Silicon Smokers: Meet the tech founders who think that cigarettes are their edge

Stephen Campbell knows the cigarettes didn't land him one of his biggest deals, but they certainly lit the match.

The cofounder of the startup Revamp AI was in Shenzhen, meeting with what he calls an "enormous" Chinese tech company. (He's under NDA with them.) The initial meeting was stressful, especially because of the language barrier, he says. Then came Chinese barbecue, rounds of Baijiu, and countless cigarettes.

It took the relationship from vendor-customer to something more personal, says the 27-year-old. They made their way to a cocktail bar (where they smoked), and then a KTV karaoke bar (where they smoked).

"By the end of the night, it's us and our prospects ripping cigs in the karaoke lounge," Campbell says. "We're belting out Oasis, because that was their favorite band."

Campbell knows that cigarettes are bad for you. He also sees the positives: breaks from the founder grind to go outside, and more chats with strangers. It's how he's met most of his neighbors in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood and the European tenants in his office building.

Cigarette smoking has been snuffed out across America. In 1966, more than 40% of US adults smoked, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By 2022, the rate had dropped to 11.6%. Smoking is especially rare today in the tech industry, where longevity is practically the official religion. For those who still want a nicotine fix, more work-appropriate alternatives have flourished, like vapes and zyns. Startup offices are clouded with the smell of strawberry-matcha smoke; locked-in engineers pack pouches into their gums to code faster.

But a strong counterculture is huffing darts. Engineers are chainsmoking to power through coding sprints. Venture capitalists and founders are talking burn rates while burning tar. For some in tech, amid the noise of optimization, smoking has become the new cignal.

Jake Jolis noticed that the founders who smoke don't care about VCs — and that makes VCs want them even more. The Los Angeles-based general partner of Zeno Ventures says the smoking founders' laissez-faire attitude sets them apart from the "central casting, ruffle no feathers, middle of the road" founders.

He meets with founders early, often before they have a pitch deck. In some cases, he's gone for a walk with them or sat outside a coffee shop. Both activities are outdoors — and he's seen founders light up in both contexts. When they offer him one, he passes.

Jolis isn't actively looking for smokers, and doesn't necessarily view it as a positive trait. Rather, it's a sign that their "guard is down," he says. Two of the smokers Jolis has invested in have performed "extremely well," he says.

Smoking a cigarette is a social activity. It makes people more casual, especially in an industry that can be stiff and awkward. One seed-stage investor tells me he felt more confident about an investment after watching the founder smoke Marlboro Reds at a bar. He liked that the founder could "hang," he says. "The bond got stronger."

"When you're smoking, you're networking by accident," says Campbell, who has hired some of Revamp's employees after sharing cigs with them. Interviews over Marlboros, call it a smokescreen.