Mr. Palmer believed he would save his investors money by not investing in a start-up that would have lost it. He was right. But in the cacophony of venture capitalist boosting, that became about emotion, and even soul.

A founder’s soul is a surprisingly common discussion topic in the tech world, often as a defense of a particularly egregious news cycle. In social settings, debate over a company like Facebook will quickly get personal, cutting to the question of what its chief executive feels in his or her heart.

Mr. Zuckerberg, when caught in a scandal, rinses himself in apologies. He does this so often that the Washington Post made a graphic of his heartfelt mea culpas.

The rhetoric of soul and heart is a sleight of hand to distract from the boring truth that tech companies are, of course, for-profit corporations.

After Mr. Palmer’s tweet, he was shaken. He said he had no idea how upset everyone would get and that he had no intention of hurting anyone.

“It’s been overwhelming,” he said.

He sent out a carefully worded email a few hours later.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to think harder about all the people who might be affected by any tweet,” he wrote. “Founders, teachers, employees, students, they’re all real people with real lives, feelings and stories. They’re much more than 280 characters.”