“Many of the Silicon Valley companies whose ransom has been soaring recently have something in common that their CEO has worked for Falantier. Falantier is establishing itself as a Silicon Valley start-up military academy.” (Wall Street Journal)
The “Palantir Mafia” is drawing attention as a series of successful cases of founders from Palantir, an artificial intelligence (AI) software company that helps customers make decisions based on big data. Analysts say that founders from Palantir, like the “Paypal Mafia,” which dominated Silicon Valley in the past, are creating a new power landscape with a strong network as a weapon.
Fallontier is a Silicon Valley-based data analysis AI company co-founded by Peter Till in May 2003. Unlike other companies that focused on the private market, Palantir was called a “heretic in Silicon Valley” with the U.S. military and intelligence agencies as its main customers. Since then, it has grown rapidly by expanding its scope not only to the government and defense but also to the private sector, and its stock price has jumped more than five times in the past year. In the course of their growth, many engineers and executives left the company to start businesses, and they began to be called the Palantir Mafia. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), more than 350 companies are founded or led by Falantier, and at least 12 of them have grown into unicorn companies with an enterprise value of more than $1 billion. Many analysts say that their power comes from the unique culture of Fallonteer. For example, ‘forward deployment (dispatch) engineering’ is cited. It is not just a method of writing code in front of a desk, but a method of directly solving problems by putting an engineer at the customer site. In the process, those who gained know-how participated in the start-up process. Robo Resiva, who was head of the Palantir investment division from 2014 to 2016, said, “Palantir engineers fall into extreme areas such as the middle of the Middle East desert with just one computer. Nevertheless, we show our ability to meet the needs of our customers,” he said.
Barry McCardell traveled to Alaska and Scotland during his time at Fallonteer, where he was in charge of global oil well monitoring projects for British oil company BP. Based on this experience, he founded Hex Technologies, a data analysis start-up, and early members also gathered through the alumni network. Nick Noon founded Peregrine Technologies in 2017 based on his experience working for the Fallontier and supporting special operations forces. In the early days of his founding, he worked at a police station near San Francisco to support data analysis and participated in murder investigations. This experience became a stepping stone for the company to grow. Anduril Industries, the most successful example of defense start-up, was also created by joining Trey Stevens and Brian Simpson from Palantir. The company grew quickly, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. military as its main customers.
Another weapon of the Palantir Mafia is a powerful network. They interacted through dedicated WhatsApp and Signal apps, and even created a dedicated investment company such as Palumi VC. Palumi VC invests in companies founded by or as CEOs of Falantier. WSJ said, “When a new founder comes out, alumni will hire and invest, forming an internal ecosystem.”
At the root of this network is Peter Till. He became a high-profile figure in Silicon Valley after selling PayPal with Elon Musk, but he did not go public as often as Musk. Instead, he established Palantir and established Founders Fund in 2005 to expand his influence in the investment industry. In addition, he showed a firm right-wing color to the extent that he launched the liberal and conservative magazine “Stanford Review” during his college years. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he donated $1.25 million in support of Donald Trump, and later ran for Senate, House, and governor of the Senate. In the 2022 midterms, he was also called the “Kingmaker” as JD Vance was backed by Till to win Ohio Senate and Blake Masters for Arizona Senate.
Till’s move contrasts with Musk. If Musk is a person who stands in front of the public with a huge vision such as electric cars and rockets, Till is a strategist who designs power out of sight by connecting startups, ventures, and politics. If Musk is a “warrior on stage,” Till is nicknamed a “quiet architect.” There are different views on him. On the one side, he is praised as the ‘next Iron Man’ who led the startup ecosystem and security innovation, while on the other hand, he is wary of it, pointing out that it is a ‘villain in Silicon Valley’ that threatens the democratic order.
[Silicon Valley correspondent Wonho-seop]
