The oversized brain of Silicon Valley star Marc Andreessen can hold a lot of insight, but every once in a while, it still overflows: a new interview reveals he still clings to the fantasy of meritocracy.

Sometimes high-fiving meritocracy requires a conference room of one's own. And so it is at Dropbox, where interviews with potential female candidates take place in "The Breakup Room," which is located adjacent to the "Bromance Chamber."

If you're one of the many Americans who watches the Dr. Phil show, you might be getting a startup advertisement without realizing it. "Doctor" Phil McGraw's son—who is also not a medical doctor—is the co-creator of a new app called Doctor on Demand, which is suddenly getting a boatload of free, conflicted press.

This is either the greatest act of symbolism in Silicon Valley, or a quiet admission by GitHub that its ostentatious display of faux-democracy was misguided. Either way, a smart move, too late.

Ding-dong, it's official: Silicon Valley's dream of a meritocracy—where innovative ideas from scrappy entrepreneurs hustle their way to the top—is dead. A new analysis from Reuters reporter Sarah McBride found that the startups getting funded by top venture capitalists have one thing in common: pedigree.