You are changing your argument by adding this: "when they started in a garage."
'Lean agile' tech companies are by far the exception, not the rule.
Look at OpenAI and Anthropic, both fairly new companies that are excessively political already. This 'garage stage' of lacking politics is a myth, read old stories about Microsoft, when it was 15 people it was political.
>You are changing your argument by adding this: "when they started in a garage."
No, you are.
You first asked: "When was tech not bureaucratic and political?"
To which I replied "in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's when they started in garages".
What did you fail to understand here?
>Look at OpenAI and Anthropic, both fairly new companies that are excessively political already.
Everything becomes political when you tell them they're worth trillions if they only play the right tune. Money brings out the worst in people. SW companies didn't make trillions decades ago.