In middle school, my teacher assigned a book by Mario Puzo called “The Godfather.” Yes, it was pretty epic. From that work of art, mass audiences were introduced to Don Corleone and eventually its derivatives Goodfellas, Bugsy, Capone, Casino, Heat, The Departed, and scores of other pieces that romanticized the notion of organized crime across the globe, a world of big bosses, willing soldiers, and internal codes of helping out each other, from family to family.

One reason I believe the Valley is so enamored with these types of groups is because individual stars emerge from an organization that go on to become more influential and powerful. And so, in the world of the web, the term “mafia” has also caught on, albeit in a much more positive way. This has all been written about before. The premiere group is the “PayPal Mafia,” which lumped together incredible minds to form one of the world’s most important companies and whose alumni are now founders and/or financiers of some of the most disruptive new technology companies today. The other important mafia hails from Facebook (which Sarah Lacy has chronicled brilliantly), where early employees have gone on to found Quora, Asana, Path, and Cloudera, among others, and who have also quietly provided angel funding to some of the most interesting new startups (and perhaps even acting as limited partners in other investment funds). Facebook liquidity approaches for many more employees, which will only deepen its impact.
TechCrunch