As politicians the world over ramp up anti-immigration rhetoric after Donald Trump, Silicon Valley is tearing itself into two camps. Will politics or pragmatism rule the next four years?
Influence war
"It's not true that only Peter Thiel (the controversial PayPal founder and member of  Trump's transition team) is excited for the new government. There's a silent group here who have been emboldened," said Elias Bizannes, an Australian entrepreneur living in Silicon Valley.Â
​While the home of the technology industry is overwhelmingly progressive and Democratic, many who have previously not been interested or included in politics are joining  Thiel with the hopes of influencing the new administration.Â
"There are some wealthy, smart guys here who wanted Trump to win," he said.
Bizannes, who runs StartUpHouse, an education, events and accommodation centre, says the result was an upset but leaders in Silicon Valley instantly moved into a mode of "what next?"
The Australian of Greek heritage found himself at the centre of the election campaign in mid-2015, when he wrote an open letter to candidates saying he was tired of politicians using Silicon Valley as an ATM without understanding the eco-system.
"What I saw was Silicon Valley contributed more than Hollywood or Wall Street to the election campaigns, but there is and was still a lack of understanding about how it works. The letter led to my office hosting an event for the Rand Paul campaign to try and explain some of these issues."
Despite Bizannes'Â attempts to shake things up, the establishment quid pro quo arrangement between large tech companies and the Democratic Party didn't shift.
"Government and technology have had a really good relationship the past couple of decades ... the government has served us well," said Arielle Zuckerberg, sister of Mark and newly minted recruit at giant venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.Â
"We kind of took for granted how nice the government has been to us. It's very unclear if Trump will love and respect the tech industry and serve the tech industry," she said.
That cosy relationship was fostered based on the belief Trump wasn't a chance.Â
It's very unclear if Trump will love and respect the tech industry and serve the tech industry
Arielle Zuckerberg, brother of Mark and newly minted recruit at giant venture capital firm Kleneir Perkins.
"Even Trump supporters who I knew here were sure he wouldn't win but once the result was clear, they moved to act. A friend's boss who runs a large tech company went in 24 hours from being sure Clinton would win to having a six, 12 and 24-month plan for what Trump means for dealings with China," Bizannes said.
Despite such comments by Zuckerberg and Bizannes, many approached for this story were unwilling to comment on Trump's election, indicating a lack of preparedness from top ranks.Â
A house built on immigrants
One thing it seems almost everyone in Silicon Valley can agree upon is that it relies on immigration for success. Â
Venture capital boss Andrew Braccia declined to speak on the record about Trump but emphasised migrants were crucial.Â
"The importance of having the best and brightest people coming to the US to build companies and create value for their families, that's America and it has been for a long time," he said
This view is anathema to Trump campaign boss Steve Bannon who last year said he believes too many Asian immigrants are running tech companies.Â
"When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think ... " Bannon said, trailing off. "A country is more than an economy. We're a civic society," Bannon said in a conversation with Trump that sent ripples far and wide.
The issue continues to bubble along, threatening Silicon Valley's very foundation.
In recent days Trump said via video message that he would direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that "undercut the American worker".
Investors and founders are worried about this kind of rhetoric and its effect on global competitiveness.
"Freeing up the mobility of talent is what is going to help Silicon Valley maintain its edge," said Bizannesa.
For him, getting skills and human capital are the No.1 problem in the industry.
"I have had a terrible time with bureaucracy stopping me from bringing across the people I need. These are people who had visas approved but then another technicality would get in the way."Â
Bizannes explains it like this: the two main resources required for a start-up are talent and capital. Silicon Valley is awash with the latter, but there is a crunch on the former. "If there is any decrease in the current number of H1-B working visas, that will create even more scarcity.
"It's not about foreigners stealing jobs, it's just that there aren't always people qualified for these roles and there's a deep pool of overseas talent," he said.
Bhakthi Puvanenthiran travelled to Silicon Valley as a guest of the Melbourne Accelerator Program, part of the University of Melbourne.
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