AOL founder on how pandemic is changing spread of tech jobs
ABC News
AOL founder Steve Case started to build the online services company nearly 40 years ago before the internet became a mainstream phenomenon
SAN RAMON, Calif. -- Most people questioned AOL co-founder Steve Case’s judgment when he helped start the online company then known as Quantum Computer Services in 1985 — a time when the World Wide Web didn’t even exist.
Case, now 63 and sitting on an estimated fortune of $1.5 billion, faced more skepticism and bewilderment nearly a decade ago when his investment firm, Revolution, launched an initiative dubbed “Rise of the Rest.” The goal: establish more technology hubs in overlooked and sometimes decaying cites far from Silicon Valley, Seattle, New York and Boston — places that had long attracted the majority of funding and talent driving the digital transformation reshaping the U.S. economy.
After covering more than 11,000 miles on bus trips to more than 40 U.S. cities, Case felt like he had already been making headway before the pandemic struck nearly two years ago. Now he believes the remote working phenomenon spawned by the pandemic will further diversify the technology landscape and help narrow the economic divides contributing to social strife in the U.S.
Q: How has the pandemic accelerated the efforts to expand tech jobs to new areas?
