has-being-openly-gay-affected-your-career-path-in-Silicon-Valley/answer/Matthew-Cooper-82) _originally appeared on_ [_Quora:_](http://www.quora.com) _How has being openly gay affected your career path in Silicon Valley?_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/"},"headline":"How Being Gay Affected My Career Path in Silicon Valley","datePublished":"2017-01-27T13:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:53:43.175Z","description":"\"I feel a deep humility and responsibility to be as visible as possible given the lack of LGBT founders today\"","url":"https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/","keywords":["LGBT","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd89727b60642708e/69889abd196cf44bd503c4a7/gettyimages-147470005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew Cooper / Quora"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd89727b60642708e/69889abd196cf44bd503c4a7/gettyimages-147470005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A participants holds a rainbow flag duri","caption":"A participants holds a rainbow flag duri","creditText":"Pedro Armestre—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4643811/silicon-valley-career-path-gay/","name":"How Being Gay Affected My Career Path in Silicon Valley"}}]}] ```